Rebecca’s eyes followed Amanda as she headed straight toward me. Immediately, Rebecca spotted me, and I did the only thing that came to my mind. I took off my hat, let my hair fall down, and I held up a middle finger. I smiled sweetly at the bitch before turning around to leave.

By the time I made it out to the parking lot, Amanda had caught up to me. I knew we only had a few minutes before Jeff would be coming after me. I had no doubt in my mind that Rebecca would tell him I was there.

“Ari! Jeff yelled.

Yep, stupid bitch is playing right into my hands. I turned around and smiled as Jeff jogged up to me.

“What in the hell are you doing here, Ari?”

“I was having lunch,” I said as giving him an innocent smile.

Jeff looked over at Amanda and then back at me.

“Oh my god. Y’all took her phone on purpose, didn’t you? What’s your game, Ari?”

What? He did not just say that to me.

“What’s my game, Jeff? My game? What’s yours? For someone who can’t stand that girl, you two sure did have a nice little lunch. You were all laughing and smiling and touchin’ on her stomach. Did you enjoy yourself, dickwad?”

“Ari, I can’t believe you were spying on me, and the worst of it is that you might have made Rebecca upset.”

“Holy hell,” Amanda said as she took two steps away from Jeff.

“I might have made Rebecca upset? Are you kidding me, Jeff? You’re an asshole.” Turning away from him, I started to walk off.

He reached for my arm and spun me around.

“That’s not what I meant, Ari. It’s just that she said she can’t get upset. It’ssomething about being at high risk for going into labor early. That’s why I was trying to be nice and not jump down her throat. Listen, can we just talk about this later when I get back home?”

I could not believe how fucking stupid he was. She couldn’t get upset. Lying bitch. She was setting the whole thing up, so she could have the baby early.

“Let go of me, you stupid fucking-twatwaffling dickwad.”

“Ari, please wait.”

I jerked my arm out from his. I couldn’t believe how stupid he was being. “You know what, Jeff? You can believe whatever that lying bitch wants to tell you. I thought that you were smarter than that. Did you ever think that she came up with whole “high risk” bullshit so that you would play nice with her? Why don’t you ask to go to her next doctor’s appointment with her? How about that? Now that Daddy is in the picture, I’m sure she wants you to go to all the appointments with her.”

I was so upset that I started shaking.

Amanda walked up and took my hand in hers. As she glared at Jeff, she said, “Really, Jeff, I can’t even believe you. Let’s go, Ari.”

“Ari, please wait, baby.”

I stopped dead in my tracks closed my eyes, and took several deep breaths. Opening my eyes again, I slowly turned around to look at him.

“Baby, can we talk about this when I get home?” Jeff’s voice almost sounded like he was pleading.

“Why don’t you stop by my place on your way home? I’ll be staying there tonight. I need time to be alone and think.”

The look in Jeff’s eyes about gutted me, but all I had to do was remember his smile as he touched Rebecca’s stomach.

“Sure… yeah… okay, Ari. I’ll stop by your place. Are you going straight home now?”

“No, I have a few errands to run, and then I’m taking Amanda back to her car. I’ll be home in a few hours. You better get back in there. You wouldn’t want to upset the baby mama.”

***

As Amanda and I started to walk up the hill to the parking lot, I felt my legs getting weaker. Amanda pulled me up and kept me walking.

“Just wait until we get in the car, Ari. Then, you can let go.”

The moment I sat in the car and shut the door, I let out a scream so loud that I thought Amanda was going to jump out of the car.

“Better, sweets?” Amanda asked after unplugging her ears.

“If only a scream could make it better, Amanda. Did you see how big she is? There’s no way she’s only seven months pregnant.”

As I looked over at my friend, I let the tears fall.

The last time I had felt this sick to my stomach was when Jeff and I had first kissed at the ranch, and he’d told me it was all a mistake.

“Ari, don’t give up now. The fight has only just begun.”

I smiled at Amanda and wiped the tears from my eyes. I picked up my cell phone and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Wyatt for next Monday at 2 p.m.

I was not giving up. Jeff was mine. I would not let some lying bitch take him from me, even if I thought that lying bitch might actually be telling the truth.

CHAPTER TEN

JEFF

As I stood there watching Ari walk away from me, my heart was breaking. Shit! Shoving my hands through my hair, I turned to walk back to the restaurant. Why the hell did Ari come here? Does she not trust me? Does she want to get put in jail? Damn it! The moment Rebecca had seen she, about flipped out.

Rebecca was on the phone when I walked back up to the table.

“Listen, I can’t talk. I’ll call you back. Yes, I know, I heard you, Crysti You said it’s important. I’ll call you back later.”

I sat down as she was hanging up.

She put her hands on her stomach, and started to fan herself.

“Oh, wow. It sure is hot out here. Do you want to go next door and get an iced coffee or something?”

I shook my head no. Maybe Ari’s right, and Rebecca has been playing me this whole time. There was only one way to find out. Just get to the point, Jeff.

“Listen, Rebecca, I’m really done with this whole let’s play-nice bullshit. We need to talk about this baby. I’m telling you that there is no way this baby is mine.”

“Well, Jeff, I’m telling you that you’re the father. You were the only person I slept with during that time frame, that and afterward I found a piece of the condom in my panties.”

She let a smile play across her face, and I just wanted to slap it off. Just then, I looked down at her stomach, and I could see the baby moving. My heart jumped at the sight of it. What if this baby is mine?

“Fine, Rebecca, if this is the game we’re going to play, then let’s play it. When is your next doctor’s appointment?” She sat up a little straighter in her chair and started to fiddle around with her napkin.

“It’s in two weeks.”

“I want to go with you. Since you waited until you were seven months to drop this on me, I think it’s only fair that I get to come to all your appointments from now on.”

“Um, okay…sure Jeff, that’s fine. I don’t have the doctor’s information with me, so can I just text it to you later?”

“You don’t have the doctor’s info in your phone, Rebecca? No number or nothing?” I asked skeptically.

She let out a nervous laugh. “Of course, I have Dr. Wyatt’s number, Jeff. I just meant that I don’t have the address. I’ll text you the day and time of the appointment along with the address this evening. Do you want to pick me up, so we can drive there together? Maybe we can grab dinner afterwards?”

Oh shit, here we go. “Rebecca, I need you to know that I asked Ari to marry me last Saturday night. I love her, and I’ll always love her. Even if this baby turns out to be mine, Ari is going to be a part of this child’s life.”

Rebecca had a stunned look on her face. “Wait…what do you mean you asked her to marry you? I thought…”

“You thought what?” I asked.

She started to look around frantically.

“Um… I don’t know what I was going to say. You asked her to marry you even after you found out about the baby? I’m not so sure that I’m okay with Ari being involved in any way, shape, or form. I mean… look, she came here today to spy on us! You have to see that she obviously does not trust you, Jefferson.”