AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Awkwardness spread between us like an STD at a frat party. “So… you don’t have to wait with me. I can get a cab on my own, you know.”
“Oh, I know you can,” he mimicked. “I’d like to see you again. I’m not giving up on us, Pepper.”
The image of Francesca with her hands on Connor’s lapel flashed before my eyes.
I owed it to myself to at least try. “Sure.” I smiled weakly.
Hope reflected in his eyes. “Great, I’ll text you.” He flashed me his boyish smile, then turned around and headed for the subway.
When I fell asleep that night, I wasn’t dreaming of my ex but of an engaged man.
* * *
My phone pinged, and I reached for it, noticing Lourde’s name flash up on the screen.
“Lourde, hey.” Blinking, I slowly adjusted to the light streaming in the crack between the curtains.
“Wakey! Wakey, sleeping beauty.”
“Damn, what time is it?” I asked.
“Almost nine!”
“Oh, Jesus.”
“Are you sick again?”
“No.” I cleared my throat. “I just slept in.”
“I’m coming over with Olivia after work… we need a girly night.”
“Sounds good. Is Grace coming, or is she still in the Hamptons with Dane?”
Lourde sighed down the receiver. “They’re still there, and there’s no sign of her coming back anytime soon.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I could do with a girly night,” I admitted, awash with confusion about my relationship with Jake and my impure thoughts about Connor.
“Perfect!”
“I’ll cook.”
“Yes! Can you make pastitsio again?”
“Don’t you ever get sick of that?”
“A homemade Greek specialty from my Greek bestie? Hell, no!”
I laughed. It was delicious. It ought to be. I’d cooked it with my mom and yiayia literally a hundred times since I was a little girl.
The morning burned into the late afternoon, and after a slow start, I’d made the pastitsio, bought two dresses at a French boutique on Madison Avenue, and dropped off some of my old clothes at the local charity bin.
Just before the girls arrived, I poured myself a glass of wine and checked my phone, noting there was one unread text from Jake but nothing from Connor. A heaviness replaced the lighter feeling I had seconds earlier.
Jake:I know you’re resistant to us. But give me time. I will earn your trust back.
I sighed, letting the breath leave my body completely. Jake is what I needed to focus on, not Connor. Resolved to do just that, I hit reply. I swallowed down the lump in my throat.
Pepper:Okay, I’ll try.
