I wanted to laugh, but I wanted to cry, too.
“You told me once I didn’t believe in us enough.”
“You didn’t,” I accused him.
“Yeah, well now the shoe, I think, is on the other foot. It’s my job to convince you we can do this.”
“Do what?” I asked, exasperated. “All I want to know, is whether or not you want partial custody of my baby.”
“Our baby,” he said. Then he moved around the stroller, made another funny face at Danny, then ambled back to his lawn mower.
“Marc!” I shouted, over the roar of the engine. “Seriously, what is all of this about?”
“Sorry. Can’t hear you,” he shouted back. “Talk later?”
I stomped my foot in frustration, but I knew he was done talking.
Believe in us? There was no us. I’d ruined his life, and at some point he was going to realize that and hate me. The only thing we needed to figure out, was how he and I were going to raise Danny.
I pushed the stroller all the way home in a tizzy of anger, concern, and the one thing I didn’t want to feel. Because it was an emotion I was positive I’d buried, along with Ashleigh Landen.
But it was there. Like a damned beacon in the dark.
Hope.
* * *
Later that night
Ashleigh
My phone, sitting on the nightstand next to my bed, dinged. For several minutes, I stared at the ceiling and refused to look at it. As if ignoring it would make it go away. I normally left my phone in the kitchen to charge overnight, yet tonight, I’d purposefully gone to bed with it.
Another reminder ding and I caved.
Marc:You up?
Me:Yes. Can’t sleep. One guess why.
Marc:You keep thinking about me with my shirt off.
I gasped and shot up in bed. Had he really written that? Yes, I read it again. He’d written that. He’d written sexy talk into our conversation.
Furiously, I typed back.
Me:Ego much?
Marc:Just going by the facts. You couldn’t stop looking at me like you wanted to take a bite.
Me:I am a MOTHER!
While I realized that sort of made no sense, it felt important to remind him of that.
Marc:Yes, I know. You’re a mother because I fucked you hard in Vegas and came deep inside you. For the record, coming inside you felt amazing. Making babies is awesome.
Immediately, my cheeks flamed.
Me:Stop talking like that or I’m not replying to you anymore.
