Tate

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The four of us returned to Ketchikan late that evening; we booked a flight, which meant the boys paid a premium to ship their instruments on the flight, but it was our only option, since Brock had to work.

The boys dropped Aerie and me off at the B and B, waving as they drove away, and then my sister and I went inside, sneaking up to our room so Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t give us an interrogation.

Aerie settled onto her bed with her ukulele, and I puttered around our room at odd ends, missing Corin, replaying all the beautiful sex we’d had in my head.

I took some vitamins, because I’d been lax about it lately.

There, mixed in with my vitamins, were my birth control pills.

Ice water seared through my veins. “Ohhh…fuck.”

Aerie glanced at me. “What’s wrong?”

I lifted the pills in answer. “I forgot them. The whole weekend.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “We had sex yesterday. Like…a lot of sex. Unprotected.”

“Oh my god!” Aerie lunged off the bed and wrapped me up in her arms. “What the fuck, Tate? Seriously?”

I was fighting sobs. “We just…I just…I got so caught up in him, it didn’t even occur to me.” I wrenched myself out of her arms and paced, manic. “What the fuck is wrong with me? God, I’m so stupid.”

Aerie let out a shaky breath. “Tate, honey…that was colossally stupid.”

“I know, I know!” I was sobbing, now, unable to stop them. “What do I do? Fuck, fuck, fuck! What do I do?”

“Step one, call Corin. Step two, get Plan B.”

I stared at her. “I have to tell him, don’t I?”

“Um, yeah.”

I shook my head. “I can’t call him. Not with this. I have to…I have to go see him.”

Aerie handed me my purse and tossed shoes my way. “Want me with you?”

I let out a tremulous breath, trying to calm myself enough to get past Grandma and Grandpa. “No. No…I have to do this myself.”

Aerie gripped my arms. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I…I need to be alone for a minute.”

She frowned at me. “Tate, I’m worried about you.”

I laughed through a sob. “We said I love you, yesterday.”

Aerie laughed with me. “At least there’s that?”

“I’ll be okay.”

“You’re not gonna, like, panic and do anything dumb are you?”

I laughed even harder, possibly coming a little unhinged. “Dumber than not bringing my birth control with me on an unprotected sex-binge weekend with Corin Badd, and very likely getting myself pregnant with his baby?”

“Tate, you know what I mean.”

I sighed. “Yes, A, I know what you mean. And no, I’m scared out of my mind, but I…I don’t think Corin will abandon me through this, regardless of what happens.”

“No, the Badd brothers aren’t the type of men who flake out when shit gets tough,” Aerie agreed. “If you’ve got a Badd boy on your side, they’re there for life.”

“Exactly. And if we really do love each other, then this will be fine.”

“But you’ve spent, like, three days total together, in terms of time spent in each other’s presence,” Aerie protested.

“Yeah, but it’s Cor. I’ve known him my whole life.”

“True.”

I blew out a breath, wiped my face, and shook out my hands. “Okay. I can do this.”

“You can totally do this.”

I faked a bright, confident smile, held it…and then lost it, almost dissolving into sobs again, only barely holding it back. “I can’t do this.”

She held my shoulders, shaking me. “Tate—get it together. You’re tougher than this.”

“You’re right—you’re right.” I blinked hard, shook out my hands, and sucked in fortifying breath. “Okay, okay. I’m okay. I can do this. I can totally do this.”

“You’ve got it, Tate,” Aerie said, rubbing my arms up and down.

“Wish me luck.”

She blew a casual raspberry. “Bah, you don’t need luck. You’ve got Corin. And plus, I’m your twin sister. I’m your best bitch for life, yo.”

I laughed. “Aerie, oh my god. Don’t ever try to talk street.”

“Is that street?”

I walked out, laughing. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s not good.”