Page 27 of Kodiak

“Pee, woman,” she commands, which has me giggling. Who the hell can pee on demand?

“Demi,” I warn, my bladder suddenly freezing up. “I can’t go!”

She laughs but it sounds a bit… sinister, before she turns on the faucet until the water’s running full blast. “There ya go, bitch. Now pee, dammit!”

I finally manage to pee on the stick without covering my own hand in urine, finish then flush. While the test sits there doing whatever it’s supposed to do, I thoroughly wash my hands then dry them. My eyes are constantly straying to the stick as Demi finally reads through the directions.

“Okay, if it’s positive, you’ll get a giant plus sign. If it’s not, you’ll get a minus one,” she says. “Shit, these instructions are in four different languages!”

I start giggling at the absurdity of the situation, hysteria over what it might reveal pounding in my brain. “Four, huh?” I finally manage to stammer out.

The timer Demi set on her phone chimes and she peers at the test, before widening her eyes somewhat dramatically. “Um,Luna? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but something failed for you and Marcum that night. You’re going to have a baby.”

“The test has to be defective, Demi. There’s no fucking way!” I deny. “I mean, I have the implant and it’s still good for another year before it has to be replaced. Plus, he wore a condom!”

She’s doing something on her phone then asks, “What was the name of your implant?” I tell her and she taps away again then says, “Luna, this particular implant was recently recalled.”

My heart starts racing while the room begins to spin. “Why was it recalled?” I ask as I slide down to the floor, my back against my shower stall. Right now, I’m grateful it has a glass door, because otherwise, I’d end up on my back because I feel absolutely boneless.

“Because the failure rate is higher than the acceptable parameters. Apparently, there’s also a class action lawsuit that’s been started for women who ended up pregnant while using it,” she replies.

Oh. My. God.

Marcum.

How in the world am I going to tell him that I’m pregnant? We weren’t careless adults, we took the appropriate precautions yet here we are, pregnant.

This is like a storyline in one of my books. Woman and man meet, spend one magical night together, occasionally text back and forth, then bam. Baby on board.

We don’t know each other well enough to raise a kid together. We have chemistry, but outside of that, I don’t know if we’re going to work in the long run. I hang my head and place itbetween my hands. What the fuck am I going to do if he goes running for the hills? Lord knows that’s what I’d do if I were wearing his shoes.

Is he going to think I did something in order to trap him? That’s one of my biggest fears right now outside of the fact that I’m carrying his baby inside of my womb. I bet he’s going to lose his shit and go ballistic on me.

“What are you thinking, Luna?” Demi asks, crouching down beside me.

“What if he thinks I did this on purpose, Demi?”

“Then he’s a fool who needs my size eight up his ass,” she answers.

“Wait until you see him, Demi. You’ll understand that he won’t be intimidated by you and your foot won’t be viewed as a threat to his manhood.”

“All men can be taken down to their knees, woman. If anyone knows that, it’s me. But you can’t let your fear of what could be win this round, Luna. He’s your baby daddy, you have to tell him. You can’t hide this from him and raise this kid on your own.”

“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?” I ask, sobs wracking my body.

“Because you have a savior complex, Luna. You don’t want him hurt by this so you’re already trying to find ways around telling him and changing his life.”

“Don’t pretend like you know me,” I laugh, wiping my cheeks.

“No matter what happens, I’m here for you, Luna. If I need to be the daddy, so be it.”

With that, we chuckle, hugging one another closely. Tonight is going to be interesting in more ways than one.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KODIAK

Bonfires are roaringin the back forty of the property, the sound system has rock music blaring in the background, the pit is roasting a pig, and drinks are free flowing. The club girls are dancing with solo cups held high above their heads, but none of that interests me. My eyes are steadily focused on the gate at the front of the property which I can see from my position.

---