Page 70 of The Prey
Those emerald eyes of his clash with my own, and the look of despair—of defeat—that I see there steals the air from my lungs. He brings the test closer, shoving it in my eyes as if I can’t see it. As if I didn’t know it was in my pocket all along.
“What the fuck is this, Elyse?”
Say something. Anything. I want to tell him that it’s not my test, but fear has me in a chokehold that I can’t escape. I part my lips and try to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Tell me this isn't real, Elyse.” Anguish and despair thicken his voice, underlined with a hint of rage. I’m drowning in his pain. “Elyse! Tell me. Tell me that this isn’t yours. That you’re not having someone else's baby.”
It’s the rage that keeps me from speaking, from telling him the truth. I can’t breathe as that anger morphs into old hurts, old wounds, opening up in my mind. My father screaming in my face so that all I can feel is his spit on my chin.
No. I can’t see Sebastian that way. Not like that.
My lips tremble, and I open my mouth to tell him no, but again, nothing comes out. Not even a squeak.
“Elyse!? Sebastian!?” The sound of Bel’s voice echoes over the lawn, calling from somewhere off in the distance. I can’t do this right now. I can’t stand here, unable to speak. To defend myself.
I don’t think; all I do is react.
Before Sebastian can react or make a move, I lift my hand and shove him backward. Caught off guard, he wobbles back on unsteady legs, and I take off on a dead run back to the house. There’s no way Sebastian will risk making a scene in front of Bel. At least not with the pregnancy test.
My lungs burn, and I spot Bel off the patio in the distance. As soon as we’re close enough to see each other, the smile on her face slips away, and concern takes its place. She opens her arms to hug me, and I run right into them.
Drew hovers at her back like a shadow that never leaves. I try to swallow down the fear and anxiety coursing through me. I don’t want Bel to ask me a million questions about what is going on between Sebastian and me. Especially when I have no idea what is going on, but I also know that I’ll have to tell her everything at some point.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” She tightens her grip on me. No. I’m not. I want to tell her, but I don’t. My biggest priority is getting out of here and putting as much distance between Sebastian and me as I can. We both could use some space, and then maybe he’ll come to his senses about what we did, and after I tell him about Tanya’s pregnancy test, we can move on. Even if that means I might be fired, homeless, and sent back to my father.
“Can we…can we please go.” I stumble over my words, and she releases me, choosing to wrap an arm around my shoulder and tug me into her side.
“Of course. Is…is everything okay? Did…Sebastian hurt you?” She guides me back up the steps, toward the house. Bel radiates a kindness that few others carry with them, and I’m grateful for her friendship.
“I’m okay…he didn’t hurt me. It’s not what you think it is,” I whisper, still feeling the need to defend him even if I’m terrified of what might happen next.
I’m not scared of what he will do to me. I’m scared of the way he makes me feel, scared of the fact that I want to tell him it’s not my test, that he’s wrong because I can’t fathom what I’ll do if he doesn’t believe me, but more than that, I’m terrified I’m falling for a man I can never have, and nothing is scarier than heartbreak.
28
Sebastian
Rage simmers low in my gut. I’m not angry with Elyse, not specifically—more like the circumstances that got us here.
I’m tempted to chase her, to wrap my arms around her middle and pull her to the ground so I can claim her before I crack her open and spill all her secrets out.
Pregnant. How can that be?
I let my eyes drift closed because if I don’t see her walking away then maybe that will curb some of the desire demanding that I go to her. After a minute, I open them, just in time to watch Bel slide her arm over Ely's shoulders while Drew walks them up the soft slope toward the packed driveway. I can still feel the need, the pressure on my chest urging me to go to her. If it was anyone else ushering her along I can’t say I’d be standing here still. But it’s Drew, and I trust him more than anyone else to keep her safe.
I look away and back down to the pregnancy test, closing my fist around it. It cracks in my hand as I squeeze the cheap plastic, and suddenly, I’m pissed off all over again. This piece of plastic might appear insignificant, but it’s the sole reminder that she gave herself to someone else.
After...everything. All of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if I made up all of this in my mind. The stolen looks, the tension and searing heat. The desire rips me apart from the inside out.
Having her so close yet so far away is killing me. Wanting her is wrong, especially because when she finds out the truth… No. Stop. I refuse to let my thoughts go there. I did what I had to do. I was protecting her.
I don't step out of the tree line until I spot Drew's headlights spin around the top of the drive and in the direction of the road, leading back toward campus. It's only then that I feel comfortable walking back to the house.
I’m still having a difficult time wrapping my head around the prospect of her being pregnant. Without even thinking the situation over in any great depth, I want to murder the fucker in cold blood who did this and raise the baby as my own, but that seems a bit irrational.
Irrational, yes, but not wrong.
There’s a slight chill to the air, but it helps to cool my heated thoughts. I need to give myself a little time before I approach her again and force her to tell me the truth, and I should at least let Lee know I’m leaving before I disappear.