Page 22 of The Infiniteness of Yesterday
He grins like somehow, he’s already won, though I had no idea this was any competition of sorts.
“We’ll start simple.” I blink at him, waiting for him to elaborate. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of asking. “Are you working tomorrow?” I shake my head. “Meet me at my house after I take Roe to school.”
I shake my head, knowing this is bound to be a bad idea.
“Okay.”
CHAPTER 8
HARLOW
Ipark my car in the paver driveway of the beautiful Spanish style beach home. It has an updated modern flair from the renovation Spencer did on it three years ago.
I close my eyes, remembering the day he bought this house and wanted to show me. It was shortly after we started sleeping together again and he pulled his fancy SUV into the driveway. Monroe was sleeping peacefully in the backseat.
“What do you think?” Spencer turned, his hand still braced on the steering wheel as he looked at me.
“What do you mean what do I think?” My tone was skeptical.
“Of the house.”
“It…” I paused, studying it. It was a beautiful home, a little run down and in need of some TLC, but I could see the potential. “It looks like what you’ve always wanted.”
Spencer always talked over the years about buying a home in Malibu. How he wanted to be able to walk out his backdoor, grab his surfboard, and hit the water.
He undid his seatbelt and climbed out. Standing in front of the car he motioned for me to get out as well.
“Come on,” he mouthed before plucking Monroe from her car seat and into his arms. She woke momentarily before pressing her face against his neck and falling back asleep.
Climbing from the SUV, I followed him to the front door where he pulled a key from his pocket. The wooden door swung open with a creak, revealing a vaulted ceiling entryway and grand staircase with beautiful old tile floors.
“You bought it already?” I asked, nodding at the key grasped in his hand.
He bit his lip nervously. “Um, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head with his hand that wasn’t supporting Roe. “I did.”
“That’s great. You’ll love it here.” My smile was genuine. This was exactly the kind of place I saw Spencer living. Sure, a tad bigger, but it was earthy and homier than some of the cold mansions dotting the surrounding area.
“Will you love it here?”
“Me?” I blurted. “Why would that matter?”
He tilted his head, looking at me in question. “I bought it for us.”
“Us?” I repeated, looking at him disbelief. “What do you mean?”
“You, me, and Roe. Isn’t it perfect?” He looked around with a grin. “It’ll be great as she grows up and we have more kids and?—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I slashed my hands through the air. “Spencer…” I paused, trying to figure out a way to deliver the blow nicely but coming up empty. “We’re not together.”
He looked at me like I was the crazy one. “Low, we’ve been back together for months now.”
I took a step away from him, closer to the door. Wrapping my arms around myself I shook my head. “No, Spencer we haven’t. At least not to me we haven’t.”
“I’ve been staying over at your place a lot,” he reasoned, counting it off on his finger, “we’ve been hanging out, doing things as a family, the sex?—”
“Spencer,” my voice cracked, “that’s all it’s been to me. Sex. And the family stuff, that’s been for Roe. She deserves to have some kind of normalcy with her mom and dad.”
“But…” He put his hands on his hips, biting his bottom lip. “You don’t see us as a couple?” The pain in his eyes is nearly too much for me to bear. I’ve never wanted to hurt him.
