Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“I bet he’d get job offers anywhere. I thought I was smart, but he’s a freaking genius.”
“Unfortunately, he likes where he’s at,” she joked. “But I hope at some point he’ll want to be closer, even if he doesn’t come back to Eugene. Hell, I’d be happy if he settled in Portland. At least it wouldn’t take all day to drive there.”
“Let me throw these in the car,” I said, pausing at the edge of the sidewalk. “I don’t want to bring them in the restaurant.”
“No worries.”
I jogged across the street and pushed the key fob to unlock the doors. The noise it usually made when I unlocked them sounded weird, but I didn’t think much of it because the door was unlocked when I got to it. I put the books on the passenger seat and then stood next to the car to make sure it locked. There wasn’t anything worth stealing inside, but I didn’t want anyone to swipe my new books before I could read them.
Nova and I sat down in a little Italian place with tea lights on the tables, and I took off my coat and settled in for some girl time. I never really noticed how solitary my life had become until I was home and hanging out with people again. It was awesome to sit down with a friend and talk about everything and anything for a while. The food was good, but the company was even better. Nova and I had always gotten along well even though she was a few years younger than me.
When we were growing up, I didn’t really spend a lot of time with the cousin group, preferring to hang out at home—but it would’ve been impossible not to know Nova. She and my cousin Rumi had been friends since they were kids—long before they’d ever gotten together.
We knew all the same old stories and had a lot of the same experiences since her grandpa had been a member of the club.
“We just…it just hasn’t happened,” she said softly. “Everyone else is having babies, but we’re not.”
“Have you been to the doctor?” I asked, my heart breaking for her.
“They don’t know why it won’t happen for us. They said to keep trying and said we could discuss more invasive testing and solutions, but I’m just not there yet.”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“We’ll probably do it,” she said, swallowing hard. “I know Rumi has been socking away money, even though he hasn’t said anything about it. Once he knew how expensive it’ll be to do IVF or any of that, he just kind of quietly started doing side jobs for Tommy.”
“Thatta boy, Rum.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to unload.”
“No way,” I argued. “You weren’t unloading. I asked how things have been.”
“It’s just nice to talk to someone about it that doesn’t have a vested interest in whether or not Rumi and I procreate,” she said with a little laugh. “My grandma and Heather both get these sad looks on their faces, and I always feel like I’m guilting my sisters-in-law when I bring it up since they’ve never had any issues getting pregnant.”
“Well, I’m happy to listen any time you want to talk about it. I don’t have any experience, because preventing pregnancy has always been my goal—but any time you want to vent, I’m here.”
“Thanks, Harp.”
“You guys’ll figure it out. Whatever you decide to do is the right choice.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She nodded firmly. “Now, let’s change the subject. It’s your turn to spill your guts.”
I laughed.
“Come on, you must have something that you can’t talk to anyone else about. Some torrid affair that ended because you had to move across the country?” she asked hopefully.
“I haven’t had any torrid affairs,” I replied apologetically. “All of my relationships have ended amicably, and none of them could be considered torrid.”
“None of them? Oh, doll, you’re missing out.”
“I did kiss Bas.”
“I knew that already.”
“Again,” I added with a snort.
“Oh, shit, really?”
“He kissed me, honestly.”
“Oh, and you just allowed it, I’m sure.”
“I was an enthusiastic partner,” I confessed. “And then I told him it wasn’t going to happen again.”
“What did he say?”
“He wasn’t happy about it. Asked why. Looked at me like I was nuts.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That everyone knew he was in love with Lou, and I didn’t want to get in the middle of any drama.”
Nova gaped at me.
“What? It’s the truth. Was I supposed to lie?”
“I don’t think you needed to lay it out quite so succinctly. What did he say?”
“That he wasn’t in love with Lou. He seemed pretty pissed.”
“He said that flat out?”
“No hesitation.”
“Huh,” she replied thoughtfully.
“What? What was that noise?”
“Ballsy move to call him out on it.” She tilted her head back and forth. “If he says he’s not in love with her, then what’s stopping you?”
“Oh, I don’t know? The entire club. Just because he says it doesn’t mean everyone hasn’t watched him giving her puppy dog eyes since they met. Actions speak louder than words.”