“I’m sorry.” I grip her hands. “That you have to deal with this.”
“She’s really sweet.”
I nod. “She’s a nice person. At least she was. I’ve barely spoken to her since I came to Chicago. And I want you to know, and maybe you don’t care, but she was just some girl in college. It was a really fucked-up time for me. We went to the same school, and Decker was in college the next town over, and… I thought my brother and I were getting our relationship back on track, but…”
She looks at me and waits.
So I tell her the whole story—Decker, Penelope, and me. How messy and shitty that part of my life was.
Callie seems to understand better after she hears the story. “So you weren’t in love with her?”
I let out a somewhat caustic laugh. “Callie, I’ve never loved anyone.”
That flicker in her eye burns out, and her usual shine dulls. My gut twists because she was probably hoping I’d say I had loved someone before.
“I’ll love our baby though. I know that for certain.”
She gives me a sad sort of smile. “I know.” Then she kisses my cheek. “Thank you for telling me. Let’s go see our friends now.” She stands, putting my face level with her belly.
It’s growing, the swell becoming more pronounced. I want to put my hands on it as I always do, but this doesn’t seem like the right time.
“Just like that?” I ask.
She smiles and nods. “One for one?”
“Sure.”
“When I thought you slept with her last week, I was going to move out, and this whole thing was going to end. I have feelings about what you just told me of course, but I can’t be upset, Foster. I know there were women before me.”
Sure, there were women, but Penelope is really the only relationship I ever gave a go. But I keep that to myself, so she doesn’t think I’m too much of a screwup.
“And I really appreciate you wanting to make sure I wasn’t blindsided.” She briefly kisses me on the lips. “That’s what’s most important to me—you put my feelings ahead of your fear of telling me.”
“I was terrified this was all going to end.” I give her one last confession for the night.
“Well, no worries. Now let’s go celebrate your performance. You deserve it.” She takes my hands and urges me up off the couch.
Once I’m standing, I wrap my arms around her, holding her against me. “You’re really a rock star.”
She shakes her head and puts her hand on my chest. “You’re the rock star. Now come on.”
Then she slips out of my arms.
I want to tell her I want to stay here in the condo with her, that I want to be alone with her. But that’s something that couples do, and we aren’t one. It’s just hard to remember sometimes.
Chapter
Forty-Eight
Callie
* * *
A couple weeks later, my hand lands beside me on the shower wall, my fingers running along the steamy glass, needing something to anchor myself to. “Oh my god, Foster.”
“You have no idea how bad I wanted you all night.”
His head is buried in the crook of my neck, his cock deep inside me.
