Page 45 of Riley
“You need to tell him, Riley,” my brother stressed. “He has the right to know. Why don’t you just call him? It might be easier to do it over the phone.”
“Henley, if you and Roxy were at odds, would you want to find out that you were going to be a father over the phone while you were a thousand miles away?”
He stared at Roxy. “Okay, fine, not over the phone, but you are going to tell him next weekend.”
“I will. I know I need to.”
Henley grinned at me. “My baby sister is going to be a momma.”
“Watch it,” I said with mock anger.
He pulled me tightly to his chest and laughed as he asked a bunch of questions that I didn’t have answers to about a nursery, names, and feedings.
When Roxy and Henley left a few hours later, I felt better than I had in weeks. Of all my siblings, it had been Henley that I had worried the most about telling. Being only eleven months younger than him, we were very close, and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I was so glad that I hadn’t, or at least he didn’t appear to be disappointed. He seemed oddly excited, to be honest.
* * *
The week wentby in a flash, and before I knew it, it was Friday night. Daniella came over to watch a movie marathon with me since Hunt was working, and she had just finished her most recent manuscript. We pigged out on pretzel bites and popcorn just like if we were at the movies, and it was almost midnight when she left.
I was just turning the lights off when there was a knock at the door, and I yawned and glanced around the living room. She must have forgotten something.
I pulled open the door and froze. Ethan stood on the other side, and he didn’t look happy, especially with the red mark on his cheekbone that looked suspiciously like it was going to turn into a bruise at any moment. “What are you doing here?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
The ground under me shifted, and I clung to the door. “What are you talking about?”
He pushed the door open, and I stumbled back. “Don’t play games, Riley. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
I swallowed. Who had told him? Suddenly, the mark on his face and my brother’s image meshed. “Did Henley tell you that?”
“What difference is it who told me? You should have, Riley! If it’s even mine.”
I glared at him. “Get out!”
“Not until you tell me the truth, Riley. Are you pregnant?”
I shook my hair back from my face and glared at him. “I am.”
“Is it mine?”
I ground my teeth and forced myself not to cry. My hand itched to smack his face, but I held myself back. “What if it is?”
“Oh, no, Riley. You are going to tell me the damn truth.” He paused. “Unless you don’t know if it’s mine or not.”
“It’s your child, Ethan.” I spun away from him, needing to put space between us. For a moment, I had wondered if he would try to stop me from moving away, but he seemed rooted to the spot when I glanced at him from the other side of the couch.
“How do I know it’s mine?”
“Because I hadn’t slept with anyone for about two months before we slept together, and I haven’t been with anyone since.”
“You expect me to believe that?” he snarled.
“You can believe whatever the hell you want!” I snapped back.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Ry?”
“Because both times that I tried, Ethan, you jumped down my throat. I was going to tell you about it before you left. I actually found out the night before, but you were angry with me. You told me you wanted me out of your life. How was I supposed to tell you then? And when you first came back, you were so upset about your mom. I couldn’t do it then. But I came over on Tuesday morning, and I was going to tell you, but you got angry with me again, and I couldn’t do it.”
