Page 60 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

I glare at him, my jaw clenching in response. “You ripped the only person I ever loved away from me tonight, Nicky. The last fucking thing we will ever be is friends. If anything, consider us worse for the wear.” I shove past him, slamming the door in my retreat.

CHAPTER 29

MAV

‘Til the fucking wheels fall off.

If there was ever anything I believed in life, it was when my girl made me that promise. The only thing I never imagined was it would be me sabotaging the axle.

Goodbye, my love.

***

JONSIE

Something’s wrong.

It’s been two weeks since the night with Tommy and I haven’t seen Mav once. He never showed up the next day to take me to see Daph at the hospital, though Nicky thankfully brought her home with him that afternoon.

The fact is, he’s avoiding me, and I don’t know why.

Texts have become basic one-word responses, while phone calls are next to nonexistent. This shit would make me unsettled under normal circumstances, but then throw in my pregnancy hormones and I’m downright fucking insane over it all.

My only saving grace at this point is Daphne, who I thank whatever God exists is still here with me at the house. Though her ribs and fingers are still tender, she’s healing up nicely, and I’m so fucking thankful her injuries were not worse.

Shit. It could have been so much worse.

Nicky won’t tell me a fucking thing about what happened to Tommy other than it’s been “handled,” and I certainly can’t ask Mav about shit like that through a text message. Rico explained about T and Tommy being brothers and who their father was, but that’s where his sharing of information ended as well.

Nicky lifted the lockdown. Any immediate threats seem to have been squashed. So why the fuck do I feel like things are falling apart even more now than before?

“You ready, babe?” Daphne enters my room, car keys in hand.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

Daphne offers me a kind smile as I scoop the water bottle and crackers from my desk. Morning sickness, my ass. This shit lasts all fucking day.

Today’s my first doctor’s appointment, and while I was hoping this was something I’d be doing with Mav, I’m not going to tell him he’s going to be a father via text message. Though if he keeps dodging me, I’m probably not going to have much of a choice.

“You think I need to bring anything?” I ask Daphne, my tone clearly plagued by nerves.

“I don’t think so, boo. Pretty sure they just need you and your carry-on.”

I snort, shuffling over to her where she wraps her arms around me. “It’s gonna be okay, J. Nicky’s been off too since that night. I’m certain some fairly dark shit went down after you all parted ways. I imagine they need some time to decompress from that.”

I offer her an agreeing nod, praying she’s right.

“And hey!” Her demeanor shifts, feigning excitement. “If you wait eleven more days, you can just ambush Mav with the news on his birthday and save yourself a gift!”

“Shut up,” I laugh, playfully shoving her off me. “Come on, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Fuck yeah!” She bounces in place. “Auntie Daph can’t wait to get a glimpse of my little peanut!”

“You think they’ll do that today?” I ask, somewhat shocked at how much that prospect excites me.

“I’m pretty sure,” she nods. “I mean, that’s what they do in the movies.”

“Oh, well then it must be true!” A chuckle escapes me as we exit the room.

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