He gasps, “Oh God. What happened?”
“I have to basically evacuate my apartment right now.”
“Whoa. Why? What’s going on?” he asks.
“There’s a leak or maybe a busted pipe in the ceiling above my bathroom. I don’t know yet. They offered to put me up in a hotel,” I tell him, waiting to see what he says.
“No. God, don’t do that. You can just stay here.”
“Are you sure?” I murmur, my palms sweating and stomach fluttering.
He scoffs. “Lainey, shut up. Of course I am. Now hurry up and come back home.”
Come back home …
There is something magical about those words coming out of his mouth. If only that statement were completely true and his home was my home.
Fuck, I shouldn’t think that. Just because there’s something between us doesn’t mean I’m going to move into his house, especially given the test results.
Am I crazy, feeling this way about Jensen right after getting out of a relationship with Cole? Part of me thinksyesbecause I’ve barely been single for a blink of an eye. The other part knows that Jensen and I have been connected for most of our lives. Maybe separating from Cole was the push I needed to realize how strong my feelings still are for Jensen.
“Okay.” I swallow back the emotion lingering in my throat. “I’ll be there soon. I’m going to run a few more errands to grab … some stuff.”
“Sounds good. So much for unpacking, huh?” he teases.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut it.” I hang up the phone, laughing.
Hannah walks out into the living room. “They’re going to shut off the water for your upstairs neighbor and you and figure out where the leak is coming from. Do you want to come downstairs and we can get a hotel set up?”
“That won’t be necessary,” I tell her. “I’m going to stay with a friend.”
She perks up, probably happy that she has to do less work, and I don’t blame her. “Okay, perfect. You’re welcome to hang out here as long as you’d like, but the water will be shut off momentarily. If anything changes, please let me know, and we can get a room for you nearby.”
Grabbing the handles of my four suitcases, I roll them toward the door, resting them against the wall beside it. “I’ll probably head out now so I’m not in anyone’s way. I just need to grab a couple things from the bathroom. Do you need anything else from me?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll call or text you if we do.”
“Thanks.” I flash her a smile before grabbing a grocery bag and heading to the bathroom, quickly throwing my bathroom stuff like shampoo, conditioner, hair brush, toothbrush, and toothpaste inside it before heading back to the front door to leave.
It’s like the second I step out of the room, reality crashes around me.
Here I am, standing in the hallway of my new apartment in New York, rolling all of my belongings toward the elevator not twenty minutes after I found out I’m pregnant with my ex’s baby, the day after my boss told me we need to have a meeting when I’m back on Tuesday. Since there’s a holiday next week, I have Monday off which is nice but it’s also only giving me another day to overthink about everything.
Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine.
But I know that there’s no way I’m sleeping in Jensen’s bed tonight with his sexy smirk and his soft caresses. I’ll feel guilty flirting back now, knowing that I’m pregnant while he’s in the dark.
He’s flirting with a version of me I thought I was hours ago, not the new version who’s having another man’s baby.
Besides, an ounce of distance between us probably isn’t the worst thing with the craziness in our lives right now.
CHAPTER 17
JENSEN
My arms are burning ever so slightlyas I crutch out of the hospital from my MRI. I’m already sick of using these damn things.
Dr. Moore said he would call me with the results within the next couple of hours, but I’m not too stressed because I have a feeling I know what the scans will show.
