Page 52 of Playing for Keeps
And I had been beating myself up about that night constantly since. What had I been thinking, hooking up with Luke’s sister? It was obvious which head had been making the decisions that night.
I’d been avoiding Luke, taking extra shifts in my holiday job so I had an excuse not to be around him. I’d felt so guilty I could hardly bear to look at him when we were together.
I knew I needed to tell him what had happened. And shit, that was going to be a truly horrendous conversation.
The whole way to the park, I’d gone over the different scenarios for letting Char down gently. What I should say so she wouldn’t hate me. Or, even worse, make her decide to tell Luke what had happened before I had a chance to explain it to him myself.
When I arrived, she was sitting on a bench overlooking the rose garden. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail but wispy bits had escaped, creating a frizzy ring around her forehead.
“Hey.” I sat on the bench next to her, leaving a decent gap between us.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
I attempted a smile, but I was pretty sure it came out mutated. Or maybe mutilated.
I fidgeted with the hem of my T-shirt. “That’s okay. So…um…what did you want to talk to me about?”
Char took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”
My breath slammed out of me.
Luke.
Luke.
Oh holy fuck, Luke.
I had no idea why my first thought was of Luke, but suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
I hunched over, gasping, trying desperately to get some oxygen into my lungs.
“Ethan.” Char’s voice was worried. I felt her hand tentatively touch my back.
Shit. I needed to get it together. Man up. Because this wasn’t about me.
“Sorry…” I straightened up, trying to compose myself back into a rational human being. I ran a hand over my face before meeting her eyes.
“So what do you want to do?” I asked.
She bit her lip. “I don’t want to have an abortion. I…I just don’t think I could go through with it.”
“Okay.”
It was such a simple word, but with that word I accepted the basic truth.
Char was going to have a baby. I was going to be a dad.
Nothing was ever going to be the same again.
I took some more deep breaths. “I’ll support you in whatever way I can.”
“Thanks.”
Char seemed eerily composed, but how much was she freaking out on the inside? It was impossible to know. Luke was hard enough to read, but Char was next level inscrutable.
They were like their mother in that way. Anthony wore his heart on his sleeve, whereas the rest of the family had theirs tucked away where no one could see.
Fuck, Char’s parents. My stomach lurched.
