I’m confident Demi will understand my eagerness to get my final run done and dusted, I am just not keen to see her reaction when she discovers I’m more like her family than she realizes.
I didn’t solely punch Landon because he insulted Demi. I did it for our future kids as well—children I always knew I’d have one day but never truly considered until Dimitri popped the idea into my head.
Demi and I are super relaxed with protection. By super relaxed, I mean we haven’t used any. Truth be told, I assumed Demi was on the pill. When I discovered that wasn’t the case, I should have manned up by gloving up. I don’t know why I didn’t. I could palm it off as that I’ve had her bare, so I couldn’t go back, but if that were the case, why didn’t I simply suggest she use the pill or get the implant? I keep my thoughts in my head for a reason. If the excited butterflies in my stomach are anything to go by, I’m reasonably sure I know why.
My relationship with Demi has occurred at the speed of lightning, so it’s only fair babies and marriage are crossed off my list of accomplishments sooner rather than later.
“Are you sure this is the address you want me to take you?” asks the cab driver after pulling up to a set of lights. “There’s nothing out that way but sticks and mosquitos.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve heard there are good hiking tracks hidden back from the road.” I didn’t give him the cabin’s address. I’ll have to walk the final two miles.
The blond man with a reversed cap and a wonky grin hooks his arm over the passenger seat before cranking his neck to face me. He drags his eyes down my jeans, Vans shoes, and polo shirt before returning them to my face. “Hiking… right.”
With the cab driver’s friendliness gobbled up by suspicion, we make the trip in silence. I don’t mind. It gives me plenty of time to contemplate what to say to Demi and exactly how the fuck I should say it. I also take a couple of minutes to mull over the idea she’s pregnant.
I won’t lie, I’m hopeful.
My brothers don’t understand my protectiveness of Demi. They’ve never been in a serious relationship, so they don’t understand my desire to keep her safe is more important than anything. I’m sure their opinion will change when they learn she’s carrying their niece or nephew.
A baby will change everything, and for once, it will be a good change.
“Are you sure this is where you want me to drop you off?”
I answer the cab driver by handing him a couple of bills from the bundle of Benjamin Franklins left in my gym bag. The fare is already eye-watering, not to mention he needs to make the trip back to Hopeton alone. The money I gave him should cover both the fare and his time. It should also be enough to fill his tank with gas, lessening my guilt.
I peer at him like he’s insane when he says, “I’m good.” He nudges his head to the cash he pushed back through the gap in his window. “That there is blood money. No good can come from it.”
Not speaking another word, he winds up his window, then pushes down on the gas pedal. With the sun in the process of rising, it takes ages for me to be confident the hues of orange bouncing across the landscaped plains aren’t the taillights of his cab. I hate that I’m wasting time being cautious, but just like my earlier request for him to make a quick detour past a drugstore, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
After another twenty minutes standing by the side of the road, I push off my feet and head in the direction of the cabin. I don’t walk along the shoulder of the road. I keep my tracks hidden by the dense forest bordering all the roads out this way. The number of trees I have to veer past makes my pace a little sluggish, but the lights of the cabin soon present on the horizon. Its illumination advises Demi is awake. I’m not surprised, she’s been going to bed with the sun the past couple of days.
“Demi…” I remove my coat and mud-sloshed boots at the entryway door before I enter the empty living room. “Are you preparing breakfast?” God, I fucking hope so. I’ve missed her cooking as much as the sugary taste of her lips the past couple of days.
“Demi…” I call out again when I find the kitchen void of a single soul.
I’m about to go search for her in the bedroom when a box on the kitchen table stops me in my tracks. It’s a box of pregnancy tests—an empty box of pregnancy tests. All three sticks have been removed.
“Dem—” This shout is higher pitched than my earlier two. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a woman taking three tests to authenticate a negative result. It’s usually the shock of a positive that sees them tearing through an entire packet. “Are you sleeping?”
With a smile, I pat down the rumpled bedding in the middle of the mattress before racing for the attached bathroom. My pace slows when the noise of running water filters through my ears. My girl is in the shower, and I’m more than ready for us to wash off the dirt of this putrid life.
“I hope you didn’t start without me.”
I dump my jeans on top of Demi’s sleepwear in the doorway of the bathroom before I yank my shirt over my head. In my hurry to join her in the shower, I fail to notice there’s no steam billowing under the bathroom door. The water has run cold, meaning Demi’s been in the shower for hours.
“Demi…”
When I push open the partially cracked-open door, my heart drops to my stomach before a mangled roar leaves my throat. Demi is in the shower, but the sound of running water isn’t from the showerhead. It is the horrific noise of the blood draining away from Demi’s slumped body circling the drain.
“Demi!”
The End… for now.
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Acknowledgments
I can sit down and write a book without batting an eye, but this is tough for me. There are always lots of people to thank, but not enough page space to thank them adequately, so I’ll keep it simple.
Thank you to those who inspire, encourage, and support me. Thank you for buying my books, reading them, and leaving reviews. Thank you for sending me messages of support, and telling me how much you love my characters. Thank you for being there when I wanted to walk away from writing. Thank you for taking a chance on a high-school dropout who can’t string two sentences together without making a mistake. And last, but not at all least, thank you for seeing past the mess to understand the story beneath it.