Page 48 of Craving Francesca

“It costs nothing to be polite.” I threw his words back at him.

“Touché.”

“I’m sorry I called you,” I said as I squeezed lemon on my fish. “You were the first person I thought of.”

“Not Myla or Lou?” he asked curiously, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

“I didn’t tell them I had an appointment,” I confessed.

“You think they’d judge you?”

I jolted in my seat at his tone and turned to look at him. “How did you know?”

“At the same clinic a couple weeks ago. Came out lookin’ like shit. Called me to pick you up today, didn’t drive yourself, and came out lookin’ even worse than the first time.”

He was too perceptive. “I don’t think they’d judge me.”

“Then why didn’t you tell them?”

“I didn’t want them to baby me,” I murmured, going back to my food.

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t want to make it a big thing,” I replied, taking a bite. I shook my head. “I’m not broken or upset or whatever. I just wanted to be done with it.”

“I can understand that,” he said quietly.

“I probably should’ve said something,” I muttered around the food in my mouth. “I’ll tell them at some point.”

“You should.”

We ate our food quietly, and I held back a groan as my stomach cramped. Pulling out the ibuprofen in my purse, I poured three out and took them with my iced tea.

“Sore?” he asked, crumpling his wrappers up into a ball.

“Just crampy. They said it would happen.”

Gray threw his door open and reached for my empty containers as I held back a wince. As soon as he’d stepped away from the car, I listed to the side and thumped my head against the cool window. The cramping was perfectly normal. Everything was fine. There was no reason to worry about it.

I’d opted for the in-office procedure instead of the pill because I’d been too afraid that something would go wrong, and I wouldn’t know it. The fear was irrational, and the doctor had assured me that the pill was highly effective and safe, but I’d felt more comfortable having a doctor take care of the procedure. She’d finished in less than ten minutes what would’ve taken up to twenty-four hours if I’d done it at home.

I let out a slow breath, pressing my purse tightly against my stomach.

“You doin’ okay?” Gray asked as he got back inside the car.

“Yeah. Ready to lie down, though.”

“Let’s get you home,” he said gently.

We drove to my house in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. Being around Gray was soothing, if I ignored how attracted to him I still was. There were no pretenses, what you saw was what you got with him, and he never said anything that he didn’t mean.

I straightened in my seat as we pulled onto my street, and my breath caught in my throat when I realized that Lou’s car was parked next to the Tahoe. She shouldn’t have been home for hours still. I held my breath as I frantically searched through my purse for my phone.

“What’s wrong?” Gray asked, slowing the car.

Lou had texted me half an hour before.

The Tahoe’s here. Where are you?

---