Good Guys Love Dogs by Inglath Cooper Read Free Book Online

crosswalk
    in front of her dorm. He'd been
speeding and barely able
    to avoid plowing right into her.
Angered by his carelessness,
    she'd been prepared to give him an
earful. But he'd gotten
    out of the car, apologizing
profusely. His dark good looks
    and polished manners caught her off
guard, and she had
    reluctantly forgiven him.
    The obvious differences between the
two of them made
    her both wary of him and attracted
to him at the same
    time. He'd asked her out to dinner
to prove that he was
    really sorry, but she turned him
down, tel ing herself she'd
    be better off staying away from him.
He was persistent,
    though, and one night when he nearly
knocked a hole in
    her dorm window trying to get her
attention, she pushed
    aside her doubts and went downstairs
to meet him.
    From then on, they spent al their
time together. He
    treated her well, took her to dinner
at fancy places and met
    her at the library every afternoon.
When they ended up
    making love in his room one night
after a party where they
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    GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS
    both had a little too much to drink,
it seemed a natural, if
    unplanned, extension of where they
were headed.
    She attributed her first missed
period to stress. She took
    her studies seriously, and she'd
been agonizing over a
    couple of classes in which she aimed
to make A' s in spite of
    the teachers' tough reputations.
Doug had been moody with
    her lately, accusing her of caring
more about school than
    she did him. He didn't look at col
ege the same way she did,
    but then, regardless of what kind of
grades he made, he
    would stil have a whopper of a trust
fund waiting for him
    when he turned twenty-five.
Flattered to have one of the
    most sought-after guys on campus
wanting to spend al his
    time with her, she still determined
to make the grades she
    needed to keep her scholarship and
get her into the vet
    school at Virginia Tech.
    When the second month went by with
stil no sign of
    her period, Colby panicked. Feeling
sick inside, she made a
    doctor's appointment without telling
Doug. Maybe she'd
    known deep down what his reaction
would be.
    The test result was positive. She
spent three days
    agonizing over what to do, stil
keeping the secret to herself.
    She final y told Doug one night in
her room. He'd gotten up
    from the bed and gone to the window,
staring out at the
    campus for several long minutes
before turning to her and
    saying, “There's
only one thing to do. It's not too late.
    She'd already thought about that,
but it wasn't a
    solution she would even consider.
“I can't do that.
    â€œWe don't have a
choice, he said, his voice rising. “My
    parents would cut me off flat if
they found out.
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    INGLATH COOPER
    She'd asked him to leave then,
needing to be by herself.
    He hadn't said the things she had
hoped he would say. The
    decision tore at her for days. In
the end, she decided that
    Doug was right. She would be only
nineteen when the baby
    was born. How would she possibly
finish school? What
    would her parents say? She could
only imagine their
    disappointment.
    She got as far as the examining-room
table before the
    reality of what she was about to do
hit her. Although she
    hadn't yet felt the baby's physical
presence, something
    changed within her the moment she'd
learned of its
    existence. How could she do away
with something so
    precious and fragile? Her reasons
suddenly felt selfish and
    shallow.
    Doug sat outside in the waiting room
when she ran
    from the office. He sprinted after
her, cal ing out for her to
    wait. She stopped at the corner of
the street, her breath
    coming fast and uneven.
    â€œWhat happened?
he asked, taking her by the
    shoulders.
    â€œI won't do it.
    â€œYou can't back
out now, he said, looking incredulous.
    â€œI was only
thinking about myself. About my life. Not
    about the baby. Lots of people have
children and still get
    through school.
    Doug stepped back, his expression
closed. “We agreed.
    â€œNo. I won't do
it, Doug. I'm sorry.