Page 93 of While You're There
“Hi, you,” she replied, too sleepy to say anything else.
“Are you already in bed?” he asked, loosening his tie and undoing the top two buttons of his shirt. He must have propped his phone up in the kitchen because she could see him moving between the sink and the stove. His hair was slightly disheveled, like he’d been running his hand through it over and over again today.
“I am.” She yawned. “I’m so damn tired. And bloated. And full. So damn full.” She smirked to herself as she thought about all the food she ate during Fielding’s ridiculous valley cruise. There’d been no weed involved, yet they had both stuffed their faces like they had the most insatiable munchies.
“Tell me about your day,” he prompted as he washed his hands at the sink. She knew she didn’t have his full attention, but at least she could see him on the screen. She sighed and rolled over, trying once again to find a position that was comfortable. Between the back ache and the cramping and the bruises on her torso, something seemed to hurt regardless of how she lay, so she’d just been rolling from her back to each side and back again for the last hour.
“Lia took me to my appointment this morning.” She yawned again. It wasn’t even ten, but she knew she’d be out as soon as they got off the phone. “They did another ultrasound, and the doctor said everything looked great. There are lots of follicles close to being in the ideal range, and some smaller ones that might be big enough by Friday, so that increases our chances of getting a lot of eggs.” She paused, not sure exactly what she was expecting him to say or ask next, but he stayed quiet.
“Anyways, everything is all set, so now we just wait. I’m super bloated, and I’m not supposed to do anything active, so it was a lazy day for me. I sent a few thank you notes for some late wedding gifts that showed up the other day, then I hung out with Field this afternoon. I came home for dinner and ended up watching four episodes of some weird survival show with my dad. I had to do the trigger shot tonight, which was somehow both the hardest and the easiest one, probably because I knew it was the last.”
“You hung out with Fielding today?”
Thatwas his first follow up question? Really?
On any other night, she would have let it slide. She would have brushed off the question, eager to keep the peace and not reignite their old fight. What did he think he was going to accomplish by picking a fight about Fielding anyways?
But tonight, she was tired and felt like shit. It shouldn’t be her job to play peacekeeper by constantly skirting around his insecurities. Tonight, she wasn’t willing to dismiss it.
“That’s all you care about after everything I just said?” she snapped. “Yes, Rhett. I hung out with Fielding today. I also hung out with Lia this morning. I saw your mom for a little bit this afternoon, and I spent time with my dad after dinner. Oh! I almost forgot! I made eye contact with the kid working at the ice cream shop, and I smiled and said thank you to the woman who sold me a big bag of kettle corn.”
“Tori…” he reprimanded on an exhale. Rhett side-eyed her through the phone, but screw that. He was the one who was preoccupied and only half-interested in everything she had to say until she had mentioned her friend.
“No. Don’t ‘Tori’ me. You don’t get to be annoyed about who I hang out with or what I choose to do while you’re there. We all get to choose our own priorities, Everhett. You could have been here today.Youcould have taken me to the ultrasound, then to get ice cream. You could have helped me with that huge-ass trigger shot and then just stayed until the procedure on Friday. I wasn’t supposed to do this alone, yet here I am, and there you are. You chose your priorities, so now you don’t get to be pissy that I want to hang out with my friends and distract myself from this fucking nightmare that’s apparently just another line item on your to-do list.”
She didn’t even know where all her anger was coming from, but once she started spewing it, she couldn’t stop.
Rhett puffed out his cheeks and blew out a long breath as he picked up the phone, bringing it eye level. “I had to be at the office most of this week, V. You know that. We talked about it. You said you understood. I’ll be home tomorrow ni…”
“You had no problem dropping everything and rearranging your schedule for Chandler.”
Hot tears erupted along with the jab. It was a low blow—she regretted saying it before she finished speaking the words—but she said what she said. And now it was out there.
When he didn’t respond, she doubled down. She hated that she knew exactly what to say and where to strike to drive her point home and hit him hardest.
“Honestly, Rhett? You can stop pretending we’re in this together. I’ve done everything alone over the last few weeks, which is ironic, given your incessant insistence that you’d be here to support me. The farce that we’re in this together is just insulting at this point. If you’re too busy for me, don’t even bother coming home tomorrow.”
She ended the call before the pain finished registering on his face.
Chapter thirty-eight
Rhett
Hedidn’tknowwherehe was supposed to be going, because Tori still hadn’t answered his texts. He’d made it home to Ohio as planned. He had completely cleared his schedule and set an out of office message before leaving Virginia. Quinn knew not to call or text him unless it was a true emergency. He’d even gone as far to let his granddad know he wouldn’t be available starting tonight. Everything was all set so he could focus on Tori.
She was his priority. She needed his full attention this weekend, and she deserved all of him, without distraction or reservation. They had a lot to talk about. He had so much to make up for. But they had three full days to be together, and he was determined to show her how important she was to him. How much he needed her. How much he loved her. This weekend was his best shot at making up for every shitty choice he’d made over the last few weeks. This weekend would be a turning point.
He hit the turn signal on the M3 and crossed over three lanes of empty highway. The car Jake had loaned him may have been twenty years old, but it still drove like a dream.
He pulled out his phone again, checking for the third time that it was really off airplane mode. He still hadn’t heard from her, so he used the talk-to-text feature to send another message.
Ev: Hey beautiful. I’m just getting off Route 8. Where are you right now? Are we meeting at my house or yours?
He focused on the road and all the familiar scenery whizzing by as he waited for her response. Tomorrow was the first official day of summer. Everything that had been in bloom over the last few months was lush and green. There was that earthy smell in the air as he approached the main intersection in Hampton with the windows down, Oasis crooning through the speakers.
He was sitting at the stop light in the middle of downtown when Tori’s response came through.
V: I’m not home right now, but I won’t be out too late since I have to be up early tomorrow. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. You can sleep over or just pick me up in the morning… your call.
