Barefoot & Pregnant: A New Adult Romance Read online

  BAREFOOT & PREGNANT

  BY,

  S. Cinders

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher - S. Cinders, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Barefoot & Pregnant © 2017 S. Cinders

  CHAPTER 1

  Katie blew out another breath as she tried to squeeze into her jeans, but it was pointless. There was no way they were going on. Ripping them off her legs, Katie threw them onto the increasing pile of things that she could no longer wear.

  Trying not let it get the best of her, she turned back to her closet.

  “Kat, get your butt down here! We are going to be late for school!” her older brother Liam bellowed from the kitchen.

  “I’m not going!” Katie knew she sounded like a two-year-old. But how many seventeen-year-old girls out there were dealing with a pregnant belly?

  Katie could hear Colten, Liam’s best friend’s rumbly voice. That was perfect. She only needed more witnesses to her humiliation.

  “Katie-cat,” Colten’s voice was just outside of her door. “What is the problem? Are you feeling sick again?”

  Most of Katie’s first trimester had been hellish. Whoever named it morning sickness, is a complete numbskull. It was an all day, every day, puke fest.

  Katie had even lost five pounds on her small frame. The doctor had been concerned and even pulled Liam in to speak with him about it.

  “I’m fine, Colt,” Katie yelled through the door.

  “If you are fine, I am coming in.”

  As the knob started to turn Katie realized that she was standing there in her underwear. Screeching she grabbed a blanket from the bed to cover herself.

  “What the hell, Colt? I am not dressed!”

  Colten caught sight of the tornado that had hit his younger sister’s room. He wasn’t even certain he could see the floor. Raising his eyebrows, he glanced over to where Katie was standing with a blanket wrapped around her.

  “Were we invited to a toga party I wasn’t aware of?”

  Katie rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t dressed.”

  Colten laughed, “I used to see you run naked across the yard on a daily basis.”

  Colten lived next door to the McCannon’s and had been best friends with Liam for as long as Katie could remember.

  When Liam and Katie’s parents were struck in a hit and run accident a year ago, Liam had been eighteen and was able to keep Katie, a minor, living with him in their parent’s home.

  “I haven’t run naked in the yard for over ten years,” Katie frowned at Colt.

  Laughing at her tone, Colt stretched his arms over his head showing a slice of his washboard abs. Katie couldn’t help a wave of lust shooting through her. Stupid second trimester, it was causing havoc with her hormones. Here she was ready to jump Colt. Obviously, she was out of her mind.

  “More is the pity,” Colt sighed, “Now, you have your brother’s panties in a twist. So, throw something on, and let’s go.”

  Katie felt a pinching behind her eyes, those damn hormones! “Nothing fits, and I am not going to school in a blanket.”

  It was bad enough that people thought she was a slut because she was seventeen and pregnant. Friends that she had known for years completely dropped her. It wasn’t a secret that Katie got a little wild after her parents passed. Everyone deals with grief in their own way.

  “Colt?” Liam was in her bedroom doorway, “What the hell happened in here?”

  “Fashion crisis,” Colt quipped.

  Katie wanted to throw something at him, preferably a spiked heel. “Nothing fits, I am not going to school today.”

  Liam leafed throw the discarded pile, “If you didn’t insist on wearing those damn skinny jeans.”

  Katie’s lips trembled, “I am fat now. I will just get uglier and uglier.”

  “Aww hell,” Colt went over to Katie and awkwardly patted her head. “Can we skip today and get the girl some clothes?”

  Liam apparently did not want to skip. But he knew what an emotional mess Katie could be. And this pregnancy thing threw in a wild card that he had no idea how to deal with.

  “I have a test in trig, Kat,” Liam tried to reason, but as he saw the first tear splash against his cheek, he knew that he was cooked. Liam would do anything for Katie. They were all they had left for each other.

  “I don’t have any tests today,” Colt offered, “We can drop you at school, and I will take Katie shopping.”

  “You would do that?” Katie’s voice held just a hint of disbelief.

  “Anything for you, Katie-cat,” Colt shrugged it off. “What do you say, Liam?”

  Katie looked up at her older brother with longing in her eyes. For the first time that morning she looked hopeful.

  Liam sighed, “Fine, but as soon as you are finished you need to get your ass to school.”

  Katie made a face, “It’s my favorite place, why would I want to miss a moment?”

  Colt grinned, “Sarcastic, much?”

  Liam laughed at Katie’s sour expression. Both boys knew how challenging school had been on Katie since discovering she was pregnant.

  Katie looked around, “But what am I going to wear shopping?”

  Liam’s eyes lit, “I have just the thing.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Colt couldn’t stop sneaking looks at Katie as they drove to the mall. She was just so damn adorable. It was all he could do not to burst out laughing when she came down the stairs in Liam’s basketball shorts. They looked like capris on her tiny frame. Colt held it in, though, he knew that hormone city was only a stupid, thoughtless comment away. And it was torture when those big blue eyes filled with tears. Colt did not want to go through that again.

