Read Online The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) by Maggi Craft - Free Book Online

to figure it out.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, you know her better than that. I agree with you. You are being an ass. I do think she should have told you about Eric. But I don’t think she didn’t tell you because there was anything going on. I think she just didn’t want you to worry about something that didn’t matter to her. If she wanted to be with Eric, she would have been with Eric.”
    I knew she was right. “Well how do I fix it? And how do I make it stop bothering me?”
    “Did you apologize?”
    “I tried. She’s at the hospital, and she doesn’t keep her phone with her. I left a voice mail, but it may be tomorrow before she checks it.”
    “Then I guess you have to suffer the consequences until then.”
    “Thanks, Mom, that helps a lot,” I said sarcastically.
    “Baby, I don’t know what else to tell you. This is a growing pain. You will work it out and learn from it.”
    “Come eat!” Dad yelled in the back door.
    I rolled my eyes. “Do I have to? I’m not in the mood for Brady tonight.”
    She handed me a dish to carry outside. She looked at me with a wild expression. “We aren’t always in the mood for Brady?” We both laughed.
    Brady was my dad’s son by another woman. He had him before he even dated Mom. Brady’s mom was crazy. When we were younger, she was always trying to cause problems. Mom handled it well. She was always good to Brady and did her best to include him in everything, but he could be a total pain in the ass sometimes. Even if there was no reason for his attitude.
    As I sat down to eat, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was a text message from Arden.
I love you too
was all it said, but that was all I needed from her.
    I felt relieved and was able to enjoy my dinner with my family. Until I was ready to leave.
    Taylor followed me to my vehicle. “Slayde,” she said, and I turned to see what she wanted. Before I realized what she was doing, she had sprayed me in the chest with the hose. She only held it on me for a few seconds before she dropped it and ran back inside, but I was soaked. Even my tennis shoes and socks were wet.
    “Little brat,” I said.
    I went back inside, shoes squishing as I walked. Mom looked at me, shaking her head.
    “Where’d she go?” I asked.
    Mom didn’t answer me; she probably didn’t want World War III going on in the middle of her house.
    I decided to let her go. This time.
    I went in the laundry room and grabbed some of Dad’s shorts and shoes and a T-shirt. After changing, I threw my wet clothes in the washer and headed out. “Bye, Mom.”
    “Bye,” she said, loading the dishwasher without looking at me.

Chapter 6
Slayde
    T wo days passed before I saw Arden again. I was really feeling crappy about the way things had gone the other day. We had spoken briefly that morning, but I was running late for an interview when she called and had to rush off the phone. As the evening wore on, I got anxious waiting for her. I finally heard the garage door open at about ten.
    When she walked into the house, we hugged for a few minutes. I kissed the top of her head and lay my cheek on it. That’s when I noticed that she was crying. “Baby, don’t cry.” Thinking that she was still upset about our fight, I wiped her tears away and kissed her. She buried her face in my chest for another minute. Something else was wrong; this wasn’t just about our fight. I picked her up and carried her to our room and laid her on the bed. She was still crying. Now I was officially freaked out.
    “Arden, calm down. Tell me what’s going on.”
    She reached into her scrubs pocket and pulled out a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test. I didn’t know what to say, but I knew I had better choose my words wisely.
    “When did you take this?”
    “Today,” she said between sobs. She was really upset. At this point, she was in full-on shoulder-shaking mode. I thought she was going to be sick.
    I pulled her tighter before saying, “I know you