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“He wants us to tell our families tomorrow after church,” she said in a small voice. “I’m afraid he’s going to do it whether we agree or not.”
“Then we’re not going to church. And we’re not going to talk to him about it at all.”
“It’s just putting off the inevitable, though. We both know he won’t risk this getting out,” she said. “Not the truth of it, anyway.”
She was right. If I told him I wasn’t going along with his plan, he’d do something drastic. And if he thought for a second Arden might go public, she could be in actual danger.
He wouldn’t hesitate to ruin her reputation, to call her a liar, or worse, to use his power and influence to make her friends and family turn against her.
I didn’t want to think he’d harm her or the baby physically, but then, I hadn’t believed him capable of doing this, had I?
I thought back to that fateful night. Of how my father had leaned in and said, “Corbett, there are some very powerful people backing me. This is bigger than you. It’s bigger than me. And you won’t do a single thing to fuck that up. Understand? Or else this punishment will seem like child’s play in comparison.”
“Arden,” I said slowly. “You need to lay low. Like really low.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
I forced myself to put down Vaughn’s pillow and move back over to her. “He can’t let this come out. Even if he wanted to, his backers wouldn’t let him.”
She sniffled slightly. “If it comes out, he’ll tell the media it’s yours—”
“And I won’t let that stand,” I repeated gently. “Because it’s not.”
A few more tears leaked from her eyes. We both knew it would be easier for her if I went along with this plan, claimed the child even if the two of us didn’t end up together.
But that wasn’t something I was willing to do for her.
Not something I’d do to that child.
“What do I do?” she whispered.
“You need to act like you need a little time to get used to the idea. If he contacts you, tell him you talked to me, and you think you can convince me to go along with it.”
“Then what?”
“Then… we come up with an actual fucking plan. And I have no clue yet what that will be.” I blew out a breath and pulled her to her feet to walk her back to the sorority house. “In the meantime, we don’t tell a fucking soul.”
22
VAUGHN
When I got back with our takeout, Bett wasn’t in the room. The only sign he’d been there was his team gear bag and the fact that my bed pillow looked like it had been in some kind of accident.
I pulled my phone out to text him, but then decided to chill the fuck out. Maybe he went down to the vending machine for a couple of sodas or something.
After shoving his bowl in the mini-fridge, I went ahead and opened mine and started eating.
It wasn’t like this was a date or anything. I was just bringing him food. He could eat it whenever he got back from… wherever he’d gone. No big deal.
But when Bett finally came stumbling back into the room and tried to act normal while also looking strangely pale and breathless, I knew something was up.
“Hey.”
His eyes snapped to me. “Oh, h-hey. Hey.”
I nodded toward the fridge, keeping my eyes on him. “Food’s in the fridge.”
He winced and shook his head. “Ew, no. Thanks. I mean, I…” He sucked in a breath and shuddered. “Not hungry.”
