Page 110 of High Stakes
“Why should you?” asks Aria, “It’s none of your business.”
I ignore her. “Will he be okay?”
Bella shakes her head, “No. He doesn’t have long left.”
Jen places her hand over Bella’s, “Oh gosh, that’s awful. If there’s anything we can do?”
And suddenly, I want Jen to leave. We’re not a ‘we’. Me and Bella, we were a ‘we’, but not me and Jen.
I spend the rest of the meal in silence, thinking up ways to let Jen down easily, and when the bill arrives, I place my card on top of it. Bella adds some cash, and I glance her way. She shrugs, “I can cover my own food.”
“It was just a gesture,” I say. “Can’t a guy buy his ex some dinner?” I joke. Nobody laughs.
Bella smiles tightly, “To be an ex, we would have had to have been in a relationship.”
I give a stiff nod. “I’ll just pay this on the way out,” I mutter, grabbing the bill and my card. Bella slides the cash closer, and I sigh, taking it. Bella and Aria remain seated whilst the rest of us stand. JP waits a beat before frowning, “Aren’t you coming?”
“No, we’ll have another coffee for the road,” Aria says.
“Seriously, what’s going on?” he pushes.
“Christ, JP, stop suffocating me,” Aria snaps and he sighs heavily, before shrugging and heading for the exit.
“It was nice to see you,” I tell Bella. She gives a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and I follow after JP with Jen right behind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Aiden
I stare hard at the applications in front of me. The sound of Jenifer’s phone irritates me as she concentrates on the screen. It’s another reminder that she’s younger than me with an addiction to social media.
It’s been two weeks since I last saw Bella, which is two weeks since I decided to break up with Jen. It’s harder than I thought, and no amount of hinting is giving Jen the message. Because like the coward I am, I thought it would be better all-round if Jen dumped me. That way I could avoid Aria giving me the whole,‘I told you so’speech, and Iwouldn’t have the guys on my back, laughing because I’ve failed at dating.
“How come you’re not at the shop today?” I inquire.
“They closed for today, its Bella’s dad’s funeral,” she mutters, not bothering to look up from her phone.
“He died. Since when?” I ask.
“Don’t know,” she shrugs.“Jenifer, put the damn phone down. I’m trying to have a conversation with you.”
She sighs, dragging her attention to me. “I don’t know when he died, all I know is they told me the shop would be closed today because they were all going to the funeral to support Bella. JP and Raff went too,” she tells me, shrugging. I hate that everyone knew except for me. It’s another reminder I’m not a part of Bella’s life anymore.
“Did anyone happen to mention when Bella’s going back to Scotland?” Maybe I can arrange to meet her for dinner so we can clear the air properly.
“Straight after the funeral. Not surprising really, now she’s on countdown.”
“Countdown?”
She meets my eye. “Well, it can’t be long, can it? My sister looked like that right before she dropped it.”
I frown, “Dropped what?”
“The baby,” she says with a laugh, like I’m stupid.
“Baby?” I repeat, “What baby? Who’s having a baby.”
“Bella.”