Page 26 of There Are No Words

Yeah, things were going to be okay. Trying to tell this to Brady, I explained, “No, it’s okay. It’ll blow over.”

“He seems upset,” he countered as my father walked away from the family and paced around the pool.

Bianca chuckled. “Not too bad, if you ask me.” She snuggled against Knox, and together they seemed amused by the whole thing.Assholes.I mean, sure, they’d gone through their own hell not long ago, but come on.

“Yeah, give him a few minutes, and it’ll be fine,” Perla agreed.

Maria stood. “I’ll get the lasagna from the oven where I’ve been keeping it warm.”

So maybe I’d been right in the car, and there was nothing to be nervous about. This could have gone a lot worse. All in all things were looking good on the tell-Dad front.

Chapter Ten

Brady

Why in theworld did anyone think it was a good idea to pick up a pregnancy book and buy it? I read the back of the cover and nowhere on it did it saywarning: this book may scare the living shit out of you. And it wasn’t just because of the detailed changes they described that a woman’s body, mind, and spirit would go through—which was a lot, by the way. Right off the bat, they practically wrote a eulogy for a woman’s feet. I mean, where were they going?

I flipped through the book regardless of my reservations. I was determined to be in this process with Allegra. Sure, I wasn’t carrying the baby, obviously, but there were other ways I could make myself useful, right?

I drank my coffee as I held the book open with my other hand. Irony was, I was simultaneously reading about what Allegra would have to refrain from while drinking caffeine. She didn’t care so much about coffee as she did tea.

I shifted in my seat, and it made a sound on the hardwood floor. I was at the kitchen table, waiting for Allegra to wake up and come out of her room. I’d made her breakfast—one that was good for her and our baby, as noted on page eighty-two. Yeah, this book was going to be my Bible until I learned everything there was to know.

“Hey, Brady!” Allegra called out.

I looked up and waited for her to make an appearance but nothing. “What’s up?” I hollered back.

“Want to know your horoscope today?”

I grinned. Allegra and her horoscope reading. It was her morning ritual, and sometimes she’d try to include me in it. I never did care to know what my day was going to hold, though. “Nah. Thanks, though.”

* * *

Allegra

I tossed my phone on my duvet and exhaled deeply, more than a little frustrated by my horoscope. I never went a morning without checking it, but some days were better than others when it came to what it said. Naturally. Today’s really raked at me, though. Maybe it was because there was so much truth to it. Although, I liked to pretend otherwise, like everything was all hunky-dory in my life. Here, read it for yourself:

You must accept that you cannot change certain things. If you feel lost and confused, then look within yourself and find the light that moves you. Float through the turbulent seas of unease, and you will find your way.

If I really analyzed it, the truth was, my horoscope could’ve been talking about anything. But I chose to think it was about work. It had to be. That was the only thing that was turbulent (read: stressful) these days.

Well, that and my personal life.

Okay, soonlywasn’t the right word.

Ugh. I needed tea, but since that wasn’t happening for another several months, I decided I’d have to find a new way to relax. Or increase the number of days a week I did yoga to a full seven.

Walking out of my room, I wasn’t sure what I’d expected to find. Brady, sure, but what he would be doing was alwaysa surprise. Today, he had his nose in some book—what’s he reading?—and his mouth on a mug, sipping coffee knowing him. It looked like he’d just shaved because he had no trace of stubble or a five o’clock shadow. He had a chiseled jaw, but not so much that it could cut glass. Even through his shirt I could see his defined muscles and wished things were different between us so that I could trace my tongue along each dip. I let my eyes roam all the way back down to his hands where the veins were bulging. He had long fingers and muscular hands. Geez, I’d bet those fingers were skillful, too. Why had I wanted to go hard and fast that night?

He seemed enthralled in whatever he was reading, but I couldn’t help myself—“Hey, when are you going to say yes to hearing your horoscope?” I asked, padding in the rest of the way to the kitchen so I was standing in front of him.

He grunted in response.

“You know, I don’t even know your birthday.” I had never wanted to get too personal with him. We were roommates, and I hadn’t wanted things to get complicated, so I didn’t know things like his birthday. What a joke that was, by the way. He’d been inside me, and now I was growing our child. Funny, ironic, horrible—not sure how you wanted to see it.

“Hmm. . .” Brady murmured. “What’d you say? I was reading.” He finally looked up.

“I noticed.”

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