Page 29 of Entirely Yours
He nods, but he’s still engrossed in whatever he’s looking at on his phone. After another moment, he pockets it and takes a deep breath. “Alright so my—a girl I know, she’s good people… don’t tell her I said that. Anyway, she’ll be here in a bit to… uh…” He shrugs. “Check on you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Ben looks at me—really looks at me—and bends down like he does when he talks to Chloe. “I don’t doubt that. You’re a badass. But that’s also not really how we do things around here, okay? You don’t have to do it on your own anymore.”
With that, he stands back up and walks into his apartment without another word.
Twenty minutes later there’s a knock on the door. I had managed to drag myself to Dad’s La-Z-Boy—he’s still down at the studio, doing work that I should be doing—and turned on the TV in time to catch Fast Money onFamily Feud.
Chloe loves to open the door to strangers so I hop up quickly and race her there, flinging the door open to a gorgeous red-headed woman, her arms full of paper grocery sacks. “Scoot over, these are heavy,” she says, pushing her way past me into the apartment without introducing herself.
The bags are unceremoniously dumped on the counter before she reaches into one and pulls out a smaller paper bag. I still haven’t moved from the open door, so she walks over and gives me a curious look. “Here.” She hands me the bag.
I look down at it and then back up at her. “Sorry, who are you?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Did Benjamin not tell you I was coming over?” She sends a scathing look across the hall.
“H-he did! He did not tell me who you were, though. Just that you were ‘good people.’”
Surprise flickers across her face. “He said that?” Her perfectly sculpted auburn brow arches. She’s making me feel very subconscious about the fact that I can’t remember the last time I brushed my hair. “Whatever,” she continues. “I’m Cole. Collette, but people call me Cole. Do you want to…” She eyes the package in my hand.
I peer in and see a pregnancy test. What a fucking jump scare. I shove it back in Cole’s hands. “Nope.”
“Okay.” She shrugs. That’s it? She’s not going to push?
Right then, Chloe runs in. “I’m Chloe! I already have a best friend, but I like your hair so maybe you can replace him.”
“Is it Jules? He’s a pretty cool best friend.” Cole jumps straight into Chloe’s world without missing a beat.
“I like Jules… but Ben is my best friend.”
Cole gets a wicked glint in her eye. “Oh, love bug, not for long if I have anything to say about it.”
“Any mac and cheese in that bag? Chlo is pretty easily bought,” I chime in.
Cole rubs her hands together, beginning to unpack thegrocery sacks. “Not only do I have mac and cheese… I have the best kind of mac and cheese—shapes!”
Chloe’s jaw drops. “Mama never lets us get the shapes!” She drags a chair over to the counter to help Cole unpack.
I watch for a moment before I realize that this is actually an incredibly bizarre situation. I clear my throat. “Cole, um… Sorry this has just been a very overwhelming day. You really don’t have to do this.” But she’s already found a pot and started boiling water.
“Listen,” she starts. “Sassafras is a weird-ass place?—”
“Language!” Chloe calls.
“Right… a weird ‘bleep’ place, and the Bardots tend to be fairly persistent, but they are also some of the best people in the world. Benjamin excluded, of course.” She pauses. “Chloe and I are going to make ourFrozen-shaped, cheesy-pasta deliciousness. You go… do whatever you need to do.” She looks meaningfully at the test on the counter.
I chew on my lip. If I take it, it’s real. But maybe I’m wrong? I’m probably overreacting anyway. No way am I… That doesn’t accidentally happen to people twice, right? God, I should just take it.
It’ll be negative.
“Fine.” I grab the bag and walk into my bedroom to meet whatever fate awaits me.
I wake up the next morning, after getting a shitty night's sleep, to a mewing coming from somewhere in my house.
At least, I think it’s in my house. My head is pounding thanks to the aforementioned shitty sleep, so I have to physically drag myself out of bed to investigate. I pull on sweats and wander into the living room. I feel like I’m playing that hot or cold game you play as a kid.
Living room… colder.
