Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Do you think you can change it?” I ask her and she just stares at me. “It’s mandatory off-ice building.”
“I don’t think I can. They squeezed me in since the doctor is going on vacation next week.”
“Fuck,” I hiss out, “I don’t want you to go by yourself.”
“I can maybe ask Zoey if she can go with me,” she offers softly, “or I’ll just go by myself; it’s not that big of a deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me,” I rebut and she nods her head. “Can you check if you can change it?”
“I’ll go call now.” She walks toward her office as I open the fridge and look for something to make for dinner. She comes back in while I’m taking the chicken out. “They are fully booked, but she put me on the top of the list for cancellations.”
“Okay.” My heart sinks.
“Sorry about the mess,” she apologizes and I look at her as she motions with her hands toward all the boxes. “I tried to unpack fast. But I got behind at work and then at night I was exhausted.”
“I don’t give a shit, Ariella. If you want, we can hire people to unbox everything and you just tell them where to put things.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I’ll do it. I just have a big project I’m working on that is a week late.”
“Why don’t you go and take care of that, and I’ll make us dinner,” I suggest to her.
“Okay,” she agrees and walks to her office. I stand in the kitchen, my head hanging down, wanting like fuck to just go and force her to talk to me, but I don’t want to pressure her. We sit through dinner and it’s painstakingly awkward with forced conversation. I’d rather have all my teeth and nails pulled out than do this again.
After dinner, we sit on the couch as I flip through channels and she lays her head down and falls asleep. Definitely not how I wanted to spend my evening, especially since I was away from her for the last fucking five days. I wanted to spend it with me touching her, with her touching me. With us lying together, I need it more than I think I’ve ever needed anything in my whole life.
I turn the television off and take her in my arms. She rouses for a bit. “Jaxon,” she mumbles my name sleepily.
“Right here, baby.” I kiss the top of her head as I take her upstairs and tuck her into bed. I slide in next to her and pull her into my arms. I finally bury my face in her hair and close my eyes, and for the first time in five days, I fall asleep without tossing and turning.
twenty-nine
Ariella
The phone rings beside my computer and I look down to see it’s Zoey. “Hello,” I answer and lean back in the chair.
“Hello, neighbor.” She laughs. “Whatcha doing?”
“I’m right now answering an email.” I look at the screen with the cursor that has been blinking for the last thirty minutes because I was too busy looking out the window and thinking about the shit my life has become to even come up with a response. “Why? What are you doing?”
“Well, the babysitter just arrived and Nash has given me orders that I am to get out of the house and do something for me today.” She sighs. “Can you take off the rest of the day?” she asks. “I’m in the mood to go shopping and a little birdie told me you might need maternity clothes.”
“And who is this birdie?” I try not to laugh, and it’s the first time in over a week that I’ve smiled.
“Your mother called my mother, and the rest is history,” she sings. “So what do you say, you think you can swing taking the rest of the afternoon off for some retail therapy?”
“You know what?” I look at the top corner and see that it’s just after noon. “Why don’t we go have lunch and then go shopping?”
“Yesss,” she cheers, “that’s what I like to hear. Do you want to pick me up or do you want me to pick you up?”
“I don’t have a car,” I admit to her. “Shit, I should get myself a car. I lived in New York and having a car was dumb because of parking, and everything was just easier to get to with the subway.”
“Just tell Jaxon and he’ll set it up,” she says.
“Um,” I start to say, “that…” My voice suddenly cracks and I stop talking.
“Oh no, I know what um is,” she snaps. “Don’t say another word. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, save it all.”
“Okay,” I reply and get up from my chair and head to the kitchen, where Jaxon is mixing himself a protein shake. He went for a run on the beach earlier. “Hey, Zoey is going to come and get me and we’re going to go shopping.”