Page 49 of Almost

My workouts have been increasing with training camp coming up next month, in addition to the advertising campaigns my agent lined up for me. Kiera’s always gone with wedding stuff, or she’s starting to pack boxes for the move. I couldn’t even tell you if she found another photographer.

We’re two weeks out, and I’m feeling better about all of it.

I am worried that Kiera is pushing herself too hard trying to get everything done. The past few days she’s been exhausted and throwing up. I’m ready to suggest she shouldn’t go to her bachelorette party tomorrow so she can rest. They can always reschedule the girls trip for a later date.

I knock on the bathroom door to check on Kiera. I have to get going to meet Owen at the gym, but I don’t want to leave if she’s throwing up again. “Kiera? Are you okay?”

“Just a minute,” she calls, just as I’m about to knock again.

I head down the stairs to get her a glass of water, because I’m really not sure what else to do. Hopefully it’s just a stomach bug? When I get back to our room, Kiera is sitting on the bed, tears streaming down her face.

Worry immediately washes over me and I hand her the glass, sitting next to her. “Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I ask gently, brushing her cheeks with my thumb.

She turns her head away from my touch, refusing to look at me. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. My stomach fills with lead, and immediate warning sirens start going off in my head. Did we have another fight that I missed? Kiera’sshaking as she wipes her nose on the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “I…I’m pregnant, Sebastian.”

My brain stutters as it takes a moment to process her words. Pregnant? She’s pregnant? “Really? Baby, that’s great,” I say, glancing at her stomach. Holy shit, I’m going to be a dad.

She inhales sharply, shaking her head. “No. It’s not.”

What?

“I thought this is what we wanted?” I ask carefully, because now I’m lost. This is what we talked about wanting. At the beach, she said she wanted to start our family after the wedding. A baby is a good thing. “Kiera, talk to me.Please.”

I reach for her hands, but Kiera avoids my touch by standing up. Her shoulders shake, and I hear the audible breath she sucks in. “It’s not yours.”

It’s.

Not.

Yours.

They echo loudly in my brain because it can only mean one thing.

“What?” I ask, the words threatening to stick in my throat.

She turns around to look at me with her crystal eyes shining, and lower lip trembling. “It’s not yours, Sebastian. I cheated on you.”

Each word she speaks is a knife to the heart.

Kiera slept with someone else, and she’s having his baby.

“When?”

She wraps her arms around her stomach, and I can’t help but stare. She’s pregnant, but it’s not mine. “While you were staying at your grandparent’s house.”

I can’t help it; I laugh. “That was a month and a half ago.” I’ve spent the entire time since then groveling at her feet and trying to make up for hiding the truth about my history with Thalia. In that time, I bought Kiera a new ring and sold this house so we could start fresh in a new one, and she never said a single goddamn thing. The pieces connect in my brain, and I feel sick. “You weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

She covers her mouth to stifle a sob, shaking her head slowly. “I-it was a mistake. I’ve regretted it ever since it happened, but I didn’t plan to get pregnant. The condom must have broken. Seb, I love you. Please, you have to believe me.”

“Believe you? How am I supposed to believe anything you say? We’re supposed to get married in two weeks, and you’re pregnant with another man’s child!” I shout as my stomach rolls. She wasn’t going to tell me. I know I’m not perfect, but I never would have done this.

I know this is my house, but I can’t stay here, and even now, I don’t want to kick her out. I’m angry, but I’m not heartless. I stand up, walking to the closet to grab my suitcase.

“It was only one time. I messed up, Seb. I’m so sorry. You have to forgive me, please.” She cries harder as I start pulling clothes off the hangers to throw in my bag.

“You’re not sorry, because if you were, you never would have kept this a secret from me. You’re only sorry because there’s going to be a fucking baby in seven months.”

“That’s rich coming from you. You have kept plenty of secrets from me our entire relationship! This house? The ring I wore for months that was for Thalia?”