The next day was supposed to be empty of work.

No TKD. No meetings. Only the house and the residue of Sam's calm suggestion that my body fix the family's reputation. I stayed out of his way as long as I could. By late morning he found me in the hallway outside my room, the same mild expression he had worn the night before.

I was super cautious. Not scared. I just didn't and I wouldn't have his damned baby.

"You've had time to think," he said.

"I said I would think. I didn't say yes."

Something in his face shifted. The boredom thinned. He stepped in, crowded me back...