While I was shaking my tail on stage, they were making memories that would last a lifetime, and as the years pass, it’s getting harder to cope.
Whoever this Trista is, she probably feels the same way, but for a different reason.
Toxic:I understand, and if you ever need an ear, I’m here for you.
I stare at the phone a while longer, willing the toxic Star Wars lover to reply.
“Line it up!” Carl shouts, hands cupped around his mouth.
I throw my phone in my bag and shove it in a locker. There’s no point in obsessing over a woman I’m never going to meet. I need to look to the future. To someone who will be there for me through thick and thin.
A squeal of delight grabs my attention, and I look over to see Natasha throwing her arms around Slay.
Someone like that.
FIVE
Samantha
If only Icould have a drink. Or two. Heck, five would be better. Not that I’ve ever used alcohol to solve a problem like this before.
It’s almost ten, which means he’s up on stage right now, shaking that shapely rear.
Why did he have to be so damn attractive?
Pressing my eyes closed, I inhale a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do. I’ve never felt so alone. So wrapped in my own fear that I can hardly think straight.
My superpower has always been logic, yet it evades me now, when I need it most.
I know what it’s like growing up in a broken home. Sure, mine happened to be a multi-million dollar mansion, but that doesn’t mean I made it out unscathed. My own mother was forced from my life by my bitch of a stepmother, and my father let it happen.
I have to do better for…
My mind travels back to a time before I knew the sting of betrayal. To a woman so hauntingly beautiful, I was worried I’d never measure up to her.
You have to understand. I never wanted this…
In the many years that have passed since that day, I never understood why she said that to me, but I can’t think of that. Not right now.
Reading back over my messages with Toxic, I try to understand who he is, and what’s in his heart.
Everything, from his Chatter page to our private DMs tells me he’s a sunshine-y kind of guy.
Whereas I’m the very definition of grump.
Now that I know he’s not psychotic, there’s only one thing left to do: I have to tell him. I’d resisted doing so, but it’s not right for me to keep a secret this big from him.
He deserves to know he’s going to be a father.
I don’t imagine he’ll want to be a part of the baby’s life. Heck, we might never see each other again. But I won’t do to my child what was done to me.
Custody will never be an issue. I’m a successful businesswoman with enough money to raise ten kids, if I wanted to, and Toxic is an exotic dancer that dabbles in poker.
I could offer to drive to see him twice a month. It won’t be too much of a hardship, seeing as how I can work on the road.
What if he wants a relationship?
I chuckle to myself because my head can be so damn funny sometimes. I can’t remember the last time a man wanted to date me. It must have been almost a decade ago, and that’s impressive, seeing as how I’m only twenty-six.
