Chapter 8 #2
“I love you too.” I hung up the phone and let out a sigh, dragging my body through the motions of getting ready for bed.
When my head hit the pillow, the day’s events raced through my mind.
The disastrous conversation with Liam, followed by the equally as productive conversation with Archer.
I never expected either of them to leap for joy, or drop down to a knee and ask me to marry them.
If I was being entirely honest, I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it definitely wasn’t a flat out refusal.
Liam’s denial followed by his immediate dismissal of me was one thing.
Sure, it stung and if the baby was his, I’d have to hope that being a pompous asshole wasn’t hereditary, but I didn’t know anything about him, other than how fast he finished, to care all that much.
For whatever reason though, Archer’s response hurt worse.
Maybe it was the detached anger I could see simmering behind those jade eyes of his, or the way his voice never wavered in tone despite the words I said to him.
Or maybe it was how he’d stormed out of the bar like an absolute spineless human being.
It was probably a combination of all three, but it felt like more than that.
Something about him being from my hometown gave me this feeling that I knew him, except that idea was absolutely insane because I didn’t know him any better than I knew Liam.
Not really, anyway. But it was almost as if growing up parallel to each other lended him a sense of familiarity, even though our paths never intersected.
Until now, that was, and he had no intention of ever letting our paths cross again.
He’d get to walk away from our encounter unscathed, but me?
I’d always carry a piece of him with me.
Well, unless Liam was the father.
I groaned out loud and tossed onto my other side.
The only positive takeaway from today was that at least it was all over. Both men knew, and both men made it clear they wanted nothing to do with any of it. Fine by me. I’d raise this baby on my own, and I’d be the best—okay probably just decent—mom out there.
And if I never saw or spoke to either man again, I’d be all too happy.
“Me and you, little bee. We’ve totally got this,” I whispered, closing my eyes and letting sleep take me.
***
I could’ve slept for three days and probably still been tired, the nearly ten hours I’d gotten the night before doing nothing to ease the bone-deep exhaustion I was struggling to power through.
The doctor had said that most of the worst pregnancy symptoms would dissipate by the end of the first trimester, but I was thirteen weeks and the fatigue was still very real.
I heard Shayna before I saw her, the clanking of weights and whirring of treadmills doing nothing to drown her out.
“Darcy Adler! You’ve got some explaining to do!” When I got closer, she spoke a little quieter, but not by much, her brown eyes narrowed angrily on me. “You do not text people saying ‘I’m pregnant’ and then not answer their phone calls! What the hell is wrong with you?”
I shushed her and forcibly shoved an iced black coffee into her hands.
Using my free hand that wasn’t holding my own coffee, I ushered her toward the women’s locker room, and pushed her down onto one of the benches.
The auburn curls of her ponytail swung with the movement, and her scowl made the freckles on her face squish closer together.
I widened my eyes and nodded in her direction, indicating she take a sip of coffee, which she did, crossing one of her legs over the other.
“I’m sorry I texted it to you. I didn’t want to have to say it out loud.”
An eyebrow hitched up on her porcelain skin. “You’re going to have a baby, but can’t handle telling me in person that you’re pregnant?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re you. I figured if I waited until I saw you, you’d make an even bigger scene than you just did, and you know I hate attention like that.”
“Fair enough.” She took another sip of coffee and then glanced down to my stomach.
There wasn’t any sign of a bump, but it was still early, or so my Google searches said.
Plus, I was fit, and according to my research, strong abdominal muscles can make a bump significantly smaller.
Which meant that maybe I could get away with holding off on telling people for a while.
“So, you’re really pregnant?”
“Yes.”
Her full lips curved into a smirk, and it wasn’t the first time I was hit by how beautiful my friend was.
Auburn hair fell in natural waves down her back, and the smattering of freckles across her nose and over her cheeks accentuated the depth of her brown eyes.
When I first met her, I half expected her to have a drawl because she looked exactly how I envisioned the perfect southern belle.
Then she spoke and I realized she’s much more akin to Annie Oakley.
She patted the spot next to her on the bench, which I happily sank down onto. “Who’s the baby daddy? Is it Liam? He was hot.”
“He’s also engaged,” I reminded her.
“Oh shit! That’s right. You got knocked up by an engaged guy?”
