Page 98 of Pinch
“Birthing center?” Gigi gasps, and my stomach pits.
“You tell me you’ve been secretly dating my cousin since Halloween, and now I find out you got some chick pregnant?” Mav comes at me with a forearm to my neck, slamming me against the wall again. “Who is she?”
“Jesus, Mav,” I grunt, trying to get him off my windpipe. “You don’t understand…”
He’s holding me hard, and sparks appear in my vision. “You made a big mistake messing with a Bradford.”
“Maverick!” Haddy shouts, her voice echoing in the living room. “Stop it! What are you doing?”
“I’m throwing this fucker out of our house. I’ll teach him to break your heart, get some girl pregnant…”
“It’s me, Maverick!” Haddy is right beside us now, pulling Mav’s arm away from my neck.
Thank God, because I was starting to black out.
“What?” The pressure disappears from my throat entirely, and I lean forward, holding my neck.
I do my best to catch my breath. Spanky bounds over and licks me right in the face. I guess he thinks this is all a game.
“I’m the pregnant chick,” Haddy explains.
“What?” Gigi’s voice goes high with a mix of wonder and excitement, and Spanky jumps, letting out a happy yip.
Haddy pulls up her oversized sweater to reveal her cute little baby bump poking through her pregnancy pants. Hell, I think the baby’s gotten a little bigger since the ultrasound. We are at the mango stage, I guess.
“Haddy, oh my God!” Tears flood Gina’s eyes, and she throws her arms around her cousin. “Why didn’t you tell me? Look at that cute little bump! How far along are you? What is it?”
“Dang, bro.” Mav rubs the back of his neck, looking confused and sheepish. “I’m really sorry I tried to kill you just now. I had no idea.”
“No worries…” My voice is rough, and my throat hurts from being crushed by his muscled forearm. “I would’ve wanted to kill me, too, if I thought what you did.”
He shakes his head, rubbing his face. “I didn’t want to believe it, but I saw those pictures and, well, there was all that past shit.”
It burns to know Karen’s lie still casts doubt on my name, but I accept his apology. “You love Haddy. I get it.”
“Although…” His tone changes. “You knocked up my cousin. Are you planning to marry her?”
My eyes meet his, and I hesitate. I think he sees the thoughts I’ve been turning over in my mind, and a flash of understanding is there.
It’s like when we’re out on the ice, and we know what we’re about to do, but Haddy walks over to shove his shoulder.
“You are so old fashioned, Maverick Murphy! First you try to kill your best friend, and now you’re trying to marry me off like I don’t have a say in the matter.”
He bites back a grin, but I shake my head to let it go. It’s not time.
Changing his tone, he shrugs. “I just wanted to know where we stood.”
“Where we stand is absolute, top secrecy.” Her blue eyes are sharp, and she points a cute finger up at her cousin. “No one can find out about this, understand?”
“No…” Mav frowns down at her.
“Haddeeee…” Gigi hugs her waist, resting her strawberry head on her cousin’s shoulder. “I want to start shopping and buying little outfits and doing all the things. We need to have a shower and a gender reveal party and we have to tell the family…”
“We can’t do any of that, Gigi.” Haddy takes her arm, turning to face her cousin. “If the IPW finds out, they’ll strip me of my title. I’ll have to pay back all the scholarship money, and I’ve already spent it on tuition.”
The old anger in me is reignited hearing her say all of these things. “I told her it doesn’t matter. I can help her with tuition…”
“Strip you of your title?” Outrage infuses Gigi’s voice, and I couldn’t agree more. “That is absolutely the most patriarchal, discriminatory, misogynistic…”
