Logan I sat outside the spare bedroom all night, just in case she needed anything. I figured she
wouldn’t have felt comfortable sle eping in our bed, so I laid her down in one of the spare rooms
before kissing her goodnight. I had every intention of going t o bed to get some rest after I spent
half the night trying to track her down. Then I just... didn’t. Walking away from her felt like I was
tearing a hole in my chest. So, I slid down the wall to the ground and I just sat, listened and
waited. Tyson is right. I’m a fuck up, and it’s not something I can say I’m used to. One drunken
mistake very well may have cost me the most precious thing I’ve ever been gifted in this life, and
I don’t know how to fix it. Well, that’s not true. I do know how. I already called i n a favor with a
friend at the hospital downtown. We are scheduled to go in and do a DNA test. When I texted
Kelly that I would be picking her up and driving her to the hospital, she seemed irritated but
agreed. My phone buzzes in my pocket just as my eyel ids become heavy. I blink them open
quickly, pulling it out to see a new text. Tyson: Did you get her home okay? I tap out my r eply.
Me: She’s fine. Sle eping still. The texting bubbles appear and disappear several times before a
text comes through.
Tyson: Give her space, Logan. I know that’s a foreign conc ept, but she needs it. You put her in a
fucked up position, and you have to respect the fact that you don’t get to control her feelings on
this. My gut twists at his words. Mainly because he’s right . I want to handle everything, to
swe ep this to the side and do what’s best for her, but it’s not the right thing to do. It’s not the
right thing for her. She deserves to have her feelings, to hate my fucking guts if the worst comes
to fruition. I hope she doesn’t, though. I really hope it doesn’t. Jesus Christ, please don’t let that
baby be mine. The door beside me opens before I jump to my feet. A groggy looking Arianna
startles slightly, squinting at me as she looks around the hallway. “How long have you been
sitting outside the door?” “How are you feeling?” I ask. “All night, I take it?” she continues, her
eyes roaming over my rumpled clothes and no doubt dark circled eyes. When her gaze comes
back to me, there is a guarded look to her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that. I was mad
and — ” “ You have nothing to apologize for. You have every right to feel every emotion you do. ”
She looks surprised, blinking at me like she ’ s never seen me before. “ My friend is going to let me
stay with her for a little until I can figure out ... what to do next. ” I wince like I ’ m in physical pain
at that. Because I am. This feels like the end before we even really began, and it ’ s fucking
agonizing. “ I have an appointment at the hospital today to run a paternity test, ” I say. She raises
her eyebrows. “That was quick.” “I need to have all of the information as soon as possible.”
Arianna nods and I can’t help it, I cave. Closing the distance between us, I reach out, cupping
her face in my hands. I’m pr epared for her to pu sh me away, but when she doesn’t, I drag her
closer until our bodies are flush. “Give me the weekend. We’ll do the test today, have the
answers by tomorrow even if I have to camp out there all night. I’ll do it. I just... will you stay? If
the baby isn’t mine , if I’m not a part of this mess... do you want to stay with me?”
I hate the way I sound. Pathetic, weak, desperate. Normally, I’d rather jump off a cliff than be
perceived as any of those things. Right now, though, it really doesn’t matter, because I am all of
those and more. She closes her eyes, letting out a heavy bre ath before looking at me once
more. “Logan, this thing between us – ” “Our relationship,” I intervene. “It’s not practical.” “Why
not?” “For this very reason! If it was, we wouldn’t even be put into this mess. We’re... messy,
unorthodox. We don’t... fit.” I feel h er attempt to pull out of my grasp, but I don’t allow it,
holding her tighter before pressing my lips to hers. At first, she resists me, but she quickly melts
into my touch before I pull away, leaving her breathless as I grumble. “The first two I’ll agree
with, but don’t even pretend you mean the last. We fit, Sparrow, better than any two souls ever
have, and you know it. You can tell me that you don’t want to be with me, you can even tell me
that you don’t love me but don’t stand there and try to convince me for one goddamn second
that you weren’t perfectly made for me and I for you, because I’ll call you a fucking liar every
time.” She blinks up at me, so much desperation splashed across her face as she nods. Tears
spring to her eyes, and it guts me to see her like this. “I just want things to go back to how they
were, when life was perfect.” “It will, baby. I promise. No matter what I have to do, no matter
what happens. I promise. Just say you’ll stay, say you’ll love me, and I’ll handle the rest. Trust
me .” Arianna doesn’t speak for several seconds, her eyes flicking back and forth between mine.
I see it the moment she makes up her mind, her eyes hardening with resolve as she forces
herself onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips to mine. I welcome her instant ly, savoring the
embrace for as long as she’ll allow it before she pulls away. “Go get the test done, and we’ll go
from there.” “Together.” She agrees. “Together.”
