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“She doesn’t want to see you.” His voice is flat, dismissive. It’s like a slap in the face.
“Watch it,” Soren growls, shooting Sawyer a pointed look.
“Yeah, she just wants to make amends,” Mickey adds.
Sawyer rakes a hand down his face, cursing under his breath. “For fuck’s sake,” he gripes. “I warned you once, Gail. I told you to—”
“Fuck off, Sawyer,” Soren barks. “Everyone here has made mistakes. Now, let the women fucking kiss and make up.”
“This is your last fucking chance, Gail,” Sawyer seethes as he pulls a bundle of keys from his pocket. He continues talking as he frees one and hands it to me. “I love my wife more than anything in this fucking world. You need to either step the fuck up and be the friend she deserves, or leave her alone—”
“Sawyer!” Mickey’s growl comes out like a warning.
Ignoring him, Sawyer carries on. “But what you won’t do is keep upsetting her. If I have to listen to her cry because of you one more time, I’ll hire security just to keep you away.”
Clutching the key he gave me, I nod, feeling thoroughly scolded. Not that I didn’t deserve it, but… shit. “Thank you,” I say, my voice quivering.
It’s not Sawyer’s bluntness, or Mickey and Soren’s protective display that’s getting to me, making me emotional. It’s the thought of Luce crying because of me, the realization of how much I’ve let her down.
It might not have been my fault this time, but I’ve messed up enough in the past to know this is just the one that tipped the scales out of my favor. So instead of excusing it, I need to own it and make things right with Luce.
“Don’t thank me,” Sawyer calls over his shoulder as he starts to walk toward the locker room. “If she isn’t happy to see you, I’m going to claim you stole it from me.”
I don’t answer, just watch him walk away. Then I wait around while Mickey and Soren follow their friend and other teammates. My hope to see Luce here is squashed when the other wives, girlfriends, and partners join me, but she isn’t among them.
Though I’ve met the women before, I don’t interact much. They’re nice enough, and they try to include me. I’m the one killing any conversation by only offering one word replies. So when the guys come back, I’m quick to suggest we go straight home.
I spend the rest of the day and evening with them. Doing mundane things like watching a few movies and just relaxing as much as possible. It’s nice, and I can’t deny how sweet and supportive they’ve been since they found me crying the first day I’d gone to see Luce.
Rather than brushing it off or offering empty platitudes, they’ve been patient, even asked me about our friendship. So I’ve told them pretty much everything there is to say, including mentioning my countless fuck ups and all the times I’ve betrayed the same friendship I’m yearning for now.
When it’s finally time for bed, I’m not surprised when they both follow me into my bedroom and use the adjacent bathroom to get ready. Well, it’s not mine, not really. The entire house belongs to Soren, so I guess it’s his just like everything else. But it’s come to feel like mine. And since I spent the night with Soren, they’ve both slept with me.
Where Mickey wants his fingers buried in my pussy, claiming he just loves being inside me, Soren wants my head on his chest. That’s how we go to sleep; a tangle of limbs, with me in the middle.
The next morning, I wait for the guys to leave before I drive to Luce’s house. The drive over is a blur—my mind racing faster than the engine of my car. Each traffic light is a pause, a moment to question if I’m ready to face Luce, to confront the silence that’s grown thick between us.
Finally, I park outside their house, heart pounding against my chest in an erratic rhythm. I hesitate for just a second before I slip out of the car and approach the door.
The key Sawyer handed me slides into the lock with a satisfying click, and the door swings open without so much as a creak—betraying no signs of the storm I’m about to walk into. I step into the office where Lucia and I birthed EduSync, my heart hammering in my chest like it’s trying to break free.
“Luce?” My voice bounces off the walls, tentative at first, but then she’s there, materializing from behind the towering bookshelf like a fierce goddess in her own right.
“What the hell are you doing here, Gail? And how the fuck did you get in?” Her green eyes flash with an intensity that could stop a charging bull in its tracks, her red hair a fiery cascade around her shoulders. She’s not just angry; she’s livid, and she’s aiming all those hot, swirling emotions right at me. “You should leave!”
“Hey, buttercup,” I say, hitching a smile onto my lips, hiding the tremor in my words. “Not the warmest welcome, but I’ll take what I can get.”
She scowls, arms crossed as if she’s physically barring me from her world. “I said leave. Now.”
“Can’t do that, Luce.” I step further into the room, my boots silent on the plush carpet.
“Please, Gail. Just… go.” There’s a waver in her voice now, a crack in her armor that tells me she’s not as strong as she pretends.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out, desperate for her to understand why I’m here, why I can’t just walk away. “Twelve weeks, and nauseous as hell, but that’s beside the point.”
“So what is the point?” Her eyebrows shoot up, but she’s listening—I’ve got her.
“Point is, we’re like Thelma & Louise, Bonnie & Clyde—minus the crime spree. Ride or die, remember?” I shuffle past the desk cluttered with our dreams and ambitions, closing the distance between us. “Don’t make me tell my kid why it doesn’t have a godmother, Luce. That’s too cruel.” I know it’s a low blow to use my pregnancy this way, but I’m clearly not above it. All is fair in love and war, even if it’s platonic love.
