Page 101 of Never His Girl
His word choice seems strange to me, but I don’t question him about it.
“The week before, she’d been to see a doctor. Apparently, she had some weird symptoms that scared the shit out of her. Then, a day or two before I got that call, she’d already gone back to the clinic.”
“For a follow-up?” I ask.
“No,” West answers, shaking his head. “For a procedure.”
My heart feels like it stops in my chest when he says that, because I’m pretty sure I know what kind of procedure he’s talking about. Putting it plainly, this isn’t quite the conversation I imagined we’d be having tonight.
“I didn’t even know,” he adds. “Not until she’d already done something about it.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and take a breath, filling in the blanks when it seems he’s having a hard time doing that himself. He’d gotten this girl pregnant, and without him even knowingthatmuch, she had an abortion.
Deep breath, Blue. Deep breath.
“Do you think you might’ve asked her to reconsider?” I ask, hoping I’m hiding it well enough that I’m in complete shock right now. The last thing I want is for him to misread any kind of tension in my voice for judgment.
He shrugs, thinking about what I’ve just said.
“I’ve wrestled with that, asking myself that very question,” he admits. “While I don’t think I was oramready to be some kid’s father, I guess it also felt kind of weird not having any say in the matter, either.”
There’s pain in those words, in his eyes when he says them.
“On the one hand, I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to make that decision on her own, but I also wish she’d come to me sooner,” he says. “At least then, we could’ve come up with somethingtogether, explored all our options.”
He zones out again and I observe him, noting that I’ve never known West to be cautious aboutanything,but there’s no missing how delicately he’s handling this conversation. It isn’t lost on him that these were very serious circumstances, that led to a very serious outcome.
And… it’s something that affected him.
Deeply.
“We didn’t use protection the night of the party,” he admits. “Guess we both thought we were invincible or something. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for us to realizethatwas a fucking lie.”
I’ve often wondered why he’s so responsible when it comes to using protection, more than most guys our age, but now I know. He’s seen firsthand what can happen when two people aren’t careful.
“I’m sorry,” is all I can think to say, which draws a quiet laugh from West.
“What the fuck areyousorry for?”
I shrug and search for what I’m trying to express.
“I mean, you didn’t even know what was happening until a decision had been made. That must’ve been hard in some way. Guess I’m just sorry you had to experience that.Eitherof you,” I add, acknowledging what Casey must have felt as well.
He stares for a moment, just sitting there quietly as his thoughts consume him. I’m not sure why, but I lean forward and take his hand. Maybe because, if I were him, I’d need someone to hold mine right about now.
“Was that the end of it? You two just went your separate ways after that?” I ask.
“No,” he answers with a sigh. “I met up with her the next day. You know, just to talk shit out, make sure she was okay. But it was during that face-to-face conversation that we both realized something.”
I’m intrigued, listening harder now.
“Back then, she wasn’t following Pandora all that closely, which is why she completely missed who I was the night we hooked up. Actually, if one of her friends hadn’t randomly showed her a post about me, it might’ve taken her even longer to make the connection.”
My brow quirks. “What connection?”
Sighing, West shakes his head and I realize the story is about to take yet another sharp turn.
“The ‘W’ she added when saving her name in my phone stands for‘Wells’,” he shares.“As in, she’s the daughter of Adam Wells. The same Adam Wells who’s head coach of the NCU football team. The Adam Wells I’m supposed to be playing for next year.”