AllFreeNovel
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“We are. I’m just a bit more guarded than Blake, I guess.”
JD attempts to sit in one of the student desks, and it’s hard not to laugh when he sings “Fat Guy in a Little Coat” as he contorts his body to fit. “Seriously, though. You guys are having two babies together. That’s a pretty big freaking deal. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
I exhale as I take a seat behind my desk. “Yeah. I mean, the timing isn’t ideal, but it’s not like we can undo what we’ve done, right?”
“Not the way you’ve done it, apparently,” he offers with a cocked eyebrow. “But you didn’t answer my question, Lo.”
I look down at my hands as I formulate a response. “I obviously never imagined myself in this predicament, much less with Blake. But, now that it’s actually happening, I can’t say that I have any regrets, and I doubt I could’ve found a better partner. He’s going to be an amazing dad.”
He smiles softly. “I know he will. But is that all that matters to you?”
I shrug. It’s so hard lying to JD like this, and the last thing I want is to paint Blake in a negative light or to give anyone an excuse to misjudge him. That happens enough without my help. But I can’t go around gushing about him, either, not if I want our forthcoming amicable breakup to look natural.
“I guess the romantic element of our relationship doesn’t seem as important as the co-parenting part now. I wouldn’t be a good mother if I wasn’t willing to put my own feelings aside and make decisions based on everyone’s best interest in the long run, right?”
“And you don’t think raising your kids in a loving, two-parent household is in their best interest?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.
“I do, but there’s a lot more at stake now. And I won’t risk subjecting them to the same shitty situation I grew up in,” I reply defensively.
“Right,” he says, nodding. “So what happens if it doesn’t work out between you and Blake?”
“We’ll go back to being friends while we co-parent,” I answer cheerfully.
But he’s not buying it. “Yeah. Okay, then.”
“What?”
“You’ll be best buddies, just like before, and neither of you will have any hard feelings?”
“Of course not,” I lie.
The bell rings again, and JD pins me with a rueful smile as he unfolds himself from the desk. “As long as you’re absolutely sure you’re not using your ‘predicament’ as an excuse to lead my brother on and break his heart or anything like that.”
I furrow my brow as he walks over to pick up his iPad, and I slap the back of his hand when he attempts to sneak another cookie off my desk.
“Get your own damned cookies, Coach Thirsty,” I tell him with a scowl. Then I reach down to pluck one from the box for myself.
“Better get on those maternity-leave lesson plans, Ms. Reed,” he mocks me.
I pull a face at the back of his head as he waltzes out of my classroom, then I grab an Uncrustables sandwich from my mini-fridge. I only have a few minutes left before lunch duty begins, thanks to my boss. And I’m not going to spend it thinking about his totally unfair and false accusations.
I pick up my phone with the intention of scrolling through my Bookstagram feed when a message pops up.
Lando
LOREN AGNES REED
WTH IS THIS?
I bite my lip and whine as I stare down at a screenshot of Blake’s latest Instagram post. He’d tagged me in the photos from the Mardi Gras ball last weekend.
Well, well, well. If it isn’t the bridge I said I’d cross when I got there.
I know I’ll eventually have to put on my big girl panties and break the news to my family that I’m not only dating but also carrying the twins of my former archenemy. It’s really the part about my brother subsequently ruining whatever it is that Blake and I have going for us that I’ve been dreading the most. Yes, we may be settling for friendly co-parents with benefits—and by benefits, I mean mostly PDA-appropriate kisses, suggestive flirty banter, and fully-clothed snuggles—but it’s working, despite what JD implied earlier. And Landry has this way of wrecking every relationship I’ve ever been in, friendships included.
As kids, he’d issued an open threat to castrate any boy in the Camellia city limits who tried to come anywhere near me. (Ironically enough, Blake had been the only boy not to heed that warning, but that’s something to unpack on a different day.)
Then there was the time he stole Tenley from me in middle school. I was able to win her back with the help of Ethan and JD, but still.
