Romeo turned in my direction and caught my blatant staring. Holding out his hands, he twirled a full circle, adopting a cocky smirk. “Take in the temple, baby. Worship at my feet.”
I giggled and launched a musty red cushion at his head, which he quickly dodged, pretending to be pissed off.
As he stalked towards me, he shook his head. “Little Molly Shakespeare, don’t you know better than to poke at a wild animal?”
“I take it you’re the wild animal in this scenario?”
He pursed his lips, the small, angry welt from his mother’s backhand standing proud on the tender flesh. “Oh, you have no idea… I’m legitimately feral.”
Towering over me, Romeo moved to lay above my limp body, losing his veil of darkness and letting in the light.
I brought him to my lips with gentle hand on his nape, and his body heat instantly warmed me. Freeing his hand from our embrace, Romeo reached up and took the cream patchwork throw quilt from the back cushion, laying it over us both, bundling me in his arms as I traced his Alabama tattoo with my fingernail.
“Are you okay, baby?” I asked quietly.
Hard muscles tensed for a fleeting moment before he croaked, “I will be. I have you.”
I rested my chin on his chest, meeting his dark eyes, noticing the sadness leaking through. “You chose me.”
The sadness melted into happiness, a contented smile on his lips. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
I blushed. “Have your parents ever been nice to you?”
He shook his head and tipped his chin to stare at the ceiling, fighting the difficult memories, I was sure. I reached up and took his hand in mine. It always worked when he did it to me. He rolled his head to the side and cast a broken grin my way.
“Were you ever happy?”
Shaking his head, he whispered, “No.”
“Are you now?”
“Completely. I finally know what it is to love and to be loved. But I’m scared as all hell that it’ll end. My folks won’t give up that easy.”
“I’m staying with you.”
“Do you swear that to me?”
“I swear. I love you. I’m yours.”
Romeo brought my hand to his mouth and kissed every digit.
“So what now? Football? Greatness? World domination?”
He shrugged. “I guess so.”
“What do you want, Romeo? What do you desire most from life?”
“You.”
“No really, baby, what do you want? It’s there for you to take.”
He sighed, lowering his gaze. “Just you, baby. You feel like home to me.”
I crawled on his waist, tucking my head against his neck. “You have me. All of me, for as long as you want.”
“Really? I’ve got you forever? ‘Cause I pretty much just cut myself off from the only family I have.”
“Romeo, you’re my family. You’re it. You and my crazy friends are my entire reason for being. How can you not know that?”
“‘Cause I can’t believe it’s true.”
“It’s you and me, Romeo.”
Tensing, he asked, “But what’ll happen when I get drafted? What if you go to a college across the country? Or even outside the States? You never talk about your future with me and I worry about it all the damn time. Now I have you, I can’t imagine lettin’ you go.”
I kissed his lips, running my tongue through the small gap to meet his. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”
Truth was, I hadn’t thought that far ahead myself.
Rome’s hips lifted, his hardness towing languorously between my legs. “Mmm… Okay, we’ll make things work no matter what.”
“Romeo.”
“You’re stayin’ with me in here tonight, in front of the fire.”
“What is this place anyway?”
“The old slave house.”
My eyes widened. “The what???”
He huffed out a laugh. “Relax, baby. It’s been refurbished since then, or at least cleaned up some. I stayed out here a lot when things got bad back home. My parents never came by. It’s kinda my real home in a way.”
Romeo’s hips rocked harder and my stomach muscles tightened. “Then yes, I’ll stay the night.” I pressed his arms flat onto the couch. “Can I lead? Just this once?”
He shook his head slowly, controlling Romeo coming back out to play. “No. But nice try, Shakespeare.”
Suddenly I was rolled over, Romeo’s heavy weight pressing down on my naked body, causing me to yelp. With a playful bite on my ear, I was braced on my knees. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll take care of you.”
19
Three months later…
“So we leave for Oxford on the Friday and you have the option to stay for either one week or two. We present on the Tuesday and then we need to edit, draft, and finish all that fun stuff before we submit it for publishing, if it’s approved—fingers crossed!
