Page 105 of Lie With Me

She laughs through her tears and nods. “Yes. Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you.”

Relief washes through me, and I gently press my lips to the corner of her mouth, careful not to hurt her busted lip. “I love you, too.”

Lenni

“Ican’t believe we’ve been friends for this long and never talked about any of this. I feel like maybe we could have helped each other figure it all out somehow if we’d just spoken about it sooner,” Ginny surmises from her spot on the couch, her hands running over the little bump that’s beginning to show in her belly.

A smile spreads across my face as I watch her do it. “Yeah, but if we had, things might have worked out differently for us, you know? Jackson was a huge part of your healing, just like I imagine Tripp will be for me.”

Over the last week, we’ve come clean to each other about our unfortunate pasts. Ginny’s job is a counselor, but instead of treating me like a patient, we swapped story for story and talked shit about all the people who wronged us. One day, she asked if I was happy that Momma and Petey were dead or if I’d rather them be locked away in prison like herfoster brother is, getting what he deserves at the hands of the prison thugs that Jackson pays handsomely.

It’s a question I honestly don’t know the answer to.

Curling my legs beneath me, I flex my fingers and stare at my ring. “Do you think we’re moving too fast?”

Ginny shakes her head, her red waves bouncing around her glowing cheeks. “You guys decided to have a long engagement. You’ll be fine.” She taps her fingers over her belly and flashes me a large grin. “We found out the gender.”

“Sothat’swhy you’re glowing today. Isn’t it too early for that?” I don’t know much about babies, but I thought I heard somewhere once that you have to wait until somewhere around four to five months.

“We got a blood test done.” She’s practically bouncing on the cushion at this point, which gives away the gender, because I know what she was most excited for. “IT’S A BOY!” she exclaims, throwing her hands up as she does a little wiggle.

“Whoo!” I shout, pulling her into a hug. “I’d make us a drink to celebrate, but…well…you know.”

“Can we make mocktails so I can at least pretend?” She laughs. “Jackson and I have been arguing over names for the last twenty-four hours. I miss champagne.”

“You mean he’s not just sayingwhatever you want, dear. Your every wish is my command.Is the honeymoon phase over?” I joke, getting up from my seat to seewhat we have. It’s barely been a week, but most of the welts on my back are just fading bruises now. I can lay on my back without it hurting, and my side without my cheek stinging. My lip still bothers me, though. It’s still sort of painful to touch, but the sutures are coming out tomorrow.

She follows me, sitting on a stool at the island while I open the fridge. “I want to name the baby after Scott and his father. But, Jackson said he’s starting a new generation of Tailors who won’t cheat on their wives, hire hit men to kill people when they don’t get what they want, or pretend to be people they aren’t to get close to the women they want to fuck.” She lists off on her fingers while I pour Sprite into two glasses.

“Uh-huh. Orange or berry? So, whatdoeshe want to name the baby?”

“Orange, please. He likes Benjamin. He said, ‘It’s a good, strong name that will carry the weight of the Tailor surname proudly.’” She does her best imitation of her husband with an eye roll, causing me to snort.

I dump a little orange juice into each glass and top them both off with fresh raspberries. Sliding one over to her, I clink my glass against hers. “Cheers to baby Benjamin Scott Simon Tailor.”

“You’re laughing, but that doesn’t sound bad,” Ginny muses before she takes a sip and sighs. “It’s not a mimosa, but it will do.” Her lips twitch to the side before she asks, “Have you given any more thought to checking into your fertility?”

Grabbing a straw from the drawer, I take a sipthrough the good side of my mouth while shaking my head. “Honestly, after everything that happened, I don’t think I want kids.”

Ginny reaches for my hand across the surface of the island. “That’s totally okay, Lenni.”

“Yeah, I just feel like maybe I should have told Tripp that before I agreed to marry him for real. It’s a pretty big decision–”

“And it’s not one that you have to run by me at all,” Tripp’s voice comes from across the room.

“Jesus Christ, you ninja. We didn’t even hear the door!” Ginny cries out as her head whips around to look at him.

His mossy gaze doesn’t leave mine as he sets his briefcase down and unbuttons his suit jacket. My cheeks warm under his stare, feeling woefully underdressed in my oversized sweater and flannel pajama shorts.

“If you don’t want kids, that isn’t a deal-breaker for me, Viv. I only want you. Besides, and not to make light of the decision, Ginny and Jackson will probably have more than one, and we’ll be the best aunt and uncle ever.” He loosens his tie before rolling his sleeves up slowly. “We’ll steal them for the weekend and feed them so much sugar it makes them sick before sending them back home so their parents can deal with them. How fun willthatbe?” His eyes finally leave mine and move to Ginny’s, glowing with mischief.

“That is so on-brand for you.” She looks between me and him before picking up her glass. “I’m justgonna finish this and get out of your way. You two look like you want to eat each other.” She chugs her drink and winces as she rubs her chest. “That’s gonna give me and baby B heartburn.”

“Baby B?” Tripp asks amusedly, rounding the corner of the island to wrap his arms around me and set his chin in the hollow of my shoulder.

Ginny gets off the stool and starts to gather her things. “Yeah, yeah, don’t tell Jackson I’m calling him that. I want him to think I’m gonna fight him on it for a little bit.”

“They found out it’s a boy?” he whispers in my ear.

---