Chapter Eighteen
O’Shea
I blankly stared out of the hotel window, watching as cars sped through the rain. I hadn't spoken to Ashton since I left the apartment two days ago, suddenly feeling empty without her around. After everything that happened, I couldn't even enjoy my family because I couldn't stop thinking about Ashton and how I’d unintentionally hurt her with this situation, even if I wasn't directly at fault. I found myself checking my phone to see if she’d texted or called, but there was nothing from her. Her tearful gaze was embedded in my memory, breaking my heart each time I thought about it. I released a deep sigh. There had to be a way to fix this.
“The only thing Kayla knows how to do is fuck shit up,” Olivia said, breaking into my thoughts. I ran a hand over my face in frustration. My mom, sisters, and I were gathered in their hotel room, going over the events of the other day. After Ashton kicked me out, I'd gotten my own hotel room and stayed in it the entire day yesterday, refusing to talk to anyone. I was angry that my family hadn’t talked to me about it first, no matter what they thought Kayla had to tell me. After fully thinking the situation over, I couldn't fully blame them. I never told my mother that Ashton and I were in a relationship. Hell, I hadn't even told Ashton I was in love with her. After everything that had happened, I didn't know if it was too late now.
“Shea, I really am sorry I brought her—”
“Ma, please,” I interrupted, rubbing my temples. “The damage is already done. Now I need to figure out how to fix this.”
“Your first objective would be to make Kayla take a pregnancy test to confirm it,” Paris said. “There’s no need for you to make drastic changes to your life if she’s lying about it.”
“She’s full of shit; of course she’s lying about it,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes. “I asked her on two different occasions how far along she was and she told me different answers. First she said she was almost three months. Then she said a few weeks. When I called her out on it, she claimed the ‘doctor made a mistake the first time.’ Bullshit.”
“I agree. I’d get a pregnancy test first. She only told me she was pregnant. She didn’t show me a test or anything from a doctor,” my mother added.
I frowned. “And you believed her enough to still bring her here to tell me a lie?” I asked.
She gave me a sheepish shrug. “I wanted to believe that she wouldn’t lie about something like that,” she murmured.
I nodded. While I partly agreed with my sisters, I couldn’t see Kayla faking a pregnancy either, especially since she’d been against it before. Then again, this was the woman who’d stoop down to any level to get me back. She knew how to pull my strings and probably thought mentioning a pregnancy would cause me to have a change of heart. Unfortunately for her, I was done being her puppet. She could play all the games she wanted, but I would no longer be a player of them.
“So if she takes the test and it’s positive, then what?” I asked. “I know for a fact that I don’t want to be with her, and she’ll just make my life a living hell if we’re not together.”
“If we’re being completely honest here, even if it is positive, I don’t think it would be yours,” Paris mentioned. My mother snapped her fingers.
“You know what, you’re right about that,” my mother said and looked at me. “You’ve been here, what, almost six months now? Even though Kayla changed her timeline a couple of times, neither of them matched the weeks she should be if it were your kid. She should be about five months or more if it were yours and she damn sure doesn’t look five or six months pregnant.”
“Boy, you better just go to the pharmacy and grab a pregnancy test and get this over with because this bitch is trying to trap you.”
“Yeah. I just don’t understand why she’s trying so hard. She can have anyone she wants, especially a man with as much money as she has. So why try so hard to get me back?”
“Because she’s a nut job that doesn’t know what she wants,” Olivia said. I smirked at her.
“You really hate her, don’t you?”
“Ever since you first brought her over!” She smiled, proud of herself. I chuckled.
“At least you’ve been consistent,” I stated, which she nodded to in response.
My mother sighed. “Well, baby, go on to the pharmacy before they close. You need to get to the bottom of this.”
∞∞∞
I sat outside of Kayla's hotel room in my truck, rotating a pregnancy test box in my hand. My arm brushed against my suitcases that were stuffed into the truck on the passenger side due to the storm outside, constantly reminding me that I was forced to have to start over if I couldn’t reverse the bullshit that happened the other day. Reminding me that Kayla came and destroyed something good. Reminding me that Ashton was gone.
Taking in a deep breath, I rested my head on the headrest, memories of Ashton filtering through my mind. I wasn't going to leave town without fighting for her. If she still didn't want me there after I told her my feelings, then fine; at least I could leave North Carolina knowing that I tried. If she accepted my truth and reciprocated, I'd have my woman back and that would be the end of it.
I opened my eyes and looked toward Kayla's room. After Ashton told me she didn’t want me there anymore, I packed my things and left without a fight. I couldn’t be mad at her for how she felt; that day turned into a complete disaster. I’d texted Kayla and asked if we could talk, not telling her my real motive. After having that conversation with my mom and sisters, even if she was pregnant, there was a high chance that it wasn’t mine. When I looked back up, Kayla stood at the window looking at me. Sighing inwardly, I clutched the box, got out of my truck, and dashed through the rain and into her room.