“I’ll be in the UK a few weeks, but you have your studies here and…” A huge grin lit up Suzy’s crinkly face. “You have your young gentleman friend to get back to. His sporting good luck charm, I hear?”
I blushed and dipped my head. “Yeah, I’ll probably be there only a week if that’s okay? The Tide is set to make the SEC Championship in a few weeks’ time, and if they win, there’s the BCS in… in…”
I shot off my chair and ran to the waste basket and vomited in gut-wrenching heaves. Suzy came behind me, rubbing my back in soft circular motions. I took her offered tissue and wiped my mouth, rolling onto my backside and pressing my hand to my head. “Ugh, I feel rough.”
Suzy eyed me worriedly. “Are you coming down with something? You seem to have been off for the last couple of weeks.”
“I think so. I’ve been vomiting for the past few days. It must be a stomach bug or something I’ve eaten. I thought the chicken I ate a couple of days ago tasted funny. It’s probably that.”
“You work too hard, Molly. You’re burning yourself out. Take the rest of the day to sleep and feel better. Yes? Come back fighting fit and we’ll tie up the loose strands of this sodding paper tomorrow.”
“I’m not going to argue with that. Thank you.”
Suzy helped me stand and I instantly felt queasy again, swaying on my feet.
“Is there anyone I can call? Your roommates? Perhaps your young man?”
I shook my head and leaned on her desk for support. “No, I’ll—” A wave of nausea crashed through my stomach again and I practically dived on the floor and gripped the rubbish bin just in time.
“Dear me, Molly,” Suzy said with her hand on her chest.
I reached into my pocket retrieved my phone, holding it out without lifting my head from the bin. “Can you call Cass? I know she has classes near this building. She’ll come and get me.”
“Absolutely. I’m worried about you. You look very pale.”
I took an exaggerated breath through my nose and leaned back against the cold wall for support, closing my eyes.
Bloody great.
“Woo, girl. You look like Grouch from Sesame Street.” I cracked open my closed eyes. “Eww, I take that back. You just look like shit!”
I forced a smile. “Hey, Cass.”
She bent down, scooping me in her arms, and set me on my feet. “You still feelin’ sick?”
I frowned. “It just keeps coming in waves. I say we get home now before it comes back.”
“On it, girl. My truck’s out front.”
Cass called ahead and Lexi and Ally were in my room when I arrived, equipped with Advil, Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol, and hot and cold towels. I couldn’t help but giggle at their efforts.
Lexi came over and hugged me. “You okay, Molly?”
“Just a stomach bug, guys. No biggie.” I walked to my bed and climbed in, already feeling better surrounded by all the comforts of home.
“I’ve left a message on Rome’s phone,” Ally informed.
“You didn’t have to do that. He’s at
all-day practice anyway.”
“Then he’ll get it when he’s done.” She reached for a cool towel, laying it over my forehead, and all three of them piled on the bed with me.
“So what movie we gonna watch?” Lexi asked.
“I plan on sleeping,” I announced as I pressed my fingers to my throbbing temple, eyes closed.
“Well, we’re staying put in case you need us, so we’ll have to choose one for ourselves.” Cass began tearing through my DVD stash in the basket at the foot of my bed.
“Okay, thanks guys.” I propped myself up against the pillows, inhaling deeply, nausea fading.
Ally leaned on her elbow next to me, her Spanish eyes apprehensive. Bugger, I knew that look.
“What now?” I groaned.
“Shelly’s been talkin’ shit again.”
Had to be.
“What’s she saying now?”
“That she’s been spending all her free time with Rome’s momma and daddy and that she’s having Christmas with them… and with Rome… without you.”
“It’s bull. He hasn’t even spoken to any of them since their little messed-up intervention a few months ago. We’re gonna spend Christmas together, here, no family drama. Just us, in case he has to leave for the National Championship in California.”
