Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“We fought. A lot. Something’s been bothering her for a while, and I’ve waited for her to come to me, but after a while, when she still wouldn’t come to me, I started to fear that maybe I was the issue.”
“No way. She loves you.”
“Yeah, I know. But sometimes love isn’t enough.”
“It is for you two. I see the way she looks at you. I have no doubt.”
“Yeah, I have less doubt now after last night, but I wish I knew what the root of the problem was.”
“So, you guys made up?”
Be a good girl and put my dick in your pussy.
Bend over, sweetheart. I want to fuck your ass.
No, you can’t come.
Fuck, your tears taste so good.
“You know what? I don’t need the details,” Carina said, holding her hand up. “Your smirk says it all.”
“We made progress,” I admitted. “I wanted to make more today, but someone put a kink in my plans.”
“Hey, I didn’t plan on being here either. We weren’t supposed to have this meeting until next week, but noooo, Ian has to go to England next week.”
“I thought Erik was going to England.”
“Apparently, Alexandra is pregnant and has her first ultrasound, so Ian is going. Then when I called Mark, he couldn’t come because his daughter was sick. So, here I am so I can be back home with the girls when Ian leaves.”
“Kids, man.”
“They put a real kink in plans. Speaking of…when are you and Olivia going to start popping them out? You’re not getting any younger.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence,” I deadpanned.
“Any time,” she said, winking.
“We’ve talked about it. We even went off birth control,” I admitted, grateful to move on to a safer topic.
“Recently?”
“Umm…” My brows pinched, trying to remember how long it’d been since we had the conversation. “No. Damn, time has flown by. It’s been almost a year.”
She tipped her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulder while she studied me. “You’ve been trying to get pregnant for a year?”
“Yeah.” I counted back, surprised at how far I needed to go. “About that long.”
“Oh,” she said slowly, her gaze turning concerned.
“What?”
“How is Olivia handling it?”
I paused, confused by the question. “Handling what?”
“Not getting pregnant,” she clarified like I was an idiot.
“Umm…fine? I mean, when we first started, we said if it happened, then it happened. She hasn’t mentioned anything about it since.”
“Jesus,” she muttered.
Watching Carina’s face morph from one emotion to the next left me feeling like I was missing the other half of the conversation, and it was starting to get on my nerves. “What? We’ve both been busy with work, and honestly, I hadn’t even realized how long it’d been.”
“You’re a dumbass.”
“So you’ve said before. Want to clue me in as to why I am this time?”
“Not really,” she said, leaning back and crossing her arms. “But obviously, you need a little help, so I’ll put a bug in your ear to maybe talk to your wife about how she feels about not being able to get pregnant for an entire year.”
My mind soaked her words in like a sponge, but it only added to the confusion. I tried to recall moments over the past year and if she said anything or asked anything that would have hinted to any concerns about having a baby, but I couldn’t remember any. Had I been oblivious? Had I missed something crucial?
“When Ian and I actually tried, I couldn’t get pregnant for three months, and I was freaking out about all the things that could be wrong. I couldn’t imagine an entire year.”
“Well, we can’t all get pregnant while on birth control during a blind date,” I said, referring to how they conceived their first child. Anything to try and lighten the pressure building in my chest.
“What can I say? Ian’s sperm are just as determined as he is,” she joked, playing along. She could probably see the lightbulbs exploding behind my eyes.
“Ew.”
“Either way, I’d bet money that not getting pregnant after trying for a year has something to do with Olivia’s mood lately. I mean, the girl is determined as fuck to get her way with everything else.”
I smiled, closing my eyes and remembering her determination to get me despite my warnings. “Yeah.”
“Now imagine all that stubbornness not getting its way for the first time ever. Imagine it building up. For months. Then having a dumbass husband who doesn’t even think about it. Also, he’s gone a lot, so she’s dealing with it alone.”
The pieces lined up and fell into place, filling the gaps between Olivia’s explanation last night. Carina was right.
How the fuck had I missed it?
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“There it is. I knew the lightbulb would go off eventually. And maybe I’m wrong. Or there may be more to it. But I am right about one thing.” She leaned forward, not letting me look away. “I highly doubt what she’s going through has anything to do with not being happy with you. She loves you.”