Chapter 21 Speakerphone
The sunlight gently stirred me awake, but as soon as reality set in, so did the panic.
My eyes flashed open and bounced around the foreign room, trying to piece together how I ended up here. I didn’t recognize the blank white walls, tall ceilings, or hallway that led into an impressive looking bathroom. Anxiety spiked in my heart, but then my eyes landed on a tattooed hand.
Breathing deeply, I felt my body slowly calm down. I just wondered if there’d ever be a time when that reaction would disappear. If I’d ever feel comfort before the panic, because the panic wasn’t very pleasant.
A light kiss landed on my shoulder. “I’ll erase it completely one of these days, I promise,” JP whispered in a groggy morning voice behind me, making me wonder if I voiced that concern aloud, or if he could just read me that well.
Reaching for my hips, he wrapped me tighter in his arms and planted a scratchy kiss against my head.
I settled back into his arms, loving the feeling of his warm skin, but—
“Woah, nope.” I immediately pushed away and turned to face him.
“What? Why?” He gave a lazy smile and stretched his muscular arms above his head. I hated the magnetic pull I felt towards him. Why did he have to be so attractive with his neck tattoo and scratchy scruff covered jawline?
“Friends,” I said sternly. I grabbed a pillow and wedged it between us in the bed.
A laugh broke out of him. “A tiny pillow decides that?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yesterday was the exception. We shouldn’t have slept in here together. It’ll confuse things.”
“Okay, you’re right. We’re friends. I don’t want to ruin anything either,” he said sleepily. “But you’re also pregnant and had a stressful day yesterday. What do you need? Food? Water? Cuddles? Massage?”
I bit my lip, feeling caught in indecision. I totally knew I should say no to every offer, but the memory of his large hands smoothing down my body was too tempting to decline. “Yes.”
He raised a curious eyebrow. “Yes to…?”
“Massage,” I said, hating the way my face heated up.
He did a crap job of covering his grin, making me roll my eyes.
But as soon as his large hands smoothed up my t-shirt and grabbed my waist, any bit of regret I had disappeared.
When he rolled up to straddle me with his muscular thighs, I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the experience—and to stop myself from ogling him.
His hands slowly traveled down my body, loosening my muscles.
He dug into a knot in my back, making me sigh in relief.
“Thatta girl.” His rough chuckle skated down my spine.
I popped one eye open. “How are you so good at this?” I asked skeptically. He wasn’t giving a regular old joe-schmo massage; he moved his hands skillfully and methodically.
His lips tilted up in a smirk. “I’ve messed up my back and shoulders so many times through the years. I get massages almost every week at the rink.”
He was now sitting on his knees in his boxer briefs at the foot of the bed, massaging my calves. As much as I enjoyed the way his large hands rubbed me, I couldn’t help but notice our size difference.
Feeling my tension, his brows knit together. He hit my foot against his chest, as if he could knock the tension out of me.
“JP,” I said worriedly.
“Hmm?” he answered distractedly.
“You’re really big,” I said, my eyes taking in every inch of his muscular chest.
“Yeah?” He chuckled.
My mouth went dry. “I’m really not.”
“Yeah, that’s not news.” The corner of his eyes crinkled with a smile.
“This baby is going to eat me alive.” My heart pounded in my chest. “It’s going to be so big. It’s going to have nowhere to go.” I propped up on my elbows to study my abdomen. “It’s going to stretch into my brain.”
“No, it’s not,” he said, laughing. His palm landed on my stomach, and it quite literally took up my whole stomach. His thumb grazed my boob, and his pinky touched the top of my undies. “I promise it’s not. I was a small baby.”
My eyes went to his grey ones. “You were?”
“I mean.” His muscular shoulders shrugged. “All babies are small, right?”
“No, they’re really not!” I flung myself back against the pillows and covered my face.
“Hey, it’ll be okay,” he said, struggling to keep laughter out of his voice. “Take it easy. It’s not an alien, it’s a baby. Half of me and half of you.”
“This isn’t funny, JP.” I swung the pillow at his face, which he easily caught.
He tried his best to sober his smile. “I’m sorry, it’s not. To be honest, the baby is currently probably the size of a lemon right now.”
“This lemon is making me barf an awful lot,” I grumbled. “No clue why they call it morning sickness when it’s actually all day sickness.” I rolled my eyes.
