Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“It’s ten o’clock here. Are you telling me you’re just now getting home from work at seven on a Sunday?” I ask, trying to question her without coming out and asking it blatantly.
“Work dinner. May as well have been on a job. It sucked so bad, the food was horrible and miniscule. You should see how these Hollywood celebrities and billionaires eat. It’s one asparagus, a piece of meat the size of your thumb, and a dallop of potatoes.” I could never imagine the lifestyle she lives. Don’t get me wrong, she rocks it, but dealing with the snotty people Ophelia does, it’s a no for me.
“So, I guess telling you we had dinner with your parents would be torture?” I’m sitting in my bedroom, unable to go out on the back porch without being too loud with the girls’ rooms in the back of the house. Our house is a true split floor plan, allowing me to be obnoxious on the phone with Fif, which happens anytime we’re on the phone late at night.
“You’re a bitch. Please tell me you ate enough for two, like you did when you were pregnant with my goddaughters.” Ophelia’s the girls’ aunt and godmother all in one, the best of both worlds. Always there for them no matter the time or day, even if she’s on set making sure whatever celebrity she’s working with is dressed to the nines.
“I ate like I was pregnant with Emmy. Nix helped as well, and you know he can put down some food. Which, by the way, we need to talk about the Nix and Rosaleigh situation.” I should have brought a glass of wine; maybe it would calm the nerves currently swirling in my lower abdomen. I’m not even sure why I have them. Before I met David, Ophelia and I would lie on our backs, the carpet cushioning us, legs swinging up in the air, hoping that one day, we would be related. And while yes, I had a secret crush on her brother for a time, I knew there was no going there. Nix always kept me at a distance. When I met his best friend, the David thing developed from there. Now David is gone, and Nix, who has really stepped up even more than he was before, is here, clearly to stay, too.
“Girlfriend, you are the only one who didn’t see Nix has had hearts in his eyes when it came to you for, well, ever.” I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my chin on top of it, inhaling a deep breath of air, holding it in before slowly releasing it.
“Yeah, I really kept my blinders on a little too long, didn’t I,” I state even if it does seem like a question, one I know Fif won’t answer. I think back to earlier today when Nix had no problem draping his hand over my lap beneath the dinner table, the tablecloth hiding how he would rub my thigh every now and then. How Rory went right to him, and I watched them have a conversation like they’ve done all her life. David never did that, never spent time in the garage working on a car only to have his girls around. My girls had a father who wasn’t a father. When it all came down to it, Phoenix was there, to help me teach them how to ride bikes, at every school performance because David was working. It’s always been Phoenix. Always.
“Okay, now that those are off, finally, don’t think I’m not dying to tell you I told you so.” A snort leaves me, clearing the heaviness. Ophelia has stated that a multitude of times and every chance she could get.
“How humble of you. The problem is that I’m full of what-ifs. What if he wants a child, but I don’t? What if he wants marriage? Which, by the way, I’m still technically married, and this isn’t that sister-wife show. Then there’s the house. Would we live across the street from one another? There are so many what-ifs, and while last night with your brother was amazing,”—she makes the gagging noise, one where you know she’s mimicking the finger down the throat, little shit—“I’m not saying what happened. I love you; I’d never subject you to it, promise. There’s just so much that’s been left unsaid.”
Ophelia is quiet on the other end of the line; so am I, for that matter. I can see myself with Nix, no doubt about it. Even if it’s been less than a year since David rocked me to my core, the truth of the matter is our marriage fell apart long before that. The lack of intimacy, us coming and going at opposite times of days, obviously David was working elsewhere besides the sheriff’s department, a single mom yet married, make it make sense.