Sound of Heartache ("Sound of" Book 2) (8 page)

“
Man, how do I not freak out if it’s positive?” he whispered. Eric laid a supporting hand on his shoulder.

“
Just remember it’s Aimee you’re with. If it’s positive and she’s pregnant, she’ll figure out a way to make it all work. That’s just the kind of girl she is, dude.” Brent nodded because Eric was right. Aimee was resilient and smart. If there was anything that needed figuring out, he could trust Aimee to do it.

Moving like an automaton, Brent repacked Eric’s bag. He got up from the table slowly and went into his bedroom where Aimee lay dozing. He sat down next to her and gently shook her shoulder. He knew he should wait for her to wake up on her own but he needed to know the answer for his own peace of mind. She blinked slowly awake and smiled sleepily at him.

“
Hey,” she said softly. He stroked her soft, dark hair away from her face.

“
Baby, I need you to do something for me.” Brent hated the way his words trembled. Aimee nodded, capturing his hand and pressing her cheek into his palm.

“
Sure. Anything. What is it?” Brent dug through the plastic bag and located the pregnancy tests. He very gently placed the two-pack in her hand. Her fingers curled around it and she brought it up to her face for inspection. Her eyes flew to his.

“
I need you to do this now, okay? We need to rule this out.” Her eyes were glossy and scared as she stared back at him. She looked stunned and panicked.

“
Oh God,” she whispered. “I didn’t even think!” Brent watched as panic began to set in. Aimee’s breathing turned harsh and her face whitened.

“
Aimee, baby, stop,” Brent whispered back. He pressed kisses along her forehead. “If it’s positive, we’ll figure it out.” Aimee’s face blanched and tears spilled over.

“
It’s not… I can’t…” The words were broken. She clutched the tests tightly in her hand and he helped her stand slowly. She moved toward the bathroom, her body visibly trembling. He knew she was afraid to take the tests. Afraid of what they might say.

Brent wrapped his arm around her waist in support. “I’ll be here for you Aimee. Always.” Brent hoped Aimee knew him enough to know that he wouldn’t cut out if she was pregnant.

He tried following her into the bathroom but she shook her head. He stepped back so she could shut the door and he hated that she hadn’t looked him in the eyes. Brent stood outside the bathroom in the small hallway and leaned against the wall for support. He strained to hear sounds in the bathroom and finally heard the toilet flush and the sink run.

Aimee opened the door and Brent immediately spotted the two pregnancy tests resting on the side of the sink.

“
You did both?” He asked dumbly. Aimee nodded and leaned against the bathroom doorway.

“
You’re supposed to wait three minutes for the test results.” She said. Her eyes were finally trained on his and didn’t stray once to the tests.

“
How long’s it been?” He was the worst at keeping track of time.

“
I don’t know. A couple minutes maybe.” Brent moved toward Aimee and pulled her into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him heavily.

“
Whether the tests are positive or negative, I want you to know I planned to ask you to move in with me tonight.” He was pretty sure Aimee needed to know that whatever happened from here on out wouldn’t be just because he felt obligated. Her arms tightened around his waist.

“
That means a lot to me,” she admitted. “Eric was good with it?”

“
Eric’s crazy about you,” he told her gently. “There was no hesitation on his part at all when he and I talked about it.”

Brent held Aimee in his arms and the position put him looking over her shoulder and into the bathroom. From his position, he had a clear view of the tests. He pressed a kiss to Aimee’s temple. He hadn’t read the directions on the package but it didn’t take a genius to figure out two large plus signs meant Aimee was pregnant.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Aimee felt Brent’s arms tighten around her and she felt a breath shudder out of him. She tried to stem the rising panic she felt but it was useless.

“
It’s positive, isn’t it?” She choked out, her words muffled by Brent’s thermal. She squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled his familiar masculine scent.

“
It’ll be okay, Aimee. I promise.” Brent’s words were meant to be soothing. He probably thought she was worried about him leaving. He couldn’t be more wrong. Aimee knew Brent well enough to know he’d never leave her pregnant and stranded. No, her fear stemmed from the fact she’d never come clean with him about her age and now she didn’t have a choice in how she told him.

“
Before you promise that, I need to talk with you, okay?” Aimee trembled. She felt miserably sick, she was exhausted, and she had to find the words to explain to Brent why this news was completely disastrous beyond the usual reasons.

Brent pulled back from Aimee and his green eyes gazed down into hers. Whatever he saw there had him gathering her close again. She felt his lips press against her forehead in a gentle kiss. Aimee had never loved Brent more than she did right then and her heart ached because she was about to shatter every bit of trust he had in her.

“
Aimee, nothing you say is going to send me running. You need to believe that,” Brent told her, his voice deep and earnest. Aimee wished she could believe him but he didn’t know what they were up against. What he was going to be up against. She didn’t resist as he gently herded her down the hallway and back into his room.

“
Brent, I wish…” Aimee’s voice trailed off. She wished she was his age and that none of this had happened. She was pretty sure he was about to be wishing he’d never met her.

“
What’s going on baby?” He asked, and he gently sat her on the bed. Aimee pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her dark hair fell around her and she refused to meet his eyes. She knew her position was defensive.

“
There’s a complication.” She said finally.

“
A complication? But we just found out you’re pregnant. How can something be wrong already?” He sounded confused, and rightfully so. The bed shifted as his weight settled next to hers, warmth radiating off him.

“
Not with…” Aimee stumbled. Christ this was difficult. “Not with the baby. With me. There’s something you need to know before we go any further.” She shot Brent a quick look from beneath her hair. He was frowning but he didn’t look too worried.

