After being separated in a dramatic move, Connor Harding is moving back home. His ex-best friend Hope Stryker, is terrified and torn. After three years without contact and lots of family drama, the two have fallen off. Their friendship isn't the sam...
My palms were sweating, and my hands were shaking as I closed my car door and walked up the long driveway. I felt like I was going to vomit all over the front lawn. What was I thinking?
It had been a rushed decision to tell Jack about the baby. The more I contemplated telling him, the more I talked myself out of it. But my conscious was too weak for that. When it came down to it, whatever I decided to do with the baby was my decision, but Jack at least deserved to know I was pregnant.
Anxiously, I knocked on the front door and waited for Jack. He was quick to open the door, but he didn't have his usual smile and didn't bother to kiss me on the way inside. But I don't know what I was expecting, considering it had been weeks since we had even spoken to each other. Today all I wanted to do was tell him about the baby and breakup. That was it.
"Hey," he gripped the back of his neck and took a couple of steps away from me.
"Hey, Jack."
"We can go upstairs if you want?" I nodded and followed up the stairs behind him.
His room had clothes scattered all over the place, and his bed was unmade. Letters from collegiate basketball programs covered his desk, and NBA posters hung from his wall. His room had always been a complete mess, but the disorder brought me comfort.
Jack sat down on his desk chair and chewed on his bottom lip, "So... I'm guessing that this is the part where you tell me that I'm a jerk, and we officially break up."
"Jack..." I looked down and fiddled with the diamond ring that sat on my finger. I had gotten so used to wearing it, what would I do now? "You cheated on me."
"I know, Hope. I'm sorry." As soon as I had seen Jack and Shelby on the boat together, I understood what everyone else saw. Deep down, I held onto a sliver of faith, but hearing the words come out of Jack's mouth made it all real. It hurt. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on.
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you been seeing her?"
"A couple of months."
"How long," I emphasized.
"Six months."
"Wow," I scoffed. Jack had been cheating on since before he had even given me the promise ring. Everything he had said that night was a lie. All those nights, he snuck into my room and cherished me like I was his everything when in reality, he had another girl on the side. "Why would you say all those things if you weren't planning on staying?"
"Hope I loved you. I-I don't know what happened."
"I do. You cheated on me."
"What did you want me to do?"
"Break up with me? Was that so hard to do?" It didn't sound like that hard to me. If he could cheat on me for six months, I obviously didn't mean that much to him.
"Hope..." He whined.
"No, Jack, you hurt me. It's not fair for you to get emotional and play the victim game. Please do not make me feel guilty." I let out a long sigh and brought my gaze to meet his. I just needed to rip the bandaid off. "I'm late."
"Huh?"
"My period. It's late."
"How late?"
"Late enough that I took a pregnancy test."
"And?" Jack had stood up from his previously seated position and was towering over me.
"I'm pregnant, dumbass. Why else would I mention it?"
As soon as I said those words, the entire room went silent. It was so quiet that I could hear the cars passing outside and dogs barking down the road.
"I don't want it, Hope."
"Good, me neither. " Jack's head snapped up, and his eyes widened.
"You're gonna kill it?"
"We are not having this conversation."
"That's my baby, Hope." Was he serious? Oh, my God.
"Jack, did you not just hear what you said? You don't want it."
"Yeah, but I thought you might carry it anyways."
"To be what? A single mom? To raise a baby whose father wants no part in their life?"
"Well, maybe after the baby is born-"
"A baby is not a maybe situation Jack. You need to know, and besides, neither of us are financially stable enough to bring a child into this world. It would not be fair to that baby."
I wasn't going to sit here and argue with Jack about whether or not I was going to keep the baby or not. Truthfully, I didn't know. It was a lot to process. In a perfect world, Jack and I were supposed to be married before we had a baby. But this was real life. We were breaking up, and I was pregnant with a baby that neither of us necessarily wanted. Not to mention we were seniors in high school.
Tears were starting to fill my eyes as Jack, and I stood in silence. "I'm done." I stepped forward and unraveled his fist before placing the promise ring inside and closing it again. "I'll let you know what I decide to do, but it isn't your decision Jack."
With those final words, I left Jack standing in his room and went back to my car. The tears started to fall as soon as I pulled away from Jack's house. A chapter of my life had just closed way sooner than I ever thought it might. I just wanted us to work. I wanted Jack to be the one. God, I spent days planning our wedding and what we would name our kids. Jack was there for me at the lowest point of my life, and I am so grateful that I had him, but it was over.
Jack and I were no longer together. Two years of ups and downs had finally ended. Jack Leigh was officially my ex-boyfriend, and I was officially carrying his baby.
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