✨EXCERPT: ABOUT THAT ONE NIGHT by @authorkendallhale is coming September 5th!
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“I’ll do and be anything you need me to be,” I say, reaching out to touch her hand. My voice is steadier than I feel. “Just tell me what’s happening.”
She scoffs, a bitter sound that doesn’t suit her. “Anything? I don’t even know what I need you to be.”
Fuck, that doesn’t sound good or reassuring. I lean forward, trying to bridge the gap between us. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together, okay?”
“Max, I . . . I don’t know how to say this.” Her voice wavers, barely above a whisper.
She bites her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth. Seconds stretch into an eternity. My palms grow damp as the seconds pass, pulse quickening.
“Just say it, Zoe.” I force a calm I don’t feel into my voice. “It’ll be perfectly fine.” I swallow hard, willing my face to remain neutral. “I’m here for you.”
I’m really starting to freak out.
She presses her lips together, and then the words tumble out in a rush. “Max . . . I’m pregnant.”
My brow furrows, my mind struggling to catch up. “Pregnant?” The word feels foreign on my tongue. “As in, you’re having a baby?”
She nods, her eyes never leaving mine.
Why me? The question echoes in my head. She’s wanted this right? It was part of her plan after quitting the firm and starting her own. I don’t understand this meeting though.
Why tell me first?
“Yeah,” she says, a forced lightness in her tone. “A little souvenir from Fiji.”
I blink a couple of times, reeling from the five words she hurls at me like a bullet to the gut. I’ve been shot before but never felt like my world was ending. Not like right in this moment.
The world tilts on its axis. My throat constricts, my mouth suddenly bone-dry. Fiji. Our trip. Liam and Audrey’s wedding. But that would mean . . .
“By the way,” she adds, her voice eerily calm, “the baby is yours.”
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