His eyebrows pinched together. “Is that normal?”
My eyes flashed to his. “Yeah, right?”
His mouth opened, but no words came out.
“Wait, it’s not? You think that’s bad?” My voice went pitchy with nerves. “You’re making me nervous.”
He shook his head. “No, no, I’m sure it’s okay, you’re okay,” he said, but his face wasn’t very convincing. “Have you asked the doctor?”
“Doctor? What doctor?” I practically shrieked at him. “I just found out! I know just as much as you.” My face fell. Oh no. I literally knew just as much as him, meaning, absolutely nothing. “Oh my God. We’re doomed.”
“No, no, no, it’s okay,” he tried to reassure me. “Let’s just ask Colt, yeah?”
“Ugh.” I grabbed a pillow and shoved it over my face for a second, trying to squelch my frustration. I lowered it only to ask, “Can he keep a secret?”
He grimaced. “Better than Kappy. At least he’ll lie to us that he will.”
“Whatever.” I swallowed hard. “Just ask him for their baby doctor and tell him to keep his mouth shut.”
He was out of bed and crossing the room for his phone before I even finished my sentence. JP put his phone on speaker and the dial tone filled the air.
“Dude, it’s fucking early,” Colt answered in a groggy morning voice. “What happened to you yesterday? You completely disappeared.”
“I need some help,” JP said, smoothing a hand over his hair.
“Uh, yeah, what’s up?”
“Is it normal for pregnant women to barf all day long or is that supposed to be a morning thing?”
“Uhh…I think Mer barfed all day for the first tri and then maybe a little into the second one, too. Why?” Colt laughed. “You didn't get a girl pregnant, did you?”
JP’s eyes locked on mine. “Can you just get me the name of Mer’s baby doctor?”
“Oh, fuck! You did, didn’t you?” Colt burst out.
JP closed his eyes. “Well, who is it?” he asked.
“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.
Wait, are you seeing someone? Or was it a one-night stand?
Dude, what did you get yourself into? Do you need instructions on how to use a condom? ” He laughed.
“I did use a…” JP cut himself off with a frustrated growl. His eyes mine, silently asking me if he could tell. I reluctantly nodded.
“Just keep this between us, but Ali’s pre—”
“Ali?!” Mer’s voice shrieked.
My hands flew to my head. JP’s eyes bulged out.
“Am I on speakerphone? Fuck, Colt.” JP dropped his head.
“Sorry, it’s not my fault. I didn’t know you were gonna blurt it out like that!” Colt argued, sounding much more awake now.
JP shot me an apologetic grimace. “Just don’t tell anyone.”
“Okay, well, shit. Congrats man. You and Ali, huh? That’s a long time coming. But wait, didn’t you just see her yesterday? I’m not too smart, but are you sure you’re the—”
“I saw her in July. Can we get back on track?” JP’s jaw flexed with irritation.
“July? What? How did we not know?” Colt laughed. “Wait, Mer wants to ask a bunch of questions.”
“No,” JP growled. “We just need the name of Mer’s doctor. Can you get it for us or not?”
“Jeez, touchy, okay,” Colt chided before rattling off the needed information.
As soon as JP got off the phone with Colt, he was dialing up the doctor’s office.
JP answered each question about me without missing a beat, including my birthday and the approximate date of conception.
It was only when the nurse asked for insurance that JP’s eyes flitted to mine for a brief second, and my heart pretty much fell through my ass.
How the hell was I going to do this?
Turning away from him, I slowly walked into the marble bathroom in a daze. I laid my head against the door to break down in peace for a minute.
How was it that I still had no clue what I was doing?
And now I had no job and nowhere to live, and I was bringing a child into this mess.
I gave up any and all dreams of becoming a mom a while ago, so I never thought to prepare for this specific scenario.
And I couldn’t just rely on JP, because as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t trust him not to blindside me again.
Each time I thought I was on steady ground with him, he’d get spooked and pull the carpet from under my feet.
After catching sight of my red swollen eyes in the mirror, I decided there was no way I was going back out to the bedroom. Instead, I quickly stripped off my dress from yesterday and stepped into JP’s luxurious walk-in shower.
It took me a second to figure out how to turn on the state-of-the-art shower, but when I did, water came out of three different shower heads, making it feel like I was walking into a waterfall.