Read Online Brat by Alicia Michaels - Free Book Online Page A

knocked up, the jackassery ensues. Besides, I haven’t even decided if I’m going to have it.”
    Chase nodded, his tight hold loosening on the wheel. “All right,” he said.
    I frowned. “Don’t you want to give some input on that?”
    “Look,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “when I said I would be involved, I didn’t mean I’d try to tell you what to do with your body.”
    “Yeah, but everybody has an opinion on this subject, even you. Especially you. You’re one of the most socially conscious people I’ve ever met. If I decide I don’t want to have this baby, are you going to hate me forever and think I’m a terrible person?”
    “I’m not going to let you make this decision based on what you think I’m going to think of you. I believe in a woman’s right to choose, and if going through with this pregnancy isn’t what you want, then it isn’t what you want. The thought of being a dad terrifies me, so I can’t pretend this solution doesn’t make things easier for me. On the flip side if you decide to go through with it, just know I’m going to be here for you guys. I might be scared as shit now, but I’ll get over myself. If we have to learn to be parents, we’ll do it together. Okay?”
    I nodded, staring down at my hands. I hadn’t noticed until then that they were tightly clenched in my lap and shaking. “Okay. Thank you, Chase.”
    Silently, he cranked the car and backed out of the parking space. “No need to thank me for doing the right thing.”
    “I can’t believe you’re being so calm,” I said, studying his profile and waiting for the inevitable freak-out. “You’re being surprisingly cool about this.”
    “I don’t know about calm, but I see no reason to freak out. We didn’t use protection, and to add gasoline to that little fire, we had sex several times in one night.”
    He was right about that. After our little romp in the rainforest, we’d gotten dressed and walked back to Chase’s cabin, where I spent the night learning that that little tree hugger knows how to use his tongue. The back of my neck went hot just thinking about it.
    “Yes, I was there,” I reminded him.
    “Does anyone else know?” he asked as he merged onto the highway. “Jenn or Kinsley?”
    Usually, they’d be the first people I would have told, but they both have their own things going on these days. Jenn is all goo-goo in love with Luke to the exclusion of pretty much everything else, and Kinsley is still in mourning over Aaron and spending way too much time in the bathroom.
    “No,” I answered. “I didn’t want to tell anyone until I knew what I was going to do.”
    “That’s probably best. I won’t tell anyone either, not until you’re ready.”
    “I appreciate that.”
    Silence stretched on between us as the UT campus came into view. The radio had been turned down to a dull murmur, and I could barely make out the words of whatever song was playing. As Chase pulled into the parking lot at the back of the row of apartments, he turned to me with a grin.
    “So, I guess now you have to date me … being my baby mama and all.”
    I snorted. “What a great basis for a relationship.”
    “Well, you know, after I make a baby with a woman that’s when I tend to really get serious.”
    Avoiding his gaze, I reached for my purse. “Listen, Chase—”
    “It’s not me, it’s you. I’m not ready for a serious relationship right now. I don’t think it’s a good idea if we get involved. Let’s just focus on the baby for now. Does that about cover all the angles of the rejection I know is coming?”
    I glowered at him. “It’s not a rejection,” I muttered. “It’s reality. All of those things are true. We barely know each other, and things have already started off complicated enough.”
    “Seems to me the rest should be pretty easy,” he argued. “If you decide to have this baby, you and I are connected for life.”
    “One could argue that we’re only connected for