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“Um, sure, I guess. I've never been to one before, so it should be fun. Do you know who the girl is?”
“Lucy Kennedy,” I answer.
Maddie's eyes almost pop out of her head. “As in the crazy good photographer and little sister of the unbelievably hot, football superstars Kennedy brothers? That Lucy?” She almost sounds excited.
“Yeah, that Lucy,” I deadpan to counteract her enthusiasm.
“Sweet. How about we study Tuesday and then game Wednesday? That sound good to you?”
“That works for me.”
She nods. “All right. I would love to stay and chat, but I was about to head to the gym before you got here, so...”
“You want me to leave? So you can do what you want to do? Sort of like the other night when I wanted to go to bed.” I perk an eyebrow at her, making her laugh. Part of me wants to ask when she started all this exercising, but I don't.
“Be the better person, Winston.”
“Fine. Text me with a time for Tuesday and I'll let you know about Wednesday.” When I stand to leave, I have a small urge to kiss her forehead, but I don't do that, of course. Instead, I smile and throw out a “catch ya later.”
Being friends with Maddie will be easy. It's a familiar place, and much better than the tempting, bad alternative. This week will prove that friendship is exactly where we need to be.
GOD, I'M EXHAUSTED. More spent than I've ever been, that's for sure. After spending time with the Lanier's, all I want to do is crawl into my bed and collapse, so I can fall into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, I can't do that. I almost want to stay here and figure out what the hell is going on with Grant and Lucy, but that's not
happening either. Audra, who has done her best to communicate with me as little as possible this week, has finally invited me over to talk. She was clear that I better not “pull any shit” because she just finished her shift and wasn't in the mood to deal with my crap.
Without a word and with my keys in hand, I leave the house, following my phone's GPS to Audra's place. I knock on the door when I finally get there and note that it isn't the nicest of areas around. Audra gives me a tight-lipped smile and lets me in. Based on the looks of things, she lives in a small, one bedroom apartment.
“Hey, Neil. Can I get you something to drink or anything?”
“No, thanks,” I answer.
“I don't really know how we should do this,” she says as she takes a seat on the couch. Audra props her bare feet onto her wooden coffee table. She rests her hands over her belly and leans her head back with her eyes closed.
“How often do you work?” I ask. Suddenly, my fatigue doesn't seem so bad in the face of how tired she looks. “How are you sleeping?”
Audra peeks an eye open and tilts her head to look at me. Her mouth parts, but nothing comes out at first. “You genuinely care, don't you?”
“Does that surprise you?” My brows wrinkle at the thought. I'm not sure if it's because I do genuinely care or the fact that it surprises her. I wasn't always this guy. The one who would try to get rid of a pregnant girl like she was nothing more than leftovers that needs to be thrown away. I used to be the guy who would immediately, without any doubt, be by her side at whatever cost. For just a moment, I wonder how I could have gotten so far away from that person. For just a moment, I want to be that guy again.
“Well, yeah, it does. I work as often as I can and I'm sleeping fine. How are you sleeping?” She reaches out to mess with my black hair, patting it down as if it was out of place. “Sorry, that's been bugging me since you walked in.”
“It's okay.” Audra looks at me expectantly and I realize that she's waiting for me to answer her question. “How I sleep isn't the issue. It's finding the time. I got a job, working nights,” I finish in explanation.
Shock registers before she tucks it away and rests her head on the back of the couch again. “Well, why don't you tell me about yourself and how you're going to be helpful to me.”
“Oh, all right.” I look around the room as I talk. Audra's closed her eyes anyway. “Um, I'll go with you to the doctor's appointments and if possible, I would be grateful if you could schedule them so I don't miss class or hockey practice. I'll go to any classes you want me to go to. Basically, the exact same things as if we were in a relationship, going through this-”
Audra stirs next to me, so I glance at her as her head falls to the side and she slowly tilts until she leans on my shoulder.
“Audra?”
No answer. Her chest is moving normally, so she's probably just asleep. Poor girl. Can't even stay awake long enough to talk to me. Part of me wants to wake her up, but I really don't want to. If she's that tired, then I should let her sleep. Sighing, I relax into the couch, thankful the TV is on, and decide to wait for her to wake back up.
“NEIL?”
I grunt, feeling a terrible kink in my neck.
“Neil?” the voice says again.
