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I glared at her for answering so loudly.
“No,” she said, lowering her voice. “Why would you even suggest that?”
“Forget it.”
“Maeve.”
I waved a hand between us. “Broken’s not the right word. Never mind.” I wasn’t broken. I knew that. I was just being insecure, which wasn’t a good look for anyone.
“You’re the least broken person I know,” Maddy said. “For real. You’re like the person broken people come to when they need put back together.”
I smiled. What a lovely thing to say. If only I knew whether she said it because she meant it or because her world would spin off its axis if I didn’t keep it together.
“Did someone say something to you?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s more what hasn’t been said.”
Her brows knitted. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I’m a little worried I might’ve put my life on hold for a guy who’s never going to care about me the way…” Quinn cares for you. Or James cares for Brie. “I want him to.” God, this was pathetic.
“I thought things were going well with you guys,” she said. “What’s triggered this doubt?”
“I guess our relationship just feels a little stagnant. Like it isn’t where it should be.”
“Where do you want it to be?”
I scrunched my face. “Somewhere else?”
She cocked her head. “Care to elaborate?”
I shrugged. “I’d have a baby right now if I hadn’t met him.” When he asked me out, I’d narrowed my search down to three sperm donors. Three men who would’ve happily impregnated me without filling me with insecurities, cheap Chinese food, and the urge to feign interest in golf.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying he’s acting like he’s got all the time in the world because he does, while I feel like I’m in purgatory, drifting farther and farther from the things I know I want.”
“Maybe he’s not handling your promotion as well as you thought. Could that be it?”
“He said he was fine.” I thought back to the flowers he got me when the news broke. The fact that he was happy for me despite having been brushed aside for the position himself seemed a sign of maturity. Then again, our sex life had tapered in the last few weeks. Was my promotion the reason, and I’d been refusing to see it? “Am I supposed to not believe him?”
“I have no idea,” she said. “I’m just trying to guess why things might be off.”
“Maybe I’m not fun enough.”
Maddy laughed.
My eyes widened. “Is that funny?”
“Just because you’re a workaholic homebody doesn’t mean you’re not fun.”
“Gee, when you say it like that, it makes me wonder why there’s not a line around the block full of guys who want to take me out.”
“Come on, Maeve. That’s not exactly news.”
“‘Homebody’ and ‘workaholic’ are strong words.”
“Strong, maybe,” she said. “But not undeserved.”
