Page 28 of This Feeling

“What did she ask you?”

Downing the shot, Brystol leaned forward and set the glass on the coffee table. She looked at me…and the words that came out of her mouth werenotwhat I was expecting.

“To carry her baby for her.”

I whipped my head around to Declan, and he stood. “I’ll pour three shots.”

Nodding, I focused back on Brystol. “Evelyn wants you to carry her and Denny’s baby?”

“Yep,” she said, popping her P. “They’ve been trying for two years, but Evelyn’s body keeps rejecting the egg. So, they want to take one of her eggs, and his sperm, and do whatever it is they do to it, then put it in me. And I’d carry the baby.”

Declan handed us both a shot.

“Where’s yours?” I asked.

“I already drank it. Brystol, do you want me to leave?”

She shook her head. “No. I know we don’t know each other all that well, but I’d really like a guy’s take on this.”

“Why?” he asked, sitting back down. “It’s your body that has to go through the pregnancy and then the birth of a child.”

“Which isn’t mine to keep.”

He nodded. “True. Every part of this would be hard.”

“I agree, Brystol. This is a huge ask.”

Brystol stared at the empty shot glass. “Declan, if I did this for them…do you think any future guy I might date would be upset, knowing that our child wasn’t the first that I carried?”

He sat back and let out a slow breath. “Shit.” He ran a hand down his face, then looked at Brystol. “I don’t thinkI’dbe upset, if it were me. I mean, if the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with did this for someone close to her, why would I have any right to have a say in that? Or what if you were a single mom? If we fell in love, I don’t think that would stop me from wanting a future with you, just because you already had a kid.”

A look of relief washed over her face. “Really? So, from a man’s perspective, it wouldn’t cause you to think…differently of me?”

“I think…” He looked at me, then back to Brystol. “I can’t speak for all guys, but for me, no. It wouldn’t make a difference. It’syourbody, Brystol. You can do whatever you want with it. No one has the right to tell you otherwise.”

And in that moment, I fell a bit more for Declan…which wasn’t good, since I was in a fake relationship with his brother.

“Harper?”

My gaze snapped from where I’d been staring at Declan to look at Brystol. “Yeah?”

“Would you do this?”

I downed the shot and set the glass on the table, suddenly realizing my hangover was gone.

“I mean…Brystol…I don’t know. I guess if one of my sisters had been struggling to have a baby and they came to me, asking me to carry a baby, I would probably do it. But…that’s a pretty huge thing to ask of someone.”

“Sure the hell is,” Declan said.

Brystol stood and started to pace. “I know.”

“What did you tell her?” he asked.

“That I had to think about it. She understood and told me to take as much time as I needed. She gave me the name of her doctor, in case I wanted to ask her questions, and a few other references to look at.”

“Have you talked to Nancy?” I turned to Declan, figuring he wouldn’t know who I was talking about. “Nancy Duggan, Brystol’s mom.”

Brystol gaped at me. “Harper, you’vemetmy mother.”

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