Page 28 of Only for Tonight
Ariella: Just dropped Zoey off. Should be there in twenty-seven minutes, depending on traffic.
Me: Sounds good. Are you hungry?
Ariella: I’m not eating until tomorrow morning.
I laugh as I get out of the SUV and head inside. Turning off the alarm, I walk to the kitchen where I take off the tan suede jacket and toss it on one of the stools before going to the fridge and nervously opening it, only to close it and then go into the living room. I sit on the couch, turning on the television and my leg starts to shake, so I get up and decide to open the windows and hear the ocean.
Stepping out onto the patio, I stare off into the distance and see the sun setting. Putting my hands on the railing, I just watch it, trying to calm the nervous energy down. I hear the sound of a car door slam and I look over toward my front door. Not even waiting to hear the doorbell, my feet are already moving to the entry. I see her silhouette in the door, similar to how it was two days ago, but this time I know it’s her.
I unlock the door and pull it open. “Hi,” I greet her, trying to remain calm, cool, and collected and probably failing miserably. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” She takes a step in and then stops, and I smell the soft hint of her floral perfume. My mouth waters to taste her, but I know it is probably not a good idea.
“Come in,” I repeat to her as I walk toward the living room. “I know you aren’t hungry, but do you want something to drink?” She shakes her head and looks toward the staircase as we walk past it to go to the living room.
“Are we alone?” she asks nervously, looking over her shoulder toward the stairs.
“Yes,” I confirm as soon as she asks the question.
“Okay, good,” she replies as she nervously wrings her hands together.
“Do you want to sit outside”—I move my hand and point it toward the balcony—“or would you like to talk in here?”
“Anywhere is fine.” She avoids looking at me.
“Let’s sit right here.” I point to the couch, and she nods, walking around to sit on it. I wait for her to sit down before I take a spot almost across from her. “So how long are you in town?” I don’t even know what to say.
“I’m not sure; I came mainly to talk to you.” Her voice cracks and she laughs to cover it up.
“Okay.” I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees as I fold my hands together in front of me, and they hang between my open legs.
“Are you with someone?” she asks me, and I can see the uncertainty all over her face.
“I am not,” I assure her. “I know what it looked like.” I shake my head. “I wasn’t then either.”
“Right,” she draws out and she goes to the edge of the couch. “She came down wearing your T-shirt and probably nothing else.”
“I can say that you are the last person I slept with, and you were for a while before that.”
I watch her process what I just said, and she just stares at me. “What I’m going to say is going to be a bit shocking to you. It was shocking to me, and it’s still shocking, actually.” I just look at her. “I really don’t know how to say it, so I’m just going to say it.” I watch her say the words and it sounds like she’s a Transformer when she says them. “I’m pregnant.”
I blink my eyes a couple of times before my mouth moves. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I’m pregnant,” she repeats. “I know it’s a lot to take in right now.”
“How?” I sit up, and when that isn’t good enough, I stand up and cock my hip and fold my arms over my chest.
“I mean, we sort of had sex.” Her hand comes up and she points to me and then her. “Together.”
“I know that, Ariella,” I grit through my teeth, “but we used protection each and every single time.”
“Well, Jaxon”—she stands up—“one of them obviously didn’t work because I’m pregnant with your child.” She points to her stomach.
“Are you sure?” I ask her and she nods her head as her eyebrows go up. “Sometimes you can get a false positive.”
“I’ve taken nine pregnancy tests and they’ve all been positive, plus a blood test with my OB/GYN in New York, so I’m really fucking sure,” she informs me. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you in person, which is why I came here,” she says softly. “So now you know. I also wanted to let you know that I don’t expect anything from you. You can be as involved as you want to be, but I’m having this baby.”
“As involved as I want to be?”
