Chapter 178 Wait, Teyana

Chapter 178 Wait, Teyana
~Teyana’s POV~

•Hours Earlier•

After rushing out of the doctor’s office, I was standing in the parking lot like I’d forgotten how to exist outside those white walls.

My hands were shaking as I reached my car-the very one he had purchased for me for my 19th birthday, like my body was still trying to catch up with the truth my mind had just been handed.

I was pregnant. Still pregnant.

The nurse that attended to me at Vance’ hospital must have  assumed the pills worked and didn’t bother to check my pregnancy status. That was why I was discharged the same day.

I slid into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the engine. Instead, I pulled out my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen longer than necessary, my breath uneven as I unlocked it. Jeremy’s name was back on my phone. I had unblocked him earlier.

I tapped his contact, and his name filled the screen. My chest ached, anticipation and anxiety wounding through me. Would he pick my call? Would he care that I still have his baby? Would he…

I didn’t have to overthink this, I just had to relax and do the right thing.

Today was his racing competition. He needed to focus. No, I couldn’t distract him now. Dropping something this heavy on him right now felt… selfish and wrong. I could wait till the end of today.

I locked the phone again, exhaling shakily.

“No,” I whispered to myself again. A sudden decision had just formed in my thoughts. I could travel to him instead. I needed him to look at me when I said it. I needed to catch every expression he made.

And apart from that, I wanted to watch him win.

‘I’ll go to him’

I unlocked my phone again, and dialed Zayne.

“Hey, Zayne,” I said when he picked up, my voice steadier than I felt. “Do you have an extra ticket for the racing competition? Or do you know how I can get one?”

~

And that was how I found myself here.

Wrapped in Jeremy’s gray hoodie, grounding myself with the cloth pending I  reached him. The hoodie I had stolen months ago and never returned—paired with blue jeans that fit loosely on my tired body. My hair was packed into a low bun, hidden under a face cap, black shades shielding eyes that had cried too much lately.

The exhaustion from hours of flight and other causes crept through my bones as I moved with the crowd. Grief layered over heartbreak, heartbreak layered over shock, shock layered over a fragile hope I was afraid to touch too tightly. My body protested every step, but I kept going. I had come too far to stop now.

Security checked my ticket at the entrance. There was a brief complaint- something about timing, final rounds, access- but after a moment that felt longer than it was, they waved me through.

I almost ran inside just as the final round was announced. I had missed the first round.

My breath caught, heart pounding as I scanned the racers lining up in Helmets,  Leather suits, gloves, and boots. Machines hummed around us. 

And then I saw him.

Jeremy.

Even like this, from a distance, fully geared, face hidden—my heart recognized him instantly. It always did. My chest tugged so sharply it almost hurt.

A girl’s voice rang out a couple of rows below me.

“Jer! Slay them again, you winner! My boy!”

I blinked, my grip tightening on the railing. I glanced at her- a pretty girl, looking confident in saucy woke outfits. Well, she could be one of his friends. She had to be.

I returned my focus back to the track.

The race began.

I watched, barely breathing, as he took off, speeding endlessly. My hands clasped together unconsciously as I followed every turn with my eyes, every risky maneuver, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat.

‘Please win’ I prayed silently.

I needed this moment to be light for him. He needed this win.

After what seemed like forever. He did. He won.

The announcement echoed through the grounds, and people roared. A genuine grin stretched my tired face. Cheers erupted. Officials and team members swarmed him. I felt tears slip down my cheeks. They were tears of joy. He won.

I wiped them quickly, grounding myself. I had to reach him now.

I waited, watching him exit the track—black and red leather jackets, with gloves still on. More people gathered—Zayne, friends, fans, cameras, voices calling his name. My chest tightened as I anticipated…I reached into my bag and pulled out the lilies I had gotten for him, the envelope resting between them.

I slowly approached an official in uniform, my voice softly compelling as I told her about helping me give this to Jeremy. When she hesitated, I said he is my fiancé, but she didn’t need to tell him that because he would know the source of the gift when he saw them.

She took them from me.

I stepped back, heart racing, my plan clear- once he saw it, I would go to him.

But then, the same girl from earlier surfaced…

She ran towards him. And just like that, she kissed his cheek.

My entire body froze.

I didn’t know her. I had never seen her before. The words she had shouted to Jeremy earlier- and now this. I connected the dots.

So… Jeremy had someone else now. 

