Free Losing Gabriel by Lurlene McDaniel

Something had happened to make her shut him out.
Maybe her mother…
LaDonna was unpredictable. No telling what she’d done to Sloan. “Um…okay…call me if—” He heard her click off, and not wanting to look stupid standing in the hall, he said, “Bye,” to dead air. He shoved the cell into his backpack and went to class, where he sat brooding through the lecture.
    Maybe he’d done or said something that had ticked her off. But no matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn’t figure out
what.
Now she’d all but blown him off.
What the hell!
He got mad.
If that’s the way she wants it…
Maybe they needed a break from each other. He didn’t like the idea, but her moodiness was wearing thin with him. Two could play the same game. He decided to give her space. Lots of it.

CHAPTER 13

    S loan spent four days nursing her “stomach flu,” while crying, confused, miserable, and afraid. There were clinics where she could go to terminate her pregnancy, and she visited several sites online that explained the procedure and what to expect, recovery times, and legalities. Since she was in an early stage of pregnancy, the process seemed simple and quick. No muss, no fuss. Yet she was terrified of the whole idea. Terrified also of having a baby. She felt caught in a spider’s web of indecision, stuck and immobilized, torn between two choices and not wanting to participate in either.
    Her mother kept insisting Sloan get up and go to school. Sloan told her, “On Monday. Flu can take about a week to get over, you know.”
    LaDonna eyed her. “You sure that’s all that’s wrong with you?”
    Sloan trembled, holding LaDonna’s prying eyes. “I told you I have the flu. I’m getting better. That’s it.”
    But as soon as LaDonna left, Sloan threw up.
    Dawson spent five tortured days worrying about Sloan, not calling or texting, revisiting her curt replies in his head simply to keep him angry and away from her. He wasn’t going to beg for her company! When she was still AWOL on Saturday, he gave up and drove to the trailer park. LaDonna’s car was gone. A relief. He parked, walked up, and knocked on the door.
    Sloan had seen him drive up, knew she had to tell him. Her torturous week had led her to the place of realizing it was his problem too. She’d need his help getting to the clinic to end what had happened to her. She went to the door and opened it, and at the sight of him looking worried and so tall and strong, she launched herself into his arms and broke down crying. He caught her, staggered, pushed them both back inside the trailer. “Baby! What’s wrong? Did your mother—”
    “I’m pregnant, Dawson! And I don’t know what to do.”
    The words rolled over him like an avalanche, flattening him, squeezing the breath from his lungs. Sloan clung to him, crying out of control. He held her close, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, finally pulling away, guiding them both to the couch because he wasn’t sure his legs could support him any longer. The table was piled with used tissue, evidence of tears long wept. “Are you…I mean—”
    “I’m sure.” Her voice was hoarse with tears.
    He said, “But we were careful.” He had used protection, and she’d said she was on the pill. He had joked, “Double insurance.” So very, very careful.
Except once.
New Year’s Eve. Months before. One time. Only once. Their first time. Feeling sick, he closed his eyes. The night had been magical. Lying in each other’s arms, feeling her skin on his, their bodies limp with completion, satisfaction. Loving her in every way. Back to now. “What…” He stopped, started again. “Have you told your mother?”
    “No.” Sloan’s face had a greenish tinge.
    “When will you—”
    “Not till I have to.” What was happening to Sloan was exactly what had happened to LaDonna as a teenager. Once when her mother had been drunk, she’d blubbered out a story of how the man called her “stupid” for getting knocked