Page 18 of Pipe Dreams
“Yeah? Make it quick.” He’d been eyeing the door, watching for Lauren’s shapely legs.
“I have...”
There had been a long silence, and he’d been annoyed. “What?”
“Ovarian cancer,” she’d said in a big, breathy rush.
“What?” He didn’t think it was possible that she’d just used the word “cancer.” She wasn’t quite thirty.
“It’s bad, Mike,” she’d said quietly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Her tone made his gut turn sideways.
But even after that, it had taken another couple months for him to understand how it would all play out.
O’Doul was waiting for him to finish the story. But now he didn’t really feel like it. Too painful. “So, uh, nobody knew how sick Shelly was when I left Lauren.”
“Except for Lauren, right?” O’Doul asked.
He shook his head slowly.
O’Doul’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t tell her Shelly was terminal? That’s insane.”
“Is it? I had to take a wrecking ball to all our plans either way. I didn’t want to make her feel sorry for me.”
“You wanted her to... hate you instead?”
Yes. “Not exactly. But I had a choice—I could either be a martyr or an asshole. I thought it would be easier to get over the asshole than the martyr. And I wanted what was best for her.”
O’Doul lifted his fingertips to his temples and rubbed.“That’s complicated, man. Makes my head hurt just thinking about it.”
“Yeah? How do you think mine feels?”
“I can’t even imagine.”
He eyed the door at the front of the plane again. Still closed.
Shit.
SEVEN
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
MARCH 2014
Mike lay panting in his bed, limbs splayed all over Lauren. He braced himself on an elbow so he wouldn’t crush her, but he couldn’t bring himself to move any farther away from her very naked, very well-fucked body.
A half hour ago he’d come home from the season’s last big road trip. His suitcase was sitting just inside the bedroom door where he’d dropped it. On top of it rested a bunch of hydrangeas he’d picked up on his way home from LaGuardia.
He hadn’t let Lauren put them in water yet. He’d pounced on her for a preliminary round of fast, energetic sex. Even if his body was spent, he couldn’t stop admiring her beneath him. He pushed a lock of golden hair off her forehead and kissed the ivory skin he’d revealed. “What are you thinking about, baby?”
“Spreadsheets,” she answered quickly.
“What?” he yelped, rolling to the side, taking her body with him. “Jesus fuck. Am I slipping?Spreadsheets, after that?”
Her laugh was a giggle. “Can I explain myself before you get offended?”
“Go for it.” He cupped her perfect ass in his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze.
“I’ve been surfing the real estate listings in the city, right?”
