Page 21 of Solid Ground

How quickly Caitlin has become such a big part of mylife—one I’m going to struggle to do without. When I first came to the US, I had no one. I’ve got friends back home, but none I would call my best friend.

She frowns.

“I will miss you.” I sniff.

“I’ll miss you too. But I’m only at the end of the phone. So before I sail off into the sunset, I want you to take that test.”

I sigh. “I’ll miss your bossiness. And okay. I’ll take the damn test, but I’m telling you, it’ll be negative.”

Caitlin pats me on the head. “Good girl.”

I snatch it out of her hand. “Wait here. I want to at least pee in private.”

Her laughter follows me all the way to the bathroom. She’s right. I do need to do this. It’s all adding up. I’m terrible at tracking my cycle. If Caitlin hadn’t said anything, I probably wouldn’t have realised that I haven’t had my period in … how long has it been?

I glare at the blue box before ripping it open and pulling out the stick.

“You’d better only have one line,” I grumble.

It only takes a moment to do the test, but the instructions say now I need to wait. Doubt starts to creep in as I place the test on the bathroom cabinet. Could I be pregnant?

I do know we used condoms—I remember that much, plus I’m on birth control pills. But nothing’s one hundred per cent, and we did have sex multiple times.

And I’m sure I haven’t had my period since before our trip.

Oh God. I am pregnant.

I don’t even need to check the test to know.

The one night I kicked loose and acted out of character, I ended up pregnant. It’s also not like Declan and I will ever be in a relationship—his past speaks for itself.

It was just one night.

I wipe myself clean and pull up my panties, sitting on the toilet again for a moment before taking a deep breath and picking up the test.

Two pink lines.

For a moment, I just sit there. There’s nothing else I can do.

Declan O’Leary knocked me up and never called me.

What an asshole.

I glower at the test in my hand before slamming it down on the counter. Standing, I wash my hands, then pick the test back up to show Caitlin.

Her eyes widen when she takes the sight of me in.

“This is your fault.” I wave the test at her.

“Wait. What? What’s happened?” She grabs hold of my arm, and her mouth falls open as she stares at the plastic white stick. “Shit.”

“How the hell did this happen?”

Caitlin cocks her head. “Well, it usually happens when a penis is inserted into a vagina and …”

“This isn’t funny.” I frown again at the two pink lines on the white stick in front of me.

She slips her arm around my shoulders and I rest my head against hers. “There’s no way it’s not Declan’s?”

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