Page 13 of Sprite

“Um, was that okay to tell the cops? I mean, I’ve been living with you for about a month now. I can’t really call you my fuck buddy, or anything like that.” He hated it when she called him that. With most women he had been with, he wouldn’t have minded, but with Sprite, he minded.

“It was fine,” Chains said. “In fact, I prefer it over fuck buddy.” She giggled and went up on her tiptoes to gently kiss his lips.

“Are you sure that you are okay?” he asked again.

“I am,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist, “now that you’re here.” He wrapped her tighter in his arms and kissed the top of her head. He could have lost Sprite tonight, and that scared the hell out of him. She might be willing to only call him her boyfriend, but he wanted so much more with her—he wanted forever, and tonight he learned that truth the hard way.

Sprite

Sprite wasn’t sure if going back to the bar for a Harlot’s meeting was a good idea or not. She had felt like shit for days now, throwing up five mornings in a row, and staying home would have probably been a better idea. But the Harlots were voting tonight for a few positions that opened up and she wanted to be the club’s treasurer more than she wanted anything—well, except Chains.

Of course, he insisted on going into Savage Hell with her since the last time she was there, her mother’s boyfriend came in to harass her. Sprite had to admit that she was happy that Chains tagged along. He always made her feel safer when he was around.

“You feeling okay?” he asked. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, but that would be a total lie.

“I’m a little nervous about being here again,” she admitted.

“And you were sick most of the morning,” he reminded.

“It’s just a stomach virus,” she insisted. “I’m sure that I’ll be over it soon.” He pulled the door open for her and the smell of stale beer nearly had her running back out of the bar. She never minded that smell before, but for some reason, it had herstomach turning. Sprite ran back to the bathroom and made it into a stall just in time to toss her cookies.

“Are you okay, Sprite?” Danger asked. Sprite thought about trying to be quiet so that Danger would just leave her alone, but she knew that would be pointless.

“No,” she croaked, “I’ve been throwing up for days now, and the slightest foul smell sets me off.”

Someone ran into the bathroom and Sprite groaned when she heard the door open. The last thing she wanted was an audience while she puked her guts up. “Is she okay?” Banshee asked. Even whispering, Sprite could hear Banshee’s Irish lilt.

“She’s been throwing up for days now and bad smells set her off,” Danger filled in.

“I see,” Banshee said. The bathroom door flew open again and Sprite had had enough of this circus. She walked out of the stall to find Danger, Banshee, and Phoenix, all staring her down. Sprite casually walked over to one of the sinks, splashed some water on her face, and washed her hands. She grabbed a handful of paper towels and patted her face dry.

“Someone say something for fuck’s sake,” she shouted.

Savage and Bowie’s wife, Dallas, walked into the bathroom while she was shouting at her friends, and she couldn’t help her groan. “Everything okay in here?” she asked.

“She’s been throwing up for days now and bad smells make her sick,” Phoenix filled Dallas in.

“Jesus,” Sprite breathed, “why don’t we just go out into the bar and tell everyone out there too?”

“I’m sorry,” Phoenix said. “I didn’t think it was a secret.”

“It’s not a secret. I just don’t think that everyone here needs to know that I have a stomach virus. I should just go,” Sprite insisted. The thought of putting on some comfy pajamas and crawling into bed sounded pretty good to her right now.

“Have you considered that you might be pregnant?” Dallas asked.

“Pregnant,” Sprite almost shouted. “Why would I be pregnant?”

“Well, I’m assuming that you’ve had sex with Chains,” Dallas said. Sprite rolled her eyes and slowly nodded her head.

“Of course I have,” she insisted. “But I can’t be,” she whispered. Thinking back, she hadn’t had a period since moving into Chains’ place three months ago. That meant that she had gotten pregnant on their first night together in the tub. They weren’t using a condom, and she had missed a few of her birth control pills until she could go to town to pick her prescription up. She was an idiot for having unprotected sex, but she was in the moment, and so was he.

“When was your last period?” Danger asked.

“It was when I lived back at the trailer with my mom, so like three and a half months ago, give or take. It ended about the time that I met Chains,” she said. She wanted to kick herself for being an idiot.

“So, it’s possible then?” Banshee asked.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” she whispered. “God, how could I have been so foolish? I guess I’ll need to get a pregnancy test.”