Page 8 of Anatomy Lessons

“Karen—”

“That you got me pregnant and abandoned me and refuse to support your son?”

There’s sweat dripping down the side of my cheek. My jaw is clenched so tightly the muscle starts to cramp. My eyes move to the tiny little sleeping bundle in her arms, then back to her.

“What do you want, Karen?”

Her lips twist into a callous grin. She looks up like she’s pretending to think about an answer to my question. “Oh, nothing much. Just for you, my husband, to get back together with me and be a father to your son.”

Images of our past together flash through my mind, and my stomach twists into a knot. Christ, after the incredible night I had, this is the last thing I need.

I can’t stand here any longer. Susan is already wrapped up in this, and it’s only a matter of time before more snoopy neighbors start peeking out their windows for a glimpse of the drama. Everyone’s got a cell phone these days, so it’s not a stretch to think I might end up online either with some dramatic caption about what a terrible man I am.

So I turn my back on Karen and open the door to my house. As I step inside, I hear her call out, “I’m staying at the Motel 6. I’ll give you a couple of days to make up your mind!”

I slam the door so hard behind me it nearly shatters the doorframe. My breaths come in short, painful gasps as I rest my head against the wall and look out the window as Karen slowly gets back in her car and pulls away.

A couple of days to make up your mind…

My mind is already made up. I choose Maisy, my angel. Of course I do. But what do I do if she finds out about this? And how do I break it to her? Either way, I need to figure it out before Karen gets anywhere near her.

6

MAISY

It hasn’t even been a day and I’m desperately missing him.

“It’s like there’s this hole inside me. I know it’s silly, but I just can’t stop thinking about him!”

Sasha is looking at me like I’m simultaneously adorable and have also lost my mind.

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No!” she protests. “I think it’s cute. I’ve never seen you actually into a guy before. Not to mention he’s mega hot.”

“Hey, that’s my man you’re talking about there,” I reply, flashing her a protective glare that makes us both laugh.

“I don’t know what he’s doing teaching when he could totally be a model or an actor.”

“Right?” I sigh, thinking back to the bar, his hand on my thigh, the way he held me by the wrist and made me sit back down beside him. The popped collar and his muscular chest. “Is it weird that I’m picturing him…”

My voice trails off, but Sasha jumps right in for me. “Naked? With no clothes on?”

“I mean—”

“Picturing his huge dick swinging between his legs?”

“Sasha!” I burst out. “Oh my God.”

I’m blushing again. It’s becoming a pattern whenever Clark comes up in conversation. Or whenever I replay the events of last night in my mind. But as much as I pretend to deny it, she’s right. Ever since I caught a glimpse of those bulging muscles, my imagination took over, and I started thinking about…everything else. Including what Sasha just teased me about.

But the truth is, I don’t even know what one of those things really looks like…

I’ve only seen pictures—a few of them. That’s how naïve I am. I can’t even fully admit it to myself because it just makes me feel ridiculous. I mean, how can I be twenty-one years old and have never even seen a penis in person? I’ve never told Sasha that. I doubt she’d believe me.

I could blame my mom. She was always checking my browsing history to make sure I wasn’t looking at anything ‘inappropriate.’ But the truth is, I never really wanted to know if I wasn’t finding out in person. And now the thought of learning from Professor Durand…well, let’s just say it kept me up last night.

I check my phone. Almost four-thirty.