Page 12 of Time Out

I’d felt desperate.

That was probably a weekly occurrence for him. I would have been forgotten the next day, which was why I’d snuck out before that awkward goodbye could happen or before I could suggest I give him my number and have him either take it and never call or politely turn me down.

Next to me, Belle stood and started cleaning up my pregnancy sticks and boxes. “Do you need anything?”

“A better family?” The joke fell flat as Belle’s smile.

“You have me and Lance and my family. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“He’s moving in with you and you’re starting your own life together. I need to figure this out on my own.”

Just like I’d been doing since I’d gotten pulled out of my conservative Christian college after my resident adviser found a boy in my room.

We’d only been kissing, but it was after curfew. The fact that Jacob had brought beer, which was a huge no-no, was the second mark on my record. The school had called my parents, and they’d yanked me out of school. When I refused to return home to our small town in the middle of Nowheresville, Missouri to repent from my sins, they told me I was on my own.

“Should have named you Jezebel, you harlot. You may return to the fold when you’re ready to repent of your sins.”

Yeah… no thanks, Mom.

My father had only been slightly less hurtful. “That’s what happens without the protection and leadership of a man over your life.”

I could hear him scratching his next sermon, probably a warning to all the women in the congregation. They’d use me as a warning, and many of the young girls would probably never be allowed to leave home if they were still single.

The only people I missed were my younger siblings, mostly my sisters. Their life would only get harder because of my screw-ups.

“Knew we never should have sent you to school. Knew the world would sink its evil claws into you.”

“Hey.” Belle shook my shoulder and stood, grunting as she stood. “Come on. Lance and I will never turn our backs on you. We may not be blood, but you’re stuck with us forever.”

“Thanks.”

She took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get some food in you. We’ll have this all sorted in no time.”

Right. It’d be so easy to go talk to a professional football player, show up at his door and say, “Hey, remember me? Well, you’re stuck with me forever now.”

I might have grown up in an ultra-conservative Christian family where I hadn’t been allowed to wear jeans until I was exiled, but I’d lived enough in the last three years.

That night I’d spent with Davis Hall, had been the best night of my life, and that was before the sex that lasted all night. He was funny. He’d offered me a reprieve from the anxiety running through my mind like a hamster on a wheel. We’d laughed and teased, even in the midst of passionate, limb-wrecking sex. I’d never felt so free. Heck, I’d allowed him to go down on me when I’d only let one other guy do that. Enjoyed the hell out of it too.

My core pulsed at the memory. That first swipe of his tongue against my already swollen and ready clit, and I shivered. Damn, he was good.

“Right. It’ll all be sorted. Everything will be fine. My future is mine for the making.”

“That’s the spirit.” Belle laughed. “Keep saying it and you might believe it.”

I had to. The belief I could make something of myself, on my own, was the only thing I had left.

Well, other than a mostly stranger’s DNA growing inside of me.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this. And on Christmas.”

Belle wove her car through the streets of Nashville.

“It’s Christmas Eve, and they had a game today. He’ll have to be home.”

“Yeah, with a house filled with friends or something. Or worse… family.”

Pregnant after a one-night stand. I wasn’t exactly nailing the take home to mom material.

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