Page 86 of Hungry Hearts

Avery snorts. “Dude. You’re anything but fine. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” all three women say.

“Fine. There was a girl. I liked her. We fucked. I’m done with her now. Moving on.”

“Are you though?” Ella cocks her head. “Moving on?”

“Sure. Hand me my phone and I’ll call up one of my fuck buddies.”

“Told ya.” Nora shakes her head and the other two let out sad sighs.

“Told them what?”

“That you’re not over her.”

“I just said I’d find another woman. Would I do that if I wasn’t over her?”

“So why haven’t you done that this past week?” Ella pats my knee.

“’Cause I didn’t feel like it.”

“Bullshit,” they all say again.

“Ry. Listen to yourself. Where’s your banter? Where’s the flirting with us? Where’s your charm?”

“Show me your tits, Aves, and I’ll show you my charm.” I wink at her, but other than a roll of her eyes, she doesn’t even react.

“Nice try,” Nora grunts from my left.

“Fine. Show me your tits, Nora the Explorer.”

“You’re going to be seeing a lot of them in a few weeks when Drake’s beast of a baby finally pops out.”

“I’m sure Drake will love that.”

“Drake’s loving how my sex hormones are in overdrive. Hey. Maybe that’s it.” She drops her feet to the floor and puts both hands on her lower back to help her sit forward. “You think all of Ryder’s sexy swagger genes have somehow filtered over to me and that’s why I need Drake three times a day?”

“Three times? No wonder he looks so tired,” Avery says.

“And happy,” Ella adds.

“Excuse me, but you ladies attack your men just as often,” Nora says in defense.

“Well, yeah.” Avery leans across me to talk to Nora. “But I’m not seven months pregnant. I’m surprised you have the energy.”

“How do you guys...” Ella does some weird shit with her body, laying back, tilting to the side, as if she’s trying to figure out sexual positions.

“I’m usually on top, but my favorite is when he bends me over.” Nora lets out a wishful sigh. “He loops his strong arms around me and holds my belly so it’s not weighing me down, and then he touches—”

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks for the pep talk.” I jump from the couch and head toward the kitchen. Talking about sex has never made me uncomfortable before. “Why don’t you three go home to your husbands, and I’ll call up one of my usuals.”

“Liar.” Avery snorts. “You don’t have ausual.”

She’s right, on both accounts. I have no desire to call anyone and the only usual in my life was Maia. Avery follows me into the kitchen and I stick my head in the fridge to avoid her.

“Ry. We’re worried. Nolan is worried. He said you won’t talk to him about this.”

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