Page 134 of Stay With Me

Magnolia

If it weren’t for the fact that I can feel my pulse beating in my neck, I’d assume my heart exploded by the chest pains taking over.

Saying those two words to the man I wanted forever with should be an exciting occasion—if the baby were his. As painful as this will be for both of us, I have to tell him the full truth.

He clears his throat as if he’s contemplating how to respond. “You’re...jokin’. Right? Is this part of the breeding kink fantasy or something? You can’t find out you’re pregnant that quickly after sex, can you? It’s been less than a week.”

Five days, to be exact.

I shake my head, lowering my gaze because I can’t stomach watching the pain I’m about to bring him.

“No. I was pregnant already when we had sex. I just didn’t know it then.”

“How’s that possible?” He tilts his head as if he’s trying to count how long we’ve been together. Uncertainty flashes across his face. “What am I missin’ here?”

I meet his gaze, my hands shaking as I hold them in my lap. “Before you and I started datin’, I had a one-night stand. We usedprotection, but when I kept gettin’ sick, I realized it was possible I could be pregnant, so I took a test.”

His lips twitch as if he wants to say a thousand things at once. “A-are you okay? I mean, that has to be a lot to wrap your head around.”

“Physically, I feel sick twenty hours a day. Mentally, not great. This was unexpected and things between us were going so well...” I pause briefly, collecting my thoughts. “But this changes things.”

He stands abruptly, wiping his palms down his jeans. “Whaddya mean?”

“I’m pregnant...with someone else’s baby. I’m gonna be a first-time mom. How would thatnotchange things?”

He tilts his head curiously. “Sunny. Who’s the father?”

I don’t want to say the words that’ll crush his heart, but there’s no getting around it. He’ll find out the truth eventually.

“Tripp...” I hesitate, wishing I could change how badly this is going to hurt him. He looks at me like he already knows and is pleading with me not to confirm it. “I’m so sorry.”

“Please,pleasetell me you didn’t sleep with your ex. I need you to tell me that.”

The desperation in his voice has me fighting back tears. Instead of trying to speak, I just nod.

With his jaw tense, eyes narrowed into slits, and hands balled into fists, he looks lethal. “Did he drug you again?”

I shake my head.

“Why would you go back to him?” He scrubs a hand over his pained face. “After everything he did to you,why?”

His voice isn’t judgmental, but I hear the disappointment and disbelief in his tone.

A wave of dizziness hits me as my eyes gloss over. “I wasn’t thinkin’ clearly. It was the night of Landen’s birthday party, and I thought you were gonna hook up with Lydia. Stupidly, I got trashed, and when he asked me to go home with him, I was too gone to care. I fell into what was familiar at a time when I feltreally low about myself. I’m not proud of what I did, and I regret it immensely.”

“That’s why he started harassing you again about gettin’ back together.”

“Yeah. When I told him to lose my number and blocked him, that’s when he showed up at my trailer and started leavin’ me notes.”

He scrubs a hand through his hair, pulling the strands and shaking his head. “Fuck, Sunny. I hate him so goddamn much. You have no idea. So many times over the years I was tempted to knock him out on his ass. That night he drugged and shoved you in an Uber, I was close to losin’ it. If Landen hadn’t been there to help me, I would’ve knocked his sorry ass out and not quit until he stopped breathing.”

The vein in his forehead is throbbing and so red, I swear it’s going to burst.

“I know, and it’s why this makes things extra difficult.”

“Wait...” He sits on the coffee table, caging my legs between his thighs. “Are you going back to him? Is that what you’re tellin’ me?”

Quickly, I shake my head. “No! God, no. I don’t even want him to be the father. If I could hide my pregnancy and keep the baby a secret, I would. But there’s no doubt he’ll eventually find out.”