Shotgun Baby

Chapter 1

One drunken night, I ended up knocked up.

Couldn’t afford an abortion, and definitely couldn’t afford a baby.

My belly was starting to show, and I knew I couldn’t hide it much longer.

So, I had to swallow my pride and ask my roommate, a guy with serious mob connections, for a loan.

He was twirling a switchblade between his fingers, a dark look on his face.

“I might be down to raise some little rugrat, but you gotta tell me, who’s the deadbeat dad?”

Uh…

How was I supposed to tell him that he was the deadbeat dad?

01

When Jax came back, he was a mess of cuts and bruises, and carrying a pizza box.

He tossed the pizza on the counter and pulled out the chair next to me, plopping down hard.

“Grab the antiseptic, will ya?”

Judging by his state, he’d probably been street racing again.

“Dude, you should go to the hospital.”

“Nah,” he said, ripping off his t-shirt like it was nothing. “It’s just surface wounds.”

I sighed, setting aside my PJs and grabbed the first-aid kit, completely used to this routine.

Just as I grabbed a cotton swab, Jax’s fingers closed around my wrist.

“What the…”

He grinned, a cocky little smirk. Then he yanked me down, not gently.

I landed hard on his lap.

“Standing is overrated.”

He had this bright, almost reckless grin.

Jax had road rash on his legs too, but he didn't flinch under my weight.

“Suit yourself. Doesn’t hurt me.”

When I was done patching him up, I tried to get up to put the first-aid kit away. He didn't try to stop me, just got up and started rifling through the dishes on my counter.

Jax had this weird thing. He'd only eat if the food was in a real dish.

According to him, the fanciest takeout box was just a container.

"Eating out of a container is survival, not living.” - typical trust fund kid talk.

But that didn't stop him from paying extra for the premium containers each time.

I’d die for that money! I’d happily carry his food on a platter if he asked.

I was barely surviving.

“What’s this?”

I turned, and he was holding a pregnancy test, two bright red lines screaming up at us.

My heart jumped into my throat.

Crap, I forgot to throw it away.

Before I could think, my hands were moving. I snatched it and tossed it in the trash.

“…It’s for the flu.”

“Oh yeah?” He raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“They all look like this now… And, uh, you should back up. It’s probably contagious.”

Jax chuckled and grabbed my face in his hands, pulling me closer.

My nose practically touched his.

“Scared I’ll catch something?”

He tilted his head, about to kiss me, when I turned my head. His lips brushed my ear.

Jax paused.

“You don’t want to?”

“Nope.”

“It’s not like we haven’t before.”

02

“That was a misunderstanding.”

Three months ago, the night Jax moved in, he’d stumbled out of his room and into my bed.

I’d woken up to him making out with me.

He’d said he was still getting used to the new place, thought he was in his old room and I was ...