Ally laid her hand over mine. “My parents wanted to know if you would like to come to our house in Birmingham?”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm. Y’all should have family around at Christmas and they love Rome like a son and already feel like they know you from everything I’ve said. My daddy despises Rome’s folks and they want to show you that not every Prince in Bama is wacked.”
I swallowed the lump currently caught in my windpipe. “We’d love that, Ally, thank you. It’s been so long since I’ve had a real family Christmas.”
She beamed a big smile and clapped joyfully. “Awesome, I’ll let ‘em know right away.”
I pulled the quilt back and flicked my legs over the side to go to the bathroom.
“You feeling sick again, Molls?” Cass asked, bracing herself on the floor to jump and help me.
“Mmm? No, actually, I feel great. In fact, I’m starving, so hungry that I could eat a bloody horse!”
I turned to walk into the en suite when Cass shouted back, “If I didn’t know y’all better, I’d say you were pregnant! Puking one minute, hungry the next, that’s exactly what my sister was like.” The three of them giggled as Cass wolf-whistled at Tom Hardy’s bare-chested fighting scene in Warrior.
I stilled, intense panic seeping into the pit of my stomach, and I grabbed the bathroom doorframe for balance.
No. I couldn’t be.
I turned slowly, my hands shaking and reaching to cover my mouth. Lexi noticed my strange behaviour first and launched off the bed. She put her thin arms around me, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen with fear.
“What’s wrong, honey? You feelin’ faint? Sick?”
My eyes glossed over as I tried to think of my last period. It was the night of the game against Texas A&M. Romeo was pissed we couldn’t have celebratory sex, so we had to get inventive.
Cass and Ally perched on the end of the bed, eyes glued to me in apprehension.
“How many weeks ago was the game against Texas A&M?” I asked, panic lacing my voice.
They looked at me as though I’d thoroughly lost the plot.
“When was it?” I shrilled frantically.
Ally grabbed her iPhone and flicked open the calendar app. “Five weeks ago. It was five weeks ago,” she rushed out.
My legs collapsed and I slumped to the floor, my shins chaffing on the carpet. “Ohmigod!”
Cass, Lexi, and Ally gathered around me, eyes wide and darting confused glances to one another as I sat in the middle of them, having a complete meltdown.
“Molly, what’s happening? What’s wrong? You’re scaring us! Is this one of the anxiety episodes you said you can get?” I couldn’t speak from fear. “How do we help? Should I run and get Rome?”
I looked at Lexi, unseeing, and whispered, “I’m late.”
All three of my friends furrowed their brows and Cass asked, “Late for what, darlin’?”
“No, I’m late! My period is late!”
Silence filled the room and three mouths dropped open.
I jumped to my feet, unable to sit still. I couldn’t be pregnant. I was on the pill… which could fail… and I’d had non-stop sex for the last few months… Shit!
I began to pace. “I’m a week late, a week late! How have I not noticed? I should have come on days ago. I’ve been so stressed what with school, the project, and the football—shit! I’m never late. I’m like clockwork! I’ve never missed a pill. What if…?”
Last month.
I stopped breathing. “Last month, my period was practically non-existent. I thought it must have been due to stress, but what if… What if…?”
My hands fell to my stomach and I skimmed along the skin from side to side, stupidly thinking it would be bigger if I were with child. It wasn’t. It was still flat. But of course it would be. I’d only be a month, or maximum, a couple months along.
I looked to my friends, who were stone statues on the floor. “What if I’m pregnant?”
I released a loud sob and darted to my bed, lowering myself down, and stared out of my balcony doors at the blue sky, my brain trying to shut out everything, switching to emergency lockdown—my go-to move in times of extreme stress. But it wouldn’t switch off this time. I was pregnant, I just knew it. The girl with no family was going to be a mother… at twenty… with an equally, if not more, damaged guy… whose family hated her… and wanted her gone from his life…
Salty tears spilled onto my lilac bed sheets and I heard the bedroom door click shut. Lexi and Cass sat next to me and took each of my hands in one of theirs.
