Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
SUMMER
Tonight was simply amazing, and the fact that Mase has welcomed Travis into our fold and accepted him feels like a dream.
But the guilt eating away at me is rearing its ugly head, especially when the nausea rolling around my stomach threatens to erupt.
Glancing at the clock, I see it’s still the early hours of the morning.
My sickness is coming at random times, making me believe there’s no such thing as morning sickness.
There can’t be—or not in my case, at least. Instead, it’s any-time-of-day sickness.
I peer over at Mase and take in his sleeping form, the way the sheet rests against his abs has my fingers twitching to lift it, and my mouth salivates to taste him again.
But when my focus latches onto the ring attached to the chain around his neck, my stomach lurches and vomit flames up my throat.
I rush out of bed and into the bathroom, gently closing the bathroom door before dropping to the floor and heaving into the toilet.
The burn comes after I expel the contents of my stomach, and I sob. “God, I hate this.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Mase strokes my back, and I freeze. “You finished?”
All I can do is dip my head, and he takes hold of my arm and gently helps me to my feet.
Feeling his eyes on me, I avert my gaze, and he blows out a deep breath.
Then, before I can think of my next move, he lifts me onto the counter, places toothpaste on my toothbrush, and slides it into my mouth.
Tears fill my eyes. I don’t even have memories of my mother brushing my teeth, and now I’m receiving the care from a man I so desperately want.
Why does life have to be so cruel? To hand me someone who can bring me happiness, yet just as easily rip it away.
“I’m going to ask you something, Summer, and I want you to tell me the truth. Do you hear me?”
He stops brushing and points to the sink, where I proceed to spit the toothpaste before facing him.
His bright-green eyes shimmer; they’re full of so many emotions: nervousness, concern and, above all else, longing. “Y-Yes. I hear you.” My throat is scratchy, and I don’t know if it’s from the assault on my mouth last night or the sickness from my guilt.
“You pregnant?” His nostrils are flared, and the softness that was there moments ago is quickly being replaced by anger, making anxiety ripple through me.
His hands balled into fists rest on each side of me, caging me in on the counter. “Are you?”
“Y-Yes,” I whimper.
A stuttered gasp leaves him, and a pained sound rumbles in his chest before he drops his head and shakes it. His body is taut, and unadulterated devastation radiates from him as he heaves in breaths.
I want to reach out and touch him, to give him comfort, but I sit there, frozen in place.
“The last woman who said she was pregnant to me was my wife, but it wasn’t my baby.”
His words tear through my heart and rip it to shreds, leaving it in useless tatters.
How could she do this to him? My beautifully broken man.
A tear slips down my face. “I swear I would never lie to you.” I swipe away the wetness on my cheeks. Then with shaky hands, I grasp his face in mine and lift his head. “I swear it.”
His gaze bounces over my face and settles on my eyes as if searching for the truth behind my words, so I allow him to see into my soul.
He licks his lips. “Is it mine?” he rasps.
My heart thuds. “Yes. I’ve only ever slept with you.”
He gives a firm nod.
Then he steps back, releasing me from his aura, and my body cries out to feel him close again.
For him to hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay.
I want him to reassure me and take control of my escalating thoughts.
When I said I needed the money for college, I wasn’t lying, but I also omitted some truth, and the thought of losing him when I’ve only just found him is terrifying.
He heads toward the door, and my heart sinks.
Just before he walks through it, he says the very words I never wanted to hear.
“I need a DNA test, Summer.”