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But maybe things were more complicated than I realized.
The other girl said something to her then walked off toward the booths. Sam didn’t move, just kept staring at me, until the bartender walked over and gave me a new beer. That seemed to break the moment, and she slowly walked in my direction, then took the stool to my right.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again,” I said and slid the beer toward her.
She reached for it, stopped herself, then took her head. I shrugged and took it back.
“I didn’t think I’d see you, either.” She chewed on her lip. I remembered that gesture—though that night, she did it out of lust, and right now she was doing it from nerves.
“What brings you to my office?” I asked.
That got a little smile. “Your office?”
“Sure. I work from home.”
She laughed then asked the bartender for a Coke. He poured the soda and slid it over. I wondered why she didn’t add some alcohol to that order but didn’t press her on it.
I couldn’t remember if she drank that night. Maybe a little wine, but not much more. We were too busy to drink.
“You want to hear something crazy?” she asked.
“Always,” I said, leaning toward her.
“I came here to see you.”
I raised my eyebrows and felt my chest flutter. “Really now?” I asked softly. “And how’d you find me?”
“My friend.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Nessa, she’s seen you here before.”
“Ah,” I said, and realized that I should probably switch bars at some point. “I guess I’m happy your girl spotted me then.”
She turned the soda around and around between her hands, spinning it in a circle. It left a spiraling condensation mark on the bar top. She leaned forward and sipped from the straw, and I thought of all the filthy things I wanted to do to those lips—but her serious face gave me pause.
She didn’t seem happy to find me. She’d come here for me, but this wasn’t for another taste of that night. No, something was going on.
I sat up straighter and glanced at the Healy guys sitting nearby. They weren’t watching, as far as I could tell—maybe one or two of them kept glancing at Sam, but that couldn’t be helped. She was the only woman in the place, and by far the hottest girl for miles. But I wanted to make sure they weren’t paying close attention for the wrong reasons, because that could mean they were onto me, and this might be a trap.
“This is kind of a hard conversation,” she said.
“I find that hard conversations go best when you dive right in.” I sipped my beer and leaned toward her. “But first, let me ask you something.”
“All right,” she said.
“Have you been thinking about that night as much as I have?”
Her cheeks turned bright red. “Yes. Probably. I don’t know. How much have you been thinking about it?”
“Every day. I know we said one night only, but god damn, that was one hell of a night. I guess I’m too greedy to stop.”
She shook her head. “I’m not here for, uh, for that.”
“I know you’re not. It’s pretty obvious. But I just thought you should know, I haven’t gotten you off my mind for a second.”
She smiled a little, but her smile quickly faded as she went back to twirling her glass. “I don’t know how to say this. I mean, it’s so simple, right? It should just say it.”
“Then just say it.”
She met my eye. “I’m pregnant.”
I leaned back and didn’t move.
The bar disappeared.
The Healy guys, her friend, the old men sitting on stools, they faded into black. The bottles, the bartender, the taps, they went blank.
There was only Sam looking at me with this wide open and naked expression, this pure vulnerability that was simultaneously arousing and terrifying. Her plump lips parted and her eyes blinked and I didn’t move a muscle, couldn’t move a muscle.
“Pregnant,” I said.
“I just found out and Nessa knew you’d be here and god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to do. It’s yours, by the way, I haven’t been with anyone else.”
I held up a hand and squeezed my eyes shut for one second. “I know it’s mine,” I said. “Pregnant, god. You’re pregnant.”
“Are you mad?”
I opened my eyes again and shook my head sharply. “Of course I’m not mad.”
“I told you I was on birth control. But I’m sorry, I fucked it up and now—”
“Sam,” I said, leaning toward her. I put my hand on her leg, and suddenly the world came back into focus. The bartender reappeared, the Healy guys were there again, the bottles and the taps, but suddenly Sam was the center of it all. She was the weight in my universe, the gravity tugging me down.
She was the only thing that mattered. I felt it happen in a sudden rush all at once.