“
Aimee, I know you pretty damn well. There’s not much you could say that would surprise me. I know you wouldn’t go behind my back, so that’s not even in my mind. Whatever it is can’t be that big of a deal.” Tears sat on Aimee’s lashes as she finally lifted her eyes to Brent. She felt awful but he deserved the truth and the least she could do was look at him in the eyes when she told him.

“
I’m seventeen.” She said flatly. He blinked and stared. His expression remained unchanged.

“
Seriously, Aimee, what’s going on?” He asked impatiently.

“
Brent. I’m really seventeen. I graduated high school when I was sixteen. I took a lot of advanced classes, so yeah. I turned seventeen on July 17
^th
.” Brent continued staring at her and she saw when the truth of her words hit him. His entire body stiffened and he shifted away from her.

“
Fucking hell, Aimee! This is huge! How in the hell could something like this never come up?” Brent yelled. Aimee’s eyes widened. She knew he’d be mad but truthfully, she hadn’t expected him to yell at her. He’d always been so patient with her. This was a side she’d never seen but she understood his fury.

“
It just never came up! At first I was tutoring you so it didn’t matter how old I was. Then we just kind of fell into a relationship without a whole lot of discussion. After that, I just didn’t know how to tell you!” She reached for his hand but he yanked it away and scrambled off the bed.

“
I could fucking go to jail for having sex with you! Did you ever think about that?” Aimee’s hands flew to her mouth. She couldn’t believe he’d gone there even though it was her primary concern over how her parents would react when they found out.

“
I’ve never claim our relationship was anything but consensual!” She cried out. “I can’t believe you’d think otherwise!” Her stomach turned and she bolted from the bed and into the bathroom. She hung over the toilet heaving, the two test sticks taunting her from their position on the bathroom sink. Tears streamed down her face and she was overwhelmed by fear. Sobs racked her body, causing her to heave into the toilet again.

Gentle hands lifted her hair off her neck and she knew without looking it was Eric helping her out, not Brent. Brent’s touch was familiar whereas Eric’s was hesitant. Brent was probably in his room cursing the day he ever met her. Aimee straightened up, and with Eric holding her steady, brushed her teeth and allowed herself to be led into the living room where she was gently deposited on the couch.

“
I couldn’t help but overhear,” he told her gently, taking her hands in his. His thumbs rubbed comfortingly over the backs of her hands and she appreciated his help but he wasn’t who she really wanted right then.

“
I never meant to deceive him, Eric. That’s not me. That’s not who I am.” Aimee hoped like hell Eric believed her. He’d come to mean so much to her and she didn’t want to lose both Brent and Eric all at once. Her chest constricted tightly and she was having trouble breathing.

“
I know that sweetheart. But you’ve put him in a really bad spot. I’m guessing the baby will come before you turn eighteen?” Aimee thought back to around midterms. She couldn’t pinpoint any time exactly when she thought the condom had broken or had noticed anything wrong.

“
I don’t know. It all depends on the timing,” she admitted. “If it happened at midterms, then yes. The baby will come before I’m eighteen.” Eric nodded solemnly.

“
I know you won’t press charges, Aimee. But what about your parents? I can’t imagine they’re going to be too happy about this. Clearly you’re on the fast-track to becoming a doctor and this is going to screw with your timeline.” Aimee swallowed hard. Eric was right. Her parents were going to literally freak out. They had big plans for her and a baby was definitely not part of those plans.

“
Oh God,” she moaned despairingly. She leaned into Eric’s shoulder in sheer misery.

“
I take it that means they won’t receive this well?” Eric asked drily. Aimee shook her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. He smelled so different from Brent, but his presence was comforting nonetheless.

As Aimee sat on the couch, she knew her life was changing whether she liked it or not. And given Brent’s reaction to her announcement, she was leaning more toward the “not”.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Brent jerked awake with a start. He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep but he knew instinctively Aimee had never come back into the room. In truth, it was probably a good thing she hadn’t. He had been too pissed at her to carry on any type of rational conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was to say words to her that could never be taken back. Even as angry as he was with her, deliberately hurting her wouldn’t help anything or make him feel better. If anything, he’d feel even worse.

He rolled out of bed and took stock of his body. He felt like shit, his joints aching and protesting. He was tired from the lack of sleep. Worst of all was the way his heart ached in his chest when he thought about how he had shut Aimee out. His feelings toward her hadn’t changed even though she’d lied to him. Or let him incorrectly believe something, which in his mind was pretty much the same damn thing as a lie.

Sighing deeply, he wandered slowly out to the living room. To his surprise, Aimee wasn’t out there. Instead, Eric slept awkwardly on the couch, his tall frame too big to fit there comfortably. Brent shook Eric’s shoulder until the other man’s eyes blinked slowly up at him. Eric was slow to wake so you had to give him time to come online.

“
Where is she man?” Brent asked when he could tell Eric would be able to process the question.

“
She’s in my bed.” Brent jerked back and glared down at Eric, who quickly clarified. “Dude, she’s pregnant and miserable. Was I supposed to have her sleep on the couch?” Brent knew he was being unreasonable but he hated the thought of Aimee in Eric’s bed. Brent knew neither of them would ever do anything inappropriate but that didn’t stop him from hating it.

“
You’re right. I’m sorry. I just...” Brent exhaled noisily. He had royally fucked up and the fact that Aimee was sleeping somewhere other than in his bed was his own fault.

“
Go see her,” Eric urged gruffly. Brent nodded and turned to leave the room. When he reached the hallway he turned back to Eric, whose eyes had already slid closed again.