He finishes his task, and then he looks up at me. “What’s going on?”
“Can Jack and I stay with you for a few days?”
His brows dip. “What happened?”
“Ainsley and I are fighting. I just want to give her some space. Maybe a few days off while we figure this out.”
“Let me check with Des, but I don’t see why that would be a problem. She’s in her momming era and would probably love having an extra boy around who can make faces at Jake.”
“I realize it’s a lot to ask her to take on watching Jack, so don’t feel obliga—”
He holds up a hand to interrupt me. “She’ll love it. I’ll text her now.”
“Thanks, man,” I say. “You’re a good friend.”
“Don’t you forget it.” His eyes are on his phone as he texts his wife, and it feels like I’m finally taking control of this situation…even if it means I’m pulling further away from Ainsley first.
CHAPTER 46: Ainsley Bradley
Playdate
Desi Nash:Hey, you around to come over here for a playdate today?
Dex never came home last night.
I have no idea where he was all night. No idea if he was with another woman, or if he was out making stupid decisions, or any one of a million other horrible things that have run through my mind today, but there aren’t any headlines with his name in them this morning, so at least he was discreet with whatever he did.
I don’t have any other plans, and I need to get out of this penthouse before I go crazy…even though my senses are tingling at the timing of Desi’s invitation.
Me:Yes, and we’d love to.
Desi:Great! Jake is usually up from his morning nap by 11 and goes back down by 3. Does that window work for you?
Me:Sure! Jack gets up around 11:30, so we’ll come by around noon. I can bring lunch!
Desi:You don’t have to do that! I have an entire salad bar in my fridge from meal prepping. We can just dig into that.
Me:Sounds perfect. See you at noon!
I project an enthusiasm with my exclamation points that I don’t really feel in my heart.
I’m excited for a playdate, sure. But it’s forhiskid with the wife of one ofhisfriends.
My entire life in this town is so entwined with who he is that it’s barely been twelve hours since I took off that ring, and I’m already struggling to figure out where the hell I might land in all of this.
How do I even stay here in this town where so much of who I am is wrapped up in him? And furthermore, how do I film the reunion show in three weeks when the whole point of Dex even bringing up a fake marriage was so I’d have something to throw in Jordan’s face?
I guess we need to have a conversation about what this means going forward. We’re supposed to attend a charity event in a couple weeks, for example. Are we still going to that?
It shouldn’t be this hard. I shouldn’t be this sad.
None of this feels right, to be honest. We haven’t been together long enough for me to feel this broken. And yet, somehow…I do.
Jack is up, so I feed him his breakfast, and we take a nice walk to the park. We walk back home, and I assume I won’t hear from Dex until after practice at the earliest. And then I’ll hit him with all my questions, starting with the most important one: Are we still faking this marriage in public?
After Jack’s nap, I feed him lunch before I pack him up in the car and we head to Desi’s.
I ring the bell, and her brows pinch together when she spots me standing on the other side of the door.
