“Annie, did you not hear what I said? I think it would be amazing to experience the pregnancy thing; I just don’t want the kid at the end of the experience. I’d love to feel a little life grow inside of me, but at the end of the nine months not have the sleepless nights, diapers, or restrictions.” She said all of this as though it were the most natural thing under the sun. “Plus, this way, I’d still get to be a part of the child’s life—like a godparent!”
Her exuberance was entertaining if nothing else. If I hadn’t adored her before tonight, I would now. I’d never take her up on the offer, but the fact she made it meant more than she would ever know. None of my lifelong friends had even thought about it, or if they had, they certainly hadn’t made the suggestion. But here was this woman who came into my life like a thief in the night, we had this uncanny connection, a bond that seemed to form the day we met, offering her body.
From the recesses of my mind, or really just the other side of the table, my vision cleared, and the tunnel allowed Dan to creep back into focus. He was staring at his girlfriend with unwavering attention and his jaw slightly unhinged.
“You don’t want children?” Dan asked Lissa. Evidently this topic had never come up, and I wondered if this was the best place to have it.
I had no clue if Dan wanted children or not. I just assumed everyone did because it was the natural progression of life.
Lissa tucked her copper-colored hair behind her ear, giving me a clear line of sight to her face as she turned to Dan. There was hesitation in her voice. She had just realized the same thing I had—she didn’t know if he wanted them or not, but she’d just laid her stance out on the table.
“I’m not bitten by that bug. I do better with freedom.”
He smiled before kissing her mouth. I could only assume he was in agreement, but he hadn’t confirmed that.
The busboy interrupted the conversation clearing our plates and trash. Brett used it as an excuse to end the discussion and move on.
“You guys ready to get out of here?”
“We heading back to Casa de la Ryann, or do you guys want to go down to Donnelly’s?” Dan asked.
The consensus was a low-key evening at the Ryann household. They would stop to get a Red Box, and we were off to get wine and beer. Brett sat quietly in the driver’s seat for a few minutes before putting the key in the ignition.
“What’s wrong, Brett?”
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but that whole conversation that took place was just weird. And I can’t shake the uncanniness of it all.”
“Tell me what?”
“Dan had a vasectomy about five years ago after a pregnancy scare with one of his random girls. Lissa couldn’t have said anything more perfect than confessing she didn’t want kids. He hasn’t ever wanted them, but part of the reason he’s never dated seriously was because it was always a hard limit for women. His parents used him as a pawn in their divorce, and because of that he’s never wanted to risk his own children going through the same.”
“He could just not get divorced.”
Brett glared at me as if to say I had missed the point. I got the point; I just couldn’t fathom it.
“That’s the reason he hasn’t proposed,” Brett admitted. “Don’t go get any ideas, and you better keep your mouth shut. Seriously, Annie. That’s between them.”
I scoffed at my naïve husband. “You’re such a guy. It is so not between them. It’s our job as their friends to help facilitate that happening.”
“It absolutely is not.” He finally put the key in the ignition as I giggled at his insistence. “Have you considered a surrogate?” He started the car like he’d just asked me if I wanted red or white wine at the store.
He put the car in reverse, his left hand on the steering wheel, and his right on the back of my seat before he looked over his shoulder to start backing out.
“No. Not once. Have you?” I was dumbfounded by how casually he approached the subject.
“What would it take for you to consider it?”
“Brett, do you have any idea the kind of legal hoops we’d have to jump through? Don’t get me wrong; I love Lissa, but what if she and Dan split up while she’s pregnant with our child?”
He nearly choked he laughed so hard, scaring me it was so abrupt. “Two minutes ago, you were marrying them off.”
“Two minutes ago, we weren’t talking about the possibility of Dan’s girlfriend carrying our baby for us.”
“I’m just saying if she was serious, it might be something we should strongly consider. Obviously, there would have to be lawyers involved to protect the child, us, and Lissa, but other than that, why would you be opposed? You want the baby to be ours—my DNA and yours. This would accomplish that and give us a work around.”
