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“Really?” Her eyebrows didn’t budge. “Good for you, marrying up.”
And there it was, the first shot.
Her eyes drifted over my shoulder and I turned my head to see Jess bearing down on us fast.
Son of a bitch, what had I done to piss off Someone today?
“Leia!” Jess’s voice was a touch more victorious than I’d have liked. “I’m so glad to see you here–I was going to call you on my way in to ask if you wanted to meet for coffee.”
Completely ignoring me, Jess circled me and leaned in to give Leia a hug and a fake air kiss, and I hated her a little more. There was only one reason she’d be friends with someone like Leia, and it was because they had an enemy in common.
“Oh. Hi, Madelyn.” She turned like she’d just realized I was there–like she hadn’t just stepped all the way around me to hug Leia. “What draws you out of the lovenest?” Her tone was unmistakably mocking.
“Fuel.” I smiled tightly, gesturing toward the basket in my hand, wondering if she’d notice the canister of formula. “You know, hard to fuck like rabbits on an empty tank.”
Leia’s mouth dropped open, and just the briefest expression of displeasure flashed over Jess’s face.Bingo.
“Ha.” It wasn’t exactly a laugh when it came from Jess’s mouth. It was more scornful. “I suppose you have a point.”
Wait, what?
“Hecango for hours.” There was a smug look on her face and even Leia couldn’t help but smile, something that should’ve broken her plastic face.
“It’s remarkable…” I tried to keep myself in the game, but the look I was giving her should have melted the flesh off her bones. The thought of Adam’s hands on her made me want to punch her in the teeth. I couldn’t handle the idea this woman had seen my husband naked, knew the planes and contours of his body, knew the sounds he made and that he liked to kiss each and every one of my fingers afterward, right before he folded me into his arms, right up against his chest and make a contented little humming noise into my hair.I absolutely loved that.
That thought, the realization that those things weren’t only mine, was like an ice pick to the heart, and I struggled to keep the hurt off my face.
“Heisremarkable. Unforgettable, really.” The smug expression on her face was just begging me to ask her just how unforgettable, but I had a feeling she’d tell me anyway.
“Well, I mean…” It was Leia, looking smug. “You’re operating from pretty recent memory, to be fair.”
Bait and set.
She and Jess giggled in unison and my eyes widened, even though I tried to keep them from doing it.
“Mmm.” Jess looked like she had a mouthful of something delicious and my stomach lurched dangerously. “Yeah, he wanted one last taste–well, that’s what he said, but I wouldn’t put it past him to come back for more. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
The world tilted dangerously and I wobbled just a little, enough that Jess knew she’d hit her mark.
“I hadnoidea he was getting married the next day.”
She was the picture of innocence, all wide-eyed and golden and lovely, poison spewing from her pretty mouth, and I swallowed hard against the bile that rose in my throat.The next day. How was that possible? We were so busy getting everything together…
The picture flashed before my eyes, Adam walking into the kitchen, freshly showered the night before our impromptu wedding.
The fact he’d turned me down.
“If you’re going to be sick,” Leia started, and my eyes filled up with the warning tears that told me I was about to throw up.
Throwing down the basket, I clamped a hand over my mouth and rushed up the aisle, past the registers and out into the parking lot. I made it as far as the hedge that bordered the parking lot before I leaned into it and gave up all my lunch.
I sat in the truck with the windows down for a long time, the breeze blessedly cool for a summer day.
I’d gotten back from the city earlier that afternoon, after an overnight that turned into two, and Adam assured me that Hailey knew our shifts and would watch the baby that day.
Stopping at the supermarket on the way home was something I hadn’t wanted to do, but we were nearly out of coffee, which was unthinkable, so I grabbed a basket and added things as I hurried through the store.
Given the news I’d received in the city just the afternoon before, I couldn’t handle anything more. Leia was bad news, but Jess was the exponent on top of a shit day. It wasn’t that I believed her, but that I didn’t know yet if Ishouldn’t. She was clearly the jealous type and I wouldn’t have put it past her to flat out lie just because she wanted to cause trouble.
