One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,55

panting for more.

We took short breaks for food, but the rest of the time, all bets were off. By that night, I knew I was going to have to leave his room if I was going to get any sleep. It was after midnight by the time I’d gotten back to my room though, and I’d collapsed onto my bed without so much as changing into my pajamas.

My suite wasn’t as expansive or as expensive as Caleb’s, but it did the trick for me. The carpeting was pretty plush, and the bed had a rich wooden frame and was plenty big enough for an ordinary family, nevermind just for me.

It also happened to sleep like an absolute dream. At least, it did until sunlight filtered through the cracks in my curtains, and I woke with violent cramps in my lower belly. I barely managed to make it to my en-suite bathroom before my meager stomach contents came spilling out.

Every time I so much as tried lifting my head, the same thing happened. I couldn’t think of anything that I’d eaten that could’ve been funny, so while I was searching the recesses of my mind for a possible cause for my sudden and violent illness, I groaned and tried to think of what medicine I had in my bag that might help for this.

When my vomiting finally ceased, I crawled to the cabinet under the basin and rummaged around for the medicine pack I’d gotten from the drugstore before leaving L.A. Peeling the safety tabs off, I ripped it open to search for something that might make the nausea subside.

As I ripped, my elbow hit something in the cabinet, and I turned my achy head in its direction to see what it had been. With my luck this morning, it was probably a bottle of something that was open and would stain the entire cabinet.

It wasn’t. It was a small blue box that I should’ve opened weeks ago, but I hadn’t because it hadn’t been necessary. My stomach lurched again as I started doing the math, and this time, I wasn’t going to make it back to the toilet. Thankfully, if I sat up on my knees, I could reach the sink.

There was nothing left in my stomach, but I gagged and gasped and heaved as my mind spun. The nausea didn’t subside. If anything, it just got worse the longer I tried to think.

It’s not possible. I’m on the pill. But it was undeniable that I’d missed my last period, as I’d realized as soon as I saw that damn little blue box—unopened, unused, unnecessary.

By my quick and very dazed calculations, I was about two weeks late. Some women might not have been concerned by being half a month late, but I was. My cycle was like clockwork. I swallowed back a sob, rinsed out the basin, and weakly pushed myself up onto my wobbly legs.

My phone sat on my coffee table where I’d tossed it after I’d gotten back to my room after getting back from Caleb’s. Blood drained from my face as soon as I thought his name.

Caleb.

Pushing him out of my mind for the moment, I grabbed my phone and called number one on my speed dial. Alicia. They were staying up in one of the other suites, similar to Caleb’s I imagined. My sister answered on the second ring, and I’d never been more grateful for her get-up-and-go attitude.

As soon as I asked her to come down to my room, I heard her tell Jared she’d be back, and she was getting in the elevator before we even ended the call. No need to shower or get ready first. Alicia woke up ready to go.

Thank god.

There was a soft knock on my door, and when I yanked it open, probably looking as dreadful as I felt, whatever Alicia had been about to say died on her red lips.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Her blue eyes were alert and darting around my room like she thought she might find an intruder here. She stepped inside, threw her purse onto the couch, and pulled me in for a hug, running her fingers through my hair.

A sob rose in my throat at the comforting gesture, but I couldn’t lose myself in it. Inhaling a deep breath, my hands trembled as I stepped away from her. “I woke up feeling awful. Then I realized that I’m late.”

Alicia’s mouth opened and then closed again. She paled slightly, and her eyes dropped to