One Baby Daddy (Dating by Numbers #3)(64)

“So that leaves me.”

“Yup.”

Calder pauses. “I’m signing you up for that dating app.”

“Fuck you, man.” We both laugh. The sound is nice and sheds a little brightness on my gloomy fucking day.

Chapter Seventeen

ADALYN

It’s not like this is life alternating or anything. Just look.

This will change nothing.

This won’t rock my world at all.

Staring at the brown napkin covering a pregnancy test, I consider throwing it away without looking.

I’ve gotten this far using the denial tactic, and it’s worked great for me. It seems like yesterday I was having a mighty good time in Hayden’s dressing room, being absolutely irresponsible, riding the dick train against a wall. What a memorable and slutty moment for me.

Groaning, I press my hand to my forehead, stressed.

I really don’t have to look at the results. I know what it’s going to say. There is no doubt in my mind what that little stick is going to say and yet, here I am, still holding out hope.

There is a knock on my door. “It’s been five minutes. You have to come out at some point.”

Emma is standing on the other side of the door of the janitor’s closet. I locked myself in, wanting some privacy while I did this at work because Emma couldn’t wait any longer.

“I’m not ready to look.”

“Well, I am. Let me in and I’ll tell you what it says.”

“Yeah, I’m not ready for that either.”

Emma sighs. “Sweetie, no matter what, you’re going to have to look, and you know whatever the outcome might be, I will be here for you.”

“Will you be the father?”

Chuckling, she taps the door. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

Leaning my head against the door, I reach behind me and open the door. Emma slips in and gives me a big hug.

“You know, don’t you?” she asks me.

“I would be pretty ignorant to think it’s negative.”

“You never know. Your body might be playing tricks on you. Sometimes you feel pregnancy symptoms when you’re not pregnant.”

I pat her hand. “Thank you for making up crap for me to make me feel better, I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you.” She eyes the napkin. “Shall we?”

“Might as well.”

Like the good friend she is, she slips her hand in mind, squeezes it tight, and rips the napkin away, revealing a pink and white stick. Bending at the waist, we both get close to read the results.

It’s clear as day, written in black.

Pregnant.

Yup, pretty much what I thought it would say. Not because I had unprotected sex during ovulation, but because I’ve puked every morning this week, leaving me green for the rest of the day and running on fumes by the end of my shift.

Standing tall, Emma wraps me in a hug, her arms comforting me for a brief moment. “Don’t you worry. You’re not going to have to go through this alone. We will be here for you. I talked to Tucker about it last night, and if you need to stay with us, you are more than welcome. We’re here for you.”

“Thank you.” A tear slips down my cheek. “I appreciate it, but you guys are in that lovey-dovey stage of your relationship, so the last thing you need is some pukey, pregnant woman staying with you. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want me to at least go to your first appointment with you?”

I am so glad Emma is my friend. “I love you, you know I do, but you have a man and a wedding to plan. I don’t want to take away from that.” Taking a deep breath, I say, “Let’s pretend this doesn’t exist right now. You focus on the wedding. I’ll focus on taking prenatal vitamins and drinking lots of water. How does that sound?”

“You can’t ignore this.”

“I know.” I pick up the pregnancy test with the napkin and grip it tightly.

“When are you going to tell Hayden?” And there it is, the name I’ve been trying to avoid. After he stopped calling and texting, I thought maybe forgetting him would be easier, but it’s been the opposite. It’s been impossible because now, I have a growing reminder of the time I shared with him.

“I’m not,” I say, opening the door and trying to casually hide the pregnancy test along my wrist, tucking it in close.

“What?” Emma comes up behind me. “You have to tell him.” She pulls on my arm, forcing me to stop. “He deserves to know.”

“I understand that. That’s why when the baby turns eighteen, I’ll pin a note on their shirt and send them to Hayden to tell him. It’s much easier that way.”

“Adalyn. You have to tell him.”

“Tell him what?” Logan joins us, chomping down on an apple, studying the both of us.

I can feel the color drain from my face as Logan looks between Emma and me and then down at my hand.

“What’s going on?”

Logan is the last person I want to know about the pregnancy. He’s protective of me, maybe a little too protective and territorial. If he finds out, those basic instincts are going to kick in. He’s going to want to be a part of this. He’s going to want to be there for me every step of the way. And that shouldn’t be a bad thing, right? But Hayden hates him.