I put my hands on my hips and looked up at him. “So what if he did? What’s it got to do with you?” I asked him, my eyebrows raised in question. I watched as he shook his head, my eyes dropping to his hands, which were currently balled up in fists at his sides. “What exactly is your problem Josh? You look like you want to murder someone.” This time it was my turn to soundangry.
“I do, starting with that jerk who just had his hands all overyou.”
“Urghhh, he kissed me on the cheek and asked for my number, that’s all, and I fail to see why you’re so bothered about it!” I exclaimed, trying to push past him, but he stopped me by putting his armout.
“And did you give him your number?” he asked quietly in my ear, his warm breath leaving a trail of goose bumps down my neck. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply in an attempt to slow down my racing heart. Part of me hated the power he unknowingly had over me by just being close. “Answer me Savannah,” he demanded, moving his hands to my waist and spinning me so I was facinghim.
“Yes!” I shouted, pushing his hands off me. “Yes, I gave him my number—why shouldn’t I? Just because you don’t want me doesn’t mean someone else won’t,” I screamed. People around us turned to see what the commotion was, but I didn’tcare.
“You’re pregnant Savannah! Or did you forget?” He threw his hands in theair.
“Don’t you dare!” I exclaimed. “Of course I didn’t forget, how could I?” I replied, feeling tears well in my eyes. I wasn’t going to let him see me cry, and I quickly pushed past him, my vision blurred by the tears as they spilled down my cheeks. Before I could get away, I felt him reach for me, his hands gripping my hips as he pulled me backward into his chest. I tried to fight my way out of his hold, but his hands moved from my hips and wound around mywaist.
“Wait,” he said into my hair. “I’m sorry Sav, you’re right—it’s none of my business who you choose to date, pregnant or not. I’m sorry I made you cryagain.”
Accepting defeat, I stilled in his arms. “Please let me go,” I said quietly. “I’m tired and I’d like to go home.” He slowly dropped his arms and I walked away, feeling his eyes on me as I made my way to the table. Libby and Mason were chatting with Brody when I got there, and Beth must have been in the bathroom or at the bar as there was no sign of her. I quietly slipped into thebooth.
“Hey Sav, I couldn’t find you on the dance floor. Mason said Josh went to find you, is everything okay?” she asked, looking at me with concern in her eyes when she saw my tear-streakedface.
“I’m okay. Do you think we could go home? I’m pretty tired.” I wrung my hands in mylap.
“Savannah, what happened? Did Josh do something?” Brody asked before Libby couldrespond.
“No, nothing. Just a misunderstanding, that’s all. Can we go?” I asked again, standing up and reaching for my purse. I watched as Libby stood up and gave me a smallsmile.
“Yes of course. Come on, it’s been a long night.” She linked my arm and we walked ahead of Mason and Brody, heading for the exit. Turning around to make sure the boys couldn’t hear us, she whispered in my ear, “What happened? What did hedo?”
“Nothing, it’s just me reading things wrong again, wishing for something that’s never going tohappen.”
She smiled sadly at me. “I’m sorry Savannah,” she said, squeezing myarm.
“Me too,” I whispered as we made our way outside and toward my car. “Where did Beth go?” Iasked.
“Her friends showed up and she went off to dance with them.” I nodded, hoping she hadn’t witnessed my argument withJosh.
The atmosphere was tense on the journey home, and I hated that the night had ended like it had. No one believed that I was okay—how could they when my mascara was smeared down my cheeks? I was thankful that they didn’t push me to tell them what had happened though. I just wanted to go home, curl up in my bed, and sleep. I was just hoping that after all that, Josh would stay away from the cottage. I wasn’t sure I could spend another day alone withhim.
After a fitful night’s sleep,I woke up early, rushing straight from my bed to the bathroom and throwing up twice. I couldn’t wait for this stage of my pregnancy to be over. I’d looked up morning sickness on the internet, and while it said it was a sign that the pregnancy was healthy, I was so over being sick every morning. I was really hoping it would pass, and soon. Unable to eat breakfast, I decided to head over to the cottage and continue with the cleaning. It was still early as I made my way down the porch steps, quickly looking around, hoping I wouldn’t see Josh’s truck. I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing only my car in thedriveway.
As I let myself into the cottage, the smell of fresh paint hit my nose and the dirt-smeared window made the sitting room dark. I dragged my finger across the glass, clearing a small line from top to bottom. Needing to clean it thoroughly, I walked through to the kitchen and began filling the bucket that was stored under the sink. As I waited for it to fill, I looked around the room, admiring the good job Josh had done with the painting. The room looked completely different from when we started, and I was itching to get moved in and make it myown.
Back in the sitting room, I began cleaning away the dirt from the glass with a cloth. Knowing the window was delicate, I was being careful, but I must have pushed too hard on the old cracked glass because the next thing I knew, my hand was flying through the window and a sharp pain shot through myhand.
“Shit!” I shouted, clutching my hand to my chest as I dropped to my knees, blood dripping onto the freshly mopped floor. I looked around for something to wrap around my hand, not yet wanting to look at what I’d done. There was only the dirty cloth I’d been using to clean, nothing else I could use to stop the bleeding. Panic began to take over. I wasn’t good with blood at the best of times, and there alone in the cottage, I knew I needed to get back to the house. I stood up on shaky legs, a wave of dizziness washing over me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly made my way outside. I started the short walk to the house, holding my bleeding hand to mychest.
“Oh my God Savannah!” I heard a voice shout. “Whathappened?”
I looked up to see Josh heading toward me, and even though I was mad at him, I’d never been more relieved to see him. “Josh,” I choked out. “I cut my hand…I don’t feel too good.” I watched as he took off his shirt, leaving him with just a sleeveless undershirt on. I was sure if I hadn’t felt so bad, I’d have taken my time to appreciate just how good he looked. As he reached me, he gently pulled my hand away from my chest, holding it with both of his. He carefully uncurled my fingers to see thedamage.
“You’re going to need stitches,” he told me, wrapping his shirt around my hand to stop the bleeding. Another wave of dizziness came over me and my knees buckled. “Hey, I’ve got you.” He slipped one arm under my knees while the other went around my shoulders, and with no effort at all, he picked me up, holding me against his chest, my head dropping onto his shoulder. “My truck’s around the corner, I’m taking you to thehospital.”
“I can get Mom or Brody to take me,” Ibegan.
“I’m taking you Sav, don’t argue,” he saidforcefully.
“Okay. Thank you,” I whispered, relaxing into his hold, loving the feeling of being wrapped in his arms, even though I knew Ishouldn’t.
All too quickly, we arrived at his truck and he placed me gently into the passenger seat, reaching across me to fasten my seat belt. “You okay?” he asked quietly as he hovered over me. I nodded my head, clutching my hand, which was now wrapped up in his shirt. He leaned in and placed a quick kiss on my head. My eyes widened in surprise as he closed the door and walked around to the driver’sside.