Page 84 of Games We Play
“Why would I lie? You’re a silly girl, sunshine.”
Karlie giggled. “Turns out I have a young and hip mom after all. Who knew?”
“Hip? You think I’m hip?”
“Yeah! You’re doing what you want for a living, and you’re dating people who fly you First-Class to Chicago!”
Leah couldn’t help but frown. “Hate to break it to you, but I broke up with her today.”
“You did?”
“Yeah… it wasn’t going to work out. Turns out she’s married.”
“Ouch.” Karlie couldn’t help but laugh again. “We’re both having a day, huh? Is that why you came home so early?”
Leah patted her daughter’s head. “I’ll tell you about it later. I need to unpack and get settled in. Are you… going to be okay?”
“I think so. It’s a lot to process.”
“Well, if you have any questions, it’s best to ask me first. Let’s leave Mom out of it as much as we can.” Leah stopped in her daughter’s bedroom doorway, “She’s not a terrible person, though. She always made sure you were fed and clothed. You know she’s helping you to get as much financial aid for college, right? She knows way more about that than I do. I’m… well, I get by.”
“Leah?”
“Yeah?”
Karlie sighed. “Did you stay home this whole time to be with me?”
Leah offered her daughter a wan smile. “That may have been a part of it. As Mom kept telling me, I had responsibilities, but I did it because I wanted to, too.”
She left her daughter’s room before they could getmoresentimental. Besides, Leah had her own wounds to bandage, and that was best done in the privacy of her own room.
A great portion of you was developed in this room, Karlie.Leah had spent most of her pregnancy holed up in her room, listening to music that took her mind off things and writing stories that would never see the light of day. That was back before she had a phone or reliable access to the internet, too. Leah, her thoughts, and the baby growing inside of her. Every time Karlie asked to borrow CDs from the early 2000s, Leah couldn’t help but laugh that her Linkin’ Park habit had some effect on her sister.
Her daughter. She could officially call Karlie her daughter now.
Who knew turning thirty would be this exhausting?A whirlwind romance with a woman with more troubles than Leah could count. Her daughter finding out the truth about her birth. A grand end to any innocence she still had after giving birth at thirteen.
Leah fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow. She never took off the black pearls or the cashmere turtleneck. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she still smelled of Sloan’s cigarettes and the shame they both felt when Leah left Chicago.
Chapter 27
A second gin and tonic appeared before Sloan, who remained slumped at the bar, head in one hand and her phone in the other. Theoretically, the phone would be attached to her head while she either talked to Ayla or arranged more business meetings to make her current visit to California profitable.
Too bad she didn’t give a shit. She hadn’t given a shit about anything since Leah left Chicago two days ago.
“Fuck me,” she muttered to the bartender. The man cleaned out a glass and pretended to not hear her. “I’m the biggest idiot in the world.”
She was the only half-drunk asshole in the lounge, but she also couldn’t give a shit about that. Her meeting wasn’t until seven that evening, and by then she should be sobered up enough to talk about her impending divorce and separation from Giles & Sloan.
One of the messages on her phone was from the divorce lawyer she hired the week before. The plan was to tell Aaron about it once Leah was gone. Well! That certainly had happened! As soon as Leah was driven to O’Hare, Sloan marched into her husband’s office and told him to go to hell.
He had done enough to ruin her fucking life.
An excursion to California was necessary, though it feltwrongto be on the west coast and not finagling a way to see Leah.Stop thinking about her. She had every right to dump your damaged ass.This was what Sloan got for charging into a relationship long before she was ready.Like I’d ever be ready.
“Told you,” a voice behind Sloan said. “She’s in here getting sloshed.”
Was I supposed to meet you tonight? I don’t remember.Sloan attempted to turn in her stool, but it took both women standing behind her to help her sit upright again. She was only on her second gin, so why was she… ah, yes. Because she had beer for lunch and chased it down with a shot of tequila before coming to the lounge. It had been a miracle she looked the definition of sober when she sat down and ordered her first gin.