The thought lodged painfully in my chest. I swallowed hard, my feet suddenly heavy on the ground. I couldn’t stand here and watch. I would just lodge at some hotel and return quietly tomorrow.

I turned.

I didn’t wait to see if the official delivered my gift. I only jogged away, head down, heart cracking with every step I took.

Then I heard it. My name. 

“Wait, Teyana!”

Jeremy’s voice cut through the noise easily. My body jolted. How did he even know it was me with how stuffed up I was.

I didn’t stop though. I couldn’t. What would he say? Flash his new girl in my face? God knows I didn’t want to wait to confirm it. I would break down. My heart would break all over into pieces.

I walked faster, breath uneven- until suddenly, a strong hand covered in gloves, caught mine. My knees almost buckled. He jerked me around, and we collided into the same moment.

Our eyes met.

My chest heaved, exhaustion finally catching up to me. His gaze searched my face, and I couldn’t look away. My grip tightened around the spectacles in my hand. I tried to still myself in his presence, but I was trembling. He gently released my hand.

“You came all the way here,” he said, disbelief threaded through his voice, “to gift me?”

I swallowed. “I saw… you have a woman now.” Shit, was I supposed to state that?

“Okay?” he replied, eyes not breaking away from mine.

My heart stuttered. He didn’t deny it. It was true. Tears pricked the corner of my eyes, but I blinked them away.

“So now that you know,” he continued quietly, “will you run away again?”

Before I could answer, the girl appeared beside him. I felt like disappearing. She was very pretty, it was almost blinding. I hated to admit that.

“Jeremy,” the girl called, his name rolling sweetly-sultry on her tongue. “Who’s this?”

He looked from me to her, then back at her. “She’s a friend.”

Something bitter rose in my throat. That frail regard just took me back to one of the worst days of my life. The night Jeremy took my virginity only to introduce me as his stepsister to Bianca.

I wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself. 

“A friend?” I scoffed softly. “No. Not really.” I turned to the baddie in ripped jeans. “We’re step-siblings.” My eyes narrowed at Jeremy “The kind who violated boundaries a few times. You know…the kind who had confessed they loved each other a lot of times more than I could remember too. Oh, and not to forget- the kind where the brother  painted his stepsister naked and told her she had been his fantasy for a long time. So you see, it can’t be called friendship. It’s a really flawed stepsiblings relationship.” My eyes went hard on him. But he didn’t flinch.

I thought Jeremy would have interrupted me or stopped me by now, but he didn’t. He still had his gaze on me. At some point, I almost thought I saw a flash of amusement in his eyes.

I wasn’t amused, I was angry.

The baddie in ripped jeans blinked, a small confused frown marring her face. “That sounded so…complicated.” Then she faced him. “She must be the girl Zayne said you were with?”

“Yeah,” he said, without looking away from me.

My heart stuttered.

“What do you want, Teyana?” Jeremy asked.

I took a breath. “I came to see you race,” I said, my chest heaving. 

“And?” He asked, like he knew there were more reasons.

I didn’t know where my audacity came from, but I was done pretending. “And to tell you that I still want us.” My breath hitched at my own confession. “I never stopped loving you, Jeremy.”

Silence stretched between us.

His expression hardened, but I pushed through it.

“I was confused,” I continued. “I was experiencing some things for the first time, I was scared, and I…I made stupid decisions.”

The girl cleared her throat, “I think I’m interrupting something,” she murmured, and left. I had forgotten she was there for a moment. Jeremy didn’t look after her or try to stop her. His eyes were still on me- his thick brows pinching into some kind of deep concentration.

It was just us.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, rawness evident in my voice. “I wanted a life that had to do with you. I still do. I’m not confused anymore.” My voice broke, the exhaustion in my body, my chest, worsening. But I continued. “Jeremy, if there is any chance that we could still be…”

Dizziness hit me suddenly, sharp and unforgiving. My eyes fought to stay open. My knees wobbled.

Before I could lost myself to the ground, he caught me- instantly.

“Are you sick?” Jeremy asked urgently, his hands wrapped around me. I wanted to finish my words.

“I…need you, Jeremy. Your baby…needs you.” The words had spilled before fear could stop them. I felt his hands still gripping me. My feet that were on the ground now felt like jelly.

“What do you mean?” His voice shook. “What baby?”

The world went dark.

I collapsed into his arms.