With Brave Wings by Cara Dee
Sequel to Breaking
Free. Book II of II.
What happens once you've broken free?Sophie Pierce has shed every part of her old life. She has said goodbye to her father, the friends she once partied with, and even the man she may have lost her heart to. Now, it's time for her to spread her wings and become the person she wants to be, and she's more than ready to work for it. But much like the paparazzi Sophie has come to despise, the past will sneak up on her—much sooner than she could've imagined. It's only a matter of months before she learns that her final night in Vancouver was never the end at all. It was the beginning.When Tennyson Wright lets Sophie go, he knows something has to change. He's lost sight of who he is, and the wakeup call isn't pretty. Deciding to take a page from Sophie's book, he begins a journey of self-discovery, though everything comes to a screeching halt when he learns through the tabloids that the girl he can't stop thinking about is pregnant.
Their romantic relationship may have ended, but soon their co-parenting responsibilities bring them together to play the Hollywood game by their own rules.
EXCERPT
Noah
hummed, pausing at some action movie that had recently started. "Throwing
up, gaining weight, moody…"
"I
haven't been moody." Sophie got defensive.
He
chuckled. "Uh-huh. That’s what my sister said before she found out she was
pregnant."
That
was funny. "How did I not know you have a sister?"
It
was Noah's turn to shrug a little, which made him drop a spring roll on the
floor. "Where's Cujo? Shit." He licked some sauce from his T-shirt.
"Shit, shit, sorry about that."
Men.
"Pick
it up," Sophie laughed. "Max isn't eating that crap. Now, about your
sister?"
"Oh,
right." He picked up the roll and shoved it into his mouth. "She
lives in Berlin, so we don’t see each other often. We text and Skype and stuff.
She's got two cute kids, but I hate when they visit our parents in Pittsburgh.
Makes my folks wonder when I'm gonna settle down."
"Poor
you," Sophie mocked. "So you don’t want kids of your own?"
"Fuck
no, I'd ruin them." Noah went back to flipping channels. "Unless they
pop out as hockey fans. Then we're good."
She
snorted a giggle and ate some more.
"Seriously,
though." He pointed his fork at her. "You sure you're not
pregnant?"
"Oh
my God, yes." Sophie rolled her eyes. "I think I'd know if I was
growing a person. Besides, I haven't had sex since July—whatever date the wrap
party was."
It
was mid-November now.
"The
twenty-fifth," he murmured, pensive. "So…that would make Tennyson the
dad."
She
ignored the pregnancy crap and stared intently at her food. She'd never said
anything out loud to Noah about her and Tennyson, though most people had their
suspicions.
"I'm
not pregnant, Noah."
*
"You're
pregnant, Ms. Pierce."
Sophie
sat in her doctor's office and stared, waiting for the punch line.
The
doctor went on with a nod. "That’s what's been causing your body to change
so quickly. You are pregnant."
Sophie
waited some more, and then she let out a nervous laugh. "Be serious,
please. What's wrong with me?"
"There
is absolutely nothing wrong with you," he told her patiently. "You
are simply pregnant. Now, since I know you have a demanding schedule, I took
the liberty and made you an appointment with a colleague for an
ultrasound—right after we're done here."
She
pursed her lips. Her brain was completely blank aside from the word
"pregnant" going on a loop.
There
was no way.
She
was only twenty-one. She hadn't had sex in…almost four months. Four fucking months.
"I
imagine this is coming as a surprise for you." The doctor went through a
stack of papers that sat on his desk. "I have the records here from your
doctor in Vancouver, and you've said your period's been irregular?" With
every word the doctor spoke, more color drained from Sophie's face. "Due
to your previous condition with undernourishment, that can obviously affect
your ability to get pregnant, but it's far from impossible—"
"I'm
on the pill!" she blurted out.
All
of a sudden, her breaths came out fast and shallow.
Holy
shit, this couldn’t be happening.
She
and Tennyson had been protected, goddammit. They'd used condoms until they'd
spoken about safety. They'd both been clean, and she was on the pill.
"Did
you ever miss taking one?" the doctor asked gently. "Remember, birth
control is never one hundred percent."
"Oh
my God," Sophie whimpered.
*
Coming
out of the bathroom after his shower, Tennyson fastened his watch and tapped it
pointedly for Asher to get off the damn phone. Tennyson would've been more
patient if it weren't for the fact that this was his vacation and he was hungry
as fuck.
Asher
nodded and held up a finger. "Okay, that’s great," he told whomever
he was on the phone with. "No, I was only surprised because she's worked
so hard. But it's good that she's not canceling." There was a pause, and
Tennyson wondered if they were discussing Sophie. "Rescheduling is fine,
and have the interviewer fly out if she wants to stay in LA for whatever
reason."
By
the time he wrapped up the call, Tennyson had dressed in a pair of jeans and a
hoodie, and he sat down on the edge of his bed to find his eye drops in his
toiletry bag.
"What's
up?" he asked.
Asher's
brow furrowed and he scrolled down on his phone. "Sophie. I need to call
her tomorrow. Remember I thought she was canceling a bunch of
appointments?" Tennyson frowned and nodded, and Ash went on. "She's
not—but she's rescheduling, and I don’t know why."
Tennyson
didn’t know what to say, other than he was worried. Ever since she'd put her
diva antics and princess behavior behind her, she'd been nothing but
accommodating. She always pushed herself to be her absolute best.
"You
ready to go eat?" Ash asked.
"Yeah."
Tennyson ducked into the bathroom real quick to insert some drops into his
eyes, and then he grabbed his wallet before they left.
On
the way to the restaurant, he made a mental note to call Sophie when he got
back to the hotel. If something was wrong, he wanted to be there for her.
The
desert town was lit up for Christmas, but it didn’t really feel like the
holiday had arrived.
"Hold
on." Asher grabbed Tennyson's shoulder as they were passing a bodega.
"What the fuck is this?" He walked over to a newsstand and snatched
up a magazine.
Upon
seeing it was a tabloid, Tennyson rolled his eyes. "Since when do you read
gossip?"
Asher
turned and slapped the magazine to Tennyson's chest. "Since I learned your
ex is pregnant."
What?
Tennyson
held up the magazine and saw the headline.
"The Party
Princess is Pregnant!"
Having
lived and breathed the industry for years, Tennyson was ready to brush it off
as bullshit, but then he saw the grainy photos. Three of them on the cover, one
with a circle around Sophie's belly. Then a centerfold that was all about her.
Several photos of Sophie, Max, Brooklyn, and Maliah on the beach.
Sophie
was wearing what looked like cotton shorts and a bulky sweatshirt, but at some
point, she had unzipped it. And it was clear as day. Her snug top underneath
the hoodie hugged a small, yet very distinct baby bump.
Photo
after photo. Sophie and Maliah were tossing a tennis ball for Max to chase, and
the wind blew the shirt aside. So many angles of proof. She was pregnant.
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