immediately grabs my hand. “Wow, you look amazing!”
“Sean bought it for me,” I tell him.
“He did?” A knowing look passes over Trey’s face. “I think you’ve made a big impression on him.”
“What for? Not letting him get into my panties?”
“Yes,” Trey laughs. “That guy is like a magician. He looks at women, and suddenly they’re naked. He thought you’d be the same, but when you walked away, you proved you were different. I think Sean likes different.”
“He likes someone with a shred of self-respect.”
“Exactly. Anyway, I’ll fix you a drink.”
Trey leads me into the kitchen, reaching for a bottle of wine. I place my hand over my belly, and he immediately realizes his mistake. “We have juice,” he says.
“Sure. That would be great.”
“Are you pregnant?” The question comes from a girl with blonde hair who’s currently standing in the doorway to the yard, smoking a cigarette.
“None of your business, Shawna,” Trey says.
Shawna shrugs. “Living with these guys, you’d probably get pregnant from sitting on the couch.”
I wrinkle my face in disgust, and so does Trey. “If you’re insinuating that we all sit around jacking off in the den, your head in is an unbelievably gross place.” Trey hands me a red plastic cup and leads me away from Shawna into the den. “Stay away from her,” he says softly. “She’s not in a good place.”
“Okay.” I sip the orange juice and survey the groups who are congregated around the room. Hunter and Harley are laughing with a group of girls who all look as though they might be cheerleaders. They have that manicured look about them, and all of them are wearing tops that don’t meet their pants and skirts. In another corner, Logan, Reggie, and the triplets are slumped on couches with men who look familiar. I think they might have been at the gym when Gordon pushed Cox. Their other teammates, I guess. In the garden, there is more laughter. John is out there with Gordon and a load of other people I don’t recognize.
“I’ll introduce you,” Trey says.
“As what?”
“Maggie.”
“And when they ask who I am and why I’m here?”
“I could tell them that you’re our foster sister or that you’re a friend from out of town. Or even better, that you’re trying out for the position of girlfriend.”
“I think you might blow some minds with that last one,” I laugh.
“No way,” Sean says behind us, throwing an arm around each of our shoulders. “Friend sounds lame, and I’m not embarrassed about what we’re trying here.”
“But maybe Maggie is.” Trey and Sean stare at me expectantly, and I start to blush.
“You see,” Trey says. “She’s blushing just at the idea of telling people.”
“It’s not that I’m embarrassed,” I say. “It’s just that as soon as you tell people, they’ll be imagining the sex, and to be honest, I’m just not that comfortable with it.”
“I’m imagining the sex,” Sean says. “Are you uncomfortable with that?”
“Me too.” Trey winks, and I melt a little at their cuteness.
“You guys can imagine all you want. If you play your cards right, you might not need to imagine after tonight.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and Sean pulls us both closer, hugging us to him with so much glee that a giggle bubbles up from inside me.
Sean takes my hand, dragging me into the center of the room, and begins to introduce me to his friends. In one group, he tells them that I’m a long-lost cousin. In another group, I’m the nanny that the state has sent to look after them, and in another, I’m the new lodger. Each time, everyone seems to believe what he’s saying completely, and I get asked a ton of strange questions that I have to play along to answer. Sean is practically wetting himself with laughter by the time I manage to escape.
We wind up outside sitting under a massive tree with a couple of plates of pizza, and I feel lighter in my heart than I have in a really long time. I’m nineteen and pregnant, but this is really the first time in my life that I’ve felt free.
“This pizza is good,” Sean says, licking his ever-smiling lips. His black hair reflects the light cast from the house, making it seem even shinier than usual, and his jade eyes sparkle in a way that sends a shiver down my spine. He leans close, using his thumb to wipe away a blob of tomato sauce that I