I asked Arianna if she wanted to come to the hospital, but she declined, mainly because she
didn’t want to be anywhere near her mother. Can’t say I blame her choice. I pull up to Kelly’s
house, honking the horn before resting my hand on the steering wheel. A few minutes later, she
comes strutting out in a black bodycon dress and a pair of stiletto heels. I’m trying to remember
why I decided driving her was a good idea. I figured if I didn’t, she would come up with some
bullshit excuse not to come, and if we don’t have her DNA, we wo n’t have the baby’s, so it’s
kind of crucial. She stands at the door and waits like it’ll open itself. I laugh derisively, shaking
my head as I face forward. Finally, she gets the hint, yanking the door open as she slides into the
seat. The overwhelming sc ent of her perfume nearly suffocates me to the point that I roll down
my window. “Would it have killed you to come to the door?” she grumbles. “Probably,” I
remark, putting the car in drive the second her seat belt is fastened. “Jesus! What’s with the
rush ?” “I want to get this over with.” She shrugs, looking out the window as she speaks. “It’s a
waste of time. I know the baby is yours, so the sooner you acc ept it, the better off we will all
be.” I ignore her, maneuvering us through traffic before we enter downtown. She tries to start
up a conversation several times, but she finally gives up after I stay silent. When we pull up to
the hospital, relief hits me as I drive towards the parking garage. Once I’m parked, I’m out of the
car and heading inside. I hea r the clicks of her heels pattering behind me as she attempts to
catch up. “Wait! Logan! I’m pregnant, you fucking dick. The least you could do is slow down or
open a goddamn door!” I roll my eyes at her dramatics as I st ep inside, heading for the nurse’s
station. “Hi, I have an appointment with David Roberts.” The nurse nods, making a quick call
before smiling. “He’s waiting for you in the lab. Follow the blue arrows down the hall, and you’ll
find your way.” “Thank you,” I say, just as Kelly catches up to me.
I take off down the hallway, and she huffs in frustration before following me once again. When
we reach the lab, my old client stands from his seat in the waiting room as he shakes my hand.
“Logan.” “David, it’s been a while.” “Not long enough.” He laughs, probably reminiscing about
how I narrowly got him to evade prison time for embezzling from this very hospital. The board
of directors rarely questions the CFO, and he almost got away with it until someone tipped them
off that the numbers are a little skew ed. He’s lucky we got a lenient judge and a disinterested
jury to dismiss the case. “Right this way,” David says, gesturing down the hall into the lab. I
follow behind him where two lab techs are waiting, smiles on for the boss, clearly. Moving to
one of t he chairs, I take a seat as the tech does a cheek swab for me while they set up Kelly for a
blood draw. I’m done in seconds and stand, checking my phone as I look to David. “I’ll get the
results no later than tomorrow morning?” “I will personally see to it .” Nodding at that, I clasp
his hand once more. “Sounds good. Thank you again.” “My pleasure, Logan.” I begin making my
way out of the lab when a shrill voice calls out to me. “Wait! Logan! Where are you going?”
“Home,” I say, not bothering to turn around. “What about me? You’re my ride!” Pausing, I look
over my shoulder to see the tech taking her blood. Kelly’s face is panicked, and she looks ready
to bolt, needle in her arm and all. “You have a phone, I’m sure you’re capable of getting a ride to
your hous e.” With that, I turn back around and make my way to the car, feeling not an ounce of
guilt for leaving that manipulative bitch behind. Even if I am the father of her child, it will never
change how I view her. I just wish I would have woken up like this years ago. When I got home, I
was surprised to find Arianna still there. I figured she would have left the instant I pulled out of
the driveway. I half expected
her to say that she would stay, that we would figure things out just to pacify me. A small bit of
relief swelled in me when that appeared to not be the case. She spent most of the day working
on a paper while I caught up on some emails. Instead of handling that in my office, I decided to
do it in the living room beside her. When I sat down, she didn’t leave or tell me to go, so here I’ll
stay for as long as she’ll allow it. “Are you hungry?” I ask, glancing to see it’s already seven at
night. She shrugs her shoulders, and I frown. “What have you eaten today?” Her blue eyes come
to mine. “I had a piece of toast this morning.” “That’s it?” I confirm. She shrugs again.
Unacc eptable. Within the hour, I’m walking into the living room with five different delivery
orders, the bags halfway up both my arms. I set them down on the table and her eyes widen.
“What the hell?” “What do you want? I got street tacos, sushi, pizza, burgers, and gyros.”
Arianna looks up at me like I’m crazy before reaching for the sushi. Good to know. We begin
eating in silence for several minutes before she speaks. “Thank you.” I look up at her, hating the
six feet of space between us. “Of course. I need to be better about ensuring you eat, that’s on
me.” “Logan, you don’t need to make sure I eat. I’m not incompetent,” she says with a stern
look. “Incompetent isn’t even in the same realm as you, Arianna. I do need to, though. I need to
make sure you’re taken care of in all ways, physically, and emotionally. And, no, I don’t need to, I
want to.” She gives me a sad smile, almost like she wants that too, but she isn’t sure how to
drop her guard. It fucking kills me how broken her trust is right now. My phone buzzes in my
pocket, my whole body going still when I pull it out. “What?” she asks. “It’s the lab results,” I
say. Her brows furrow as she sets her food down and scoots over to me. When her thigh presses
against mine, it pulls my attention away from the
phone. I feel one of her hands slip in mine, and I intertwine our fingers, looking at her and
memorizing her perfect face in case it’s the last time I ever see it. Letting out a heavy exhale, I
press a kiss to her forehead that she seems to sink into befor e I turn my attention back to the
phone. As I navigate through the login process, I feel Arianna shaking beside me. Or maybe I’m
the one that’s shaking. Either way, the nerves are high, emotions are even higher, as I click on
the test result that will easi ly determine our relationship and the rest of my life. I click on the
test result, waiting with bated breath as the spinning wheel of death circles and circles and
circles. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” Arianna mutters under her breath. When the screen pops up
an d those words flash across the screen, I’m in complete bewilderment. I blink hard several
times as a stuttered breath es capes Arianna. Probability of Paternity: 0% My eyes move to
Arianna’s, both round with shock before she leaps into my arms. Relief flood s through my body
as the gravity of the words truly sinks in. Holding her tight in my arms, she pulls away slightly to
look at me as I palm her jaw tenderly. “I love you,” she says. “I love you more, Sparrow.”