  “Is there something on my face?” Katie began brushing the side of her cheek. Katie had noticed Colt sending her strange glances ever since she got into the car with him. When he didn’t answer, she glanced up at him and saw a faint pink on his cheekbones. Was he embarrassed? Undoubtedly, it would be embarrassing to go shopping with her. Katie grimaced, “Thanks again for taking me, Colt.”

  “No problem, Katie-cat. You know we really should work on getting your driving hours in.”

  Katie groaned causing Colt to laugh, “I don’t see why I need a license.”

  “I don’t know why you are so afraid,” he responded. “It’s not like we don’t love going to your appointments, and taking you places. But I think that you would like to know if you needed to be somewhere you could just drive yourself. It is worrisome if Liam or I am not at home.”

  Katie felt a familiar churning in her stomach, the thought of driving always made her ill. “I will consider it.”

  Colt looked over at her, “You always say that.”

  “And I am considering it!” she snapped.

  Knowing when to leave well enough alone, Colt turned up the radio. But he was worried about her not being able to drive. What if something happened to her or the baby? He and Liam tried to be there as much as they could, especially now that Katie was pregnant, but there were times when she was left alone. He knew that obsessing over Katie was a bad idea. That only led to him having other kinds of feelings, ones that he didn’t much want to explore.

  “We are finally here, are you just going to wait in the car?” Katie asked hopefully.

  “Hell, no,” he unbuckled his seat belt and unclicked hers, “There is
no way I am sitting in the car while some idiot in the mall tries to pick you up.”

  “That only happened once, Colt!”

  A few months ago, they had all gone over to the mall. Liam and Colt had gone to look at the music store. Katie had stopped at Victoria Secret, while she was walking out a guy tried hitting on her. At first, she was flattered, he seemed a little older, though, and so Katie decided to shut it down. But the guy didn’t want to take no for an answer, he grabbed her arm tightly, and suggested they find someplace quiet. Katie was feeling real panic when she heard her brother yelling at her to hurry up and join them. The guy looked around and saw Liam and Colt, he dropped her arm and took off. Katie was shaken up.

  Colt gritted his teeth, “Once is all it takes.”

  They walked in together and went to the one and only maternity store in town. Money wasn’t an issue, Liam had given Katie a credit card to use. He knew that she was responsible and wouldn’t buy the place out. They had been left fairly well situated with the life insurance policies from their parents. But Liam was careful just the same. He knew that life threw unexpected things at you. It was better to be safe than sorry.

  “I cannot wear these tents.”

  At Katie’s horrified tone he looked over and saw she had a t-shirt that said, ‘baby on board’ with an arrow pointing down. Colt snorted, he couldn’t see her wearing that either. Just then the saleswoman came up to them. You could tell from her expression she was not thrilled about their age.

  “May I help you?”

  Katie immediately said, “No!”

  Just as Colt replied, “Yes.”

  The saleswoman looked at Katie to Colt, “How far along are you dear?”

  “Sixteen weeks,” Katie mumbled.

  The woman's judgment slammed into, “And are you the father?”

  The first time someone asked this question Colten about wet himself. It was at Dr. William’s office when they had first heard the heartbeat.

  Katie said the same thing then that she did now, “My baby doesn’t have a father, this is my friend, Colten.”

  The saleswoman eyed him once again, and Colten felt the urge to stick his tongue out at her. But then she turned to Katie, “I see. So, I would imagine that at sixteen weeks the things in your closet are getting a little bit tight.”

  Katie nodded, “I can’t get into any of my jeans.”

  “Come with me dear, we will find just the thing for you,” the saleswoman started leading Katie to the back.

  Colt wasn’t sure if he was supposed to follow them. This looked like female territory, and he wondered if males were even allowed in.

  But then Katie turned around and gave him an exasperated look, “Colt, come on! I am not doing this alone.”

  Colt grinned, he would follow her just about anywhere.

  CHAPTER 3

  Liam finished his Trig test with a few minutes to spare. Glancing around, he noticed that most of the other students weren’t done yet. That worked perfectly for him because that meant he could stare at Heidi Delany without anyone noticing. Liam usually had no problems talking to girls. It helped that he and Colt played soccer, volleyball, tennis and baseball for the high school team.

  Liam felt his heart race just looking at her long shiny brown hair. There was just something about her that did it for him. Maybe it was her chocolate brown eyes or that body that just wouldn’t quit.

  Heidi was twirling a long curl aimlessly around her finger. What Liam wouldn’t give just to be near her. When she crossed her legs, and that tiny white micro mini rode up on her thighs, Liam thought he had gone to heaven.

  How girls managed to wear high heels every day, Liam would never understand. But damn, it was doing something for the man downstairs. Liam adjusted himself. It would not be cool to get a hard-on in class. He had to think of something else.

  Where in the hell were Colt and Katie? They hadn’t been there at lunch. Liam didn’t think that buying pregnancy clothes would take that long. But knowing Katie, she probably had to try on everything in the store. Undoubtedly, Colt was bored out of his mind.

  But then again, Colt seemed to like hanging out with Katie. Liam wasn’t stupid enough to think that his best friend wouldn’t develop feelings for his sister. He saw the way that Liam watched her. But as far as he knew Katie had no idea, and it was probably for the best.