Brett wisely let it go when I didn’t respond. He rested his hand on my knee, and his thumb rubbed circles on my jeans while he drove. We stopped and picked up far more wine than I had originally intended. It had been years since I’d been drunk, but tonight I was tying one on.
The next morning, I remembered little of the night before, but I felt every sip of it. Holy crap my head was throbbing. As I peeked through the tiny slits between my eyelids, attempting to avoid the light of day, I rolled into a wall of Brett. I had no idea if everyone else felt the way I did, but I hoped for their sakes they had stayed sober. Cheap wine had not been good to me. When Brett groaned in pain, I realized my husband had followed me down a drunken path.
I couldn’t remember much about what we’d done after we got home last night other than started drinking. I knew they had put some movie on, but Lissa and I were yapping, and the wine flowed, and before I knew it, I had delved into stories about my past. Oh God, as bits and pieces came back to me, I wondered if Brett and I even still had friends and why my husband hadn’t left me.
His large hand found my hip and pulled me to him. “Do you feel as bad as I do?” he croaked with his head under the pillow.
“Worse. What were you thinking letting me drink like that?”
“Ugh, really?”
I cringed at the thought of asking my next question and feared the answer. “How bad did I get?”
The smell of sweat and beer stung my nostrils confirming I wasn’t the only one who had gone overboard. I braved the light of day when I opened my eyes completely to see Brett moving the pillow from his face.
“Let’s just say you and Lissa went tit for tat on war stories. I’m amazed either one of you will even speak to a member of the opposite sex. Luckily for me, you’re bound to me by law. Poor Dan, he’s just here on her good graces.”
“On a scale of one to ten, what all did I share?” I pushed away from Brett in an attempt to sit up and start to right my equilibrium. “By the way, you stink.”
“Twelve. And you don’t smell so hot yourself.”
I threw my weight back onto a pile of pillows near the headboard. The pads of my fingers did little to ease the pain in my temples. “I need a shower and coffee. Are you coming?” There was no way I was facing the fact that I might have alienated Brett’s best friend last night until I could function.
“Yeah. I’m right behind you. I’ll go start coffee. You start the shower.”
I didn’t envy Brett. His journey to the kitchen was a lot further than mine to the bathroom. That was love.
I rolled myself out of bed and didn’t throw up when I stood. My hand pressed to the wall accepting the support it offered. Each step felt like a dagger to my pounding head, and each pain brought a flash of memory…oh God, I’d cried about Gray. There were times I wondered why Brett loved me. Maybe he didn’t remember. My husband passed me going into the hall, and I managed to find my way into the bathroom without tossing my cookies or my legs giving out.
I pressed my cheek against the cool glass of the shower wall. The door popped open when I pulled the handle, and the suction let loose. I reached in, never removing my face from the cool embrace of the outside of the stall, to turn on the fauce
t. Standing on the tile, waiting for the water to heat, it dawned on me, there were no clothes for me to take off, and my lower region was awfully sore.
Brett walked in just after I stepped into the warm stream.
“Did you take advantage of me last night?”
“I don’t think it’s taking advantage when you beg me to fuck you like a porn star. Loudly. I could be wrong, but you’re my wife, and I honored your requests.” The devious grin on his face told me he’d encouraged me and whatever performance I’d put on last night. “Dan and Lissa found your show rather erotic.”
I jerked my head to meet his gaze. “Please tell me you’re joking. I did not do anything remotely sexual in front of them.” Mortified, my eyes were wide waiting on his response.
“Okay, but we promised each other we wouldn’t lie. So how about I just keep my mouth shut?” His stunning gold-flecked irises danced in amusement.
“You think this is funny?” A grin tugged at my lips watching Brett’s face. I was embarrassed, and he was enjoying it.
