Bella

After certain that I was okay, the hospital released me. Emory had offered to take me home, but I insisted on Jasper taking me. We were in the car, riding to a fast food restaurant to pick up some food from the drive-thru. “Some ex you got there,” Jasper commented. I nodded and simply continued to look out the window. “You didn’t tell me you were pregnant.”

I ran a hand through my hair, shrugging noncommittally. “Was it not noticeable? I didn’t see it important to tell you.” I chewed on my bottom lip, tapping my leg impatiently, just hoping that he’d drive a little faster.

“You allowed yourself to smoke, get high, get drunk, and wild out knowing that you were pregnant.” Jasper laughed humorlessly. “You’ve got some nerve, Davis. You’ve got some nerve. Tell me about your ex,” Jasper suggested. “He seems interesting.”

I slid my eyes toward Jasper, letting my eyes trail over the tattoo that snaked around his arm. “There’s nothing to tell. Once we loved each other and then we didn’t.” Yet, my love for him was unexplainable. “And don’t tell me how to treat my own body. Yes, I allowed myself to do all of those things knowing I was pregnant. Does this information bother you?”

Jasper snorted and took a left turn. “Oh no, Bella, it just makes me fucking ecstatic. It makes me so fucking ecstatic knowing that my girlfriend of two months was pregnant and I didn’t even know. It makes me so fucking ecstatic knowing that my girlfriend was pregnant and harming her own body.”

“You were the one giving me the opportunities! I did all of those things because you urged me to!” I protested.

His jaw clenched. “I didn’t know you were fucking pregnant, Bella!”

I shrugged and bit my lip. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? The baby is—poof—gone, my ex is back in town, and to top it all off, you’re mad at me. This is the best day ever, don’t you think?” I closed my eyes and thought about Acel and Jasper. I thought about how I’d urged for a guy like Jasper to keep Acel off of my mind. But Acel was back, here in Ramsay, looking absolutely beautiful.

“You confuse me so damn much,” Jasper muttered, tapping his fingers on the wheel rhythmically. “I guess it is better that it’s gone. You couldn’t support a baby if you wanted to.”

I sighed because Jasper was right. I wasn’t responsible enough and I wasn’t strong enough to do so. I stayed quiet as he pulled into the drive-thru of Mike’s Burgers, ordering sodas and burgers for the both of us. “I’m sorry…”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” His tone was thick with disappoint and distaste. “I just didn’t think you’d do something as low as that. You know that guy, your ex, he still loves you.”

I raised my eyebrows in time to see Jasper twist his spine toward the left and grab the bag of food from the cashier. “What makes you think that?” I was curious to know.

Jasper thanked the man before looking at me, forcing a smile on his face while he placed the cups in the cup holder. “I can tell by the way he looked at you. His eyebrows furrowed and he was all pouty-lookin’. He looked sad, almost regretful as if he’d done something to you that he’d take back. Did he abandon you or something?”

I shrugged my shoulders, relaxing in the seat as he began to drive again. “He did something like that. I guess he didn’t necessarily abandon me. He told me he was leaving at least three weeks before he did so, but he never told me why. Can we not talk about it?”

“Sorry, Davis, I was just trying to understand the situation more.”

I smiled a soft, genuine smile at him before picking up my soda, drinking out of the straw. “Don’t try to understand, okay? You’ll only give yourself a headache.”