Page 100 of Jilted

I kissed Sloane and walked out of the glass examination room with the nurse.

“You’ll call me when she’s back?”

She smirked. “Yes, I will.”

“Alright. Take good care of her.”

Out in the lobby, I found Harry standing at the desk. I walked over and gave him the details. He pointed to the exit. “It sounds like she’s going to be a little while. Why don’t we get some fresh air? You’re looking a little green, son.”

“That sounds good.”

Outside, I bent over with my hands on my knees, gulping air.

Sloane’s dad smiled. “You care about her a lot. I can see by how worried you are.”

“I do. It was scary as hell finding her like that.”

He nodded. “Sloane’s mother, Lily, was diabetic. Only had a seizure once, but it was something I’ll never forget. Saw plenty of medical emergencies in my years on the job. It’s not the same when it’s someone you love.”

I blinked a few times. “Holy crap. I do love her.”

“You sound like you’re just figuring that out now.” Harry chuckled. “Haven’t you ever been in love before? I could have told you that two months ago, dumbass.”

27WILDER

TEN YEARS AGO

“Who the hell are all these women?” Andrew sat with me on the back deck of the new house I’d rented.

I shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. Whitney and I have been together for more than seven months, and I’ve never seen ninety percent of them. Yet she introduced them all as herbestie.”

“No offense, but there’s a lot of tits and ass spilling out in there. It looks more like the pregame for a night out clubbing in Miami than a baby shower. I don’t know where the hell to look when I’m inside without getting myself into trouble.”

I chuckled. “I know. Why do you think I’m out here with your ugly ass?”

My buddy held up a bottle of beer. “Made a batch of cosmos and poured it in here for old times’ sake. Got two shot glasses in my pocket, too. You in?”

“Definitely.”

He poured two overflowing shots and passed me one. “To tits and ass.”

I chuckled. “To having a healthy baby might be more appropriate. But yeah, let’s go with that.”

We sucked back the sweet shots, and Andrew gestured toward the house. “When my sister had her baby shower, the place was filled with aunts, moms, and grandmas. Half the guests were over fifty.”

I nodded. “My mom was going to come with my aunt Lena, but she wasn’t feeling up to traveling at the last minute.”

“How’s Charlotte doing?”

“She just started a second round of chemo, so not great. I’mgoing to visit next week before school starts back up and the baby comes.”

“I’m sorry, man. She’s too damn young to be sick. You got a lot on your plate right now.” He looked around the yard. “This place is nice. Big. Must be costing you a fortune to rent.”

I shrugged. “Whitney picked it out. I don’t know why we need four bedrooms when it’s just the two of us and a baby, but it made her happy.”

“Any of her family here?”

I shook my head. “Her parents are divorced. Her dad’s sick, and her mom lives in New Jersey. She said it was too far of a drive for a baby shower.”

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