“Don’t worry. Uber showed up right after you mounted me on the couch, but you remained clothed at that point.”
“I hate you.”
He would mess with me until I either remembered what happened or someone else told me the truth. I never lost control, never threw caution to the wind—Brett would live in the moment as long as he could.
He pulled me into him, wrapping an arm around my waist. The hot water beat down on the two of us, and he nipped at my lips. His arousal brewed between us. “You could never hate me,” he said between kisses. His hands roamed over my skin in slow, lazy patterns.
“Brett Ryann, if you think you’re seducing me hung over, you have another think coming, buddy.”
The shower had done wonders for my attitude and how I felt. Instead of death hovering, I would endure a mild migraine for the remainder of the day that even coffee didn’t eliminate.
“What time is Lissa coming over?” Brett asked over toast at the breakfast table.
I had no idea how he ate anything. The bread was bland and still made me want to hurl. “I didn’t know she was.”
“Yeah, you guys made plans to go shopping.”
“You’re kidding, right? Because we both know I don’t shop. So why would you have ever let me commit to that?”
“I think it was code for brunch with mimosas.” The humor in his eyes almost made me giggle.
“Brett. I almost never drink. Why didn’t you thwart this plan? One day was a rarity—two in a row is like a unicorn.”
“It might actually help the hangover if you had another drink.”
My face scrunched up in confusion. He’d lost his mind.
“Remember I was in a fraternity. I know how to get over the next day.” Brett sipped his coffee and stared back at the newspaper in front of him. “Stop gawking at me, Annie. I’m serious. Get a greasy breakfast and have a Bloody Mary. You’ll be golden by lunch.”
I took his advice. I wasn’t going to feel any worse and even though I couldn’t remember the intimate details of the evening, last night’s festivities were making a fuzzy appearance in my memory. I needed to apologize to Lissa.
Lissa was just as much a lightweight as I was. She hadn’t bothered coming in when she honked in the driveway. I put on enormous sunglasses and a hoodie and met her at her car. When I got in, she lifted her dark shades to express her irritation with the day, and I burst out laughing.
“We’re two peas in a pod. I feel as bad as you look like you do.”
“I’d still be in bed if Dan hadn’t forced me to get up. He’s like some Herculean drinker or something. They drank just as much as we did, and Dan acts like it’s just another day. How was Brett?”
“Giving me advice on how to handle a hangover.” I rolled my eyes to express my irritation with my husband who had revived after a shower and measly cup of coffee. “He swears we need grease and another cocktail.”
“Holy crap, Dan, too. Do they share a brain?” She’d pulled out of my driveway and onto the street.
I didn’t know where we were going but trusted we’d agreed on something since she seemed to have a destination. “You haven’t figured that out yet? They’ve been friends since Jesus was a baby. Before I came along, they did everything together.”
Brett and Dan were amazing friends. Guys were just different with each other than girls were, but those two had a hint of a feminine relationship nestled inside their bond. Dan had been there every time Brett had ever needed him, and not just to take him out to bars or get him drunk. He truly sat down and hashed things out. They both did.
“I’m starting to. I guess it’s a good thing I like Brett, huh?”
I watched the smile play on her lips. It was obvious she was thinking about her relationship with Dan and how she might fit into our puzzle.
“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made it this far. Dan’s one of those guys who’s not going to give up his brother for a chick if you know what I mean?”
The silence hung in the air, but I assumed the two of us had the same headache and were making the best of it until we tried out the greasy food remedy. But Lissa had apparently been in thought, not just pain.
“Am I wasting my time, Annie?” She asked as she parked the car.
I unbuckled my seat belt and hopped out before I answered. Talking to her as I rounded the front of her SUV, I said, “What do you mean?”
Lissa exuded confidence on any given day. She was smart, vibrant, and extremely intelligent. Not once had I seen a sliver of doubt until that moment.
“With Dan. I’m not sure we’re heading toward the same goal.”
