Page 78 of Fighting Fate
“No…no…maybe not so much sushi.”
“What? We come here because of the sushi. You sure?”
“Mhmm…”
“Okay.” He blows out a confused breath as he turns back to the waiter. “You heard the lady. We’ll do the Cali rolls and the avocado ones too.”
“Drinks?” The waiter nods at my banana daiquiri mocktail, “Same?”
“Please, and can I get some water too?”
“Of course.” Going back to Frank, he waits for his drink order.
“What’re you having?” he asks, picking up my drink and taking a sip. “Where’s the rum?”
With a dismissive shrug, I try to downplay my out-of-the-ordinary choice. “I went for a mocktail.”
“What the hell is up with you?” he asks abruptly, clearly not buying my nonchalance, before requesting his usual sake and cherry blossom cocktail. As soon as the waiter is out of earshot, he narrows his focus on me. “Start talking because my trouble radar is going nuts over here.”
I wasn’t intending to go straight into it, but at least if I get the news out in the open now, it’ll give him a chance to digest it all before lunch is done.
“Dude, do I need to be worried?”
“I’m pregnant,” I tell him quickly and clearly.
“You’re funny,” he laughs at me, picking up my drink and stirring it with the straw before taking a longer sip. He swills it around his mouth as if he’s trying to make sure there really isn’t any alcohol in it. “No booze…no sushi…fuck!”
“Obviously I didn’t plan for it, but yeah…”
“But yeah? But. Yeah. How’d Rory take it?” There’s an edge to his question that takes me aback. Frank is going into full-on protective mode, changing the conversation from manager/client to friends. “He’s not exactly the daddy type.”
“He took it.” My statement comes short and defensive. Frank is protective of me, and I’m protective of Rory. As badly as he hurt me with his initial reaction, I won’t throw him under the bus, especially not when I still have to tell Frank that we’re not together anymore.
“Really? He was cool about it?”
“Neither of us was cool about it. It was unexpected, and it took a day or two to get our heads around it.” I’m glossing over it a tad. However, I don’t want to make this into a massive drama that will only make me feel shitty. “Anyway, we’re in a good place about it now.”
“You are?”
“Yes. We’re focussing on the baby and…”
“And?” Arctic blue eyes narrow on mine. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Rory and I…we’re…” Fuck, he’s going to go all apeshit after the debacle at his office when he surprised us with the meeting with Marcus. “It’s my choice, not his…” The cock of his brow tells me I’m doing an ill job of keeping this conversation easy.
When the waiter returns with our drink order, I’m grateful for the break in the conversation and the arrival of alcohol. I’m so wrapped up in finding the right way of saying what I need to without making a meal of it.
“I think Rory and I are better off doing this as friends.”
“Say what?” He lets out a ridiculous laugh that makes me want to knock out a few of his perfect teeth. “But you weren’t friends when you got yourselves into this crazy shit.”
“I’m trying to keep things simple for us. Having a baby is hard enough without adding the pressure of making a relationship work or navigating around a messy break-up.” My heart is beating a million miles a second, and the longer I think about what I said, the harder it is to maintain my cool. “Our focus right now needs to be the baby.”
“Damn, you’re having a kid.” Franks smiles at me. It’s obvious he’s downplaying his feelings to spare mine. “You got a due date?”
“January.”
“Isn’t Rory’s big fight then?”