“Ally’s gone to buy a pregnancy test. She’ll be back in ten minutes,” Lexi soothed.
Pregnancy test.
Ten minutes.
In just over ten minutes, I would know the truth.
I nodded numbly and Lexi dropped down before me. “Whatever happens we’ll get through this, Molly, I swear. You’re not alone and Rome loves you more than anything. He’ll support you all the way. Don’t shutdown; trust in the people who love you.”
Romeo.
Romeo, a guy who has more family issues than me. Romeo, who is destined for big things. Romeo, who no doubt will not be happy about a baby.
A baby.
There could be a baby, a tiny defenceless baby, in my stomach.
I felt sick again.
I raced into the bathroom, locking the door, and dry heaves tormented my empty stomach. After they subsided, I dragged myself off the floor to stare at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red from the incessant convulsions and I looked terrible.
I tipped my head back and removed my contacts, slipping on my tortoiseshell Chanel frames and putting my hair in a high messy knot—I looked like Molly, pre-Romeo, pre-sex, pre-possible pregnancy.
My cheeks were pale and sullen and my lips were bleached white with shock. Unable to settle, I drifted to my full-length mirror, lifted my T-shirt, and stared at my stomach as if it were an X-ray revealing the truth of my condition. It was no different from fifteen minutes before.
I turned on the cold-water tap, splashing water on my face until the skin was numb to the touch, and when I opened the door, Ally was sat clutching a plastic pharmacy bag. I held out my hand, but she pulled me to her chest, hugging me hard. “It’ll be okay,” she said in a quiet voice.
I took the bag robotically and walked back into the bathroom, locking the door. It took me twenty minutes before I could bring myself to do the test, and I left the offending white stick on the vanity, walking back into my room to await my judgment.
Cass’s timer on her phone dinged and with every chime, my heart thudded louder in my chest. Supportive hands held on to me and the four of us stared at the vanity
and the little white stick that was the source of so much tension.
After five more minutes, Cass cleared her throat. “You want me to look? I can’t sit here looking at the damn thing anymore.”
I closed my eyes. In for five, out for five. With a resigned sigh, I nodded and watched as Cass picked up the stick. Her back was to me—there were no telltale signs, no hunching of shoulders, gasps of shock, or sighs of relief.
When she turned, her face was blank. She made eye contact but revealed no result. She slowly crouched before me, taking my hand, and whispered, “You’re pregnant, darlin’. It’s positive.”
Time stopped still, the world stopped turning, and my heart ceased beating.
I stood on shaky legs, having no idea what to do. What do you do when you realise you have a little person growing inside of you? One that was ten years too early? One that was completely unplanned?
I didn’t get too far. My legs gave way as I passed by my sheepskin rug, and the floodgates of anxiety opened. I couldn’t breathe through the crushing waves. Three sets of comforting arms embraced me and whispered soothing words, attempting to calm me down.
“What am I going to do?” I cried into someone’s hair.
Ally stroked my head, her eyes spilling over with tears. “I don’t know, honey.”
My head snapped up. “I’m going to have to get rid of it, and I don’t know if I can do that. Romeo has to play football to get away from his parents. I’m meant to be focusing on becoming a professor. I can’t do that and be a mother.” Pure fear ran down my spine.
“A mother. I can’t be a mother. I never had one. How am I meant to be one when I don’t even know what one is? No one showed me how!”
Cass shushed me. “Molly, calm down. You’re getting too wound up. It’s not good for you and it certainly won’t achieve anything.”
Loud cries ripped free from my chest and I crumpled on the floor, laying my head in Cass’s lap, and that’s when I heard rustling outside and footsteps landing on the balcony.
“Mol? Mol! What’s wrong with her?”
Romeo.
Somebody stood. “Rome, calm down, okay?” It was Ally.
“No! What’s wrong with her? Mol?” Romeo’s voice was urgent. “Is she sick? Why isn’t she answerin’ me? I got your message and came straight over.”