“I don’t know. I’m a bit of an emotional mess,” I say. I take in her big blue eyes and consider telling her that my relationship with Callan is a fake one, even though it feels far too real to me.
“Gemma.”
“Yeah?” I ask when she goes all serious on me.
“When was the last time you had a period?”
I go perfectly still, my mind racing, working to count down the days. “I…my God, I’ve been so busy, I totally lost track. Wait, okay, two weeks ago, I spotted. I didn’t have a full period, but I chalked that up to my crazy busy schedule, and hormones from all the sex I’ve been having.”
“Lucky girl, but do you think…”
“Oh, my God, no!” My words come out in a hushed whisper as I back up until I hit the wall. I lean forward, brace my hands on my knees, and take deep gulping breaths. “I can’t be.”
“Actually, you can be. You’ve been having a lot of sex.”
I shake my head and my hair falls over my face. “We used a condom at first, but then stopped because I’m on the pill. I mean, I might have forgotten a pill or two, but still. I mean both you and Nicole tried for months and months to get pregnant.”
“That doesn’t mean it will be the same for you, and it only takes once, you know?”
“I know,” I shoot back, angrier than I should be. Dammit, what is wrong with me? “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Your hormones are all over the place.” I stand up right and smooth my hair back. With a rejuvenating breath I step to the sink and splash cold water on my face. Once done, I catch Amanda’s eyes in the mirror. “You said you were sick this morning. Do you think it could have been morning sickness?”
“I don’t know,” I say, and put my hand over my stomach. “This can’t be happening.” I turn to face Amanda, my hands behind me, gripping the sink.
“I know this is a shock, Gemma. But you and Callan, you two are so right for each other. Isn’t marriage and children the next step?”
I shake my head hard. “No, it’s not. None of this is what you think.”
She takes a step closer, her voice low when she asks, “What’s going on?”
“Callan and I are good together. You were right when you said that, and your first instincts were right, too. We were pretending. He was helping me send a message to Brad. We exercised relationship rights, thinking it couldn’t hurt anything.”
“Oh no.” She pulls me in for a hug. I lay my head on her shoulder. “You love him, don’t you?”
I nod and sniffle. “We were only going to be together for the summer. I fell in love with him and screwed everything up. And now this…I could be pregnant.”
“You didn’t do it alone. Maybe his feelings for you have changed. I see the way he looks at you, Gemma.”
My heart jumps. “He doesn’t want kids. Even if he wanted me, he made it clear he didn’t want kids. He’s not going to be happy about this. Not one little bit.”
“Okay,” she says in her best calming, big sister voice. “Before you get yourself all worked up, we have to find out if you really are pregnant.”
I swipe at the tears. “I need a test.”
“Yes, you do,” she says and grabs a piece of paper towel to dab the corners of my eyes.
“I’ll pick one up tomorrow,” I say.
“Do you want to continue with tonight? I can say I’m not feeling well, and we can get out of here.”
I give her a fast, grateful hug. I’m so glad she’s here with me tonight. “No, we’ll eat our desserts,” I say. “There’s nothing I can do tonight. This will have to wait until tomorrow.”
“I can come over, be there when you take it.”
I give a fast shake of my head. “No, that will raise suspicions. I’ll go to my townhouse for privacy. I’ll make an excuse. Say I need to pick something up.”
“Tell him we’re going shopping or something.”
“Yeah, that will work,” I say, even though I don’t like to lie, this fib is necessary. If I’m not pregnant, everything will be fine. If I am, I’m going to need my sister by my side to help me figure out what to do next. I take a deep breath to pull myself together. “We should get back out there.”
She nods and I follow her back to our table. I put on a smile, and while David and Callan are in deep conversation, his brow furrows when he looks at me.
When the conversation ends, he leans in. “You feeling okay?”
“Just tired,” I say.
“You’ve been working too hard, taking care of all the kids at the club, and Kaitlyn at nights. Tonight, when we get home, I’m going to take care of you,” he says quietly.
“Okay,” I say, liking the sound of that.
We eat our desserts, sip our coffee, and soon enough the night comes to an end. Callan pays the bill and we all stand to say goodbye. I give Amanda a big hug as the guys shake hands.
“Don’t forget about tomorrow,” she says, and I nearly swallow my damn tongue.
“What’s going on tomorrow?” David asks.
“Gemma and I are going shopping.”
“Glad to hear it,” Callan says. “She needs a break.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I say to her, and fall into step with Callan as he leads me outside to his car. He casts me a quick glance.
“That was fun. We should do that more often,” he says. “I really like Amanda and David.”
“They are fun,” I say, and blink to keep the tears at bay. My God, if I am pregnant, is Callan going to think I did it on purpose? Is he going to hate me? He’s definitely not the kind of guy to shirk his responsibilities, so he’ll take responsibility, but that in no way means I come with the package. I’m so lost in my thoughts and worries, I’m sure he must be picking up on it. I turn to take in the firm lines in his profile, but he too seems to be a little lost in his own thoughts.
We sit in silence until he pulls into his driveway, and he comes around my side when I step from the car. His mouth turns up, his eyes full of playfulness as he tugs me to him.
“As much as I like you in this dress, Gemma. I really, really want you out of it.”
“I want that too,” I say as tears pound against my eyes. I’m a hot mess of emotions and I can’t seem to get control over them. We hurry inside and with Kaitlyn gone for the weekend, Callan releases the zipper on my dress and tugs it down to my feet. He gives a low whistle as I stand before him in nothing but lacy bra and panties.
“God, you are so gorgeous.”
“And you’re overdressed,” I tease, waving a finger up and down his body.
“When you’re right you’re right,” He says and in that manly way of his, he tugs on his tie, and unbuttons his shirt. No matter how many times I’ve seen this man naked, I’m still like a kid in a candy store. He tugs off his pants and scoops me up. His mouth finds mine, and I expect him to lead me to his room but there’s a new kind of hunger in him, an eagerness that leads us to the chair in the living room.
“Bedroom. Too far,” he says, all caveman-like as he sits in the chair and pulls me onto his lap. His hard cock presses against my center, and I squirm, needing him inside me. I’m not sure what tomorrow or the future brings, but tonight…tonight he’s mine and this might be the very last time he is, so I’m going to enjoy everything between us.