Page 40 of Score Her Heart

“She asked for a divorce,” I admitted.

My mom’s eyes softened. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.”

I cringed, knowing now I had to explain the next part to my mom. “But we’re not getting one. At least not yet.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What do you mean not yet? Aaron Michael Riley! Did you get Fiona pregnant already?”

My face went as white as a ghost. “What? No! We always use—” I cut myself off and shook my head. I was not getting into my sex life with my mom, that was for sure. “I think it’s too early to tell for that, but no. We agreed to give it a shot. I have a couple months to prove to her that this marriage is gonna work.”

I hid my hands behind my face but noticed she wasn’t saying anything. When I pulled my hands away from my face, my mom stared back at me with the most amused look I’d ever seen on her face. Then she tipped back her head and laughed like a hyena.

“Okay…” I trailed off, utterly confused.

Mom kept laughing until she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “I’m pretty sure I read a romance book with this same exact plot.”

I gave her a sour look. I didn’t even want to think about my mom reading romance books. Ew, gross. Nope, not going to think about that one at all. Moms don’t have sex, nope, never.

Mom leaned back in her chair and cocked her head at me. “So, I’m gonna ask you again,” she began. “Why did you marry Fiona?”

I ran a hand down my face and sighed in defeat. “Because I’m tired of the single life, and I think Fi and I could be really great together.”

“Aaron,” she warned sternly.

“Fine! It’s because I’m in love with her.”

Mom patted my hand. “There you go. Glad you finally admitted it.”

I looked at her dumbfounded. “You knew?”

“Since you were teens, but then you started going out with that one girl.” Mom looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember, but I knew.

Stacey Graves. Or better known as the biggest mistake of my life.

Fi and I had been fooling around a lot back then, but then she heard that Stacey really liked me. She encouraged me to ask her out, and since I thought Fi didn’t see me as anything more than a fuck buddy, I did. Stacey was nothing like Fi; she was dramatic and high-maintenance, but she was also hot, and I was a horny teenager. Fi had started dating the captain of the hockey team, Jackson. It may have caused him and me to not be friends anymore when I threatened to straight-up murder him if he messed around on her.

“Stacey! I didn’t like that girl.”

“I was a kid!” I protested.

“I know, baby. So are you gonna fight for your marriage or what?”

I shrugged. “I don’t even know how!”

My mom smiled widely at me. “Start by telling her how you feel.”

“What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

Mom shrugged. “Well, you won’t know if you don’t try.”

Chapter Thirteen

FIONA

I dropped down into a seat at a table in the coffee house in Rittenhouse Square, where I was meeting my agent, Brad. I didn’t know how I got so lucky to find a lit agent that was local to me. Brad had just moved back to Philly from NYC, and I was so glad because making the trip to get together with him could be tiresome. Also, he knew I didn’t like to leave my apartment.

I hadn’t told anyone in my literary circle about my busted up wedding day and had planned to hole myself up in Riley’s condo until I finished my book. But Brad saw my stories on Instagram and figured out quickly that I was not on my honeymoon. He basically harassed me into getting coffee with him. Plus, he knew I was procrastinating if I was on Instagram.

Riley had gotten in late last night, and then he had to go to morning skate before I woke up, so we kept missing each other. I remembered waking up last night to him, shifting into the bed and slinging his arm across my waist to hold me close, but otherwise, it felt like he was a ghost.