Southern Chance - Natasha Madison Page 0,2

be the one holding me, it should be Jacob.

“Say it.” The words come out softly as my head starts to spin, and I try to wake myself up from this bad dream. This has to be a bad dream. This can’t be happening, not to me.

“She’s pregnant.” He repeats the words I heard whispered in the gym. I wait for him to continue, wait for him to tell me that what I’m thinking isn’t true. I wait for him to tell me anything. This is Jacob. He wouldn’t do this to me. He wouldn’t hurt me like this, not the Jacob who holds me during scary movies and brings me ice cream when I’m not in a good mood. Not my Jacob. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh my God.” My knees buckle, and Beau’s hold on me tightens to make sure I don’t hit the ground. But he can’t stop the roiling of my stomach, and I put my hand to my mouth to keep from being sick, but it doesn’t help. I get sick right here in front of them. Jacob tries to take a step to me, the tears now streaming down his face. “No!” I shout at him, holding up my hand to stop him from approaching me. Beau squats down beside me and hands me a handkerchief from his pocket. Grabbing the linen handkerchief, I hold it over my mouth.

“Kallie, let me take you somewhere, and I can explain,” he says, but I just shake my head, not listening to the words, and then I look at her. The woman who I accepted as a friend, the woman who I never expected would do what she just did. The woman who has taken away everything that I thought I knew.

“How could you?” I ask, and she just sobs in front of me, holding her hands folded in front of her.

“It’s not what you think,” she says, and I laugh bitterly, but the sob rips through me.

“You’re wrong,” I say. “It’s worse than I think.” I then look at Beau. “Can you take me home?”

“Kallie.” Jacob steps forward again and puts his hand on my arm, the same hand that just held my hand, the hand that made my stomach flutter every single time he touched me. Except this time, it’s like he’s burning my skin, so I jerk my arm away from his touch. “Please let me explain.”

“You slept with her while you told me you loved me!” I shout at him, the tears leaking out of my eyes faster than I can wipe them away. I don’t even notice the crowd forming around us. “You slept with her while you made plans with me about the future. Our future.” My voice grows even louder.

“Kallie.” Beau says my name softly, and I look at him.

“You knew.” Pointing at him, I say, “You had to have known. You guys are the three musketeers.”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I didn’t know.”

“I don’t believe you,” I say, and then I look back at Jacob. “I hope she’s worth it.” I turn and make my way through the crowd. Out of nowhere, my brother’s truck turns the corner of the school parking lot, and he pulls up to the curb right where I am. I don’t know how he knew, but when he stops at the curb, I open the truck door. “How did you …?”

“Beau,” he says, and I nod my head while he drives off with the sound of Jacob shouting my name in the background. “He can’t find me,” I say to him, and he just nods. I lean my head on the truck door, closing my eyes and letting the memories of Jacob fade away.

Chapter Two

Kallie

Eight years later

“How much longer?” I look over at my best friend, Olivia, and then turn my focus on the dark road ahead of me. We’ve been on the road for over fourteen hours, only stopping to get gas and go to the bathroom while we grab some food.

“We are going to have to pull over,” I say. “I can barely keep my eyes open, and we still have twelve hours to go.” She takes her phone out of the center cup holder and unlocks it.

“There is a motel six minutes from here,” she says, “but I’m not sure they are even open. The last reviews are from two years ago.”

“What about a chain hotel?” I ask.

“There is a Hilton twenty-five minutes from here.” She swipes her phone and then looks at