case it was a deal breaker.
It wasn’t. “If it happens, it happens. If not…” He shrugged and squeezed me tighter.
I was all determined to break up with him, and now here we are, talking about love and our potential future children.
I’ve got whiplash.
“Maybe, in the far, far, far future, we can start with a dog,” I said in the name of compromise. “Or a cat. They’re also assholes, so I feel like we’re compatible.”
“Deal.”
“Tell me about your parents,” I ordered. “Quid pro quo.”
“You don’t have salsa to bribe me with.”
I cupped his face and moved closer until our lips were barely touching. Just a graze. But it was still enough to make my breath hitch before I pulled away. “Quid pro kiss.”
“Now who’s using sexual manipulation?”
“I learned it from watching you. Now spill.”
“They were amazing parents. My dad worked maintenance at the school where my mom was a nurse.”
“For some reason, I’d assumed they were tech geniuses like you.”
He chuckled. “You’re not the only one who never understood my techy whatnots. They didn’t even have a computer until I got interested in them. My dad worked a bunch of odd jobs to buy a used one for me.”
A pang of envy hit my chest. “What happened to them?”
“Coked up driver.”
My envy quickly morphed to rage. “Did the cokehead die in the crash, too?”
Bad karma or not, I hoped so.
He shook his head. “Barely a scratch. And since he was a rich asshole who could buy his way out, he got barely a slap on the wrist, too.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.” He pressed his lips to the side of my head. “But thank you.”
I jolted when there was a knock on the door—likely our Pho.
“My mom used to come up behind me and pull my hair or pinch my flab so hard, it’d bruise. It’s why I hate being startled,” I explained, something I’d never shared with anyone.
Even Aria didn’t know about the physical abuse, just the emotional stuff and the neglect.
“You sure she’s dead?”
At the unfettered fury in his expression, I knew if she weren’t, he’d make it so. That was a lot more romantic and moving than it should’ve been, but whatever.
It was what it was.
“I’m sure. I put dirty cat litter in her urn and everything.”
Alexander’s eyes went wide.
And then he threw his head back and laughed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nothing
Briar
For naps
THERE WAS NOTHING worse than a doctor’s office.
The color schemes. The outdated signage meant to be informative or inspirational. The cliché art, as if patients would look at them and magically forget where they were.
‘Wait, what? This is a doctor’s office? I thought it was The Louvre!’
All the small, frivolous decor in the world couldn’t camouflage the medical supplies, the stinging scent of antiseptic, or the heavy air of fear and desperation that clung to the building.
Following the nurse down the hall, we stopped at the cubicle for my vitals. She gestured for me to enter first. “Shoes off and step on the scale, please.” I did as she said, and she peered over my shoulder at the blinking number. She entered it into a laptop before making a small noise. “You’re down weight from your appointment last week.”
Because I’ve spent a week undergoing tests and then freaking out about said tests.
“I’ve been doing a lot of yoga,” I lied.
If I tried to downward dog, I’d downward face plant into a downward nap.
I wasn’t eating—despite Alexander’s attempts to ply me with his delicious cooking.
Or sleeping—despite Alexander’s attempts to wear me out with his cock.
Or doing much else other than freaking out—despite my own attempts at animal distractions, repeated mantras, TV binges, and memes.
She had me sit before wrapping the cuff around my arm to check my blood pressure. “Do you have a history of high blood pressure?”
Only when I’m potentially facing my mortality while surrounded by bad art and easy listening musac.
Or as I call it, hell.
“No, just nervous.”
“Understandable. Put your shoes back on and we’ll get you settled into a room.”
She waited until I was seated on the exam table, the paper crinkling loudly under my butt, before launching into the usual questions regarding medications, pain levels, and changes in my medical history, as if anything had changed in the week since I’d been there. I answered each question while silently willing her to hurry the hell up and put me out of my misery.
She didn’t.
Once she was done, the nurse let me know Dr. Elio would be right in and closed the door on her