Chapter 10 Kelsie #2
My stomach had been roiling all morning with anxiety and I could barely eat a bite. Noah, clad in his dress uniform, milled around the room, giving directions to catering as the food was brought in, getting the live band set up, and greeting guests as they began to arrive.
I helped out where I could, sipping a ginger ale in the hopes it would soothe my stomach. I recognized a few of the soldiers Noah worked with at the clinic for physical therapy and I stopped to say hello.
As the Gala gathered momentum, I found myself searching the crowd for Ryker. I mentally scolded myself for being ridiculous. He would never come to something like this. The noise, the socializing, the endless small talk—it was his personal hell.
But he deserved to be here, honored for his service in the military alongside the other soldiers.
Noah slid into the vacant seat next to me at a corner table, carrying two plates of cake with an American flag iced on top. He placed one of the plates in front of me.
“Grabbed some cake for you while I was at the buffet,” he said.
The smell was sickeningly sweet. A lump formed in my throat but I smiled at him anyway, grateful that he’d been thinking of me.
“I’m surprised you didn’t eat it on your way over here,” I said.
“Come on. I have more self-control than that.”
“Says the man who raids my fridge and eats all my Jell-O,” I countered.
Noah chuckled. As he took a breath to reply, his gaze shifted past my shoulder and his eyebrows shot up.
“No fucking way. The bastard actually came, just to prove me wrong.”
I twisted around in my seat. My mouth went dry. Ryker stood at the door, tugging at the collar of his dress uniform. I’d never seen him in anything other than biker boots and jeans.
Noah pushed his chair back, striding across the room. He gripped Ryker’s hand and clapped him on the back as they exchanged a few words. Ryker’s gaze strayed over to me. I managed a little wave.
My stomach flip-flopped wildly like a fish out of water.
I expected him to turn away and pretend I didn’t exist for the rest of the night.
Instead, Ryker locked onto me like a homing missile, making his way through the crowded room.
“Hi,” I said, bewildered. I still couldn’t believe he showed up.
“Hey,” he replied, low, quiet.
His hands flexed at his side and he looked…uncomfortable. Uncertain. Like a twitchy, cornered animal who wanted to bolt for the exit and run, run, run.
“Would you…?” he faltered and cleared his throat, gesturing to the dance floor.
It took a split second for my brain to catch on to what Ryker wanted to say.
“Are you asking me to…dance?”
Ryker clasped his hands behind his back, shoulders squared, looking more like a soldier than the biker I’d come to know.
“I’m no good at it, and I’ll probably step on your toes—”
Before he’d finished speaking, I was out of my chair. The flicker of a smile touched the corner of Ryker’s mouth as he held out his palm to me. I placed my hand in his. A bubble of giddiness welled up in my chest as he led me to the dance floor.
“What made you change your mind?” I asked.
Ryker turned to face me, curving his hand around my waist. I blushed as his gaze slowly panned over me, lingering in places he would never dare look if my brother was around. He was so handsome in his dress uniform that I couldn’t help staring too.
“As long as that stalker is on the loose,” he said. “I figured I should probably stay close. As a precaution.”
“There hasn’t been any sign of my stalker though,” I pointed out.
“It’s called an excuse, sunshine. Roll with it.”
Sunshine.
God, I loved it when he called me that. I beamed as I slid my arms around Ryker’s neck, swaying in place to the slow, dreamy rhythm of the music.
Noah used nicknames for me all the time—Kels, butterbean, kiddo, little sis.
But Ryker never did. Even though I liked the grit in his voice when he used my name, there was something personal, something intimate, about finally being crowned with a nickname by him.
I could feel the heat of his palms at my waist through the fabric of my dress.
I wished there weren’t so many couples clustered around us on the dance floor.
I wished we could be alone again, like that night we spent together in the cabin.
I wished we didn’t have to wear these restrictive, stifling clothes.
But I had to be content with this.
I glanced up to meet Ryker’s gaze—a hunter’s gaze, cold and steely, controlled, unfeeling. When he looked at me though, I could have sworn his eyes softened. Just a little.
All too soon, the song was over. An announcement was made that the baked goods fundraiser would begin after a ten minute break for refreshments.
Ryker and I had no excuse to be standing so close together anymore. He took my hand for a heartbreaking moment, sweeping his thumb over my knuckles. Then he pulled away and melted into the cluster of people on the edge of the dance floor.
My stomach twisted as I stood there alone. A fresh wave of nausea washed over me. What little food I’d managed to eat today boiled at the base of my throat. I tried to swallow it down and compose myself, but deep breathing didn’t seem to help.
The room felt oppressively hot and stuffy. Shouldering a path to one of the side exits, I plunged outside seconds before I emptied my stomach into the gutter. My throat burned.
Gulping at the air, I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth.
Probably just residual nerves from putting together the Gala.
Or that pesky bug I’d picked up from the road trip with Noah, still hanging on.
Then an answer popped into my mind like a daisy, clear and bright and…
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
I did a quick mental calculation and, sure enough, I was late by over a month.
I hadn’t really given it much thought before now, chalking it up to the extreme changes in my daily routine, my eating habits, my sleep.
Between the stalker, my feelings for Ryker, and then disappearing for weeks on a road trip with Noah, my life wasn’t exactly stress-free.
“No, no, no,” I pleaded.
I ducked back into the Gala, grabbed my purse, and bolted. I didn’t tell Noah or Ryker or anyone where I was going, and I prayed they didn’t follow me.
Hurrying down two blocks, I stumbled into the pharmacy. After frantically scanning the shelves, I finally found the pregnancy tests, grabbed three boxes, and bolted for the ladies’ room.
I closed my eyes, waiting, holding that damn pregnancy test and praying harder than I’d ever prayed in my life.
Then I opened my eyes and looked.
Two pink lines.
Positive.
Fuck.
I’m pregnant with Ryker’s baby.