She closed the door behind me, dressed in nothing but white lingerie. Her hands ran up my chest and finally locked behind my neck, pressing her body close to mine. "I'm glad you finally came to your senses," she purred, kissing my neck as she dropped her hand to massage my cock through my jeans.
“We need to talk.”
“We can talk later, baby. Right now I need you inside of me. I want you to make me scream tonight,” she whispered, her tongue tickling my earlobe. I shook my head and pushed her away.
"That's not why I'm here," I said. She dropped to her knees in front of me, her baby doll brown eyes gazing up at me as she reached for my belt buckle.
"Maybe not, but you looked stressed, baby. I can make that all go away," she murmured. I stepped away.
“You’re pregnant, right?”
She looked at me, her beautiful features twisting in confusion. “Yeah, but pregnant women have sex all the time. I don’t see what the problem—”
“How far along are you?” I asked. She chuckled in disbelief.
“Shea, I don’t see why that matters right now—”
“How far along are you, Kayla?” I repeated, my voice firm. She pursed her lips together and exhaled deeply.
“Let’s just say I found out a couple of weeks after you left.”
“So then you should know how far along you are. How long is that?”
“I don’t know, like three and a half months?”
I shook my head. This woman was full of shit, but I’d play along. “Three and a half months, huh?” I mused, stroking my chin.
“Yes. We can make an appointment with the doctor as soon as we get back home. Anything you want,” she said, her eyes searching my face for confirmation.
“Yeah, I need you to take this to confirm, and then we’ll worry about dates later,” I stated, holding up the pregnancy test.
Her eyes widened in surprise before quickly morphing into anger as she jumped to her feet. "Are you fucking serious right now?" she screamed.
"As a heart attack.” I shook the box. "You want me to consider a relationship or go back to Virginia with you, then I need confirmation."
She folded her arms across her chest, a frown settling on her full lips. Once upon a time I used to be so turned on by the woman in front of me. Her nipples were visible through the sheer material of her bra, usually enticing me to suck them on a normal day, but not now. Her curves always made me want to bury myself deep inside her, especially when she was only wearing a thong. The thought of her full lips around my cock was enough to make me hard, but not anymore. She had no effect on me anymore and I think it was becoming harder for her to accept.
"What, you don't trust me?" she asked, her voice dripping with accusation. I rolled my eyes.
"No, I don't. My sister told me a couple of inconsistencies earlier, but to see you go through a bottle of wine by yourself at lunch the other day, I started to have my own doubts." I tossed the box on the bed she stood next to. "If you want to prove you've changed and want to show me you want to work on us, then take that test and confirm your pregnancy."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you're a liar and I'm out of here," I stated firmly. She stared at me for a long while, her nostrils flaring in anger. "So are you going to take it or not?"
She flopped down on the bed with a loud huff. "I'm not pregnant. Is that what you want to fucking hear?" she spat.
"So what, was this a ploy to try to win me back or to piss off Ashton?" I asked, leaning against the dresser.
She cut her eyes at me and looked away. "Imagine how it feels to know that the man you're trying to win back has a female roommate. And then to see how you treated her and came to her defense as if I mean nothing to you, as if we don't have history."
"Kayla, you're complaining about shit that happened as a result of your decision.”
“Yeah, and I’m trying to change that, but you’re not giving me a chance,” she spat.
I looked at her for a long moment. “What’s the real reason you’re here, Kayla? It’s not just because you want me back. Hell, you probably don’t even really want me back, but you’re trying hard because of something else. So what is it? What do you want from me?” I asked her.
She snorted and shook her head. “Why can’t I just miss you?”
“It took you a month after we broke up to realize you missed me? Nah, it’s more than that.” I folded my arms across my chest and tilted my head.
She threw her hands up in the air. “Fuck it, you want to know the truth? I’m trying to repair my reputation. Apparently women can’t reject proposals without being made out to look like a bitch. And then your family spreading fucking lies about me to the news and shit—”
“Spreading what lies?”
“About how I dumped you because you were poor—”
“What? You said we were pretending this would work when it wouldn’t because we were in two different income classes. You rejected me because I didn’t meet your financial standards. Those were your words.” Irritation overwhelmed me as I continued. “You never fucking take responsibility for anything you do. It’s always someone else’s fault instead of yours. You’re blaming my family for telling people shit you said to me and you can’t see how fucking selfish that is? But you know what? I had plenty of time to think about the shit you said to me before I left. Maybe you were right. Maybe we aren't right for each other. I spent years of my life blindly loving you and doing everything to make you happy and for what? You don’t appreciate shit! You’re just self absorbed and stuck in your own little world and think people are suppose to ask how high when you tell them to jump. I’m over that. I’m over you. And I know that even more now that I've met Ashton."
She scoffed. "You're in love with her or something?"
