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“Annie,” I say carefully, my patience starting to fray, wondering if she’s lost her damn mind. “What the hell am I supposed to be looking at?”
Her jaw tightens. Then, without a word, she reaches into the bin and pulls out—
A crumpled pharmacy bag.
My stomach drops an inch.
My pulse kicks up.
Before I can process that, she tosses it over her shoulder and shoves her hand back into the bin and pulls out—
I recognize it immediately.
My entire body goes still.
She holds it up, watching me carefully, her fingers wrapped tightly around it. She looks pissed. She looks scared.
But all I can see are the two pink lines.
My heart stops.
The storm outside rages on.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Annie
The wind is howling through the trees, rain hammering against the windows like it’s trying to get in. But inside this room, inside this moment, everything is still.
Cole stares at me, his green eyes locked on the pregnancy test in my hand, his entire body tense.
I don’t say anything. I don’t have to. I just hold it up, let him see the result clear as day. Two pink lines.
Positive.
Cole stares at it. Then at me.
His throat works, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. “Are you sure?”
His voice is quiet, controlled, but there’s something in it I can’t quite place. “Sometimes those things give false positives.”
I don’t answer.
I toss the test onto the chest at the foot of the bed and reach back into the bin.
And pull out another test.
Then another.
And another.
And one more, for good measure.
Until I have five tests lined up on the chest, every single one of them showing the same thing.
I watch as Cole’s chest rises and falls, his jaw tightening as he stares down at them. His fingers twitch at his sides like he wants to reach for one, like maybe if he touches it, it’ll make this real. Or break the illusion.
I swallow hard. My voice is quieter now. “I’m sure.”