Page 32 of Shameless
“Hey.” I cupped his cheeks, so he’d look at me again. “I know you have shit to deal with when you get home. I had a really good time with you this past week, and whatever happens, happens, okay?”
I tried to pretend I was cool with going our separate ways, but I also didn’t want him to go back to Houston and get back with Stacey even though they had more history together. Did people get back with their exes who left them at the altar? I didn’t even know how long they had been together before their wedding day. I knew nothing other than she left him, but there had to be a reason we were back in each other’s lives after all these years.
“I’ll call you when I get to my parents’, but text me when you get home, so I know you’re home safe.”
“I will.”
Blake pressed his lips to mine, a soft kiss that almost felt like a final goodbye.
Maybe it was.
Walking down the hall, I took the elevator to my floor and then made my way to my room. As soon as I used my key to unlock the door and pushed it open, all of my friends stood inside staring at me.
“What?” I raised a brow.
“Don’twhatus,” Amanda stated. “We want details.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head with an exasperated sigh. “You’re not getting details.”
“But you two hooked up?” Taylor asked.
There was no point in denying it. I hadn’t slept in my bed, and I was in the same clothes I had been wearing when I left for the boat trip. So, all I replied as I went to the bathroom for a shower was, “Three times.”
* * *
By the timeI walked into my apartment, I still didn’t have a text from Blake. He had asked me to text him, but I had hoped he would miss me so much that he had turned on his phone just to reply to me.
Wheeling my suitcase down the hall, I thought briefly about when I would come home to the house I used to live in with Trey. His dog, Brooklyn, a chocolate Labrador, would greet me with her tail wagging and always insisted on licking my face. She’d follow me down the hall and the sound of clicking nails on the hardwood would follow me. I shook my head to dispel the memory and pulled out my cell to send the text Blake had asked for.
Just made it home to my quiet apartment. I need a dog. What veterinarian doesn’t have a pet? LOL Anyway, hope you make it home soon too ?
But Blake never called or texted.
12
Stacey
“Ready?”Mom asked as I walked out of the bedroom I’d shared with Blake.
I nodded and looked around the apartment. Most everything was staying because it was the stuff he had when I met him. Only a few things were mine besides my clothes.
With one last look, I spotted the picture of me and Blake in San Francisco when his nephew Kyle was born. We were at Baker Beach, kissing with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. It was my favorite picture of us, so I grabbed it, put my key in its place, and then locked the door from the inside and shut it behind me.
The past few days had been stressful, to say the least. I had left Eddie’s place the day after I’d arrived, dressed in the clothes he’d lent me. It was crazy of me to go to his condo in the first place, but I hadn’t been thinking clearly. A part of me had hoped he would ask me to stay again, but he didn’t run after me as I walked out of his home like he had while I was dressed in my wedding dress. It was for the best because I needed to figure out what to do instead of running from the issue I was facing.
From Dallas, I’d driven to my Mom’s house in San Antonio because I didn’t know what else to do. It felt weird to go back to the apartment I shared with Blake even though he was in Mexico, and I needed more time to process everything. On the way to her place, I’d called Molly so she and Theo could meet me there for her car. Once I was at my Mom’s, I ate an entire quart of butter pecan ice cream for dinner while staying in my childhood room. I also made a doctor’s appointment the next day to see exactly how far along I was. I had to go by the 4thof July mishap as the date of conception and not anything related to Blake because of the whole not using a condom with Eddie thing.
As I looked up how to get a paternity test while pregnant, my stomach churned at the thought of a needle being stuck into my belly.
How was this my life?
Everything was bound to come crashing down since Istillloved two men.
13
Blake
The rideshare pulledup to my apartment, and I noticed Stacey’s car wasn’t in her parking spot. I’d turned on my phone to order the car, but hadn’t bothered to look at all the messages and voicemails blowing it up. If I were honest, I loved not being tethered to the world by my cell phone for the last few days. It felt as though I was free. But now I was home, and I knew it was time to face reality. Mexico had been the best time I’d had in a long time, and I had to thank Sarah for it. I wanted to turn on my phone and call her to hear her voice, but I knew I needed to deal with my shit first.
