Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,79
for me, and a dozen new outfits selected under Leigh’s supervisory eye. It was only once we were both convinced that Nick would eat his words about my “rough edges,” she’d relented and allowed us to leave.
After arriving home, we’d set up camp in Leigh’s side of the duplex for movie night. I knew how much she hated returning to Jersey for family events, so I’d plied with her with a few of her favorites: ribs, fries, and pineapple upside-down cake from the Donner Bakery. Now, plates of discarded animal carcass littered her king-sized bed. We’d just finished watching the latest superhero movie, both of us competing to gross the other out with all the kinky things we wanted to do to Superman.
She’d won after suggesting something complicated with beads and I’d drawn the line at letting his rod of steel anywhere near my back door.
Finally, Leigh decided she couldn’t delay anymore and lugged a carry-on container onto the foot of her bed. I watched her roll yoga pants and squish them into the suitcase.
I hated the tight set to her narrow shoulders and the grim purse to her mouth. I’d offered to go with her several times, tried to bully her into letting me support her, but she’d resisted all my efforts. It would kill me to drop her off the next morning, knowing how much family gatherings drained her. I’d have given anything to make it easier for her.
My mind had been busy with composing a plan to surprise her in Jersey a few days later, so her sudden question was totally out of left field.
“What are you . . .? What?” What had she just said?
“You heard me.” She didn’t look up as she crossed to her dresser and raided her underwear drawer. “The sweater is on the chair, next to you.”
I snatched her favorite cashmere sweater off the recliner next to her bed and fired it at her head. She ignored its impact, calmly rolling underwear into tiny balls.
“I’m a grown ass woman, and quite capable of managing my own birth control, thank you.”
She paused in her rolling and straightened to look at me. “You have an IUD, right? The expiration date on that thing still good?”
I looked for something else to throw at her. “Yes, and it’s still working just fine, thank you very much. Though I can’t imagine why you’d be asking about it.”
“It’s a valid question. I’m betting you haven’t had to think about birth control for a while now. This situation? Fertile ground for the ‘surprise baby’ trope in some of my favorite romance novels.” She winked at me. “Pun intended. But yes, this is the kind of question a woman in your position needs to think about.”
“‘A woman in my position?’ What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shook her head, fingers busy on the next pair of underwear. “You’re about to sex your ex, even though you know you shouldn’t.” She flicked an idle glance in my direction before continuing on to the next pair with lightning-quick fingers. “I understand. I’ve been there before, and God knows I’ve done it. You’re going to do it too, and you’ll regret it. But I guess you’ve got to get it out your system.”
I felt almost guilty, trotting out the lie that had to be wearing incredibly thin by now. “I’m with Jackson, you know that—”
“You are not with Jackson. I’m starting to wonder if you ever were. You’re my best friend and I live next door to you. You think I wouldn’t notice that dude’s never here? That you never go anywhere with him anymore? You’re not carrying on a torrid affair in your car. You don’t have the flexibility—”
“Hey.”
“—and I doubt Jackson gets off on dust as an aphrodisiac, so you’re not boning in that landfill of an office. Who are you even pretending for? What, for your parents?” She threw the last ball of underwear in the suitcase and aimed a frown at me. “How do you benefit from this little arrangement?”
“We both do. I don’t have to deal with the questions from my parents and everyone else around town about what I’m doing. Have I met a nice young man, aren’t I getting older, shouldn’t I be thinking about kids? Same for Jackson. His family is thrilled we’re ‘together.’ I can live my life in peace.”
“What’s wrong with just being honest and saying you’re content to be with yourself for now? Why can’t you just live your truth out loud?”