Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
I was sick with longing. I missed him every moment I wasn’t next to him at this point, and I was waiting for his move to Minnesota, because then I could finally cut the cord and go cold turkey.
It was a Wednesday evening, and I hadn’t told Grant I was coming. There was every chance he’d be there. I knew he wouldn’t mind me dropping by, but it still felt like a breach of privacy.
My best friend was right, though. If I wanted this to work, I needed to stop feeling like an intruder in his life. I’d spoken about this with Dr. Lopez, who’d told me putting my faith in Grant was a leap that showed I was truly healing.
I stopped in front of his door. Took a deep breath. Then another one. Then another twelve.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Maddie piped up behind me. “No pressure at all, though. I’ll wait. It’s not like I have a human the size of a bowling ball using my bladder as a cushion.”
“Okay, okay.” I punched in the combination to his door, and the lock made a mechanical sound. I pushed the door open. Stepped inside.
My heart lodged inside my throat at what I saw in front of me.
I couldn’t breathe.
Jessica, the pretty doctor from the cafeteria, was in a tiny pair of beige shorts and a matching Alo Yoga sweatshirt, and looked right at home. She was standing next to Grant, too close for comfort, laughing at something he’d said.
Grant wasn’t that funny.
I mean, he was, but his humor was drier than a vermouthless martini.
I froze. I’d never felt this way before. Like someone had taken a rusty knife and sliced my gut open, top to bottom. It hurt so bad to see her here that I could hardly breathe.
Up until now, I’d tortured myself with theories about Grant and Jessica. Now, I had a confirmation. How many times had she been here before and after I was? Did they have sex? Did he do that thing where he closed her legs together and swung them to one side of his shoulder while penetrating her? Did she like that too?
Bile made its way up my throat.
“Hey, roomie.” Grant was the first to notice me. He stalked toward the door, just when Maddie had pushed her way past me to let herself inside. My best friend took one glance at Jessica, then me, and immediately understood the situation.
“Hi, George.” Grant leaned to kiss my still mostly flat belly, then stood up to flick my nose. “Hi, George’s mom.”
“Don’t make me kill you,” I warned.
“How are you, Mads?” Grant kissed my best friend’s cheek.
“Better than you’ll be in a second,” she predicted. “Are we interrupting anything?” Maddie tugged the measuring tape and wallpaper catalog from her colorful thrift shop bag as she swaggered deeper into the apartment.
“Not at all. Jessica was just leaving.” Grant unhooked her coat from the hanger. “Dr. Shaffer was kind enough to drop off a brochure for an apartment complex in Rochester, since I didn’t make it to Minnesota to check out properties.”
This sounded completely reasonable. Professional, even. But I knew that for Jessica, it was an excuse. I saw it in her body language. In her eager smile. In the way she’d chosen to wear something the toddlers in my classroom could barely squeeze into.
She wanted him, and women like her always got what they wanted.
It was only a matter of time. Grant was excited with the idea of becoming a father, because he was inherently good, but the child wasn’t going to fill all the functions he needed in his life. He deserved intimacy and partnership: someone to spend his life with. Jessica was a perfect candidate.
“Oh, yes! Sorry, I got caught up in office gossip.” Jessica picked up her bag from the floor and winked at me good-naturedly, dangling her hips on her way toward the door. “Layla, how are you feeling? Grant told me about your little accident.”
Maddie’s head snapped to Jessica in a flash, wrath igniting in her pupils. “I wouldn’t call it an accident. An accident is when a surgeon over-slopes your nose bridge during a rhinoscopy.” Her eyes scanned Jessica’s obvious nose job, her voice honeyed. “This is more of a . . . happy surprise.”
“I’m feeling okay, thank you,” I said curtly. “And yourself?”
“Fabulous.” Jessica ignored Maddie’s quip. “I am so excited for both of you. Grant always wanted to be a dad. Don’t worry, I plan to be there for you two every step of the way.”
“I don’t doubt it.” I flashed her a sugary smile. I had a feeling the real event Jessica wanted to partake in had already taken place—and it was the conception.
The four of us stood there for a long moment, basking in the awkwardness of it all.