I walked past her as she held the door open to some quaint little place I’d never been to or even remembered seeing. I paused the conversation while the hostess sat us in a rather isolated booth. The waitress had come up right behind her to get our drink orders. We both opted for Mimosas instead of Bloody Mary’s and then settled back into our conversation.
“Why would you say that? Did something happen?” I asked as I tucked my napkin in my lap.
“Annie, Dan and I are both in our mid-thirties. Neither of us has ever married, and while Dan hasn’t wanted that, I have—I just dated the wrong guys to make it happen. And now I’m wondering if I’m doing it again. I seem to have invested another year of my life into someone who isn’t interested in anything other than exactly what we’re doing today.”
She fidgeted with the napkin, casting her eyes down in embarrassment, or sadness, I couldn’t tell which.
“Does Dan know you want to get married? I mean, have you guys actually talked about it?”
She nodded but didn’t look up. That wasn’t a good sign. That could only mean the conversation hadn’t gone the way she’d wanted it to, but I had to ask to be able to continue talking.
“And?”
“He kissed me on the temple as he got up and said ‘We’re good.’ What the hell does that even mean? We’re good? As in things are good the way they are? We’re on the same thought path? What?” Lissa wrung her hands on the table.
“I wish I could assuage your fears, but I don’t know anything more than you do. I’ve begged Brett for information, and all he tells me is guys don’t talk about that kind of thing.”
Our mimosas arrived, we placed our orders, and I sucked down half of my first drink before the waitress left the table. “Just keep ’em coming,” I said like an experienced lush before I turned my attention back to my table mate.
“Brett won’t tell me crap because he thinks I’ll tell you.” The lightbulb went off in my head as I finished the sentence. “Hey, Lissa? When did you and Dan talk about marriage last?”
“Last? It was only once, but I guess it’s been a few weeks. Why?” The quizzical look on her face made me want to hug her. She wanted something to cling to, desperately, and I hoped I wasn’t about to give her false hope.
“So not last night?”
The laughter made the words bounce
like a song as she said, “No way. I was too drunk to do anything other than spread my legs last night.”
This was exactly what Brett was talking about. If I told her the pronouncement she had made at dinner might have helped her case, then I was giving away information I wasn’t supposed to have, therefore proving Brett right. But if I didn’t tell her, she might have a breakdown thinking Dan doesn’t love her—or even worse a break-up.
“Do you love him?” I needed to reassure her without outing Brett.
“Of course.” She pulled her long, fiery hair into a ponytail, pulling it tight. “Why?”
“Then I think you should give him a little time. Remember, you’re the only girl Dan’s dated in the years I’ve known him. It might take him a little longer, but in the end, if he’s the right one, it’s worth waiting for.”
The disappointment was written on her face, but she didn’t complain or continue to wallow in pity. She’d hoped I had knowledge that would set her mind at ease, and while I probably did, I couldn’t share it with her and violate my husband’s confidence. I could, however, ride the crap out of him when I got home. If anyone could figure out Dan’s angle, it would be Brett.
Lissa and I spent the next two hours eating the most amazing brunch I’d ever had. She’d ordered for me, and when my bowl had arrived, I wasn’t sure what had just been set in front of me. Turned out, braised barbecue pork with peppers and onions, worked nicely on a bed of tater tots, with a fried egg on top. It was sinfully good. The mimosas accompanied it perfectly although I was wondering if we would need a ride home. Dan’s truck was still sitting in our driveway from where they’d called Uber last night. Leaving Lissa’s at the restaurant would make for a logistical nightmare.
She’d had more to drink than I had, but neither of us should get behind the wheel. Taking a deep breath, I called Brett to come bail us out.
“Hey, sweetheart.” His voice chimed through the line.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?
“Well, we took your advice on how to get rid of a hangover. And you were right, greasy food and more alcohol definitely did the trick.”
Freed (Bound Duet Book 2) Page 17