Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Problem was, he didn’t set me down fast enough, and I vomited all over both of us. My cheeks heated in embarrassment as tears filled my eyes. “Oh, Julian, I’m so sorry,” I cried.
He stared down at himself for a moment before he shook his head. “Fuck,” he swore. He looked down at my face and tugged me closer. “Oh, baby, please don’t cry,” he begged me. “It’s okay. We have a washer, and we have a shower. Everything is okay,” he soothed.
My bottom lip trembled, and I sobbed. He brushed his lips over my forehead. “It’s okay, baby,” he assured me. “We’ll be home in a few minutes.”
11
I clutched the toilet bowl in the downstairs bathroom as I retched. My stomach muscles clenched painfully as I threw up everything that I had eaten that morning.
Breakfast had been going great until I took a bite of bacon. It was over from there, and I hadn’t left the bathroom since.
“Babe, this isn’t normal,” Julian said softly, worry tinting his tone. I threw up again. “You’re not running a fever. What’s going on, babe?”
“I don’t know,” I moaned. I groaned as my stomach clenched again. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the sides of the toilet.
“Fuck this,” Julian snapped. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
I weakly shook my head. I didn’t have insurance. Taking me to the ER for throwing up was unnecessary. “Julian, I’ll be fine,” I mumbled.
“I’m not taking any chances.” He grabbed me under my arms and helped me up from the floor. “Go brush your teeth,” he instructed. “I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“Julian—"
He pressed his finger to my lips. “Don’t argue with me, Meghan.”
With a roll of my eyes, I walked out of the downstairs bathroom and went upstairs to the bedroom Julian and I were now sharing and changed into a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. After brushing my teeth, I went back downstairs, my stomach still churning.
Julian pressed his hand to my lower back and led me outside to his car. I sighed heavily. “Julian, really this isn’t—oh, God, what is that smell?” I asked as I gagged and slammed my hand over my nose.
“What the fuck do you smell?” Julian asked me as he opened the passenger door of his car.
I waved at him to close the door. He quickly did so, and I dragged in a deep breath of his clean car. It smelled just like—did he leave his fucking gym clothes in the car?
I turned in my seat and covered my nose as I glared at the sweaty gym bag that was left open in the backseat. I swung my glare to Julian as he opened his car door. He sighed tiredly, but there was a lot of patience in his eyes. “What now, babe?”
“Your gym clothes,” I mumbled.
He opened the back door and pulled the bag out without a word. After he put his disgusting clothes in the trunk, he slid into the driver’s seat. “There’s something really damn wrong with you, babe,” he grunted.
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶
* * *
I crossed my legs on the hospital bed, looking up at the emergency room doctor as she flipped through my packet. I had a barf bag sitting in my lap on the off chance I decided to throw up again. Julian was sitting behind me with his legs on either side of me, his hands settled on my thighs.
“Well, I know why you’re so sick,” the doctor said as she set my lab work results in her lap. “Meghan, when was your last menstrual cycle?” she asked me.
I looked at her in confusion. “The third,” I told her, confusion clouding my voice. “Why?”
She sighed. “You’re approximately . . .” she trailed off as she did some quick math in her head, “four weeks and five days pregnant.”
My blood ran cold in my veins. Julian’s hands tightened on my thighs. Tears welled in my eyes, and I dropped my face in my hands as I sobbed.
Pregnant.
How the fuck did this happen to me?
“Can we have a moment?” Julian asked quietly from behind me.
I heard the door open and close a moment later. Julian wrapped his arms around me and tugged me back against him as he nuzzled my neck. “I’m so sorry,” I cried. This would complicate things so much. I’d have to figure out how to navigate the rest of college and somehow secure a job so I could provide for a baby. And Julian—God, his career.
“Baby, why?” he asked me softly, confusion clouding his voice. “You didn’t do this by yourself,” he reminded me. He laughed softly. “Quite frankly, these past two weeks, we’ve been fucking like crazy.”
I didn’t find anything about this funny. “But your career, the Patriots.” I shook my head. “I’m ruining your dreams.”
“Meghan, I turned the Patriots down a while back,” he told me softly.