Impossible Girl (Sexy Nerd Boys #2.5) (11 page)

“I never thought I’d say this, but I would
so
rather be snuggling on the couch with Dex and Maya than at this obnoxious party,” I complain as Nikki hands me a plastic cup, filled to the rim with beer.

“Aw, look at you, all domesticated and shit,” she teases.

“I am not domesticated. I’m like a cat, I can totally live in a house but if you set me free tomorrow I can hunt like nobody’s business.” I bristle at the idea of having been tamed, even if it is sort of true. Dex was so goddamn sneaky about it, I didn’t even realize I was his until it was too late. Until the idea of being his actually made me happy.

“Let’s hang out for a little bit, then we can head back to your place and watch some movies. Okay?”

“Deal.”

I take a large gulp of my beer, cringing at the taste. I’ve never been a huge fan of beer. I’ve always said drinking beer tastes like licking quarters, but this beer tastes even worse than usual.

“Do my eyes deceive me? Remy Harris, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you around tonight. You’ve been M.I.A. ever since you started hanging around with ‘stick-in-the-mud’ Dexter.”

I roll my eyes as Trey flings an arm over my shoulders. This is why I’ve been avoiding parties lately. It’s like the ghost of Christmas past. Every guy I’ve fucked in the past three years is here, hoping I’ll jump into their bed tonight.

“Does this mean you’re single again, baby? Please say you’ll spend the night with me. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Not a chance Trey. I’m still with Dex, he’s just out of town this weekend.”

“Well, what Dex doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“Knock it off Trey, it’s not going to happen.”

“Come on, you know you want this.” He grabs my hand and forces it onto the crotch of his pants.

“Fucking stop it, I don’t want to touch your damn pencil dick.”

People around us chuckle at my comment and Trey’s face turns red.

“Whatever, you dumb cunt.” He storms away.

“That was fun, but can we please go home now?” I plead with Nikki. She’s still laughing at the ‘pencil dick’ comment, but nods her consent. I toss my nasty beer in the nearest trash and we head back to my apartment for some sister time.

I wake up with a warm body in my bed, but not the one I’ve grown accustomed to.

“You’re not as hunky as my usual bedmate.”

Nikki laughs and flings her pillow at me.

“I bet you won’t make me pancakes like Dex does either.”

“Nope, but I’ll let
you
make
me
pancakes. With chocolate chips.”

“Ugh, that means we need to go to the store. I don’t have anything here.”

“Okay, let’s get going, I’m starved.”

As Nikki and I make our way through the grocery store she grabs anything made of chocolate that we pass.

“Jeeze, if I didn’t know any better I’d think it was shark week,” I joke. Shark week is what we’ve called our periods for years. I know... it’s hilarious.

Nikki’s eyebrows furrow and she looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“It is...but you obviously know that.”

My mouth falls open. It can’t be. Our periods have been synced since our very first time. There is
no
possible way she has her period and I don’t. Unless…

“Please tell me you’re fucking with me right now.”

“Remy, you’re freaking me out. You don’t think…”

The words hang between us, making me sweat.

“No way. It’s probably just because we aren’t living together anymore that we’re out of sync.”

Nikki nods but her expression remains skeptical.

“When was your last period?”

“Uh…” I try to count back in my head and my stomach starts to clench. “Right before Halloween.” The memory of the
one
time Dex and I forgot a condom jumps to my mind. No, no, no. This
can’t
be happening. The room starts to spin.

“Jesus Rem, you’re one of those women who doesn’t realize she’s pregnant until there’s a baby coming out of her.”

I’m gasping for breath as I shoot her a death glare. Now is so not the time for joking.

“Okay, come on.” She drags me towards the pharmacy area and grabs a pregnancy test, tossing it into the cart. “Let’s get you home so you can pee on this stick.”

I set the test on the counter and wash my hands before exiting the bathroom.

“So?” Nikki asks anxiously as soon as I step into the living room.

“I have to wait three minutes.” I pace in front of the couch counting the seconds until my life might change forever. What the hell am I going to do if it’s positive? My stomach dips dramatically at the thought of what Dex might say. He’ll leave me, all men leave when women get pregnant. Dex’s father, my father, husbands 2 and 4, they all left the minute a plus sign showed up on the pee stick.

“It’s time,” Nikki says. My hands are shaking and my heart is pounding in my chest.

“I can’t look, please do it for me?” I beg. I feel bile rising in my throat. Nikki disappears into the bathroom but doesn’t say anything right away. I want to scream at her to hurry up already. She comes back out and faces me, her expression unreadable.

“Well?” I demand.

“I’m going to be an aunt,” she says with a cautious smile. Somehow I feel both devastated and relieved. I get the sense that I would’ve felt the same way if it was negative but for different reasons. Nikki places a hand over my lower abdomen and her smile spreads wider.

“I know this isn’t what you planned, but I’m here for you. No matter what you decide to do.”

I guess I do have some decisions to make. My phone vibrates on the coffee table and I jump at the sound. I know it’s going to be Dex and my stomach churns.

“Are you going to tell him today?” Nikki asks. I shake my head.

