He doesn’t. He only drills his point home harder, wrecking me completely. “Does Kate know? Wyatt’s going to lose his fucking mind. You realize this, right?”
“You can’t tell anyone, Carson. Please. Not yet.”
“I’ve waited an entire week for you to tell me about this. I’ve heard you throwing up, but I was praying like hell it was a virus and not because of a damn baby. You’re in so much trouble, but you don’t seem like you care.”
“I get it. I’m worried every single second of every single day. It’s all I think about.”
“How could you let this happen, Kins? How?”
“It was an accident. I didn’t ask for this to happen, Carson. I didn’t!”
“You messed up the second you let him touch you. You’ve been more worried about keeping Rhett Taylor happy than staying true to yourself. But let me tell you one thing, the thrill is over. He doesn’t want a kid or a needy girlfriend. He wants to go away to school and do whatever the hell he wants with whoever he thinks looks good that night.”
That’s not how Rhett operates. I know better, but hearing it from a guy who’s already in college scares me. “Shut up! You have no idea what you’re talking about. You don’t know what we have.”
“I know enough to know he’s going to run like hell the first chance he gets. He’s not going to take care of you the way I would have.”
And here we go again, more jealously. I thought we moved on from this, but apparently, we’ve been running in circles. “This isn’t about you, Carson.”
“You’re right, because everything always revolves around you. Everyone makes sacrifices for you while you do whatever you want. For someone with next to nothing you have a real sense of entitlement, Kins.”
I can’t believe he’s turning on me like this. He’s always been my friend—the guy I would turn to when I was down or needed someone to cheer me up. More than anyone, he knows how much pain I’ve dealt with. I didn’t ask to lose my parents. I didn’t ask to have my life ripped away from me, and I most definitely didn’t ask to be pregnant. “You moved in here on your own. Kate stayed here to take care of me because she wanted to. Not once have I asked for a single favor or thing from either of you. I can take care of myself.”
“You keep telling yourself that, Princess. I’m done. I’m done giving a shit about protecting you.” Carson storms off to his room, and throws his suitcase on the bed. He grabs handfuls of clothes out of his drawers and shoves them inside in a heap. Each item he tosses in, he throws a little harder. “I came here for you!” he shouts.
I slither around the corner of the hallway, watching in horror as he destroys his room, shattering picture frames, and upending anything that’s not attached to a wall or the floor. He’s allowed to be mad, but he can’t move out. We can’t afford to stay here without him. “Please, don’t leave,” I beg. “We need you.”
“Maybe that’s the problem with this arrangement. You need me, but I don’t need you, Kinsley. I could be living in some bachelor pad bringing girls home any night of the week—like a typical twenty-year-old guy.”
That’s not Carson. He’s never been a player and he’s never used girls to fill empty space in his life. “You don’t mean that.” He stares at me before reaching for the book on his desk and chucking it with all his might. I scream, ducking my head before it hits the wall next to me. “Are you crazy?”
For a minute he looks remorseful, like he realizes he’s out of control and needs to rein it in, but it doesn’t last long. Once he sees I’m okay, the anger replaces any trace of remorse he may have had. The Carson I cared about has already moved out, and I’m not about to stay here and listen to this one rip me to shreds again.
I turn around and run to the bathroom, grabbing my bag off the floor and tossing it on my shoulder.
He’s struggling to catch his breath after his temper tantrum when he asks, “Where are you going?”
I don’t respond, I just keep moving. I’m in my car and pulling out of the driveway by the time I see him standing on the stairs outside the apartment, watching as I drive away.
I’VE BEEN STARING at the same page in my trigonometry book for the last half hour. I’m trying to finish up my homework, so I can get to the diner to see Kinsley, but it’s not happening. Usually I’m pretty good at math, but my mind’s too wrapped up in the real world to care about the insignificant problems in front of me.
I’m about to give up when my phone buzzes with a text. I reach into my pocket, and pull out my phone, surprised to see the message is from Kinsley. She’s usually doesn’t message me unless she’s on her break.
Kinsley: Are your parents home?
Rhett: Not yet. Why?
Kinsley: Can I come over?
Rhett: Are you okay? Do you need me to pick you up at the diner?
I knew I shouldn’t have let her to go work. Not that I can stop her from doing what she wants to do, but she looked so pale and tired when I said good-bye to her at school. As adamant as she was about going to work, it doesn’t make sense why she wouldn’t be there now.
Kinsley: I’m in your driveway.
Seriously? Surprised she’s already here, I open the front door just as she’s getting out of her car. Right away, it’s clear she’s not okay. I wait until she’s standing on the porch before I ask, “What happened?”
She practically falls into my arms, and I pick her up, her legs automatically hooking around my waist. “Shhh. It’s okay.” Her shoulders shake as she cries into my shoulder. I have no idea why my girl is falling apart in my arms, and I’m almost too afraid to ask.
I hold her until I climb the stairs and lay her in the center of my bed. Pulling off her shoes, I slide her under the covers and climb in next to her. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sunny.”
Her chin quivers and tears roll down her cheeks. She can barely catch her breath to speak. “H-he knows, Rhett. Carson knows I’m pregnant.”
I swallow, trying to process what she’s telling me. He’s the last person I would trust with our secret. Mostly because he’s always wanted her to himself. And there’s no reason for him to protect her, especially if he’s still jealous she picked me over him. “Is he talking?”
“He’s really, really mad. I should have been more careful, but after I took the test, all I thought about was getting to the doctor to see if it was right. He’s known for a week, Rhett. An entire week.”
If he’s kept it a secret for a week, maybe there’s a chance he’s not going to say anything. Or maybe he’s going to use this as leverage to get back at me for stealing his girl—even though she never even knew he wanted her until she got with me. “Did he say anything else?”
“He said some really horrible things about the both of us. After he threw a book at me, I ran out and came here.”
“He hit you?” The thought of him hurting her makes me seethe. A rage like I’ve never felt rips through my body.
She shakes her head. “He hit the wall beside me.”
“That motherfucker.” I get out of bed, searching for my sneakers. “If he thinks he can control you with this, he has another thing coming. There’s no way he’s going to play games with my family.”
She wipes her tears with her fingers, swiping under each eye, quickly. “No, don’t go over there. It will only make it worse. He needs some time, that’s all.”