Page 7 of Jake's Angel
“Get a grip on yourself, girl.” My quiet reprimand does nothing to calm the anxiety I feel.She won’t go to the media; it would draw too much attention to the fact another child ran away from her.People would question her parenting and reputation.
Which means the punishment will be so much worse if she does find me. Shit!
My internal panic attack is interrupted by a pretty blonde woman coming out of the stall, wiping her mouth with one hand and holding her stomach with the other.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone else was in here. I hope I didn’t ruin your appetite with all my retching in there. The food here is amazing, I promise. I’m just having an off day.” She smiles, turning on the faucet. I watch as she cups water in her hands and proceeds to rinse out her mouth. She looks a little pale and I find myself feeling concerned for her.
“Are you alright?”
She dries her mouth with a paper towel and smiles up at me, her cheeks pink with what I presume is embarrassment, but I’m happy to see there’s some color to her face.
“No. I’m afraid I have a condition that no one canhelp,per se, but I’m not upset about it.” It takes me two seconds to register what she’s saying.
I gasp. “Oh my God. Are you … are you pregnant?”
Her smile is sheepish as she nods. “Let’s keep this between us though, okay? I’m afraid I haven’t broken the news to anyone else, not even the father, and since I like my newfound freedom,I’d like to hold off on telling him just yet. At least not until the doctor confirms that everything is all right. You know?”
“Freedom?” Her words speak to a place deep inside me, which is the only reason I can think of that has me blurting out my next words. “Are you in trouble? Do you need help? My friend and I … we can …”
“Whoa!” Her hands fly up, halting me mid-sentence. “I’m sorry. That probably sounded worse than I intended.” She smiles softly. “What I meant was, my husband has an overactive protective streak. It’s a good thing, most days. But when he finds out about my … condition … he’ll want me grounded on the couch until the baby’s born.” She shakes her head, still smiling. “I love him and his need to take care of me, but I also love training in the gym and going out dancing with my girls. It’s been too long since I had a social life. I’m not ready to give it up just yet.”
“I get that,” I sigh, not liking the tightness I feel in my chest. I don’t know why I feel this way. I’m a mix of scared and excited, but there’s something else there, too.Longing.I’ve longed to have a social life of my own choosing. To have my own ‘girls’ to go out dancing with. People who I actually like and who enjoy spending time with me. Not because they have to, but because they genuinely enjoy my company, or shared interests. People who fucking care.
“Hey,” a soft voice and gentle hand touching my shoulder shake me out of my thoughts. “You, okay?”
“Um, yeah. Sorry. I was thinking about … I mean, I’m new in town so I wouldn’t know who to tell about your pregnancy, but I get it. We all have our secrets, right?” She eyes me suspiciously but doesn’t question. “Well …” I clear my throat, stand up a little taller and call on my practiced manners, plastering my best ‘public smile’ and say, “Congratulations! It sounds like you’rehappy about everything and have a wonderful husband who will be just as happy and caring of both you and your baby.”
She hears the bullshit I’m spewing. The polite, proper response, but she doesn’t call me on it, which I appreciate. Instead, she gives me a soft smile, slight nod, and opens the bathroom door.
Relax, Avery. You don’t have to be perfect anymore. No one here will care. They don’t know who you are.
I don’t know who I am.
The thought is sobering.
We walk out into the diner and the blonde squeals when she sees Sadie and Patsy chatting by the booth.
“Hey, I heard you were moving back this weekend. Did you and Jayde get everything settled? If not, I can grab Lilah and we can come by and help.” The woman excitedly chatters.
“I think we’ve got it, but I’ll keep you in mind if something comes up.” Sadie looks from the blonde woman to me and back again. “Are the guys back? Are they coming for breakfast?”
“Yeah. Ethan should be in any minute. I told him I was grabbing food on the way to the gym. Even offered to bring him and Violet something, but he, of course, said no.” She rolls her eyes. “The way I see it, the fight’s over. He isn’t scheduled for another one yet, and I’m sick of eating healthy. I need some sugary sweet carbs.” When the woman groans, the sound causes people at the surrounding tables to stare in our direction.
“Jesus, Skyler.” Sadie grabs her arm, pulling her to sit with her in the booth. I take a seat on the opposite side. “You need to tell Ethan to do a better job of satisfying you if the thought of sugar and carbs can make you makethatkind of sound.”
Skyler smiles wide, “Oh, trust me. That man keeps me plenty satisfied. But he doesn’t know dick about a woman and her food cravings. Except chocolate. But I think he only keeps my Reese’s stocked because Hawk mentioned something about throwingchocolate at women when we’re on our period. I could’ve kissed him, but then I’d have to explain to Gabe why Ethan beat Hawk to a pulp.” She waves her hand in the air. “It would become a whole thing, and I just don’t need the stress of it all.”
Sadie is cracking up laughing and I have zero clue as to anything they’re talking about.
“So, how was moving? Were you able to grab all your things from Baron’s Edge or do you need the guys to make another run? I have my truck. If you need to make another trip, I can drive down with you.”
“Like Ethan would let you make an overnight trip without him,” Sadie sasses. “He just locked you down. He’s not letting you out of his sight.” She nudges Skyler’s arm. “Hell, I’m amazed he let you out of his bed to come here alone. We all know how much he loves seeing you cuffed to the headboard.”
“Bitch!” Skyler snaps, laughing. “Not everyone knows everything about my sex life. Jesus!”
“Please.” Sadie laughs. “Ethan borrowed those cuffs from Hawk, who we all know can’t keep his fucking mouth shut about anything. Not to mention the way Cash bragged to the brothers about how he fully expected you to put Ethan on his ass for the way he got you to admit to being his.”
I am so lost. I pick up the menu and start reading through the options, letting them get caught up. It feels odd to be sitting here watching such a normal interaction between two women who clearly don’t give a crap about what other people hear them saying. They seem so uninhibited.