Nick closed his eyes. “How far did you get?”
“To the end. I’m sorry. I’m a bad person.”
“No, you’re not. You probably would have seen them sooner or later. They’re crap.”
“No, actually, they’re really good. Beautiful. Especially the last one,” she added.
He changed the subject. “Gosh, I’m a terrible roommate, aren’t I? I’m sorry. I didn’t even say hi to you or ask you how Atlanta was.” With that, he pulled her into a friendly hug and kissed her cheek. “Hi, Shelle, how was Atlanta?”
“It was okay, I guess. I thought about everything, and I came to a decision.” Just as she opened her mouth to elaborate, the phone rang. She reached for it. “Hello?”
“Darling, are you home all right?” It was her mom.
“Yes, Mom, I’m fine. I’m actually kind of busy right now,” she said evenly. “Can I call you back later?”
“You don’t have to. I just called to see if you were okay.”
“Yes, I am. Bye, Mom.”
“Bye.”
She hung up and turned the ringer off before going to the refrigerator to get a Coke, but when she opened it, it was empty. “Did you do any shopping while I was gone?” she giggled.
He blushed a little bit. “No, I didn’t. I had no clue what to get. You’re good at that.”
“Okay, well screw the idea of having something to drink, then. Forget it. Come on, let’s go in the living room and we can talk. I really wanna get this off my chest.”
He shrugged and followed her to the sofa. “Did you decide between me and Jesse?”
She sighed and laughed nervously. “Well, that’s the funny part. My decision was kind of made for me.”
“What?”
“Please don’t freak out on me, Nick. I can’t handle that right now.” She took a deep breath. “I’m kind of…well, not kind of…you can’t really be kind of pregnant. I’m pregnant.”
His skin deathly pale, he jumped up from his chair. “No, that can’t be. Tell me you’re lying.”
“Nick, you’re not helping me. You’re freaking out.”
“Damn right I’m freaking out! I’m not ready to be a parent!” he exclaimed. “And I don’t think you are, either!”
“Well, I’m having this baby, with or without your help.”
“But Shelle, you can’t!”
“Why the hell can’t I? I’m not even asking you to do anything to help me. This baby is growing inside me, not you, so I think I have the right to decide what’s going to happen to it.”
“You’re going to be doing this without me, then, because there’s no way in hell I can be a father.”
“I never expected this response to come from you, Nickolas Carter. I thought you were better than that,” she shouted.
“I…I…whatever,” he muttered, storming out of the room.
After a few seconds, she heard the back door slam, followed by the sound of the Prowler’s engine starting. Maybe Jesse was a better choice than Nick. Well, after that outburst, he must be. It was a little late now, though, because Jesse wasn’t going to help her raise a kid who wasn’t his own. There was obviously no way he would think it was, since they’d never been intimate like that before. She was screwed, literally and figuratively. For the first time since she found out she was pregnant, she hung her head and sobbed.