Page 84 of Wicked Love

Elle

Stop it, you’re making me blush.

Sadie

Let’s celebrate! Drinks at The Fairy Hut? They’ve got delicious mocktails that you can enjoy too, Tru.

Tru

Yes to celebrating at The Fairy Hut!

I’m in!

Bowie must have asked Penn not to tell anyone yet. I’ll just have to figure out a way to be subtle about ordering a mocktail myself.

Elle

You guys are the best. I’d love to get together. Tomorrow night?

We all chime in that it works for us, and I find myself smiling for the first time since I talked to Bowie. I’m so happy for Elle, and celebrating with the girls is exactly what I need.

Marley has started a baby room ideas Pinterest board and has also been texting me her favorites. It’s sweet and a fun distraction, though I still feel somewhat detached that this isreally happening to me. I touch my stomach and look up the size of a fetus at this stage. A kumquat. Hmm. That doesn’t tell me much. I see somewhere else that it’s the size of an olive or grape.

Hmm. Olives sound good.

So crazy.

Later that night, as I slip under the covers, I’m back to that gnawing worry. I haven’t heard from Bowie. Basking in the warm afterglow of being with him last night was very short-lived.

I glance at my phone one more time. I’ve willed it to light up with a message from him all day long, but the screen stays dark. The quiet of my room makes my thoughts louder.

He’s processing, I tell myself, feeling hollow.

I curl onto my side, clutching my pillow. The sting of tears burns and I turn out the light, giving in to the uncertainty of my future.

Tomorrow I will wake up and not cry about this. It’s not good for the baby. It’s not good for me. But tonight I feel powerless to stop it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

SOS

BOWIE

I push open the door to Luminary, the post-workout fog clinging to me as much as the news I’m still wrestling to process. I’ve hardly slept, every thought since Poppy’s revelation reeling me under like quicksand.

Clara glances up from behind the counter, her usual mischievous grin fading when she sees my face. “Americano coming right up,” she says, knowing I’m not up for dancing today. She slides it across the counter a minutelater and when I look at the cup, I stare up at her. She wrinkles up her nose. “I couldn’t help myself.”

The cup says Daddy with a star next to it.

“Thanks,” I mutter, grabbing the cup and heading to the back room.

Henley, Weston, Penn, and Rhodes are already waiting, their expressions ranging from curiosity to full-blown concern.

“What’s going on?” Rhodes asks, standing up and squeezing my shoulder and then pulling out a chair for me. “You never call meetings. This is…unsettling.”

I sit down heavily, taking a long sip of coffee before setting the cup down.

“I’m scared,” Penn says, only half-joking.

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