Page 78 of Bagging the Blueliner
Hannah reached her hand out, and just when I thought she was about to snag a box of tampons, she grabbed a pregnancy test.
Then another one.
And another one.
My entire life flashed before my eyes. I wasn’t just sleeping with Coach’s daughter; I’d knocked her up.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
Panicked, I ran from the pharmacy. Bent over, I tried to keep from hyperventilating, breaking out in a cold sweat. My heart was beating so loudly in my ears that it drowned out all sound.
I should have known things were going too well. Of course, the other shoe was going to drop. I’d flown too close to the sun being with Hannah, and now my life—my career—was over. There was no coming back from this once Coach found out.
“Cal.” My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything past the vision of Hannah grabbing an entire basket full of pregnancy tests playing on repeat. “Cal!”
Blinking, I focused enough to make out Jaxon standing before me. “Did you get what you needed?”
“No.”
“Oh, do you still need to pop inside?” Jaxon gestured toward the entrance to the pharmacy—the pharmacy that would be the background setting of my nightmares for years to come.
“Already did.”
“I thought you needed deodorant?” he asked, confused.
Looking down at my hands, I realized what we were talking about. I couldn’t go back in there. Nope, not doing it. “They were out,” I said in a daze.
“What? You’re not making any sense.”
“What’s with the twenty questions?” I snapped at him.
“Let’s go grab that drink.” He eyed me carefully. I probably looked like a man on the verge of freaking out. Who was I kidding? I was a man on the verge of freaking out.
“Drink. Yes.” Alcohol would take the edge off this situation.
Jaxon stared at me. “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”
“I’m fine.” I was the furthest thing from fine right now.
“Whatever you say.” He shook his head skeptically before crossing the street to the nearest bar.
Following, I let him lead me until we were both seated on barstools with beers in hand.
The dark thoughts threatened to pull me under, and I needed to talk to someone. Who better than Jaxon? He’d been in the same situation not so long ago.
Taking a long pull from my bottle, I cleared my throat. “What did you do when Natalie told you she was pregnant?”
Jaxon sputtered, choking on his beer. “Why would you ask me that?” When I didn’t answer, his eyes widened. “Please,pleasetell me you didn’t get Hannah pregnant.”
Putting my head in my hands, I groaned. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” he roared.
I grimaced, looking at my best friend. “I, um . . . saw her buying a pregnancy test in the pharmacy.”
“Oh shit.” Turning to the bartender, he held up two fingers before calling out, “Can we get two double scotches on the rocks?”
“I don’t want a scotch,” I protested.
