“Yeah.”
He tenses, his hot breath brushing the shell of my ear with every pant. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just ... er ... sore from the move, I guess.”
Oh, God. I made a terrible mistake moving in with Mace, and now there was no way to take it back. Moving out would break his heart. Moving out would cause even more problems for our friend group. Moving out would mean admitting to Gabe that he was right, that I’d moved too fast, that I couldn’t be happy with anyone but him, and neither of us needed that on our conscience right now.
I may hate Annie, but I wouldn’t deprive an innocent kid of their father because I was a selfish whore.
No.
Gabe will stay where he is, and I will stay where I am, and that will be the end of it.
Why did that thought hurt so fucking much?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gabe
Ilean into the fridge, looking at the contents, but not really seeing anything. Since Annie found out she’s pregnant, all real food with flavor, tastes, hormones, or processed sugars had been thrown in the trash.
Annie closes the bathroom door and I straighten, thrust out of my fucking stupor. Almond milk it is. I grab the carton from the shelf and close the fridge. Thank fuck she hasn’t done away with coffee, or even switched to decaf.
God, I miss pizza. I miss Lo. I miss pizza with Lo. I miss the life I had when I was just secretly in love with my best friend, and we weren’t living with other people and avoiding one another. The only time I’ve seen her is when the entire group gets together at the shop, and Mace is so fucking close he’s practically attached at the hip. I’ve taken to calling him octo-arms in my head because he’s always got to be touching her in front of me.Asshole.
Seeing them together just feels wrong, but I’m in no position to do shit about it. I fucked up. I got Annie pregnant, and I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t stay. And so, here we are, me in a house I share with a woman I don’t love, craving carbs, greasy cheese, and five single seconds alone with my best friend.
I pour a full cup of coffee for me and a half one for Annie and carry them toward the bathroom.
“Hey, are you ever coming out? I made you coffee,” I say and set my mug on the dresser. I push open the bathroom door.
She startles and tucks something behind her back, her other hand is pressed to her chest and her cheeks flush beet red. “Oh my god, you scared me.”
I frown. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I just ... I wasn’t expecting you to come barging in.”
“I didn’t exactly barge in. The door was unlocked. What the fuck, Annie?”
“I just ... women have things that they do in the bathroom that they don’t want their boyfriends seeing.”
“Like what?”
“It’s private.”
“We’re having a baby in a few months’ time. I think I’m going to be well accustomed to everything you don’t want me to see.”
Her face falls and I frown.What the fuck is wrong with her? “What’s in your hand, Annie?”
“Nothing. Now will you please leave?”
“Show me what’s in your hand.”
“No!”
I take several steps toward her and snatch up her wrist, she fights me, but I free the object from her small fist and stare at it.
A pregnancy test.