“I need to figure things out first,” I lie. I’m not going to tell him at all. I can’t tell him. It would hurt too much to let him walk away. It’s better if I walk away. My phone buzzes again but this time it isn’t Dex it’s an unknown number.

What the actual fuck?

My heart is in my throat. This is
so
not what I need right now. I jump as my phone vibrates again, this time it’s a call from Dex. I immediately hit ‘ignore’.

I try to stay calm and not jump to any conclusions but every call that Remy sends directly to voicemail gets my imagination going overtime. I had just gotten in the car to head back to campus when I received the picture message. For a moment I’d thought it was from Remy, but the longer I looked at it I realized that it was clearly taken by another person. Then I’d looked at the sender, it was from Trey.

My phone buzzed again with another message.

Remy wouldn’t do that to me. She’s not like that. But a little voice in the back of my head isn’t so convinced of that. The fact that she’s ignoring my calls has that stupid voice shouting louder. I know she went to a party last night at Trey’s frat, but that doesn’t mean that he’s telling the truth. But, then where did he get naked pictures of her?

I send a quick text to Trey before blocking his number.

Then I text Remy, my hands shaking.

My phone remains silent not only for the remainder of my drive home, but for the rest of the night as well. I call Remy repeatedly, always being sent straight to voicemail, leading me to think she turned her phone off.

“Maybe you should go over there and try to talk to her,” Asher suggests as he and Eve sit cuddled up on the couch.

“Why? So she can tell me to my face that she fucked Trey?” I want to put my fist through something. I thought we had a good thing going. I pushed her too fast. I knew she wasn’t ready to hear that I loved her, but I said it anyway. I sent her running straight into the arms of another man. I’m not putting the blame on myself, though. If she wanted out, she should have just said something instead of hopping in bed with that asshole.

“Maybe it’s a misunderstanding?” Eve suggests.

“Then why isn’t she answering my calls and texts? If it was a misunderstanding, why hasn’t she come over here to explain what happened?”

Neither Asher nor Eve have any explanation. Well, that makes three of us.

Three weeks since the pee stick showed double lines and I feel like a hollow shell of who I used to be. For the first week, I didn’t get out of bed. I skipped classes and meals. I curled into a ball and let my misery swallow me. But, then Nikki came by with Abby and Eve, and basically staged an intervention. They made me shower and lectured me that until I decided for sure to have an abortion I need to take care of myself and my body. They were right. In the past two weeks, I’ve started to think that maybe I should keep the baby. Not that I have the first clue about how to take care of a baby.

So, I’ve started taking prenatal vitamins, eating right, and going back to class. If I’m going to be a single mother, I’ll need that degree for a good job. Without Dex as my calculus tutor, I’m back to struggling through. But, I was doing well enough until then that I should at least squeak by with a C. I can do this. I don’t need a man. Even if my life did feel so much more colorful with Dex by my side.

I take a sip of my coffee and immediately feel like vomiting. How can I still be this upset about Remy after three weeks of her ignoring my calls? She cheated on me for chrissake. The first chance she got, she jumped in bed with that fucking tool Trey. Not to mention, she let him take pictures of her naked body. I feel like punching a god damn wall every time I think about it. And yet, I would give anything to just see Remy and let her explain what happened. Maybe it’s not true. Or maybe it is true and she wishes it wasn’t. I shake myself mentally. If that were the case she’d be returning my calls.

“Dex,” The sexy, melodic voice that ramps my heart-rate up sounds behind me. I whip around and frown.

“Hey, Nikki,” I say, unable to keep the disappointment from my voice.

“Sorry, you thought I was Remy didn’t you?” She gives me an apologetic smile.

“It’s okay. How is...everything?”

“Not great, but I’m sure you know that. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I think if you give her a little time she’s going to come around. I know she says she’s not sure what she’s going to do about the baby, but I know she’s going to keep it. And once you show her that you aren’t going anywhere she’ll realize that not all men are the same.”

All I can hear is the sound of my own heart thundering in my ears as the room spins around me. This is a dream right? This has to be a dream. Because there is no way that Nikki just told me that Remy is pregnant. The look on my face must suddenly register with her because her face changes from reassuring to mortified.

“Holy shit on a stick, she didn’t tell you?”

“Thanks for letting me know,” I mutter before whipping around and sprint out of the coffee shop, my coffee left abandoned.

Remy’s pregnant and she didn’t even tell me. She was thinking about having an abortion
and didn’t even tell me
. Well
fuck
that! I want my baby. That thought gives me pause. Maybe there’s a chance it’s not mine and that’s why she didn’t tell me. Could it be Trey’s, or some other guy that she was with that I don’t know about?

I remember our first conversation at her apartment where she told me that not only had her own father left as soon as the stick turned pink but two of her mom’s other husbands had done the same. It makes complete sense that she would assume that I would do the same, but goddamn was that piss poor logic for not even giving me a chance to react.

My mind is made up on the frantic drive to Remy’s apartment. I want Remy and the baby, regardless if it’s mine or not. My heart aches with longing at the idea of making a family with Remy. We can get a place together. Maya could have her own room right next to the nursery. I want it more than I want my next breath.