Page 57 of Undeniable

Amanda: How’s baby Shepherd? Have you started to feel him kick yet?

Josh: HIM?!

Devon: Whoa, wait. Did I miss something?

Luke: No, you haven’t. Aunt Amanda just swears it’s a boy.

Hazel: We’re actually not finding out the sex beforehand. We want to be surprised!

Reed: So no “gender” reveal party?

Hazel: Hell no. Those things make me gag.

Devon: Ditto.

I quietly chuckled at their back-and-forth and added my two cents.

Me: Those parties are awful. Why are we celebrating what genitals a kid is born with?

Everyone responded immediately and in total agreement.

Hazel: How’s it going in Willowwood?

Reed: Have you killed each other yet?

Suppressing my groan was difficult and part of me wanted to lie and tell them that everything was going great, but I knew they wouldn’t believe it. They’d all given me a hard time at one point or another about trying to be nicer or at least less of an ass. And I had tried for the most part. Or I had earlier in the day.

Josh: It’s a flaming pile of shit, isn’t it?

Me: The drive was actually really great. Then I figured out she was nearly engaged to one of my oldest friends. That really fucked it all up. We both spent the rest of the day ignoring each other.

Their responses were immediate, varied, and exactly what I expected.

Luke: You’re telling me she had a life after you? Wow, whatta shocker.

Josh: How’d you find out?

Amanda: What did you say to her?

Hazel: Ugh, James, I like her! Fix it!

Devon: I’m with Hazel.

Me: I wasn’t surprised that she had a life after me. I was surprised that it was with him and that she didn’t tell me.

They all responded similarly to Hazel, telling me to hurry and fix it and stop being a dick. But it was Devon’s response, followed by Amanda’s, that made me grit my teeth.

Devon: If it upset you that much maybe you should do something about it.

Amanda: And talk to her. Shutting her out isn’t going to help anything.

But I wasn’t prepared to take any of their advice. So, instead, I drank.

TWENTY

Ivy

It waseasy to find a front-row parking spot in downtown Willowwood when it was two in the morning.

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