ONE WILD NIGHT

Hotel, I learned that expensiv

else felt different. My thin dorm blanket seemed rough. The bright cafeteria lights fel

empty, like I was only acting as Maya Collins. The real me was still on that hotel ba

fortune. Engaged. Out of reach. The papers called him New York's most eligible bach

textbooks in order again and again. "Like, literall

sle

id, giving me that serious look she always does. "And you've be

thing made me feel sick,the cafeteria smell, Zoe's

tone changed

self to mee

your las

opened, but no words came. When was it?

in panic. I tracked everything,deadlines, shifts,

Zoe aske

ng in my mouth. I always knew. I planne

arefully, "That night at the h

remembered Alex struggling with his wallet, his hands unsteady,

tened, how he made me feel beautiful instead of a burden. But t

her purse. "We're go

can't

er it an investme

ers in two minutes. I took the digital one that spelled out words instead of

om, I stared at the sti

to stay?"

d to do th

t the door, thinking about the impossible. A baby. Alex's baby. Our

nomics exam, worth thirty percent of my grade.

imer

ook

GNA

en, clear and final. No gue

om tiles were freezing, but all I

se a child alone. The father was engaged to another woman. My mo

ing else stirred. A fierce, protective

little one,"

e I'd left in silk sheets and champagne. But most of all, I cried for the life inside me.one

rough the door. "Whatever i

e door. Zoe looked at me once

hon

loud made it real. "I'm pregna

us. Okay... we'll handle

p. "I mean... I need to

wly. "Then we'

be a grandmother? How do I finish school with a baby? How do I work en

e the smartest person I

if I

ll find an

tion that had carried me through Dad's death and Mom's illness kicked into

ograms that allowed flexible schedules, even apartment listings near campus that might be c

hours until I started showing, apply for every grant available to single moth

, watching me organize prenatal vitamins alongside m

me,a fierceness I'd never known I possessed. I didn't need his money or his name or his acknowledgment.

m that first devastating search-the engagement photos, the society pages, the

sharp and clarifying. I'd been handling impossible things my e

gain. So small, and yet ever

to do?" I whisper

Dad's death, Mom's diagnosis, and three years of impossible choices. I would handle this the

ety wedding. I didn't need his money or his name. I'd raised Jake, supporte

tion that had carried me through Dad's death and Mom's illness kicked into

ograms that allowed flexible schedules, even apartment listings near campus that might be c

urs as possible before my pregnancy started to show, and apply for every grant for sing

, watching me organize prenatal vitamins alongside m

me a strength I never knew I had. I didn't need his money, his name, or even for him to notice me.

m that first devastating search,the engagement photos, the society pages, the

sharp and clarifying. I'd been handling impossible things my e

s. Somewhere among those lights, Alexander Stone slept peacefully in his

idn't kno

enough, smart enough, stro

ow carefully guarded, have a