Forever with You
Page 40

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” I asked.
Katie stabbed a piece of sausage. “What she means is that Nick hasn’t hooked up with another chick since you strolled into Mona’s.”
Thank God I’d swallowed my food, because I was sure I would’ve choked upon hearing Katie’s blunt remark, but a deep, almost unsettling relief uncoiled in the pit of my stomach. Whether Nick was still messing around with other people was something I hadn’t allowed myself to even think about. A tiny part of me hadn’t thought he was, but there were no labels between us, and even though he was attracted to me and we were linked together by this baby, that didn’t mean he was settling down.
Roxy smiled slightly as she picked up a piece of bacon. “I can see that you’re happy to hear that.”
I opened my mouth, about to deny it, but suddenly I was tired of pretending. And that’s what I was doing. It was bigger than just letting my friends in, sharing my life with them. Sooner or later they were going to find out the truth.
Nervousness made my stomach queasy. I wasn’t sure how they’d respond to what I was going to tell them. I also wasn’t sure how Nick would really respond, when it got down to it. “We have . . . stayed in touch,” I said.
Roxy’s look turned bland. “Yeah, I know that.”
Waving half a piece of sausage around, Katie snorted. “In other words, you’ve been screwing each other’s brains out?”
“Actually, no.” What he had done Thursday morning didn’t count. “We haven’t had sex since the first time.”
Katie dropped the sausage. “A pig just flew past the window.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Really?” Roxy sounded surprised.
Nodding, I cut another piece of omelet with my fork. “No. Okay. Well, we’ve messed around—once,” I added, when a knowing gleam filled Roxy’s eyes. “And that was just a few days ago.”
“Holy crapola, girl, I don’t know any girl that Nick has hung out with after having sex with them and they’ve—”
“It’s because he’s fallen for her,” Katie interrupted as she picked up her fallen sausage. No sausage left behind, that girl. “So he’ll do all kinds of things he hasn’t done before.”
I slid her a sidelong glance. “Is that your psychic stripper powers at work again?”
“Damn skippy.”
I grinned as I shook my head. “We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend. I don’t know what we are. Actually, that’s not really true.”
“What does that mean?” Roxy brought her glass to her mouth.
“We’re going to be a mom and dad in approximately seven and a half months. Roughly.” I dropped the bomb like someone would drop a mic.
Tea sprayed into air, luckily in the direction of the aisle. I smacked my hand over my mouth, stifling my giggle as Katie sat there and stared at me. Guess her psychic stripper abilities hadn’t enabled her to foresee that.
Once Roxy recovered from becoming a human geyser, she whipped off her glasses, lowering them to the table. “Are you screwing around with me right now?”
I shook my head.
Katie still stared at me.
“You are being totally serious?” When I nodded, Roxy sat back. “Oh my God.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling weakly as I placed my fork on my plate. Appetite gone, I struggled to keep the smile plastered on my face, but it was hard. The reaction to Avery’s pregnancy was vastly different from mine. Like two different continents different. I nibbled on my lower lip, my brows knitted. “I know Nick and I aren’t together. Maybe we will be one day. I don’t know. I’m kind of hoping that’s the case, but right now we’re working at . . . getting to know each other, but we decided to do this.”
Katie’s mouth popped open but she didn’t say anything.
I lowered my gaze, at once very unsure of what I’d just done. Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut. “I’d missed a couple of pills while I was moving, and the condom broke,” I said, feeling the need to explain so they didn’t think I just ran around having unprotected sex. “I know it’s not traditional and—”
“Wait.” Roxy raised her hands. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m just shocked. I didn’t expect you to say that. I don’t think anything is wrong, and I can tell you think that’s how we feel. We don’t.” She glanced at Katie. “Right?”
“Right,” Katie said. “I don’t even think my mom knew who my dad was.”
Roxy’s brows knitted.
“When I was little, I was convinced that my dad worked for the CIA, and that was why I never met him. He was like a spy or something,” Katie continued as I bit down on the inside of my cheek. “Then I realized it was like one of the three possible guys and none of them were spies. Unless they were a spy when it came to finding the nearest bar.”
“Um. Okay.” Roxy blinked, returning her attention to me. “What we’re trying to say is that we’re just surprised, but we’re not judging you or Nick.”
My spine was still stiff. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” Contrite, Roxy leaned forward. “And I’m so, so sorry if I gave you that impression. Really.”
I nodded, wanting to believe her, but it was hard to forget the excitement when Avery announced her news, compared to the absolute shock clearly written on Roxy’s and Katie’s faces when I told them I was pregnant. Drawing in a deep breath, I decided to let it go.
“Are you guys happy about it?” Katie asked, as blunt as ever.
The flutter returned to my chest. “Yeah, we . . . we are. As strange as that sounds, we are happy about it. It was a shock, but we’re getting used to it.” I paused, and my next words sort of just rushed out in a jumbled mess. “Nick did this thing Wednesday night when he came over to see me. He asked if he could, you know, place his hand on my stomach, and when he did . . .” My cheeks started to heat. “He said he felt close to the baby, and I . . .”
“Turned to goo?” Roxy said, eyes unfocused. “Because that’s what I would’ve done.”
“Jumped on him and ripped his clothes off?” asked Katie. “Because that’s what I would’ve done.”
I laughed softly. “I think my ovaries exploded, but I kind of just sat there. It was . . . there really aren’t words when it comes to how that feels, I guess.”
“Wow,” Roxy said after a few moments. “I can’t believe Nick is going to have a kid. That you’re going to have a kid.”
“He’ll be a great father,” I immediately said.
Her eyes met mine and she nodded seriously. “Yeah, he will be.”
I wondered if she knew about his grandfather, but if not, I didn’t feel it was my place to tell. The rest of the conversation centered around all things baby—crazy baby talk. Like if I wanted a boy or a girl. Did I have a name picked out yet? Who knew?
Katie wanted to be the godmother.
I had no idea how to respond to that—to any of what they were saying.
“You know what this reminds me of,” Katie said while we waited for our checks. “That movie Knocked Up. Except you’re less annoying than that one chick and Nick is definitely more attractive than that guy.”