Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
My oldest brother clears his throat again. A pink flush is working its way up his neck.
I furrow my brow. “You chokin’?”
“Duke, you gotta talk to her,” he says, shaking his head.
My heart skips a beat. “What? Do you know something I don’t?”
Cash looks away. There’s something…off about him. He rides stiffly, and his eyes are narrowed.
My heart skips another beat. What is going on? I hate this feeling, like the world is pressing in on me from all sides as I wait for the proverbial axe to fall.
“Talk to her,” he repeats.
An icy wash of panic moves through me. “How can I do that if she won’t pick up my calls? If you know something, Cash, I need you to tell me.”
“Not my place to say. I’ll tell Mollie to tell Wheeler to call you.”
I reach out and grab his arm. Our horses immediately slow to a walk. My pulse throbs, my thoughts whirring. Is Wheeler hurt? Did something happen with her family? Her dad? I’ll murder that man with my bare hands if he did something to make her cry.
“Tell me. I’m begging you. She okay?”
He has a pained look on his face now. “She’s fine. Well, she’s not fine, but—”
“Jesus Christ.” Sawyer stares wide-eyed at me. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
An explosion detonates inside my rib cage, the blast roaring in my ears and rattling my spine.
We didn’t use condoms.
We had so much sex.
So.
Much.
We fucked a hundred times. And every time, I came inside her. Yes, she’s on the pill, but there’s no fail-safe method.
We should’ve used backup.
Jesus Christ, why didn’t we use backup?
I look for confirmation in Cash’s expression. His eyes are full.
Sympathy. Regret. Some embarrassment too from revealing a secret he wasn’t supposed to. Wonder how he found out.
Oh shit, Wheeler is definitely pregnant.
Why wasn’t I her first call? The idea that she’s handled this alone—without me—knocks the wind out of me. I can just imagine the poor thing shaking like a leaf again.
“Fuck.” Cash closes his eyes and lets his head fall back. “I didn’t say that.”
A hand grips my windpipe and squeezes. “Is it true? Is Wheeler pregnant?”
My brother opens his eyes. They’re glassy. “Yes, Duke. Wheeler is pregnant.”
Somehow, we’ve all slowed to a stop. So has my heartbeat.
My brothers look at me, their faces blank with naked shock. I may be one of the “wild cards” of the family, but I’m not careless.
Maybe this is the universe’s way of keeping me humble.
If so, the universe is one sick son of a bitch.
I am frozen in place. I don’t know what to do. What to say.
All I know is Wheeler’s handled this on her own, and that’s not fucking fair.
Squeezing my legs, I urge my horse into a sprint as I pull hard on my left rein. The pounding of his hooves on the soft ground echoes inside my breastbone as we head back home.
I ride like a bat out of hell. By the time we arrive at the barn, he’s foaming at the mouth and I’m soaked head to toe in sweat.
Wheeler is pregnant.
I don’t understand why she hasn’t told me.
I’m truly and deeply crushed I wasn’t her first call. Then again, why would I be? She told me why she wants to keep her distance. Her family—
Shit. This is how her parents’ story started, isn’t it? Her mom getting pregnant unexpectedly. Her dad doing what he thought was right and marrying her.
My stomach lurches. Parenthood. I’m not ready for that. I want to travel. Try new things. Figure out what the hell I wanna do with the rest of my life.
Settling down and having a kid is not part of the plan.
My hands shake as I dig my phone out of my back pocket. I’m a wreck. But as scared as I am, I bet Wheeler’s feeling ten times worse, and that’s what I need to focus on right now—making sure she’s okay.
I only have one bar of service in the barn, but that’ll have to do. I shoot off a text to Wheeler. Call me please. I know she won’t pick up if I actually call.
Then I call Mollie.
“Hey!” she says after she picks up on the second ring, clearly surprised to hear from me. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
I don’t call Mollie all that much at the moment. She’s busy with Bellamy Brooks, my brother, and the baby, and I’m busy…well, pining after her best friend like a lovesick dickhead.
“Where is she?” The words come out as a growl, but I’m too anxious to apologize at the moment. I haven’t seen Wheeler’s car around the ranch today, so I don’t know if she went back to Dallas or what.
“Who? Duke, what’s going—”
“Wheeler. Cash just let slip that she’s pregnant, which I assume he heard from you?”
Dead silence.
Then: “Oh, Jesus.” She lets out a breath. “Okay, Cash wasn’t supposed to find out. Wheeler was at our place taking the tests, and he just happened to walk in on us.”