  Colten Andrews was a great guy. They had been best friends since kindergarten. The Andrews lived next door, and Mrs. Andrews had been a live saver on more than one occasion. Colt didn’t have any siblings, though, so he had adopted Katie has a little sister from the start.

  Liam just worried that Katie didn’t feel the same way. The last thing he wanted was a wedge between Katie and Colt or himself for that matter.

  And then there was the baby.

  It pissed Liam off to no end that Katie wouldn’t tell who the father was. He wanted to punch the bastard’s lights out. But what worried him most was that Katie might not even know.

  Katie had gotten into the party scene, and there was more than one night he had to go after her before she killed herself. Either from too much to drink, or flat out stupid choices. Liam was terrified that child protective service was going to take her away from him. They were already breathing down his neck. But again Mrs. Andrews had been there, throughout all the investigation after Katie turned up pregnant.

  They offered Katie a few different programs, but she opted to stay with Liam.

  CPS also strongly recommended therapy, and this time Katie couldn’t get out of it. Liam just prayed that she would get the help that she desperately needed. He also hoped that she would consider the options for the baby. He would never tell her what to do, but he was scared.

  He could barely parent Katie. What would happen if she fell back into her partying ways?

  Letting out a huge sigh Liam rested his head on his hands, he was almost nineteen, but he felt thirty.

  When the bell rang alerting the students that it was the end of class Liam started putting his things in his backpack.

  “Liam!”

  He turned to see who had called him and saw Mitch from the baseball team. Getting up and throwing his backpack over his shoulder he replied, “Hey man, how’s it hangin’?

  Mitch grinned, “Large my friend, definitely large.”

  Liam laughed, “You wish! What’s going on?”

  Mitch raised a brow, “Where is Colt? That douche was supposed to help me give an oral report in Health.”

  Liam grimaced, Colt had said he had nothing going on. “He stayed home to help take care of something for Katie. I am sorry man.”

  Mitch shrugged, “No big, just making sure that he wasn’t skipping out on me. He usually sleeps through class but somehow aces every test. Senior Rodrigues is going to let us present tomorrow. But when you see him make sure to mention that I let the class know he was out with a bad case of the crabs.”

  Liam busted up laughing, “You are such a dick! That is awesome. He’s going to kill you.”

  Mitch’s eyes were alight with laughter, “I can’t wait until someone asks him about it. Hey, is Katie okay?”

  Liam appreciated that his friends had rallied around Katie. The same couldn’t be said for hers. “Yeah man, she is good. Should be here tomorrow.”

  Mitch nodded, “Cool, well I better head to Chemistry. You coming to the party at my place this weekend?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it! See you man,” Liam turned to go towards the gym, he had Weights class next.

  Not watching where he was going he ran right into someone. Sending their books and papers flying all over the hallway.

  “I am so sorry!”

  The moment he heard her sweet voice, he knew who it was. Not wanting to look like a bigger idiot he kept his eyes on the floor trying to help gather her things.

  “It was my fault,” Liam’s voice was deeper than usual, and he fought the urge to clear his throat.

  Handing over the things he had gathered he took a chan
ce glancing at her face.

  Heidi smiled shyly at him, “Thank you.”

  Liam just stared at her. Why was she so damn beautiful? The man in his pants started to stir again.

  “I had better be going,” Heidi blushed and tried to walk around him.

  Liam knew he was blowing his chance, “Wait!”

  When she stopped, he felt like an even bigger idiot because he had no idea what he wanted to say to her.

  “Did you need something?” Heidi tucked a lock of hair behind her perfectly shaped ears.

  “You have beautiful ears.” What the hell? Where had that come from? What kind of moron talks about someone’s ears?

  Heidi ducked her head, “Umm, thank you.”

  “That’s not what I meant to say,” Liam blurted out.

  Heidi looked confused. He was making a mess out of it.

  “You do have beautiful ears. You have beautiful everything. But I was going to ask if you were going to Mitch’s party this weekend.”

  Heidi wrinkled her nose, “I am not really a party person. I always feel out of place at parties.”

  Liam felt like he was sinking, “I understand, sorry I got in your way.”

  He was such a numb nut—beautiful everything? Who says that?

  Just as he turned to go, Heidi caught his arm, “But maybe if you are there?”

  Liam felt a burst of happiness in his chest, “I will be there. We could go together if you would like.”

  Heidi smiled, “Okay.”

  They exchanged phone numbers and settled on a time. Liam knew that he was late for class. Usually, that would have him worked up, but nothing could ruin his day now.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Katie, come on!” Colt called through her bedroom door, “I said that I was sorry.”

  “You are a gigantic ass-wipe and I hate you,” Katie yelled back from her position on bed. Why had she thought that shopping with Colt would be a good idea?

  Colt rested his head against her door, “Fine, I am a gigantic ass-wipe. But please don’t hate me.”

  There was a long pause making Colt worried that she wasn’t going to respond. But then the doorknob began to turn, “I don’t hate you, Colt. But you are never coming shopping with me again.”