Page 29 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
“Who’d have thought someone as big and strong as you could sneak up on a person,” she teased.
“To be fair, you were pretty deeply lost in thought,” I said. “Which is what makes me ask, is everything okay with you?”
Elise sighed as she rinsed off her plate. Rolling her eyes, she reached for my plate, but I held it just out of her reach. No way was I going to make her wash my dishes for me. She wasn’t my servant. I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her response.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” she asked.
“Probably because you’ve been through a lot the last few days, and we’re worried about you,” I said simply.
“I appreciate it, but you don’t have to worry about me,” she said. “I’m a big girl.”
“That’s true,” I said. “But, we’re friends. Family. It all comes with the package deal.”
She sighed again, shaking her head. “I’ll be fine,” she muttered.
“I know,” I said.
She looked surprised. “You do?”
“Hell yeah,” I said, scraping the remainder of my meal into the trash can. “You’re one of the strongest, toughest people I know. You’re just like your brother like that. You can handle anything life throws at you. You’re not a fragile glass doll or anything. You take a hit, you keep on going. That’s just you. Like the Terminator.”
My words brought a smile to her face, and I was glad to see it.
“Thanks, Chase,” she said. “That means a lot.”
Shrugging, I said, “It’s just the truth. Aaron would be proud of the woman you’ve become today.”
Her smile wavered a bit, almost like she wasn’t so sure. Or perhaps the talk of her brother stirred the embers of grief inside of her. Looking away, she bit her lip and focused on her chipping fingernail polish instead of me.
I noticed that she still hadn’t answered the question though, and I knew she’d continue to avoid answering as long as I allowed her to. I closed the distance between us and dropped my plate off into the sink. Elise stepped back, but I moved closer to her, lifting her face up by the chin, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“So I’ll ask you again, Elise – are you okay? Because it really is perfectly okay to not be okay, you know.”
She hesitated for a moment and looked to be on the verge of blowing off the question again, but then her shoulders sagged, and her face was filled with a darkness I didn’t think I’d ever seen in her before. It made me want to reach out and pull her to me, to comfort her. But, I resisted.
“Not really,” she whispered.
She closed her eyes, clenching them tightly, still finding a way to not look at me when she spoke. After a few long moments, she let out a deep breath, and opened them again.
“It’s not just Brad, you know,” she said.
I had an idea, and I thought it had to do with Sean, but I let her continue speaking. It didn’t even occur to me that I still had my hand beneath her chin, forcing her eyes up to mine, until she leaned into my touch, relaxing her face against my hand. The feel of her smooth cheek against my palm sent a warm tingling throughout my hand and body. I almost yanked my hand away, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
She continued after a second’s pause. “I mean, it is Brad still, but it’s not – all him. I mean, it is, but it’s not,” she blew out a frustrated breath. “God, I don’t know if I should be telling you this. I haven’t told anyone yet.”
“What is it? You know your secret is safe with me,” I said.
She looked deeply into my eyes, as if searching for the truth in my words. As if searching for something she could hold on to that would make her trust me with her secret. Whatever it was, I could tell it was massive, and was really weighing heavily not just on her mind, but on her heart as well. She needed to talk to somebody about it, but she didn’t have anybody. I was glad I was there, pressing her to talk to me. She needed to get that poison out of her system.
After what seemed like forever, she finally spoke. “I – well, I think I might be pregnant,” she said.
The words were like a punch to the gut, and I felt the breath being driven from my body. It was hard to breathe for a second, and when I finally managed to pull myself together, I looked at her, blinking stupidly for a moment.
“You think?” was all I could think to ask.
She nodded, freeing herself from my grasp. Her lower lip trembled as she spoke.
“I haven’t taken a test yet, but my period is late. A few weeks back, I forgot a couple of my birth control pills, and, well – I was with Brad at the time. And only Brad. So if I am –”
