AllFreeNovel
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“I can afford it.”
“I figured. But seriously, when the baby comes it will be hard. I don’t know shit about babies, but I think they cry a lot in the beginning and don’t sleep. I’ll come babysit, too. Or you and I can babysit together, two against one!”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”
I take a sip of my beer, gesturing to the bartender for two more tequila shots. “I’m full of good ideas lately.”
Meg laughs her first real laugh of the night, turning in her seat to look at me. “I like the natural curls, by the way. What brought on that change?”
I run a hand over the mess on my head. Emmett had asked repeatedly when I was going to wear my hair curly, and I had been adamantly refusing until the night he carried me into the shower and fucked me against the wall, ruining the keratin treatment I had done earlier that day. “I figured it doesn’t hurt to learn to wear it this way. Embrace what God gave me. Go natural. All that bullshit. It will save me a shit-ton of money, anyways.”
“Are you only doing it because he wants you to?”
“A little. But it’s also nice to not have to change who you are for a man.”
Meg scoffs, bringing the beer bottle to her lips. “What’s that like?”
Pretty fucking amazing. “It’s the best.” I turn toward her, letting my knees bonk hers. “I hope you feel it someday, too.”
“What is this?” she asks, a finger wagging between us. “This isn’t the Jenna I know. The Jenna I know is as pissed off at the world as I am.”
I shrug, taking another sip of my beer and feeling my face flush.
“Oh Christ. I knew it.”
“What?”
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
I pause, about to lie, to tell her whatever, it’s just sex, we’re taking it slow. But there’s no faking when it comes to Emmett. “I don’t know what this feeling is, but . . . it’s something.” I twist the empty bottle in my hand, using the condensation to peel the corner of the label off. “You ever been in love?”
Meg’sFuck No! is so loud it garners attention from the people gathered around us. “My only ever sort-of relationship was Marcus, and you know how that ended.”
Fucking Marcus.
“You know,” I say as I turn toward her, “when your sister has her baby, they will only be a few years younger than Allie. We can have a play date!”
Meg scoffs. “You’re doing it again; you’re talking about suburbia life.”
“We can get up early on Saturdays, grab a skim milk latte and take our kids to the park! Or we can go to a museum, have an early dinner at Chuck E. Cheese and be home, exhausted and ready for bed by seven P.M.”
“Shut up.” She reaches for another shot before the bartender is able to set it down. But before slinging it back she turns to me and raises it in a toast. “Cheers.”
“Cheers to Chuck E. Cheese and early bedtimes?”
“No, you idiot.” She keeps her hand raised, and all the humor falls from her face, replaced by a seriousness that isn’t characteristic for Meg. “Cheers to a friend like you, who seems to love me whether I’m happy or sad.”
My heart cracks with her statement. Meg and I are close, sure. She’s the only real girlfriend I’ve ever had. We tell each other things, but Meg is one of those people that keeps her cards clutched close to her chest. She doesn’t like people to see her as anything other than ‘on’, so for her to toast me for liking her whether she’s happy or sad means more than most people would realize.”
“Awww, Meg, you—”
“Shut the fuck up,” she says, clinking our glasses together quickly before downing her shot.
~
“Babe, what’s a famous nurse with the last name Barton? Five letters,” Emmett calls out from the bedroom.
“Clara,” I blurt out, surprised I remembered that from nursing school. After a drawn-out conversation with Meg that included another tequila shot and two beers, we shared a plate of loaded chili-cheese fries and effectively called it a night. I took an uber back to Emmett’s house planning to crawl into bed next to his sleeping frame, but with the three tequila shots in my system, I tripped over his shoes as soon as I entered the bedroom, waking him up.
