Completely spent and satisfied, he sags against me, his sweaty forehead pressing against mine. Holding him close, I smile, feeling as if I’m on top of the world. I can feel the heat of his release dripping out of me and on to my thighs, his cock still inside of me, still partially hard.
“That was amazing,” Oliver pants, “are you okay?” Always so sincere, so caring. That’s Oliver, though. He always makes sure that I’m okay. That I came.
“Yes. I’m more than okay,” I smile.
“Good, because it’s been a while since I came apart that easily,” the blistering smile he gives me warms me from the inside out. After a few minutes of lying together, we get up, and he helps me put my clothes back on, minus my panties. He puts those in his pocket as a souvenir.
As I’m sliding my backpack on, he pulls out his phone.
“Shit,” he mumbles under his breath. “We’re going to be late.”
“Ugh, not again,” I groan, all while smiling. After what we did, I would say showing up late to class was worth it.
“I won’t have time to walk you in to your class if I want to get to my class without being scolded by the professor. So, I’ll walk you to the building and then head across the street.”
“Okay,” I grab onto his hand, and together we walk back down the stairs and into the lower part of the library. As we pass by people, it feels like they are all staring at us, almost like they know what we were doing. Maybe they heard us? But since none of them snicker or smile as we pass, they must not have heard us. I tell myself it’s all in my head.
Exiting the library, we hurry across campus and to class. When we reach the sidewalk, we part ways, Oliver pressing a hurried kiss to my lips before seeing me off. As I walk down the sidewalk and enter the building, I give him a little wave and smile before disappearing from view.
When I’m in the building, I realize how late I really am, and instead of walking up the stairs, I basically run, taking two steps at a time.
By the time I reach the top, I have a hard time breathing. Shit, I didn’t realize how out of shape I am. Maybe I need to start working out.
Taking a few steps, slower this time, I try to regulate my breathing, but it seems to only get worse. This weird feeling that something is wrong overcomes me. I’m not sure what I’m feeling. Not sure what’s going on, so I continue onward, hoping that it’ll pass. I’m about halfway down the hall when a wave of dizziness crashes into me. It comes out of nowhere and nearly takes me out at the knees. Closing my eyes, I lean against the cold brick wall.
Maybe I just need to do some deep breathing. Forcing air into my lungs, I try and focus on nothing more than my breaths. Sweat beads above my brow, the breathing obviously not helping as my entire body suddenly starts to feel like it’s been lit on fire.
Knots of worry tighten in my gut. I don’t know what’s going on with my body anymore. Another wave of dizziness sends my mind spiraling. I can’t even open my eyes without the world spinning around me, and the panic I feel seems to only make it worse.
All at once, my vision goes black, my eyes grow heavier and heavier until I close them again. My mind slowly slipping into unconsciousness. I try to open my eyes again, but I can’t. They just won’t budge. Faintly, I’m aware of footsteps approaching, and someone asking me if I’m okay. I want to tell them no, that I’m not, but my tongue won’t work. All words refuse to be coaxed from my mouth.
Another wave of dizziness overcomes me, and this time when it crashes down, it brings with it the power to snap me in two. Reaching out, I attempt to find something along the wall to support my body. I know I’m going to go down, I can feel it in my gut.
A hand brushes against my arm just as my knees give out and my body folds in half. I’m only partially aware of my body sagging to the floor, my knees slamming against the tile. I don’t even feel the impact, there is no pain.
There is nothing but darkness.
42
Damnit. I have to stop waking up like this. I know before I even open my eyes where I am. The steady beat of the heart monitor fills my ears, and the smell of antiseptic and bleach tickles my nostrils. The hospital. I’ve put myself in the hospital again. Blinking my eyes open, I’m momentarily blinded by the overhead lights.
My thoughts are fuzzy as I try and recollect what happened.
“Oh, my gosh, she’s awake.” My mother’s voice is the first that I hear, and already I know this is going to be bad. Why are they here? And where are the guys?
Nothing serious happened… I just fainted.
“Back up, sweetheart, give her some space.” My father orders, and I look up at him, taking note of the dark bags under his eyes and worry in their depths. He looks distraught, but that can’t be right. Why should he care about me? He hasn’t any other time before now.
“What are you doing here?” I question, squinting my eyes because the light is still blinding me.
My father crosses his arms over his chest, his gaze hardening with each second. “I expected better from you, Harlow. I didn’t think you would be this irresponsible, but after everything, I suppose I’m not really surprised.”
Whoa, all I did was faint. Maybe I need to take better care of myself. Be less stressed, eat more… I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not anything as bad as he’s making it out to be.
“Please leave, the hospital was wrong to have called you.” I murmur, shaking my head with disappointment. I don’t want them here. Neither of them. I’ll call one of the Bishops to come and be with me. As I shift against the scratchy sheets, a throbbing starts to pulse behind my eyes. A migraine is forming there, and having my parents here is only making it worse.
“Excuse me, but I am your father even if you don’t want me to be, and I have every right as the person who pays for your medical insurance to know what is going on.”
