Because I Want To - Grace R. Duncan Page 0,22

something was wrong. Frowning, he tried to figure out what that could be about. Was Adam sicker than they thought? Are you okay?

The reply took longer than it should have and only made Matt worry more. Yeah, mostly.

Should I come home now? Matt wanted to. He very much did not want to wait, after this conversation.

No. Get the notes for us. It can wait.

Matt sighed. Adam wouldn’t have texted if it wasn’t important, if something wasn’t wrong. What’s up? Stomach bug getting worse?

Don’t worry about it. Just come over when you’re done.

Well, shit. There was no fucking way Matt was going to listen to that, and Adam damned well knew it. Sometimes Adam’s refusal to come out and ask for something really irritated Matt. If it wasn’t that big of a deal, then Adam would have waited until later to text or not even bothered texting because he’d know Matt would see through his bullshit.

Shaking his head, Matt didn’t reply and stuffed his phone in his pocket. As he made his way to the building and classroom, he kept running the conversation through his mind. He didn’t think it was the stomach bug, whatever caused it. If that was bad enough for Adam to go to the hospital, he would have just said that.

What was bugging Matt was that he couldn’t understand why Adam wouldn’t say what he wanted to talk about. That was completely out of character for him. If he was pissed off at Matt—not an overly unusual occurrence—then he’d just bitch Matt out over a text or even call. If he needed to talk about something, most of the time he just outright asked.

There had been a couple of times where Matt had hurt Adam and hadn’t realized it, and Adam hadn’t said anything until Matt had more or less pried it out of him with a crowbar. Maybe that’s what was going on. Maybe he’d done something that hurt Adam. But what? What the hell could it be? He didn’t think it was going to class rather than staying home. For all his bullshit, Adam wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t tell Matt to do something, then get hurt by Matt doing what Adam told him to.

Matt gave up for the moment as he got to the classroom. He found Parker toward the back of the room, near the top of the hall. “Hey. I need a favor.”

Matt wondered if Adam was going to be pissed that he didn’t listen and stay at school. He wasn’t sure he cared. It was pissing him off a little that Adam had been so damned cryptic, then expected him to just wait another three-plus hours to find out what was going on.

When he got to Adam’s house, he didn’t see Adam’s mom’s car, so he didn’t bother knocking, assuming Adam would be upstairs.

Except he wasn’t. Adam was pacing the living room.

Matt stood at the doorway, staring at his best friend, who was more agitated than Matt had ever seen him. Adam had obviously not even heard the door, nor was he paying attention to the hallway. It didn’t seem like he even saw Matt. Adam got to the archway that divided the living room from the dining room, then turned on his heel—away from Matt—and started back the other way.

“Adam?”

“Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker!” Adam slapped his hand over his chest as he turned to stare at Matt. “The fuck?”

“Um….” Matt was at a complete loss. “Uh…. Hi?”

Adam hesitated for a moment, and Matt guessed he was waiting for his heart to calm down. “I thought you were coming home after class.”

Matt gave Adam his best “bitch, please” face.

Adam sighed and flopped down onto the couch, laying his head back. “Fine. Sit.” He waved at the seat next to him.

Matt dropped his bag by the door and crossed the room. He took a seat next to Adam, turning sideways to face him. They sat quietly for a few moments, and when Adam didn’t look like he was going to speak, Matt did. “So… the nausea’s better?”

With a sigh, Adam rolled his head to look at Matt. “Yeah. For now.”

“Did you see a doctor?”

Adam lifted his head and shook it. “Nope. I don’t need to. Not yet, anyway.”

“Okay, I’m starting to get frustrated. What the fuck is up?”

“I’m pregnant,” Adam blurted.

Matt was pretty sure his heart stopped. It at least skipped a couple of beats. “Did… I hear that right? You’re….”

“Pregnant. Yes, you heard right. And if you think for