Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
We collected around the table for dinner. It was spaghetti and fruit salad, and such a simple meal never tasted so good. I couldn’t wait to drive home and get Linc’s clothes off. It was a wild, reckless thought, but I let my convictions carry me away.
He seemed reserved, though I hardly noticed. He looked down at his plate or at Gina when they were in the middle of a conversation. When he did look at me, his eyes were cagey, as if he didn’t want me to throw myself at him. I ignored the implications. He was mine. I had won him through weeks of lunch dates and hand holding. That time in the back seat of my car proved that we were passionate about one another.
Linc and Gina seemed to be getting along better. He asked about her work, and she responded by venting about a new doctor on staff. “He doesn’t appreciate any of the nurses. He asks you to do things that aren’t in your job description, like changing sheets and mopping floors.”
“Sounds awful,” Linc commiserated.
“Some of them are just so full of themselves,” Gina said with a sigh.
“Do you ever think about quitting?” Linc asked.
“God, no.” She laughed. “We need the money.”
“How come you never got married?” Linc interrupted the quiet of the evening with an uncomfortable question. I watched as Porter turned to Gina, horror painted on his face. “I mean, if you guys get to poke your nose into my relationship with Aly, fair is fair.”
“Right,” Porter agreed. “I guess I can’t argue with that.”
“We just don’t think that we’re ready to get married,” Gina said hesitantly.
“But you have a child together,” Linc pointed out.
“If this was fifty years ago, yeah, we would have gotten married,” Porter said. “But we’re free to do what we want, and marriage just isn’t for us.”
“Why?” Linc wouldn’t let it drop.
Porter looked at his girlfriend, exasperated. “Marriage is a big commitment. It changes things.”
“So does a baby.”
“Linc,” I said, putting my hand over his. “Let it go.”
He finally looked at me and smiled in defeat. “Sorry.”
Porter rubbed a hand across his jaw. “I need a drink.”
Gina shot him a concerned look. “I’m sure Linc didn’t mean anything by it.”
Porter nodded, excusing himself from the table. I watched him go, wondering what had happened to our cozy meal. The rest of the evening passed awkwardly, until Linc and I excused ourselves to drive home.
“What was that all about?” I asked as soon as we had buckled up.
“What was what all about?” he asked, seeming to have forgotten his rude behavior.
“Why did you give them the third degree about marriage?”
He shrugged. “They’ve got a kid. Why aren’t they married?”
“Because they don’t want to be,” I said, defending my friends.
“But why not?” he pushed.
“I don’t know.” I backed out of the driveway and onto the street. “Some people don’t want to get married.”
“Do you?” He fixed me with a stare, shattering my blissful musings of only an hour before.
“I don’t know,” I sputtered. “Yes, I guess. Don’t you?”
He stared out the window, not answering.
“If you’re not interested in marriage, why did you give Gina and Porter such a hard time?”
“I don’t have a child,” he snapped.
“You’re being really rude.”
“How is it rude to ask if the guy who got my sister pregnant is going to marry her?” Linc demanded.
“Why are you so hung up on marriage right now?” I stomped down on the gas as soon as we hit the highway.
“I’m not hung up on marriage!” he snapped.
I fought the urge to pull over. An hour ago, I had been planning to take Linc back to my place and ravage him. Now I just wanted him out of my car. He was being unreasonable, and I didn’t know why.
“I was going to invite you to my place,” I said tightly.
“I would like to see your place,” he answered just as angrily.
“Fine,” I snapped. I wasn’t happy about the situation. For weeks now, Linc and I had been getting along, but now it seemed like he was walling himself off again. He had gotten a bee in his bonnet, and it was making him act strangely. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be around him, but I wasn’t willing to cast him aside either. I knew he would make a great father, whether or not we got married. And I was fairly certain that he would get over whatever was bothering him. Maybe he really was worried about Gina’s feelings. I had a hard time swallowing that. He hadn’t said two words to Gina when he first arrived home. He never once expressed any reservations about her relationship with Porter. It was weird, and it was throwing me off, and yet still, I couldn’t resist him. I wanted to take all my anger and confusion and work it out in the bedroom.