Page 66 of Becoming His

“But I can’t get rid of the baby, Annabelle.”

I stared at her, her eyes shining with love as she spoke, caressing her stomach softly.

“Chase and I always used condoms. But me and—well, we didn’t. I told him I was on birth control.”

I blinked, trying to slot the pieces of this crazy jigsaw together.

“You lied to Mr.—I mean—him? Why?”

She smiled half-heartedly as her eyes met mine.

“Because I’m in love with him.”

Thirty-Two

Strawberry Clouds

Ifelt sick for the remainder of the day. Even Bailey couldn’t lift my mood, and I promised to call him later that evening, claiming I just needed to sleep, which was somewhat true. I slumped against my door, relieved that the whole world was locked behind me.

“Well, well.” I heard a deep voice say softly, revealing Elijah in the doorway, in tartan pajama bottoms and a tight cream t-shirt. He watched me sling my shoes off, sighing heavily as I stretched and yawned. He pushed his glasses up his nose and studied me.

“All this “having a life” making you tired, is it?” He grinned at me as I shot him a look that made him raise his hands in mock defeat. “Seriously though, are you ok?”

I wasn’t quite sure what it was about Elijah, but he was more of a father figure to me than my actual father was. I chewed my lip as I pushed past him, pouring a glass of juice for myself. I offered him one, and he declined with a shake of his head. We were silent as I ran my finger over the rim of my glass, paying rapt attention to it.

“Eli.” I began, my voice quiet.

He gazed at me knowingly, responding with raised eyebrows. I shifted, sitting on the counter, my legs swinging below me.

“If you knew something was going on between two people and say it wasn’t morally correct—”

“But is it legal?” He interrupted as I stared at the floor, my face burning.

“Say it wasn’t.” My voice was too high-pitched, too unnatural. This time his gaze was stern, and I swallowed.

“Right.”

“If you told anyone, it would cause massive problems for everyone. Enormous problems. But what if you felt like you didn’t feel comfortable knowing it.”

“Are you pregnant?” he asked flatly as I gaped at him.

“What? No! Anyway, that’s hardly illegal.” I scoffed as I reddened. I saw relief pass over his face as he let out a huge sigh.

“Christ. Is it drugs?”

My mouth dropped open again. So far, Eli had assumed it was me and that I was either doing drugs or pregnant.

“You sound like a talk show host.” I snapped as he chuckled softly.

“Why don’t you tell me what is going on? You don’t have to give me names.”

I considered his words, nodding slowly.

“Promise me that you won’t tell Ray anything; this is important. I haven’t told her.” I warned as he made a show of crossing his heart with his finger.

“I swear.”

Our eyes met briefly, and the silence was brief before the words tumbled from my mouth.