I can’t help it; my eyes roll to the back of my head on instinct. “Just because you pay my medical bills doesn’t mean you’re my father. You have to actually act like one to be considered one, and in my eyes, you aren’t one, at least to me. Besides, I didn’t ask you to pay for anything. Leave the bill and leave me.”
A vein bulges in his neck, his cheeks fill with blood, and he starts to look like a red balloon more and more.
“Your mother and I are the only ones here. I don’t see your precious Bishop brothers standing next to your bed, checking up on you. Like always, they’ve done wrong and left the mess for someone else to clean up.”
“What are you talking about? There is no mess. I’m fine. I just need to take a little better care of myself. This has nothing to do with them, and the only reason they are not here right now is because they don’t know I’m here.” My defenses are up. Like always, my father finds a way to make me feel small and insignificant.
A smile like I’ve never seen before appears on his lips. It’s not a kind smile, nor is it really a vicious one. It’s more of a, I know something you don’t smile, and that leaves my stomach churning, twisting, and knotting.
“Oh, this has everything to do with them. Everything.” The way he speaks, with so much disdain, so much vile hate toward the Bishops makes me want to hurt him. How dare he speak about them in such an ill manner. How dare he come here and act like he cares.
“I want you to leave, now,” I growl, fisting the sheets to stop myself from getting up and slugging him. He might be my father in the sense of his name being on my birth certificate, but he might as well be a dead-beat. I don’t want or need him in my life. All the lies, the secrets, the way he tried to manipulate me. I’ll never forget or forgive him for that.
“And I want you to get an abortion.”
The room spins around me, my mouth pops open and stays that way as I flounder like a fish out of water. He can’t mean… No, it’s not possible. How? I’m on birth control. He’s lying. He has to be.
“What… what are you talking about?” I ask, finally finding the courage to speak. My voice wavers between barely restrained p
anic and fear.
“Do you even know which one of them is the father? Wait, don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter who the father is. You’ll be getting an abortion either way.”
“I’m pregnant?” I say the words out loud as if I didn’t already put the pieces together. Of course, I’m pregnant. How did I not see this before?
“Not for much longer,” my father chides, looking down at me like I’m a disappointment to the world. Well, likewise, dearest dad.
“It’s a good thing you don’t have a say in it, isn’t it? Now leave. I never asked for you to be here, and I won’t let you dictate any more of my life!” I yell, gathering up every ounce of strength I have to sit up a little taller. Maybe he could push me around before, make me be his little puppet, but not anymore.
I’m about to yell, to tell them to get the hell out again when someone knocks on the door, interrupting my little outburst.
“Come in,” my mother answers before I can make a sound. I watch the door as the unknown person pushes it open. Every fiber in my body hoping and praying that one of the guys is on the other side of that door. But when the door swings open all the way, all I’m left with is more disappointment.
Even though it’s someone I know, it’s not one of the Bishops like I had hoped it would be. My stomach drops, and I feel like I might throw up as I watch Matt leisurely walk into the room. His gaze sweeps over the room before coming to rest on me. He doesn’t even look like he cares. All over again, I’m reminded of how I’m nothing but a pawn to my father.
“Matt, thank you so much for coming,” my father greets him, making it sound more like a business arrangement.
“No problem. How are you feeling, Harlow?” he asks, coming to stand beside the bed.
“Terrible, and you being here doesn’t help,” I snap at him. Not caring how rude I must sound. The last thing I want is to be surrounded by these people that don’t care if I’m happy or not, people that only want me to play a part in their shitty story.
“Ouch,” Matt smirks. He’s clearly not offended by my words.
“Be nice,” my mother scolds, and I barely restrain the growl as my lip curls with anger. “We’re going to give you two a moment. Don’t mess this up, Harlow. This might be your last chance to save yourself from complete destruction. Make the right choice, so that we don’t have to make it for you.”
My last chance? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
My parents leave the room, and Matt grabs a chair dragging it over to the bed. It scratches against the floor loudly, but he doesn’t seem to care. He takes a seat, the chair creaking under his weight. He’s only a foot away from me now, and I shiver at the thought of him being this close, especially after the way he treated me the last time I saw him.
Giving me a boyish grin, he says, “So, I heard you got knocked up by one of those Bishop brothers.”
“I don’t see how this is your business.”
Matt shrugs, “Your dad wants you to get rid of the baby, but I’ve got a better idea. A way that will allow you to keep it. Since the beginning, I’ve told you I was here to help.”
I’d laugh if I didn’t already have a headache the size of Texas, and it didn’t hurt to move. “Ha, doubtful. You’ve never wanted to help me. You’re a disgusting, selfish prick, and I want you to leave and never come back.”
What I have to say doesn’t matter to him. I know this. I’ve known it all along. Maybe I had hoped he would be different, that he would become a friend to me. That turned out to be nothing but a lie too.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he stares me down, his gaze hardening. “I’m being very generous to you and your family, Harlow. I’m still willing to marry you. I don’t mind that you’re having a baby, in fact, it’s one less thing I have to do.” He winks at me, and I gag, the thought… it makes me want to barf all over the floor.
“No one has to know who the real father is. I’m willing to raise it as my own, give it, and you a home, a life. I’ll protect you, ensure that you’re happy and healthy.”
