“Jess…” I heard Zoey hiss, lowering her voice, “… Drew’s home.”
“Yeah, well, he’s always fucking home when I’m here. That’s why I’m done coming over.”
My hands wrapped tightly around the bottle, chugging it down in one go before I slammed it against the countertop. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? Talking shit in my fucking apartment. My hands began to tremble with rage, my fists curled up into a ball ready to sucker punch the dick and throw him out of the apartment for good.
“Move in with me,” Jess demanded.
“C’mon, Jess, let’s be serious. You live with two other guys, plus all we do is fight. I like it here… it’s my home.”
“You mean you like him here.”
Silence fell, and quietly I stopped all movement and waited for her response.
“Drew is my best friend… okay? Nothing more.”
“Yeah, well, I see the way he looks at you. He’d fuck you in your sleep if you’d let him. Probably jerking off in your bed while you shower.”
“Oh, that’s crude. Drew doesn’t look at me like that. You need to chill out. He screws around with so many chicks. If he’d ever wanted me I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. Quite the opposite, don’t you think? Honestly, you need to stop being so paranoid.”
Her words were inexcusable, portraying me in such a negative way yet resonated oddly. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of her sexually in any way. It just came in waves. One minute I’d see her come out of the shower in her towel and get this massive hard-on and the next, she’s eating peanut butter with a teaspoon out of the jar, and my urges disappear.
“If you moved in with me, we could get married, have kids. You know I’ve always wanted kids.”
His voice irritated me, pricking at my skin with every syllable. There’s no chance in hell I’d let her marry or tie herself down to him for the rest of her life with kids.
No chance in hell.
I would find a way to stop this.
She should be with someone like me, not me, but someone like me. Someone who would care for, treat her with respect, and worship the ground she walked on.
“Jess, let’s just watch the movie. Too much serious talk in the middle of Footloose. We can talk about this another time. Let’s just enjoy tonight, okay? And stop fussing over Drew. I promise you he’s nothing more than my roommate.”
She stated the truth, and the words hurt, though my pride overpowered and like always, I resorted to the only thing that gave me pleasure. This chick I met at a bar sent me her number and invited me back to her place. With my cell in hand, I texted her back, telling her to come here instead.
Two could play at this game.
And if Jess weren’t careful with his intentions, I’d make it my mission to steal his girl, marry, and knock her up.
Now, wouldn’t that be something?
Chapter One
Zoey
Present time…
“Now, if you look over here toward the right you’ll see this little white dot. That’s your baby.” The sonographer, Susan, waits with anticipation. The excitement in her eyes radiates, and with a slight nod, she encourages me to do the same.
I’m not sure what the reaction is meant to be. There’s a white dot on the screen. One I can barely make out unless I squint my eyes and tilt my head sideways to make it past all the other blurriness threatening my vision. It doesn’t look like a baby but more like a smudge on the monitor lost in the abyss of a black sack.
Drew squeezes my hand tight, overcome with joy and a proud grin adorning his beautiful face. God, my husband is so damn yummy especially when he wears his black-framed glasses and the navy-blue scrubs. Zoey, shut up, this is how you got pregna
nt in the first place.
Drew managed to get a few free hours between surgeries to meet me for our first ultrasound. He continues to sit on the uncomfortable plastic chair beside me staring at the screen in awe, all the while squeezing my hand and almost cutting off my circulation.
I throw him a smile, faking the elation that everyone else in this room feels besides me.