Page 85 of Until I Have You

When we arrive, the rest of the guests are already there, waiting for the welcome speeches and toasts.

Except I can’t seem to locate Theo.Which is for the best.I don’t need to spot him across the room and get a glimpse of his blue eyes, eyes that have haunted my dreams, sleeping and waking.

The longer I can keep my distance, the better.

“Drink?”Laney asks me, interlocking her arm in mine.

I give her a quick look.“I’d like one.Are you going to have one?”

“Yup,” she answers, without any fanfare.No baby yet, apparently.

We sashay over to the bar and order margaritas, because obviously.

As we wait for our drinks, I bump Laney with my hip.“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”She sighs.“I’m just ready to not be worrying about the whole baby thing.I just want to be pregnant and done with it.”

I laugh.“So romantic.”

“Trust me, it isnotromantic.The alarms I get when I’m ovulating alone have drained all the romance out of the situation.”

I’d think because she has double the men, double the fun.But I understand how frustrating it can be to want something and not get it.I’m still trying to ride the high from my fellowship opportunity.“Maybe you three need to go on a vacation.Up to the cabin?Relax.When you stop thinking about it, it’ll happen.I think.”

Laney smiles.“I think you might be right.I’ll tell them.”

“Great, then I can start having people place bets on if the baby will be blonde or tattooed.”

Laney cackles and grabs my arm.“You better not!”

The bartender puts the drinks on the bar for us.

Laney takes hers and tells me she’s going to find Nate and Mason to tell them about the trip idea.

I take my time, opening my clutch to grab a couple of dollars for the tip jar, then grab my margarita.When I turn around, I nearly walk straight into a wall of man.“Ah!”

The man touches my wrists first, steadying my grip on my drink.

I know his touch immediately.

Theo.

“Careful there,” he says.

I swallow, dare myself to look up at him.

He looks incredible.Better than the picture.Obviously.Because this is real life.“Theo!”I exclaim.“Good to…good to see you.”

Theo starts to smile, but holds back the wattage, glancing at my father beside him.“We were just grabbing a drink.Catching up about our holidays.”

I can’t look at my dad when he says with pride, “I was telling him about your research opportunity in Ireland coming up in March.”

“Oh, you were?That’s nice.”

“Yes, congratulations,” Theo says as if he wasn’t there when I received the news, like his mouth wasn’t literally on my pussy when I heard.“You must be very excited.”

“I am.Very.”

Our eyes lock.

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