Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42745 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
She shrugs again. “Yeah, nothing special today. How was your surgery?”
“Good.” I let out a breath. “I really am sorry.”
She looks around us, and when she sees everyone is busy talking to each other, she tilts her head. “Sorry for being late or sorry for this brick wall you’ve put between us?”
I lean back in my chair, my guard going up immediately.
She’s right. Of course she is. I have put a wall between us, but I can’t tell her the truth because I know I’ll lose her.
“I’ll do better,” I promise her.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve heard that too many times to believe it, Penn.”
I grab her hand, needing to feel her touch. “Please, don’t give up on me. I’m begging you, Aria.”
One of Skyler’s friends sitting close to us gasps, staring at Aria and me like we’re the entertainment.
At the front of the room, Zach stands and hands Skyler another present to open. There are oohs and aahs around us, and Aria leans in closer. “You missed dinner. Do you want me to order you something?”
Even when she’s mad, she tries to take care of me, and guilt settles heavily in my chest. If she knew the truth, she wouldn’t care about me like she does.
I shake my head. “I’m fine. I ate a sandwich late this afternoon.”
Aria’s smile is soft, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Her fingers twist together in her lap, and I know that look because I’ve seen it too much lately.
I want to fix it. I want to take her away from all of this and spend a week with no calls from the hospital and no one asking us about babies. Maybe then I could remind her how much I love her.
But being alone with her for that long would mean talking. Really talking.
And once I tell her what I’ve been hiding from her for the last year and a half, there will be no taking it back.
“What do you say, Penn?”
Zach’s voice cuts through the room, and I blink, realizing every eye has shifted to me.
Aria goes still beside me.
I clear my throat. “Sorry. I missed that. What did you say?”
Zach grins and gestures between me and Aria. “What about you two? When are you going to add to the family?”
Everyone is smiling at us, waiting like we might make some kind of announcement.
I force a laugh past the lump in my throat and reach for Aria’s hand beneath the table. Her fingers are cold.
“We don’t want to steal your thunder,” I say, keeping my voice easy.
A few people laugh, and soon the attention is off us. But Aria and I are still sitting there like we might break. Normally, we would laugh it off together, but Aria pulls her hand from mine. And that hurts worse than Zach’s question.
CHAPTER 2
ARIA
Skyler, Bree, and Lindsey are all looking at me with worry on their faces. None of them say a word, but I know exactly what they’re thinking. They know something is wrong between Penn and me.
Maybe they don’t know the details. Maybe they don’t know the words I can barely admit to myself. But they know enough because they’ve been watching it happen for the last year and a half.
They’re my best friends, my sisters-in-law, and the women I talk to almost every day. We talk about work, recipes, family dinners, and whatever chaos the Brody men have gotten themselves into. I love them, and I trust them, but I’ve never told them the truth about my marriage.
I’ve never told them how lonely I am or how some nights I lie awake beside my husband and feel farther away from him than I would if he were still at the hospital. Every time Penn shows up late or doesn’t show up at all, it feels like another piece of me is being left behind.
But even without me saying it, they’ve seen it.
They’ve seen Penn walk into family dinners halfway through the meal apologizing for being late. They’ve seen him kiss my forehead while he’s still looking at his phone. They’ve seen him leave before dessert because the hospital called, and they’ve seen me smile and tell everyone it’s okay when it isn’t.
They’ve seen the distance between us growing wider, and now, after Zach’s innocent question, they’re watching me like they’re afraid I might break in the middle of Skyler’s baby shower.
I hate that everyone can see how badly I want a family and that Penn is pulling away from me. But probably most of all, I hate that they can see me still trying to hold on to a man who doesn’t seem to want me anymore.
“Aria,” Penn says softly.
I shake my head and avoid his gaze.
I can’t get into this right here with his whole family looking at us. I’m barely holding it together as it is. I’m losing my husband.