I shrugged and that motion itself had her eyes popping out of her head.
“Darcy, you dog! Who’s the other option?”
I shot her a look that begged her to connect the dots so I didn’t have to spell it out for her, and that process only took a handful of seconds, her mouth dropping open as realization dawned on her.
“No! You can’t be serious!”
I pressed my lips together and nodded, using her stunned silence as an opportunity to sip my coffee.
Her gasp was deafening, and the slap she delivered to my arm felt like it could leave a bruise. “Shut up! You did not get pregnant by the town’s hottest firefighter in the Quill’s bathroom!”
I ignored the hot comment. There was no use arguing it. I knew damn well he was hot, I had eyes and memories—so many memories—but I wasn’t getting into that. “I don’t know for sure that it’s his.”
“Oh, it’s his all right. I can almost promise you.” She laughed and it sounded more maniacal than like she actually found anything I said humorous. “Archer’s sperm definitely beat the shit out of Liam’s. I have no doubt it’s his.”
Jesus Christ. Was she always this unhinged? The answer was probably, but I loved that about her.
“Liam is kind of a bitch.”
“Facts.” She raised her cup and tapped it to mine in cheers, then leveled me with a skeptical look. “Okay, so what’s the problem with Archer? He’s hot. Like, the fires he fights are cold in comparison.”
I rolled my eyes, fighting the smile that was battling to take shape on my face. “There’s not a problem. Well, other than that he was kind of a dick when I told him I was pregnant, and he wants nothing to do with the baby.”
“Yeah, but like, as far as baby daddys go, at least he’s not Liam, right?” she asked.
“I guess. I mean, yeah, okay, he’s attractive, and up until last night, he’d been nothing but nice to me.”
“Okay, so . . .” Shayna trailed off.
“So, my brother had always said he was bad news.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he’s not the one maybe carrying his baby. What do you think of him? And I’m not talking high school him. People change.”
I groaned and swirled my coffee. “I don’t really know who he is now.
In high school, he was a bit of a loner, and the cops were always at his house, but no one knew why.
” At Shayna’s exasperated expression, I pressed on.
“But, present day Archer seems different. He’s got the whole firefighter thing going for him, and he seems to be doing pretty well. I think he’s probably changed.”
“Well, see? That’s not so bad then! I’m rooting for it to be his. Better his than jerkwad’s.”
I shook my head. “He still doesn’t want anything to do with me or the baby, Shayna.”
“You gave him five minutes after you bombarded him at a bar to process it all. Maybe give him some time.”
“He completely wrote me off, Shayna. He couldn’t even have a conversation about it with me, and he was so cold, like I was a nuisance.” Clearly the hurt I’d convinced myself I’d gotten past was still alive and well.
“I still vote you give him some time to come to terms with it all.”
I stayed quiet for a while. Archer seemed pretty confident in his stance on the matter, so I didn’t think him changing his mind was likely, and I didn’t want to give him anything. Not after how he treated me.
When Shayna realized I wasn’t going to respond to that she asked, “Well, are you going to have them do a paternity test? Get yourself some child support? Or at least know the medical history?”
I answered with a shrug and a sigh. “I don’t know.
Getting a sample from Liam is out of the question, so unless I can convince Archer to do it, I’m kind of screwed.
I can’t afford a lawyer to deal with either of them.
Plus, I honestly think it might be easier to raise the baby without another party involved.
Parenting sounds hard enough as is, but co-parenting sounds like a nightmare.
But knowing the medical side of things is a good point. ”
“Fair enough. Maybe Archer will agree to do one.” I had to admire her and her faith in hot men. “So, what does that mean for work?”
“I’m pretty sure I can continue on as normal. With my clients it’s really just spotting and being on my feet. And as far as my personal workouts, the doctor said I can continue to lift whatever I usually lift for now, so long as I’m careful and don’t feel any pain or twinges.”
She bumped into my shoulder playfully. “You’re about to be one of those badass powerlifting pregnant women aren’t you?”
That got a smile out of me. “You know I am.”
Shayna leaned down toward my stomach. “You don’t know this yet, but your mom is the actual coolest.”
We walked back out to the gym, our first clients of the day coming in within the next half hour, and something about having Shayna in my corner had me feeling that little bit lighter.