Page 37 of His Obsession
Her eyes flash. “Excuse me?”
“I just wanted to know how sure you are,” I say patiently.
“No, I haven’t been to a doctor yet,” she spits out. “I took three tests and they were all conclusive.”
I nod.
“Okay,” I breathe. “Okay. Have you decided if you’re going to keep it?”
She turns toward the door like she’s about to walk out on our conversation.
“Val,” I say, rising and going after her. She wheels on me when I gently catch her arm, and I could wither under that stare. “You clearly came here to talk about this, so let’s talk. You can’t be mad every time I ask a simple question.”
“You don’t get to control this,” she hisses. “It’s my body and my baby. I came to tell you as a courtesy, but I knew this was a mistake.”
I feel like I’ve been slapped, so I take a step back. It dawns on me how little we actually know about each other, and I remember Nico’s words. A bad breakup. He wasn’t a good guy. Jesus Christ, he must have been a monster if this is how defensive she gets over a few simple questions.
I put my hands up in surrender and take another step back, giving her space.
“Can we start this conversation over?” I ask carefully. “You tell me what you want me to say, and I’ll say it.”
She looks at me like she can’t decide whether I’m being insulting or sincere.
“This was a mistake,” she repeats in a kind of whisper. “I never should have come here. I never should have slept with you in the first place.”
That stings.
“Val, slow down,” I say gently, hoping my tone doesn’t come off condescending. “Let’s just talk this out. You’re pregnant. It’s my baby. Like it or not, we’re in this together, so let’s make a plan.”
“No,” she yelps like she’s been stung. “I don’t want to plan anything with you! That’s not why I came here.”
I groan in frustration. “Then why come at all?” I bark. “What’s the point of this? It could have been a text.”
“Would you really want this news over text?”
“No, Val. I would want you to not ghost me for over a month. I would want you to pretend, even for a second, that that night actually meant something to you. This shouldn’t be our first communication in six weeks, but that was your decision. I’m just along for the ride.”
“That’s not fair,” she accuses. “You knew how I felt. You knew I didn’t want anything serious to come from that night.”
“Great job, Val,” I answer sarcastically. “Looks like you really fucked that up.”
“It wasn’t my decision not to wear a condom!” she shouts.
“Don’t do that. Don’t act like I had some master plan. We were both caught up that night. You didn’t tell me you weren’t on birth control.”
“Iamon birth control!” she nearly screeches. “That’s what makes this all so much more fucked up.”
Nico steps in mid-sentence, tablet in hand, his face even paler than his sister’s. No need to ask what he’s heard, because it’s clear he heard enough.
His eyes move from me to Valentina and back. They narrow at me, and I can almost see the pieces clicking into place. His gaze flashes with anger.
“Please tell me you two aren’t that goddamn stupid,” he says tightly.
Val turns on him, not realizing he’d walked in, and her whole body goes still. No matter how she wanted this to go with me, she definitely wasn’t ready for him to be part of it, and that’s obvious in her posture.
“Nico—” she starts, but he puts his hand up.
“No way,” he says sharply. “No way you two slept together other behind my back. You wouldn’t do that to me.”
