Twisted(140)

“I’m pregnant.” Something about saying the words to him made her eyes fill. “We’re going to have a baby.”

He stared at her, a huge range of emotions playing across his face. So many she couldn’t track them all. His lips moved but no sound emerged.

“Say something,” she pleaded.

He dropped his hand as a crew member pushed a plastic bag toward her nose. “Ice’s here,” he said hollowly.

Normally she would’ve thrown some snark back at him. But she couldn’t, because a boulder the size of Rhode Island had taken up residence on her chest.

“Let’s see your face,” Lila said, crawling on the bed on her opposite side. “If there’s bruising, we’re fucked.”

“It won’t show up yet,” the cameraman said. “If we finish the shoot now, we can make it work.”

“I’m still bleeding,” Jazz said in a small voice, but no one seemed to care.

“Let me see.” Lila nudged aside the ice and probed her face gently with her fingers. “She looks fine. Time to boogie.”

“Still bleeding,” Jazz said again, waving her ice bag.

She was resoundingly ignored.

For his part, Gray had slumped on his side and was staring vacantly into space. That didn’t bode well.

“Everyone, places. From the top. Gray?”

He moved like a robot, assuming his position half on top of her with about as much enthusiasm as a child on the way to the dentist. He slid his hand up her thigh, shifting it up so it rested on both of his legs. She soon realized his erection hadn’t abated. Nor had his stricken expression.

At the cameraman’s cue, he went back to kissing her neck, his fingers still doing that stroking thing on her thigh that had worked well to start her engine before. It had the same effect the second time around and she arched again, getting into it in spite of herself, when he suddenly lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “You’re pregnant,” he said without lowering his voice. At all. “We’re really having a baby?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed. “We are.”

“For fuck’s sake, cut,” the cameraman yelled. “How am I supposed to shoot a video under these conditions?”

“Give them five. You get five,” Lila said, appearing in Jazz’s line of vision just long enough for her to nod. Lila moved back, clapping her hands. “Clear the set, people. Time for a short break.”

“Oh thank God. I’m so tired from playing six notes.” Nick’s sarcastic reply carried across the room just before the slam of a door signaled the group’s exit.

Jazz chanced a look at Gray, who’d finally regained some of his color after her bombshell. “You okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Are you? How did this happen?” His gaze traveled down to her partially undone robe—they hadn’t gotten to the big reveal yet—and back up to her face. “The tests were negative.”

“We took them too soon. Within a few weeks, I didn’t need them to tell me anyway. It became obvious pretty fast.”

“The band knows?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I told them first, but I kind of had to. I was throwing up constantly while we were in the studio and Nick started making jokes about me having an eating disorder.”

“So that’s why the guys were acting so weird in the dressing room. Deak said we had to stick together, him and me. I thought he just meant because Simon and Nick are nuts.” Gray’s throat bobbed. “Lila didn’t freak out over what it means for the band?”

“A little. She chided me for not coordinating the birth with the upcoming tour. I don’t think she understands the meaning of the word unplanned.” She rolled her eyes. “But as soon as she figured out her spin angle, she was fine. She decided she would put out a big press release when I start to show about our ‘love child.’”

“‘Love child’? Only Lila.” He shook his head. “Are you still sick in the mornings?”

“It’s more morning and afternoon sickness. Sometimes evening. Harp and I keep joking about needing matching sinks wherever we go. Oh, guess what? Deak and Harp finally bought a house. It’s the cutest place—”

“Save that for later. One life changing event at a time, please.” His lips twitched. “What other symptoms did you have?”

That was her Gray, always needing to know the details. He’d never be the kind of man who didn’t get involved. “Well, I couldn’t even put on a bra without wincing—” He jerked back from her like she was on fire and she had to laugh, though it made her nose hurt more. She touched it gingerly. “I’m okay today.”