Page 23 of Truck Up
“Why the fuck would you do that?” Tanner growls.
“Watch your language,” Mom says.
I don’t back down. Sitting up straighter in my chair, I stare at my brother. “I was invited, and I’m going. You can’t stop me.”
“The hell we can’t,” Linden and Tanner say at the same time. Jason smirks like he’s amused.
“You are not going anywhere near a Mutter.” Linden points at me. His tone is reprimanding like he thinks he’s my father. I roll my eyes. “Those people cannot be trusted.”
“I don’t care about your little feud. The Mutters have never done anything to me.”
Except impregnate me.
“Little feud?” Linden barks and narrows his eyes. “Who are you? The Mutters are thieves. They don’t deserve to breathe the same air as us. The world would be a better place without them in it.”
His words hit me hard, and I press my hand to my stomach. One of those Mutters is growing inside me. Will he feel the same way about this baby? His niece or nephew.
My nausea intensifies as my emotions get the better of me. It comes on so fast that I hardly have time to cover my mouth and force it back.
“Excuse me?” I say as I push to my feet.
“Amelia?” I hear Mom call out my name, but I don’t respond. “Aaron, will you please check on her? She’s not been feeling well lately and refuses to call you.”
“I’m fine.” I say the words, but I don’t feel the least bit fine. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“You look pale,” Aaron says. He’s been mostly silent tonight. While he supports the feud between our family and the Mutters, he mostly stays out of it, same as Jason. But if Linden or Tanner call on him for help, he always shows up.
“I said I’m fine!” I wave off their concern and head for the downstairs bathroom.
I make it to the bathroom just in time to shut the door and kneel in front of the toilet. I hope no one follows me. The last thing I need is for one of them to hear me vomiting. I’m not ready to explain this problem to them yet.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready, but I’m going to have to figure that out sooner rather than later.
I can’t control when I get nauseous. Morning sickness has a mind of its own. It has horrible timing and sneaks up on me at the most inconvenient times. It momentarily takes over my life and leaves me with little to no control until I empty my stomach.
Mom pays too close attention. She always has. She might drive us crazy sometimes, but she loves us immensely and has always been active in all our lives.
And she knows something isn’t right with me but hasn’t put it all together yet. When she does, she’s going to flip.
Then my brothers will hunt down Christian and do only God knows what to him. Hell, they’ll elevate this stupid feud to an outright war.
I can’t let that happen.
That’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, I just have to get through dinner.
I push to my feet and splash my face with cold water. It’s refreshing and makes me feel surprisingly better. After drying my face, I take a few deep breaths. I can’t stay in here long or it will only draw more suspicion.
Mom’s suspicious eyes on me are bad enough. The last thing I need is for my brothers to question me too.
But when I open the bathroom door, regret and anxiety consume me.
“You’re sick.” Badger’s deep voice reverberates through my chest. He always sounds threatening no matter the words he speaks.
“How I feel is not your concern.” I step into the hallway and attempt to move past him, but he grabs my arm.
He presses me to the wall and boxes me in with his other arm. He says something else, but the words don’t register. My heart rate increases and pounds so loudly, it’s all I can hear.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I focus on my breathing. It’s hard because every inch of my body is tense and all I can think about is the night he attacked me.