Grabbing my things, I checked my phone. One message:

Al: Rome, when you get this, come straight to Molly’s room. We’re all with her until you get here. Al. XX

Frowning in concern, I turned to Austin. “Got to go. Something’s up with Mol. Catch you later?”

“Sure. Hope she’s okay.” Slapping him on the back, I headed out of the stadium and raced to Molly’s sorority house.

As soon as I arrived below her balcony, I heard a loud cry from inside her room.

Molly.

Fear saw me climbing up the trellis faster than ever, and when I landed on the balcony terrace, it was to find Molly on the floor, surrounded by her friends, all shedding tears too.

“Mol?” My girl didn’t stop crying as I called out her name, but Ally lifted her head and paled at me frozen in shock. That only caused me to panic more.

“Mol! What’s wrong with her?” I bit out more forcefully as I burst into the room. Molly still didn’t stop in her tears, Lexi and Cass shielding her from my view.

Ally stood and came before me, chewing on her fingernail. She was nervous. I knew my cousin enough to know that. “Rome, calm down, okay?”

“No! What’s wrong with her?” I looked over Ally’s shoulder, but my girl still hadn’t moved. Was she in pain? Was she really sick? Did she need the hospital? Shit! Did she have to leave to Bama? Too many messed-up scenarios raced through my head.

“Mol?” I tried to call out again. Still nothing, and this time I was losing patience… fast. Turning back to Al, I asked, “Is she sick? Why isn’t she answering me? I got your message and came straight over.”

“No. She’s… erm…” Al couldn’t say a damn thing either, and my stomach flipped.

“Was it Shelly? Has that bitch—”

“It’s not Shelly either,” Ally cut in.

“Then what’s wrong…? Al, for f**k’s sake, move outta my way!” I physically lifted my cousin out of my way and beelined for Mol, her friends moving so I could pick her up off the floor.

Once in my arms, I took in her too-white face, her damp skin, and the fact that her chest was convulsing from too many tears. Moving to her unmade bed, I placed her down, lying beside her, ignoring our friends, and pressed a kiss on each of her cheeks, her huge, nervous eyes scaring the absolute shit out of me.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I tried to ask gently, but my impatience was sneaking through.

Her eyes squeezed shut and she shook her head, still too emotional to speak.

I stared at our friends fidgeting nervously at the end of the bed and yelled, “Will somebody tell me what the f**k is going on?!”

Casting each other questioning glances, Cass pushed Ally forward and she said, “Rome, Molly needs to tell you. We’ll go, give you some time to yourselves.”

And that just caused me to worry more. What the hell could be so bad that my girl would be this hysterical and my cousin could barely make eye contact?

Within minutes, the girls had cleared, leaving me alone with Molly, my heart booming in anticipation of what she would say. Grasping her around the waist, I rolled us so she was above me. Her flushed face showed her surprise, but searching my eyes, she simply dipped forward, whispering, “I love you, Romeo.”

If that was meant to soothe me, it failed, but I told her, “I love you, too.” I couldn’t get enough of those words, and then I just waited for her to speak.

But she didn’t, causing me to groan loudly and say, “Mol—”

“I’ve been feeling off for a few days,” she interrupted and my heart immediately sank.

She was ill? Fuck, was it serious, like really serious? I felt nauseous.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” I snapped out, now scared out of mind and pissed that she would keep something as important as her health a secret from me.

“I found out today why,” she said almost inaudibly.

“And… what’s wrong?”

“I’m… I’m…”

Fuck me, I was going to explode!

Gripping her harder around the waist, I shouted, “Christ! You’re what, Mol?”

“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

Golden eyes lowered, and my pulse took off like a hummingbird.

Pregnant. Shit, a baby. I was going to be a daddy?

“You’re pregnant?” I stared at her in disbelief, feeling like every drop of blood had just drained from my body.

My girl seemed to have turned into a friggin’ mute, so I flipped our positions, putting me on top. “You’re pregnant?” I asked again and watched Mol’s eyes well up.

“Yes, I’m pregnant, Romeo. I’m pregnant with your baby.” Each word was like a punch.

Sitting up, I stared at the white wall before closing my eyes, lost in my thoughts. How would this work? Would Molly be able to finish her master’s? Would it be the end of her education? Where would we live? I was going to be a daddy… And slowly, I realized that the thought of that didn’t have me running for the hills like I’d always thought, but rather feeling so damn content I could barely breathe. I was having a baby with my girl.

So many questions circled through my mind, too many to keep up with, and then my girl f**king froze me to the spot with one simple sentence. “I’ll make an appointment to see a doctor. I’ll just get rid of it immediately.”

Glaring at Molly below me, I barked, “You’d kill our baby?”