Page 136 of The Renegade Billionaire

“Oh fuck,” he says. When he nudges my body forward a few inches, I know he sees his cum slipping out of my entrance. “The condom broke.”

31

BRAXTON

“It’s fine.I’m fine. We’re totally fine,” Madison says in the shower. It’s the third one she’s taken since last night, so I know everything is not fine.

I got up this morning and drove an hour away to buy Plan B, only to remember that today is Thanksgiving and the twenty-four-hour pharmacy is running on limited hours. What if someone needed insulin or an EpiPen?

“Tomorrow is fine. It will be fine.” She’s still muttering to herself as steam billows out over the shower curtain.

She’s spiraling and is anything but fine, so I strip down and step into the scalding water behind her.

“You can’t burn my sperm away, sweetheart.” I reach around her to adjust the temperature.

Her shoulders droop, and she hiccups. Fuck me, she’s crying.

Spinning her to face me, she attempts to avert her gaze, but I see the tears mixing with the shower spray, and it guts me. I nearly crumple to the floor and beg for forgiveness even though we both know it was an accident.

Still, I blame fucking Pops for jinxing us with his talk about safe sex.

“The pharmacy in Hopevale opens at noon,” I tell her. “I’ll go as soon as it opens.”

She drops her forehead to my chest. “They don’t sell Plan B there. It’s a family-owned pharmacy, and they refuse to sell it.”

What kind of backward bullshit is that?

“I’ll go back to the twenty-four-hour one tonight. They’re open from two to eight.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be a mother.” Her voice is so low the running water almost drowns it out. “But my mother isn’t winning any parenting awards anytime soon. What if I’m bad at it?”

Now is not the time to tell her that the thought of being a father terrifies me to my very bones. But there’s something about Madison questioning her own ability that twists the knife in my chest a little harder. She’d be an amazing mom.

“You could never be bad at it. You’re too full of love.” It’s the truth, even if it confuses everything I thought I wanted after raising Sage.

But if we find out that she’s pregnant, it’s ultimately her decision, and I’ll support her no matter what she decides.

She inhales deeply three times, then stands upright with a too-bright smile. “I’m sure it’s fine.” There’s that fucking word again. Fine. It’s a bullet to the nuts every time she says it. “I just had my period not that long ago.” Her words gain strength, but the sadness in her expression tells a different story. “Women ovulate before their periods. It’s totally going to be fine.” Her smile turns the sunbeam down a few notches until it almost resembles her real one.

“No matter what happens, Madison, I am here for you, for us.” My gaze draws down to her stomach. Could my baby be inside her right now? The thought makes my mind spiral.

She turns away quickly. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” I reach around her again to turn off the water. She was hiding in here, but it’s time to face the day.

“Like the idea of me being pregnant terrifies you.”

“I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t scare me at least a little. But let’s not borrow trouble. There’s no use in worrying about something that might not even be.”

Wrapping a towel around her, I turn to retrieve one for myself.

“What if I don’t want to take Plan B?” she whispers, but the words detonate explosions inside my body.

I take my time wrapping a towel around my waist before turning back to her. She’s biting her bottom lip again, and I can practically feel the fear rolling off her.

What if she doesn’t take it? I don’t fucking know. Think, Braxton. Don’t say something stupid—something you will definitely regret.

“If you don’t want to take it, then we’ll figure out all the right steps to keep you safe. I’m here to support you whatever you decide,” I say with a confidence I don’t feel. “You just have to tell me what you want, and I’ll do whatever I can.”