Beneath Your Beautiful: A Neighbors to Lovers Romance [COMPLETED]

21 - Gives you hell

Noah's patio door was locked, but there was light inside, so Jaya banged against the glass. To her surprise, Elena appeared and opened the door.

"He doesn't want to see you. You should respect that."

Yeah... not gonna happen. Jaya pushed Elena aside and burst into the living room where Noah was having a dinner party with—"Gus?"

What the...? Jaya thumped her fist against her forehead. Gus shouldn't be here.

I... no... none of this makes sense.

Everyone stared at her for a solid ten seconds before Gus jumped to his feet and took her by the arm.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, shrugging him off. The movement made her aware of the canvas tote that hung over her shoulder. The pregnancy tests were in there—tangible proof that she wasn't imagining things. "You," she said to Noah, "come with me. I need to talk to you, and believe me, it's not something you want me to say here in front of your friends."

Reluctantly, Noah got up and led her down the hall into his bedroom. He closed the door behind her, then stared her down, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "What do you want?"

"To go back in time," she muttered as she dumped the contents of her bag onto his bed. "How do you explain this?"

Blinking at her, Noah stepped closer. He went through quite a few sticks until it dawned on him what she meant. "It's been weeks since we slept together, and I recall using a condom, so it's from whomever you fucked last. Congratulations!"

"Fuck you, Noah. You're the last guy I slept with, so I blame this on you." She pointed at the pile. "You did this to me."

He raked his hands through his hair, then stormed out of the room and returned a moment later with Gus. After pushing her brother through the door, he closed it behind him.

Gesturing at the pregnancy tests, Noah said to Gus, "Tell me if she's faking it."

Jaya wanted to punch him. How dare he think she was making this up, and for what? To tie them to each other for the next two decades? He can't be serious.

Gus took a closer look. "That's what, ten tests? Overkill, don't you think?"

"I hate you two right now." She pushed by them and threw the tests back into the bag, her hands shaking. Her breath began to hitch like someone was pricking her repeatedly with a needle.

"So?" Noah said to Gus.

"Hang on a sec." Gus grabbed her and held her tight. "You need to calm down now before you pass out again."

"Don't tell me what to do. Let me go." She batted at her brother, but the dizziness made her too weak to cause any real damage. Her chest stung so much; every movement felt painful.

"Noah, I can't tell if she's pregnant just by looking at her, but she wouldn't lie about something like this." Gus held her upright; his voice sounded so far away. "Jaya, I'm going to take you to my practice for a proper exam. The dizziness and fainting spells are starting to worry me."

To Noah, he said, "Go send your friends home and meet us there."

Gus took Jaya's face in both hands. "I know you're upset and scared, and you have every right to be, but I need you to come with me now, so I can make sure you're at least physically okay." Because she was swaying, Gus hefted her into his arms and carried her to his car.

They didn't talk on their way to his practice. She barely registered the drive over there.

Once they arrived, Gus led her into the building and switched on the light.