Bad Boy Rebound(38)

My hands gripped the steering wheel tight. I would have given this relationship absolutely everything.

Always, I had been on the breaking up side of ending a relationship, and now I felt like the rug had been ripped out from underneath me. Apparently “the player” had been officially played. I still couldn’t understand why she would tell me she loved me. She had been the first one to say it, too…or maybe she had just been reacting to good sex.

And our sex had been pretty mind-blowing. I’d never had such a satisfying lover.

Maybe I needed to be more like Amanda and focus on the fact that we’d been having fun together. Maybe taking a page from her book wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

* * *

Amanda





The second I’d left my parents’ house, I’d phoned Kara to see if she’d heard any news about Heather possibly carrying Brax’s baby. She’d checked Heather’s social media feeds and came up with nothing except a flat belly shot from the past weekend.

“No fucking way she’s pregnant,” had been Kara’s reply.

“But if they slept together last week, she could be…” I’d countered.

“Ask him,” she had said. “He needs to be straight-up honest with you at this point. From where I’m sitting, it sounds like a rumor, and probably one circulated by Little Miss Desperate herself.”

God, I hoped she was right.

When I walked into my house, Brax and Toby were setting the cabinet in the bathroom. I said hello and received a half-hearted “hey” back from Brax.

“You okay?” I asked, taking a step back from him.

Brax nodded, but didn’t make eye contact with me.

I looked at Toby. He kept on working. Had he mentioned my visit to our parents’ house? Had he overheard me talking to Mom about Heather?

I ran my hands down my face. This was already proving to be a long day. “Can I help?”

“We’ve got it.” Brax’s tone was abrupt.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” I asked, motioning for him to follow. I had played my share of head games when I was younger. No way was I doing it now.

We walked into my bedroom and I closed the door behind us. I glanced at Brax. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at me, his jaw clenched tight. “So I’m just someone for you to have fun with?”

I frowned. “What?”

Hands on his hips, he looked massive in my room. His face was a mask of fury. “I’m just someone to get your mind off that prick who dumped you, is that right?”



“Brax…”

“Don’t deny it. I was standing outside your parents’ house, ready to ring the doorbell, when I heard you tell your mom that we were just having fun together, that we weren’t serious, and that you basically wouldn’t get serious because you didn’t want to get your heart broken by someone like me.”

Shit. I swallowed hard. “It’s not what you think. My mom was just worried about me getting hurt.”

He flinched like I had slapped him.

“I didn’t want her worrying, so I told her that we weren’t that serious,” I said, stumbling over the words.

“She actually said she thought I would hurt you?”

“She was concerned, mostly because of your reputation.”

His gaze dropped to the floor. Without him saying a word, I could see the emotions play over his face. He looked devastated.

“You have me wrong, you know that?” he said, brushing a hand through his hair. I was stunned to see he was trembling.

“My mom heard Heather might be pregnant with your baby.” There, I’d said it. And he’d heard me loud and clear.

His face fell, and his eyes searched mine. “You’re serious?”

I nodded. “Yes. she heard about it, and she didn’t want me to go through that pain again.”

“Who told her Heather was pregnant?”

There was no effort on his part to deny it. In fact, he seemed more worried about who had said anything to my mom. “I don’t know who told her. What is important is the truth. Please God, tell me she’s not pregnant.”

He dropped his hands to his sides and took a step toward me. “Of course she’s not pregnant.”

“Are you sure?”

“Jesus, Mandy.” Closing his eyes, he took a breath and released it. “I swear she’s not pregnant.”

“How do you know for sure?” I said, hating the fact that my voice cracked.

“I was careful. We used protection. I used a condom every time.”

And yet he hadn’t when we’d had sex.

The thought must have been written all over my face, because he shook his head. “You’re different, Mandy. You’re different from anyone else I’ve been with.”