“Man, I can’t put those kinds of hormones in her blood. She’s pregnant, brother.”
All of the air in my lungs left in a rush and my head felt light. I sank to my knees, staring at Patriot for several ling minutes before a smile finally surfaced.
“Wow. My ol’ lady is gonna have a baby.”
He smirked. “Yeah, she is.”
“Hey,” I asked, a little uncertain, “Would you keep it between us for now? I don’t want anyone else to know until we’re ready.”
“You got it, brother.”
He left me alone to think over the news and I sat next to Sasha, brushing my fingers across her cheek, mesmerized by the love I felt for her and the knowledge that we were going to share a child together. If anyone asked me a year ago if I thought I would be getting married, having a baby, and fall in love I would have laughed and flipped them off.
My heart swelled with the peace I felt when I thought about how right this was – me, her, the engagement, and the pregnancy. I’d never been so happy in my entire fucking life.
Sasha was mine to keep. Mine to claim. Chamuco didn’t know what shit storm he started by taking my ol’ lady. I was going to fuck him up, take my vengeance, and then come home and make plans with Sasha to start our life together.
“HE’S NOT HERE,” CINDI announced, sitting next to my side when I woke up. Dazed, it took a few minutes to realize I was back at the Crossroads and to remember the accident and subsequent chase through Tonopah.
“What do you mean? Where’s Bodie?”
“They went to take care of club business.” She shrugged, tilting her head to the side. “How do you feel?”
My stomach was in knots. My head ached. It was awful.
I sat up and a bit of vertigo took hold, the contents of my stomach sloshing around inside and burning with the need to rise. Bile hit the back of my throat and I jumped up, running for the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet in time, spewing up everything in there and then dry heaving for several minutes.
“Oh,” I groaned, wiping across my mouth. “I feel like total and complete shit.”
She shook her head. “You have the same problem I do.”
Huh? “Did you hit your head?”
She laughed, a light and carefree sound that I couldn’t help responding with a giggle. “That was great. Seriously, honey. When was your last period?”
Blinking, I saw not reason to ask that question. “What?”
She helped me up and over to the sink. I rinsed out my mouth and brushed my teeth, running a brush through the tangles in my hair. I caught my reflection and frowned. I looked like hell.
“Want a shower?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll hang out in here in case you feel lightheaded or dizzy. Go ahead and hop in.”
I turned on the water and stripped down, stepping inside once the water was warm enough. Cindi didn’t say anything until I was done, handing over a couple of fluffy towels. Once I was dried off and dressed, she returned with a bottle of water and a box of saltines.
“There’s only two reasons to throw up like. Well, maybe three.”
“Okay?”
“Stomach flu or eating bad food. A concussion.”
“Obviously, that’s my issue.”
She leaned forward, passing a box into my hand. “Or pregnancy.”
I stared down stupidly at the words written in bold type. Pregnancy Test.