Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
RILEY
The smell of coffee is the first thing that drags me out of sleep. The second is the faint clink of a mug being set on the nightstand beside me.
“Time to wake up, little dove,” Kieran says quietly. “It’s a big day for you.”
I squint up at him from under the covers, still half asleep, whereas Kieran looks like he’s been up for hours. His hair is still damp from the shower, and his black T-shirt clings to his muscled shoulders in all the right ways.
“You’re being nice. What do you want?”
Kieran chuckles. “Can’t I do something nice without having an ulterior motive?”
“I don’t know, can you?”
He laughs. “You’re so grumpy in the morning. Maybe you should start working out with me. The endorphins will be good for you.”
“I got enough of those last night.” I yawn, stretching my arms overhead.
I’m deliciously sore between my legs after Kieran spent most of the night between them, but it also means I got very little sleep, hence the cranky mood.
“You’re welcome.” He leans in to kiss my cheek.
“Okay, seriously. What do you want?”
He holds up his hands. “Nothing.”
“Hmm…” I eye him suspiciously.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t realize Kieran Sullivan was such a big softie.”
“I am no such thing. I just want to make sure you’re all set up for your big interview.” He perches on the edge of the bed.
“Urgh, don’t remind me.” I throw the covers back over my head.
He pulls the covers off me. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Ross would be an idiot not to offer you the position.”
“If he doesn’t, can you send in one of your guys to send him a message or whatever it is you do?”
Kieran’s shoulders shake with silent laughter as I reach for my coffee.
I take a cautious sip but pull a face when it burns my tongue. “Too hot.”
“You’re too impatient.” He steals it to take a drink himself.
“Hey! That’s mine.”
“And what’s yours is mine.” He grins.
After we finish the coffee between us, I force myself out of bed and start getting ready.
Kieran adjusts himself to lean against the pillows to watch, and when I catch his eyes doing that slow, deliberate sweep of my body, a familiar heat builds between my legs.
“You’ve got ten minutes before I have to start work, so do you want me to make you some breakfast?”
“Can’t eat.” I pull my hair back into a ponytail. “I feel like I’m going to puke.”
“So dramatic.” He sighs before getting to his feet and disappearing out of the room.
I swear I catch him muttering something about force-feeding me toast under his breath, and I fight a smile.
He really is a softie.
When I finally appear in the kitchen, Kieran slides a plate of buttered toast toward me and another cup of coffee before leaning over to press a quick kiss to my lips.
“Good luck, my little dove.” He flashes me a wink.
The moment I’m finally alone, the nerves instantly hit, and I push the plate of toast away as my stomach churns.
For the next hour, I pace around the silent penthouse, anxiously checking that my phone is definitely not on silent and running through possible interview questions in my head.
For the past few days, Kieran has spent every evening conducting practice interviews with me with varying levels of difficulty in order to help prep me for the interview.
I figure if I can handle him verbally tearing me apart, then I can handle anything.
My stomach is in knots by the time my phone rings, but Ross Lever is surprisingly easy to talk to.
The conversation flows between us until I almost forget this is a formal interview and not just a casual chat between colleagues.
He asks about my degree and my plans for my senior thesis and tells me about the kind of work his firm does.
When he asks if I can handle high-pressure environments, I almost burst out laughing, considering the fact I’ve survived almost an entire month living with Kieran Sullivan.
But of course, I bite my tongue and offer a more serious answer.
I take it all in, trying not to let myself get too excited at the prospect of working for a company as prestigious as Lever Industries.
To have an internship at a Fortune 500 company on my resume would almost guarantee me a foot in the door at any company I wanted.
The possibilities would be endless. Which is why when Ross offers me the internship position, I almost drop my phone.
The second we hang up, I call Kieran.
“I got the internship! Ross offered it to me on the spot! How amazing is that?”
“That’s fantastic news.” There’s a faint metallic clink in the background, then his voice tightens. “We’ll talk more when I get home, yeah?”
“Sure.” My excitement fades at Kieran’s clipped tone. “Is everything good?”
“Everything’s fine. I’ll see you later, little dove.” He ends the call.
I frown at my phone, wondering what could have Kieran so distracted. But then I figure there’s no point worrying about it because even if I did ask, he wouldn’t tell me. I just have to hope he has whatever it is under control.
I decide to call Lucy instead to tell her my good news, except it goes straight to voicemail. Twice.
“Oh, come on. Can’t a girl celebrate?”
Sighing, I scroll further down until I glance at Ciara’s name.
There’s no way she won’t answer the phone, considering she’s stuck on bed rest. Unless, of course, she’s in labor…
The line connects.
“Hey! Long time no see.”
I laugh as I wander over to the couch and settle down among the plump cushions.
“I know, how are you doing?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Eating, sleeping, watching crappy TV. What about you? What’s new?”
