Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
She smiled at the two, and then asked them politely what they wanted. The girl couldn’t decide if she wanted a cookie or a muffin or a slice of cake.
It took a good ten minutes, and then, finally, the young girl picked a double-chocolate-chip muffin, while the mother went for a cookie. She bagged the items, rang them up, and as she finished serving, Ava came out of the bathroom, looking a hell of a lot better than when she went in.
“How are you feeling?” Harlow asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Truly, I’m fine. I will be.”
“You know people don’t just randomly throw up, and then you know, seem okay.” Harlow frowned and then glanced down at Ava’s stomach. “Unless…”
“Don’t worry about it, Harlow.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“I don’t know what I am,” Ava said, pushing some hair off her face.
Harlow didn’t know what to say, which was rare. She normally had something to say about everything. “Are you happy to be pregnant?”
“I don’t know if I am pregnant.”
“You don’t know? How can you not know?” Harlow was getting even more confused. Actually, this was helping her to not think about another problem.
“I’ve not taken a test. I … I’m not sure. It might be a stomach bug or something.”
“You don’t suddenly feel fine and then vomit and feel fine with a stomach bug. Do you want me to go and get you a test? I can.”
Ava held her hand up and laughed. “And how long before Big Dick turns up, asking who the father is?”
Harlow frowned. “Why would my brother care if you’re pregnant?”
“Not me, you.”
Harlow took a second, and then she understood what her best friend was saying. “Ah, right, because of the town gossip and crap like that. “Yeah, yeah, I totally get it.” She let out a chuckle. She hadn’t even considered people gossiping about her. Other than working for Ava, she hadn’t done anything of significance. She was just the crazy daughter of the Erickson clan, which was kind of funny to her. She had a brother called Erick Erickson. Always made her laugh, which pissed him off.
She’d not seen Erick in a few months. The last time had been at the hospital, where he had shown genuine concern for her. She hated him. Out of all her brothers, he was the one she disliked the most. The others were just selfish assholes, while George—Big Dick—she had always been close to.
“I’m not pregnant. I’m not even dating anyone.” She refused to think about him. The one man she couldn’t quite seem to help herself from thinking about. A certain MC VP who goes by the name of Hunter.
The last time she had seen him it had been … her lips tingled just remembering, and the words he spoke to her. They held a promise. “I want so fucking bad to see just how sweet that mouth of yours is. To know if your cunt is as tight as I figure it would be, and your ass, I want to know if you want to be dirty with me as I take your ass.”
Then Christmas had come, and for some reason, they hadn’t been able to talk, or do anything. Just that one kiss, which was actually her first kiss, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. He didn’t need to know that she never went on dates, nor enjoyed chasing boys, or that kind of stuff.
“But your brother might think you’re hiding something and I don’t want to cause any trouble.”
She wanted to argue that it was no trouble at all, but Big Dick could be a giant pain in the ass when he wanted to be.
“I still think I should call Smokey.”
Ava sighed. “I intend to go and get a pregnancy test after work. Smokey is watching Umberto at the moment.”
“I can watch the shop while you go and check.”
Her boss winced.
Harlow rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to the local pharmacy, are you?”
“I can’t sneeze without Smokey knowing about it, and if I am pregnant, then I want to … you know, I want to be prepared and maybe even tell him. The last time I found out I was pregnant, it was so different.” Ava wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t want this time to be like that.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
There was no time to talk anymore as the lunch rush hour started, and both of them were swamped. Harlow was thankful for the distraction. She didn’t want to think about what Hunter was doing, and it was nice to worry about her friend. She adored Ava.
She considered Ava, Raven, and Abriana close friends, and in recent days, she had also gotten close to Larissa. She was the preacher’s daughter, who was so sweet and fun to be around.
Harlow wasn’t used to having friends. She wasn’t used to being close to anyone. After the lunch hour, she was exhausted, and it was also her break, which Ava sent her on. Normally, she stuck around, ate her lunch, and talked with Ava. Today, she didn’t have time to make any lunch.