My Next Play by Carrie Ann Ryan

Consequences

Natalie

I had never beento this particular grocery store before, but it had a similar layout to most of them. I was on the other side of town, not because I needed to be here, but mostly because I didn’t want to run into a friend. I was forever running into someone from school or someone who knew my parents. And a lot of people knew my parents.

I swallowed hard as I took my little handheld basket filled with bread and sandwich meat and random cupcakes that I had found that looked good and did my best not to throw up.

This was fine. This was nothing.

This was just an evening that would be a little stressful. But I would get over it.

I walked down the aisle, looking at the boxes of things I had never paid attention to before, and stood and studied the vast array of products that seemed foreign to me.

Okay, then. How did I choose? How was I supposed to do this shopping? Should I have just done this online and waited for it to show up on my doorstep in a few days, even with overnight shipping? No, probably not. I could do this. I was an adult. I had made other adult decisions. Now, here I was for this one.

I pulled out my phone and knew I couldn’t do this alone. Even though I might have tried, I couldn’t. I needed someone else, someone the others might not expect.

I pulled up Tanner’s contact info and began a text.

Me: We need to talk.

And then I put my phone back into my bag, picked up a pregnancy test, set it in my basket, and headed to the register.

I took a deep breath and told myself once again that everything would be okay. Even though, knowing my luck, it most definitely wouldn’t be anywhere near okay.

Next up in the ON MY OWN SERIES: My Bad Decisions

Want to read a special BONUS EPILOGUE featuring Nessa & Miles? CLICK HERE!