Free The Moment We Began (A Fairhope New Adult Romance) by Sarra Cannon Page A

know what you’re going to
ask.”
    I think he’s going to ask me how I could be
pregnant when I haven’t really been dating anyone, but he
surprises me.
    “Are you going to tell Mason?”
    My mouth falls open. “How—”
    “I’m not blind, Penny. I’ve seen
the way you both look at each other,” he says. “I knew
something was going on there, but I wasn’t sure how serious it
had gotten.”
    “He doesn’t want a relationship with
me,” I say. I fold my arms over the tops of my knees and rest
my head against them. “Sex, yes. Relationship? No. He doesn’t
want to be tied down.”
    My voice cracks as I say those last words out
loud. What am I going to do? Can I really raise a baby on my own?
    I hide my face inside my arms, exhausted from
crying way too much over the last twelve hours. Eventually, you’d
think the tears would stop coming.
    “It’s going to be okay,” he
says. He puts his hand on top of my foot.
    “How?” I ask. “It’s hard
to see how this is all going to work out. My mind keeps running
through all these possibilities. Mom and Dad are obviously going to
be devastated. I mean, I know they’ll love their grandchild no
matter what the circumstances are, but let’s face it. A
surprise pregnancy when I’m not engaged or married isn’t
exactly ideal.”
    “No, but it’s not like you’re
some teen mom. You’re an adult,” he says.
    I snort. “An adult who still lives at home
and who just wrecked her non-boyfriend’s expensive car while
drunk driving,” I say. “This isn’t your strongest
argument.”
    Preston smiles and shakes his head. “Well,
you do have a point, there.”
    I smile and straighten my legs across the couch.
“And what about Mason? If he doesn’t want to be with me,
he’s not going to suddenly change his mind just because I’m
pregnant,” I say. “And if he does, that’s worse.
I’m not exactly hoping for a shotgun wedding here. I want him
to be with me because he loves me, and there’s nothing I can do
to make that happen. Telling him about the baby is only going to
complicate that whole situation.”
    “I know he says he doesn’t want to be
with you, but I swear, you should see the way he looks at you
sometimes when you’re not paying attention,” Preston
says. “There’s something there, Penny.”
    Hope flutters through my stomach, but I try to
ignore it. “Yeah, it’s called lust,” I say. “He’s
only interested in one thing. I thought that was going to be enough,
you know? Just to be close to him.”
    “I don’t think that’s all there
is for him,” he says. “I know him, Penny. I can tell by
the way he talks about you and looks at you that he cares about you a
lot. And not just as a friend.”
    “That’s not what he says.” I’m
scared to get my hopes up. I have to remind myself that just last
night, he told me we weren’t right for each other. He doesn’t
want me. “He’s made it very clear he doesn’t want
me for anything more than friendship and the occasional sexy times.
And weren’t you just telling me last weekend that I should
forget about him and go out with someone else?”
    Preston shrugs. “I just didn’t want to
see you get hurt,” he says. “Mason’s...complicated.”
    To say the least.
    “What are you going to do about the baby?”
he asks. “You’ll have to tell him eventually, I guess.”
    I lean my head back against the throw pillow. “I
have to get him to take my calls first,” I say. “I’m
sure he’s incredibly pissed about his car.”
    “Insurance will pay for the car. That should
be the least of your worries right now.”
    “There’s so much to think about. What
am I going to do about school? I’ll have to miss the last
couple months of Spring semester,” I say. “Should I get
my own place, or stay here? I am not even remotely prepared for
what’s about to happen to my body. It’s making my head
spin just thinking about all of this.”
    “Maybe you should try to get some