Because I Want To - Grace R. Duncan Page 0,26

might put even more pressure on Matt, and if Matt thought they were even partially bonded, there was no way he’d do anything except stick to Adam like glue, whether he really wanted to be there or not.

It didn’t really matter now how the pregnancy had happened. The simple fact of the matter was, he was pregnant. That meant figuring out where to go from there. Adam didn’t even have to ask Matt what he wanted to do. Being friends for sixteen years gave a person a thorough understanding of how said friend’s mind worked. That was the entire reason why Adam hadn’t wanted this to happen in the first place.

Matt would, of course, want to stay together. But even if Matt loved Adam, that didn’t change whether or not he’d feel trapped. Or would come to feel trapped eventually. Adam had seen it before. Hadn’t his own father left? And as much as he hadn’t wanted to hear, he had overheard his mother and stepdad discussing what had happened on more than one occasion.

Adam had spent so much mental energy on the whole thing, he hadn’t slept the night before. There were only so many options. Without a job, Adam was going to have to depend on his mom and dad. That was almost as unappealing as trapping Matt, but Adam didn’t really have much choice. He could—and would—look for a job he could do until the baby was born. After that, he’d have to find day care, if he wanted to keep working. No matter what job he could get, though, he’d be dependent on his parents for quite a while, because with only a high school diploma, whatever work it was, it wasn’t going to be very high-paying.

“You didn’t sleep, did you?” Matt asked, bringing Adam’s attention back to him again. He brushed at a bit of Adam’s hair.

Adam scowled. “It annoys me sometimes how well you know me,” he grumbled.

“That didn’t answer the question.”

“Do I really need to since you know so much?” Adam glared.

Matt just grinned. “Nope.”

“Asshole,” Adam muttered, though there was no heat behind the word, which Matt knew quite well.

“What did Matt do this time?” Evan asked as he and Ethan approached their table.

“I called him on his bullshit.”

“How is that any different from any other day?” Ethan asked, taking a seat.

“You did not call me on my bullshit. It’s bullshit if I answer and lie. I didn’t answer. You can’t call a nonanswer bullshit.”

“Semantics,” Evan said, grinning.

Adam rolled his eyes. “I hate all of you.”

“Me too?” Parker asked, taking the last seat. “Even though I got your notes for you? How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Oh yeah, you feeling better now?” Ethan asked.

Adam shrugged a shoulder. “A little bit.”

“Not really,” Matt said at the same time.

Evan raised an eyebrow. “Which is it?”

Adam elbowed Matt. “I am… a little. Though it’ll keep coming back for a while.”

All three of their friends had blank expressions.

Adam exchanged looks with Matt. There were a few good things about being friends for so long. Matt’s face asked the Do you want to tell them? question silently. Adam raised his eyebrows, asking the same back to Matt. Regardless of whether they were together for the baby, telling their friends was a different matter entirely and something Matt had a say in. When Matt gave a small nod, Adam took a deep breath then looked back at their friends.

“Uh, it’ll keep coming back because it’s morning sickness.”

Ethan got it first. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “Really?”

“What?” Evan asked.

Ethan rolled his eyes and elbowed his brother. “He’s pregnant.”

Evan looked at Adam and blinked.

Parker grinned. “Holy shit. Uh, congrats?”

“I think so,” Matt said, grinning. “I’m certainly happy about it.”

Parker, Evan, and Ethan all looked at Adam, and he realized he wasn’t saying anything. “Well, duh. I mean, I get to throw up for the next ten weeks, gain a bunch of weight, lose sight of my feet, and eventually even forget I have a dick. What’s not to like?”

Silence reigned for a few beats before they all started laughing, including Adam.

When they calmed down, Adam smiled. He couldn’t in all honestly say he wasn’t at least a little happy. He had always thought he’d have kids someday. Maybe not this soon, but he had wanted them. “Yeah, I’m happy too.”

“Uh, were you trying?” Parker asked.

Adam didn’t wince, but it was close. “No. It just happened. We were trying not to. Kinda not the best time, you know?”