He grabs my wrists, pulling my hands off his face. “I’m going to hurt him, Dylan. It’s going to happen.” He pauses, blinking heavily. “This shit better work,” he all but whispers, dropping his gaze away from mine.

“Please,” I beg through a strained voice, ignoring his last comment and only focusing on his threat. “Please, don’t do anything. Beating the shit out of him isn’t worth losing your job or going to jail over.” My lip begins to tremble and the tears come again. “Please, Reese. I can’t have anything happen to you.” We can’t have anything happen to you. I drop my head to his shoulder, feeling his arms wrap around me as I place a protective hand over my belly. Something would happen. This gut feeling I have isn’t going away.

“Shhh. I don’t want you to worry about this, okay? Dylan, I’m a smart guy. You need to trust me. I’m not going to do anything that’s going to get me put in jail. Hey, look at me.”

I keep my head down. “No. I’m ugly-crying right now.”

He laughs into my hair before forcing my head back, tucking my hair behind my ears. “You don’t ugly anything.” I see his eyes drop down to my stomach. My hand is still there and he places his on top of mine and studies it for several seconds. I hear my breathing quicken as his brows furrow. And then he looks back up at me, lips partying slightly, and I see it. The moment it hits him. His free hand cups my face. “Love, are you…”

I place a finger to his lips and smile. “I don’t know. I was thinking maybe I could be. It would explain why I got so sick this morning. Juls put the thought into my head. She thinks she’s pregnant, too.” He shifts me off his lap and gets to his feet, stepping into his shoes. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to the store to get you a test. You’re taking one tonight.”

I sit on my knees and stare up at him. “What? No, I’m not. I’m taking one with Juls. We made a pact.”

He glares at me. “Fuck that. I’m not going to be able to fall asleep tonight unless I know.” He places a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll be back.” He goes to walk toward the door but halts mid-step. Turning around, he bends down and places a kiss to my belly.

I giggle. “Reese. You could just be kissing the pretzels I ate on the plane.”

He hits me with a wink before grabbing his keys off the counter and walking out the door.

14

“How many did you buy?” I hover my finger over the boxes Reese has just dumped onto the bed, counting them out. All my Bryce anxieties vanished the moment Reese assured me he’d be smart about things. And now the only thing I’m concerned with is how much money my fiancé just spent at the local drug store. “Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen? You bought seventeen pregnancy tests? These things are like twenty bucks a piece.”

He looks over at me curiously. “How the hell do you know?”

I wave him off. “Please. Every girl knows how much these things cost.” I pick up the one that has a smiling mother-to-be on the front. “Well, I guess this one looks good.” I take the box with me out of his bedroom and step into the hallway bath. Turning around, I see him at the door. “Um, what are you doing?”

He shakes his head, seemingly in a trance. “I don’t know. Should I come in with you?”

I scrunch up my face. “You want to watch me pee?”

“No, I guess not.”

I lean into him and kiss his cheek. “Relax. I’ll be out in a second.”

Closing the door behind me, I begin to open the box and hear a faint whooshing sound. I place my ear to the door. “Reese?”

“Yeah?” he answers immediately.

“Are you sitting outside the door?” I hear movement and smile, followed by a faint “no” in the distance a few seconds later. I pull out the instructions and read them over quickly, trying to calm the anxiousness building rapidly within me.

He’s pacing in front of the bed, hands raking through his hair and down his face in a continual pattern. He looks up just as I step into the room. “Well?”

“Three minutes.”

He sighs heavily, gripping the back of his neck with one hand. I sit on the edge of the bed and watch him burn a hole into the carpet. Back and forth, each step more purposeful than the last. His hair is a right mess and he’s chewing nervously on his bottom lip. I see his eyes routinely go to the clock on the nightstand. I’m not even taking note of the time. I know he’ll let me know when the three minutes are up. He glances once more at the clock and stops, turning toward me.

“Ready?” I ask, holding my hand out to him. He hesitates before forcing a nod and grabbing my hand. I stop at the doorway to the bathroom and look up into his glazed-over eyes. I’ve never seen Reese nervous before but right now, he’s definitely nervous. I’m trying to keep my apprehension hidden, but it’s there. “Can you check? I’d rather you tell me.”

He drops all hint of uneasiness and steps into the bathroom, placing one hand on either side of the test and hovering over it. He leans in closer, studying it before grabbing the instructions I left out on the counter. I watch him for what feels like hours, his eyes going from the test to the instructions and back again. I see his shoulders sag, and my stomach drops. He places the test down and walks over to me, grabbing both my hands.

He shakes his head. “It’s negative. Two lines mean you’re pregnant, right?”