I pull back and sniffle. “I did, I froze. I mean, I purposely didn’t eat anywhere last night to avoid food poisoning, but my stomach started to feel weird, and then my head just went somewhere else.”
“Hey.” Ford attempts to catch my eyes with his. “Doesn’t mean you failed. You had a great day yesterday, and I’m sure it’s just stress that has you thinking this way.”
I shake my head sadly. “It’s not. I didn’t test well today, and without the minimum score, I fail.”
“Shh.” He pulls me back into a tight hug. “Don’t think about it now. It’s over.”
“All of this work for nothing,” I vent. “I didn’t even get to finish the exam properly. I blanked, and my answers weren’t even relevant.”
“I’m sorry, I wish you didn’t feel this way. Come on, let’s lie down for a little bit.” Ford takes my hand in his and guides me to the bed. He lies down, and I follow his move, and he invites me to rest my head against his chest. It takes not even a second before his hands coast over my arms to ease me.
I sniffle again and feel dizzy from the array of emotions swirling inside of me.
“There is nothing you can do now except wait for the facts. Try and take your mind off it.”
“It’s really hard,” I say, my voice cracking. “I was so close, and now I’m still not there.”
Ford kisses my forehead, and his hand adjusts my hip so I’m hooked over his middle. “You’re still close. You can retake the exam.”
I scoff. “Yeah, in February.”
“Elle, it’s going to be okay.”
I muffle another cry and give up on talking about it. I don’twantto talk about it.
“I guess we have nothing to celebrate.” I hiccup through my cry.
Ford rolls me to my back, hovering over me with a burning gaze. “Everything will work out the way it needs to. Have faith in that.”
I nibble my bottom lip. “Hopefully.”
“I can think of other reasons to enjoy tonight together.” His long finger sneaks inside the buttons of my dress to caress my skin.
“I’m happy you’re here, I am. I had planned to surprise you on the bed with the lingerie from Piper’s boutique, but you arrived to a hot mess instead.” I must have mascara running, snot dripping from my nose, and my face is puffy for sure.
Ford trails kisses down my throat, taking every drop of sadness with him, his lips purposely following the path of my tears. “You’re beautiful as always, and we can just order room service and watch a movie. You feel a little warm, to be honest.” His hand starts to pat my forehead, checking for a temperature.
“Great, failed the bar and ruined our planned night of debauchery.”
He chuckles under his breath, plants a quick kiss on my lips, and gets up off the bed. “By all means, explicitly tell me every detail of what you had planned, but let me run you a bath first.”
“I like that ide—” I’m unable to finish my sentence as I feel the need to gag, and I sit up, only to confirm that I need to throw up.
I run to the bathroom and heave until my insides are emptied into the toilet. I don’t even notice my surroundings the next few minutes or that Ford followed and sits on the floor next to me, holding my hair and rubbing my back.
Flushing the toilet, I hang off the seat, slumped on the floor.
“This is the least romantic night we could have planned,” I groan.
“Elle, we’ve been here before. Remember? It was impossible to hide your pregnancy from your parents because of your morning sickness,” he remembers with a gentle wry smile, then he studies me for a second. “We’re not…”
“No, I’m not pregnant.” I had my period last week.
“Okay, how about I get that bath going?”
I nod once, unable to move much more.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m in the tub with Ford. He washes my back with a sponge while I try to relax. The pain in my stomach has returned, but this time it feels stabbing.
