Page 26 of Slayin Villain
“I feel like it,” I muttered, stirring my sweet tea and avoiding eye contact.
“You gonna tell me what’s got you looking like you kissed the devil and didn’t like it?”
I took a breath.
Then I said the words that made it real.
“I’m pregnant.”
Connie blinked once.Twice.Then set her drink down like we were about to shift from casual to critical.
“Villain’s?”
I nodded.
She didn’t ask if I was sure.Didn’t need to.
“How long you known?”
“Weeks, maybe a month, way before the night I saw him with Ember.And I know y’all have been talkin’ about him with her for weeks.”I swallowed.
“You needed to see it for yourself.”
“I guess.It felt like punishment.Like the universe just wanted to see if I’d break.”
Connie leaned in.“Baby girl, don’t make the mistake of thinking life waits until you're ready to live it.Or love it.”
I blinked at her.“You think I should tell him?”
“You think you shouldn’t?”
I hesitated.“What if I do, and he just feels trapped?What if I become the thing that ties him to a life he doesn’t want?”
Connie snorted.“He’s already bound as a bastard.He already is tied to you.He just don’t know the knot’s got your name on it yet.”
I wanted to believe her.God, I did.But all I could see was the look on his face when he leaned into Ember.The way his hand fit too easily on her hip.The way he used to touch me.
I stood, grabbing my jacket.
“I need to think.”
Connie caught my wrist.“Don’t think too long, sweetheart.Time don’t give second chances.And men like Villain?If you don’t speak your truth, someone else will fill your silence.”
I drove aimlessly through Nashville, past the old church where we’d once crashed a wedding, past the riverbank where Villain had kissed me under fireworks last July.
It all felt like another life.One where I still believed I was enough.
I ended up back at my trailer, staring at the phone in my lap.His contact photo stared up at me, half grin, cigarette dangling, eyes full of something I used to trust.
I typed the text.
We need to talk.
Then deleted it.
Typed it again.
Then my phone buzzed.