"I am," I answered with no hesitation. She looked at me in disbelief. "I'm in love with her, Kayla. I'm not going to lie; losing you hurt me to my soul. But why fight for someone who couldn't fight for me against her family? Who would want me to change who I am just so I won't embarrass you when you introduce me to your rich friends? I don't want to settle for that life.
"I want the girl that's cool with getting dinner at a Sonic drive-in, one who isn't afraid to throw on sneakers to go to an arcade. Someone who isn't uptight all the time and knows how to joke and have fun. I want someone like me, someone who can appreciate me for what I have to offer and not what they can turn me into."
Kayla looked away and wiped her eyes. "You should leave," she said, getting off the bed and rushing to the bathroom, slamming the door.
I sighed, walking over to the bathroom door, but paused when I touched the knob. This was typical of her. Anytime she disagreed with what I’d said, she’d run off, attempting to make me feel guilty about it and to settle for whatever made her happy. My days of running after her were over. I’d made it perfectly clear that I didn’t want to be with her and I wouldn’t allow her to guilt trip me into going back on anything I’d said. Instead, I put my hands in my pockets.
“Goodbye, Kayla,” I said, loud enough for her to hear me through the door. When she didn’t respond, I turned on my heels and left her room, officially closing that chapter of my life.
∞∞∞
I walked a few doors down and knocked on the door of the room my mom and sisters shared. “Come in, baby,” my mom said, looking around me at the rain pouring down outside. “It’s raining cats and dogs out there.”
I flopped down in a chair and rubbed my forehead. “This has been the absolute longest few days of my life,” I muttered.
My mother rubbed my shoulder. “I’m sorry, baby. So how’d it go with Kayla? Did she take the test?”
“No. She finally just told me she wasn’t pregnant.”
“Then what was the point of doing all that then?” Paris asked.
“Pretty sure she only made it up to trick Mama into letting her come with us,” Olivia mentioned.
“It wasn’t that simple. She claimed she needed me back to repair her reputation,” I muttered. “What’s this I hear about our breakup being in the news and shit?”
“Oh yeah…people heard that you ran off and no one knew where you were, so there was a lot of shit in the news and the papers about Kayla being the girlfriend from hell, a heartless woman, and that she ran you out of town with a broken heart. All the stories were in your favor though.”
I shook my head. “Then I’m glad I didn’t stick around,” I said with a light chuckle.
“So what happens now? Your roommate kicked you out and you don’t have money saved for a place,” Paris said.
I sat quiet for a moment. “I’m going to go back to the apartment and talk to her.” Everyone looked at me without saying anything. “And I’m finally going to tell her how I feel about her.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re actually admitting you love that girl. All of us could see that and we’d only been around you two for a few hours that day,” my mom said with a light laugh.
I looked over at her. “What do you mean you saw it?”
“Shea, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you’re smitten with her. You do remember I sat next to you at Olive Garden, right? I saw how you held her hand under the table to keep her calm and how protective you were of her when Kayla got a bit rowdy. Not to mention the look on that poor girl’s face when Kayla kept going on and on about fiancée this and fiancée that. I knew then that whatever you two had going on was much more than a roommate situation.”
I sighed, unable to deny it and no longer wanting to. She touched parts of my heart from the moment I spoke with her as Natasha, even more so when we moved in together and I slowly got to know her. Unlike Kayla, I couldn’t imagine a life without Ashton even though we weren’t officially together. Even now I felt weird not sitting on the couch and cuddling through this storm while watching a movie. An unshakeable chill always covered my body, missing her warmth. I missed the way she looked at me when she was amused, her blue eyes twinkling as she laughed. I missed our meals on the couch. At this point, I’d happily eat TV dinners or Hot Pockets on the couch with her with no complaints. I just wanted to be close to her; I needed to be close to her.
After a while, Paris clapped her hands together. “So, are you going to sit and mope in the chair all night or are you gonna go get your woman?” she asked. I looked at the three women who smiled at me, signaling their stamp of approval.
“I guess I need to go get her,” I said and stood. They all walked over and gave me a tight hug.
“We’ll see you in the morning. If things don’t work out, you can always come back and crash with us. I think the couch has a pull-out bed,” my mother said.
“Let’s hope everything works out,” I murmured, hugging her once more before leaving their room. Lightning illuminated the sky as I ran to my truck in the rain, which came down harder than it was a few minutes ago. I started my truck and pulled my phone from my pocket, finding the number I was looking for. My heart beat a little faster as I stared at the number, my insecurities swirling in my mind. What if she hangs up? What if she doesn’t feel the same way? After everything that happened the other day, what if it’s too late?
“It’s better to try than to spend the rest of my life wondering what if,” I said to myself and pressed the number to call. I put the phone to my ear, eased out of the parking lot of the hotel, and headed for the highway.
“Thank you for calling Erotic Fantasies. This is Natasha, what’s your fantasy tonight?” she asked. My heart ached to hold her. Even her voice sounded as sad as I felt. I took a deep breath, hoping this plan wouldn’t backfire on me.
“Hey there, sex kitten.”