Page 35 of It Must Be Fate

“So what happened?” Nera asks.

I can hear Tristan speaking in the background, followed by Cato and Kiza’s answering giggles.

My stomach lurches listening to it, wondering if I’ll have that.

I never thought that I might not until a couple hours ago.

“There’s not much more than what I put in my text. I told him I was pregnant and he freaked out and ran away.”

“What do you mean, “ran away”?” Six asks.

“Just that. He left the house and he’s been gone for over two hours now. I tried calling him, but he hasn’t picked up.”

I’m chewing on the skin around the nail of my thumb. I’ve been going at it since he left, so much so that I’ve gnawed the skin down to the quick.

The girls are silent on the other end of the line.

Great.

I move on to my other thumb and go about mutilating that digit next.

“Oh, my god. Someone say something,” I beg.

“I’m sure, it’s fine!” Six says sunnily. “Just some jitters.”

“Six is right,” Nera adds. “He’ll be thrilled, he just needs a moment to himself.”

“You don’t run out of your house if you’re thrilled.”

“Thayer!” Six exclaims.

“I’m sorry,” Thayer says, her voice kind. “I just don’t want to sugarcoat anything. B, had you guys talked about kids?”

“Yeah, we had. At length. Actually, he’s the one who brought it up initially, which is why this doesn’t make any sense. At all. I don’t understand, I thought he’d be over the moon—” A noise interrupts me mid-sentence. “Shit, that’s the front door. He’s home. I have to go.”

“Tell him to get his act together or so help me God—”

“Okay, okay, I will. Bye,” I say, rushing them off the phone.

Rogue walks straight back into the living room where I’ve been pacing for the last hour. Dark energy swirls around him as he comes to a stop halfway into the room, his inscrutable, intense green eyes pinning me in place.

His chest moves with every deep breath he takes. For a long moment, neither of us says anything. We simply stare at each other, taking stock of the volatile emotions swirling around us.

I don’t understand any of it. I don’t understand why I can feel a distance that wasn’t there a few hours ago.

He shakes his head slowly and then lifts his gaze back to mine, the skin around his eyes creased with regret.

“I’m sorry.”

The apology is clear in his tone, his voice thick with obvious misery. It pulls at me, beckoning me to go to him. I close the distance between us and wrap him up in a hug. He drags me into him, holding me tightly against his chest like he never wants to let go.

I breathe a small sigh of relief. He had me worried for a second.

I’m just happy he’s home.

“Where were you?”

His voice is muffled against my neck when he answers. “I went for a walk on the banks of the river.”

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