Free Relentless (Relentless #1) by Alyson Reynolds Page B

I didn’t understand why. I took a step back to get away from the cup she tried to hand me.
    “No thanks,” I said gagging. “I’m still not quite myself.” What the hell? Why was she still pushing? She took a huge gulp of coffee and my stomach turned just watching her. I normally enjoyed the smell of coffee, but I didn’t know how much more I could take.
    Amanda smacked her lips after taking a sip, and that was all it took. I ran towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. Everything I had eaten for breakfast came right back up. It took me a few minutes to wipe my face and rinse my mouth out before I left the bathroom. When I opened the door, Amanda stood there with her hands on her hips and she looked pissed.
    “I think it’s time we had a little chat, Violet. You’re pregnant.”
    “What? Why would you think that?” I hedged.
    My head whipped from side to side to make sure no one had overheard. She grabbed my arm and led me into one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind us.
    “Oh give it up, Vi. You were sick the day before we shot out at the beach, coffee set you off then too. When you walked out of the bathroom that day, you looked like you had seen a ghost. I went in after you came out and it’s a good thing I did because you left the top of the pregnancy test sitting on the floor next to the trash can. I wanted to talk to you the next day, but everything was so screwed up between you and Jaxon, I figured you needed a minute to take in the news. With how you guys acted with each other, I take it he didn’t take the news well?”
    “Everything is better now, but it didn’t start out that way. It was incredibly fucked up.”
    I ended up telling her how everything happened and how bad it got the night I told Jax. It was a relief to have another woman to talk to. As great as Taylor and Lexi were, sometimes I needed a new perspective. Most of the time I could tell what they would say before they even said it. Amanda promised to keep my secret and told me she supported me no matter what happened.
     
     

     
     
    I drifted in and out of sleep on the couch between scenes. At some point Gage came in and picked up my feet and sat down with me. He was absentmindedly rubbing my swollen ankles while he watched TV. My attempt to finish the book I had been reading was a losing battle. The hormones from pregnancy made me fall asleep as soon as I sat down anywhere.
    We were waiting to start filming for the afternoon. The crew was running two hours behind schedule because of a summer storm that ruined the lighting. It promised to be a challenging day, and no one was looking forward to the long hours.
    I peaked one eye open as I felt Gage’s eyes on me, “What?”
    “Just thinking about your situation, and how things will end up.”
    “What do you mean by that?” I looked around before saying, “Am I not mom material?”
    Gage and I had been getting along since our outing. He’d been incredibly protective of me, especially after what happened at the beach, and I was hurt he thought I might not be able to handle being a mother. My emotions had been all over the place, so it was hard for me not to jump to the conclusion he was being a jerk.
    “I don’t mean that in a bad way, Vi. I just know how I would want things to go,” he looked around before continuing, “if I had got someone pregnant. I would have already insisted we get married. Jax is a good guy; I’m a little surprised that he hasn’t mentioned it.”
    “Really? That’s a horrible way to start a relationship. What happens if you guys end up hating each other? The poor kid would be stuck seeing its parents in a bad relationship, probably fighting all the time, and thinking they resent one another because of him or her. Jax has mentioned getting married, but I don’t want to just because I’m pregnant. The next time I get married, it will be for the right reasons.”
    Looking up, I caught Jaxon’s eyes as he stood in the doorway. Hurt