Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I nod, my view getting hazy.
Mom stands and comes around the table, pulling me into a hug. “I love you, Jess. You are a good man.”
“Thanks.”
She lets me go. “I’m here for the both of you. You know that.”
“I know.”
“And I have an idea. I’m going to text you in a little bit because I have to find the name of it, but I think your dad got it at Brinkmann’s in Sunnydale.” She laughs. “I had to quit using it because he drove me nuts. He’d start in before I got out of bed and, I love the man, but enough. I get it.”
“Do I want to know what this is? Because I love your love with Dad but I don’t need details, you know?”
She starts to speak when a sound rustles from the kitchen. We look over to see Banks grabbing the chip box off the counter.
“Love you, Mommy,” he says, slipping down the hallway. The back door pops closed.
I chuckle as Mom shakes her head.
“You know,” she says, going back to whatever she was doing when I walked in. “Maybe not having kids is a good choice.”
I laugh, give her a wave, and head home.
Pippa
“More, more, more—stop.” Kerissa bends down to her wineglass and slurps the top down so it doesn’t spill. “It’s been a day. A week, really.”
“What’s going on?”
I haven’t said a word to Kerissa about Jess. She’s been such a good friend and listened to my work drama for the past few weeks. I’ve dominated the conversations.
It’s time I repay the favor.
“On Tuesday, so two days ago, John told me he wanted to be with me seriously,” she says.
I pull my brows together. “Who is John?”
She takes a long drink, downing nearly half the glass. “The mayor.”
“Oh. I don’t think you’ve ever said his first name in this context. Anyway, proceed.”
She curls her feet beneath her. “He’s all like—I’m transferring you out of my office so we can be together. I really see a future for us. We just click.” She lowers her chin. “Look, I know men can be full of shit, and I’ve played my fair number of games with them right back. But I believed this fucker.”
Oh no. I grab the wine bottle and top it off.
“Thanks.” She takes another sip. “So on Wednesday, yesterday, he takes me out to dinner in Lakely. Wined, dined and sixty-nine’d me.”
I choke on my drink.
She pats me on the back as I sputter. “There’s no better way to put it.”
“Noted.” I hold a hand to my chest and gasp until it doesn’t burn to breathe anymore. “Keep going.”
“I slept at his house last night. I left my fucking toothbrush there because, by all accounts, we were going to replay the last part of our night again tonight.”
I nod, not wanting to imagine that visual.
“Then I get to the office today and get a text that says something like, ‘Hey, it’s been great but I’m getting back with my ex-wife so we need to cool things.”
My jaw drops. “What? Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m serious.” Her eyes narrow. “I hadn’t been out of his bed for three, maybe four hours, Pip. And he went from jizzing all over my face to getting back together with his ex-wife. What the fuck?”
I lean back and give her room to process. It’s obvious she hasn’t done that yet.
This won’t permanently damage Kerissa. Guys are a dime a dozen to her. But she’ll still need to wrap her brain around what happened and conclude he’s a dick.
“And I wonder why I have trust issues,” she says. “Actually, no, I don’t. This shit is the exact reason I don’t think soulmates are a real thing. Human beings are too skittish.”
I remember our conversation about soulmates. She didn’t believe in them then, and I did. She’s more convinced than ever before she’s right.
And so am I.
I wonder how much our beliefs impact the outcome. If we go into the world thinking the possibility of love is there, does it up our odds that we’ll find it? If we approach life with the attitude that we’ll never find it, does that increase our chances that we won’t?
I grin. “Well, I’m not sure about that. But he’s obviously not yours.”
“Obviously. But next time, I’m taking things slower. I’m not going to be dazzled by sex and sweet nothings. It takes too much of a toll on me when it all falls to shit.” She holds a hand up. “I’ll be fine. This is a blip in my radar. But I’ll still need to be pissed about it for a week, and I need to go buy a new toothbrush.”
I laugh. “I hope the ex doesn’t see yours on the counter.”
“Honestly? I hope she doesn’t, either. Clearly, I was a moment in his life. Maybe she is his life, you know? It would piss me off to think that something stupid I got caught up in ruined something that could’ve been good for her.”