“Well, I got some good news, and I need to tell someone.”
“Ooh! Spill!”
“I got an internship at Lever Industries.”
“You got the internship? That’s amazing!”
“Yeah…” I frown. “Wait. How did you know about the internship?”
She laughs. “Kieran likes to talk about you a lot. He let it slip when he stopped by the other day to talk to Ronan.”
“Oh, my god,” I groan.
“It’s cute! I like seeing this side of Kieran. Anyway, enough about him. Today is about you! You’ll have to come over so we can celebrate. I’ll bake a cake and everything.”
I laugh. “I didn’t think bed rest included baking.”
“Which is why I’ll bake it while Ronan’s out. It’s much easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
I’m still laughing when my phone buzzes with a notification from the security system.
“Hang on, Ciara. Someone’s here. I’ll call you back.”
“You better, because I think Elena is sick of me talking her ear off.”
After disconnecting the call, I quickly open up the app and scan the camera.
Lucy is standing outside the building looking frantic.
I’m so taken aback by her blotchy cheeks and red eyes that it takes me a second to remember to buzz her in.
When the elevator doors finally open, she practically falls into my arms as she starts sobbing.
“Lucy.” I wrap my arms around her. “What’s wrong?”
I’ve never seen her so distraught in all the years I’ve known her.
My stomach sinks.
What the hell has happened to get her this wound up?
When she doesn’t answer, I pull back and firmly grip her by the shoulders.
“Lucy. Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I-I think I’m pregnant,” she chokes, and my stomach bottoms out.
“Uh, okay… Why don’t you come and sit down, and I’ll make some tea—”
Lucy stumbles past me, clutching her tote bag as she makes her way toward the stairs. “My period’s late.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“I’m never late, Riley. Never.”
“You’ve been stressed, and—”
“There was one time.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “With him.”
“As in Professor him?”
She nods, her cheeks flushing crimson.
“We had sex without a condom. He pulled out, but…” Her voice cracks as fresh tears start to stream down her cheeks.
“Oh, Lucy.”
Normally, I wouldn’t consider this an issue. But Lucy isn’t on any other form of birth control. So, if she really did have unprotected sex, pull-out method or not, there could be a chance she is actually pregnant.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Because it was stupid, and then everything fell apart, and I broke it off, and I just—” She sucks in a breath as her eyes shine with tears. “I can’t be pregnant, Riley. I can’t.”
I keep my voice steady even though my heart is racing for her. “Okay. We don’t know anything yet, so let’s not panic unless we have to. Did you get a test?”
She pulls a small pharmacy bag from her tote.
“Two, actually. I thought maybe you could…”
“Take one too? Of course. Whatever makes you feel better, Luce.”
She smiles faintly, and we head upstairs to my old room. At least, that’s what I consider it now that I’ve been spending every night of the past week in Kieran’s bed with him.
As Lucy starts unboxing the tests, I lock the door just in case Kieran decides to come home early. I’ve never taken one in my life, considering I was a virgin up until two weeks ago, but I decide to go first for the sake of solidarity.
When I reappear from the ensuite, Lucy disappears inside next, and as I wait for her, I set my test face down on the bed.
My heart is beating fast.
Poor Lucy. If her test turns out positive, her life is going to change forever.
There are so many factors to consider. Time. Money. Co-parenting.
Will she have to drop out of college? Or will the professor step up so that she doesn’t have to give up on her career dreams? It’s enough to make someone’s head explode.
This is why I take the pill.
Lucy flushes, water runs, and then she reappears.
“How long do we have to wait?”
“Three minutes.” She sets her test down beside me.
I grab my phone to set a timer and then try to think of something to talk about that could distract Lucy from her potentially life-altering situation.
“So… I got the internship offer this morning.”
Lucy gapes at me. “The one at Lever Industries?”
“Yeah. Ross offered it to me on the spot.”
“That’s amazing news! Have you told Kieran?”
“I called him right after.” I leave off the fact he sounded distant on the phone. It seems Lucy has enough emotional baggage on her plate right now, and I don’t need to add to it.
“Is it over the summer or…”
“It doesn’t start until the fall, so I’m going to have to fit it in around school. It’s only one day, but I have no doubt it’s going to be stressful.”
“Are you sure you can handle it?”
I laugh. “I have youth on my side. Besides, working at a company like Lever Industries is what I want to do in the long term, so it would be career suicide to turn such an amazing opportunity down just because I’m going to have a full schedule for a few months.”
The timer goes off, and Lucy and I both share a look.
“Okay, Luce. Ready?”
“Not really.”
“On three. One… Two… Three…”
We both flip the tests over at the same time.
“I’m not pregnant!” Lucy throws her hands in the air, but I barely hear her. “Riley? What’s wrong?”
As I stare at the two pink lines on my test, my world shifts.
“I am.”