I can’t believe him. Does he even hear himself?
“You’re a lunatic if you think I’m going to go along with this. I’ll never marry you. With or without this baby. It’s not happening,” I snarl. I have this impulse to scratch his eyes out, to do whatever I can to get him out of this room and away from me. I don’t need him or my parents. I can do this all on my own.
Matt chuckles a humorless laugh, “You are the crazy one. If you don’t do this, your father will make you get an abortion. He’s not going to let you have this baby any other way.” He pauses, and I’m hoping he’ll shut the hell up and get out, but he doesn’t. Instead, he opens his mouth again. “Do you know what kind of embarrassment this would be to him? A baby with his sworn enemy’s son? Hell, you don’t even know who the father is.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care what any of you think or say…” I whisper, all the emotions inside of me swirling together.
He unfolds his arms and runs a hand through his hair, before exhaling a deep breath, “Look, he’s not going to let you leave this hospital with that baby inside of you. Not unless you agree to marry me. The abortion will happen today, you have no say.”
“He can’t do that! He wouldn’t…” I argue, but even as the words leave my mouth, I know the truth is, he would. He is probably paying this hospital half a fortune to do this without my consent, or maybe he is just threatening them with whatever sick thing he can come up with. The lump in my throat thickens as I weigh my options. It feels like all hope is lost.
“I’m just trying to help,” Matt tells me, and anger overwrites my fear momentarily.
“Like you were trying to help me the last time I saw you. When you threatened me?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal at all, but his eyes hold his emotions inside. Like a glass house, Matt is the type of person that will crack, snap, shatter if you hit him enough times.
“I admit, I was drunk and out of line. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
“You’ll try?” I snort. “Well, at least you are honest.”
“I try to be, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes. In all seriousness, you don’t know what your father is willing to do. You don’t know the lengths he’ll go to get what he wants. I’m your best choice right now. Actually, I’m your only choice.” Only then does the reality of this all hit me. I’m pregnant. I’m carrying a child inside me, and my father wants to kill it. Fear settles deep inside my bones, and I know I need to do everything I can to save the life inside of me, but marrying Matt can’t be the answer.
“You might be the lesser of two evils, but that doesn’t mean I will just marry you,” I whisper. “I’m in love with someone else.” A coldness fills the room, and dread clings to my bones. “If you really wanted to help me, you would give me your phone and let me make a call. You would help me get out of here.”
Matt blows out a frustrated breath, “And how would that benefit me? Didn’t you listen to anything I’ve said to you? Going against your father never ends well, that doesn’t exclude me. If I go against him, if I try and save you, he’ll retaliate, and I can’t afford that. He would—”
A knock on the door interrupts Matt mid-sentence, and we both turn toward it.
“We need a few more minutes,” I yell before the door can open.
“Okay, take your time,” my father’s muffled voice filters through the door, and even from here, I can hear the triumphant tone in his voice. He already assumes that he’s won. He thinks I’m agreeing to Matt’s proposal. The joke’s on him though. I’ll die before I do a single thing, he wants me to.
Instead, I know I’m going to have to convince Matt in whatever way I can.
“Matt, please help me. Really help me. Don’t let him do this. Don’t let them kill my baby, please…” I don’t care that I’m begging or how desperate I might sound. I’ll get on my knees if that’s what gets him to help me.
For the first time,
I see real empathy reflecting back at me. He gets up from the chair and steps really close, taking my hand into his.
“I won’t let him kill the baby, okay.” He lowers his voice and leans into me. “I’ll tell him that I want you pregnant, but you have to agree to marry me now, even if it’s only to buy yourself time. I won’t be able to help you contact your boyfriends, and if they don’t show up on their own, then you might have to marry me, after all. I can’t go against your father.”
“Okay, thank you…” I can’t believe what I’m about to say next, but like he said, right now, he is my best bet. “Will you stay here with me. I don’t want to be alone with my parents.”
He nods and sits back down, just as someone knocks on the door once more.
“You can come in now,” I call out, and the door opens. My parents walk in, my father has a smug grin on his face, and it takes everything inside of me to bite my tongue.
“Did you two come to an agreement?” he asks even though I know for a fact that he already knows.
“I’ll marry Matt,” I grit out. That sinister grin on my father’s face only grows.
“And I’m okay with her having the baby,” Matt announces. “No one needs to know that I’m not the father.”
“Great,” my mom cheers and claps her hands together. “I’m so excited. The wedding is back on then.”
I force a smile and nod slightly, hoping with all my heart that the guys find me before it’s too late because if they don’t… I don’t even want to think of the mess that will come when all the pieces fall.
43
My parents left after our talk yesterday, and even though I felt fine after they pumped some fluids in me, the doc insisted on keeping me overnight for observation. Matt ended up staying with me in the hospital the whole night, sleeping on a pull out chair the nurse brought in. Part of me is glad that he is here, and I’m not alone with my father’s goons who are posted outside my door. But there is another part of me that has a hard time trusting Matt, considering the way he’s treated me in the past.
The Bayshore Rivals: The Entier Series Page 39
