Page 167 of The Baby Bargain
Skye's eyes turn down. She looks at me like she's terrified I'm going to spill.
But I'm not. I'd never. Even if I did, my brother wouldn't believe me.
I motionmy lips are sealed. "Don't mention—"
She nodsof course.
"That you, Ariel?" Forest calls from upstairs.
"Yeah," I call back. "Could you go back to the bathroom? I'm trying to convince Skye you're the worst."
His chuckle echoes through the house.
She bites her lip. "We can go to my parents’ place. Talk more."
I want to tell someone. I want to understand this. I want to understand myself. "I know he'll never love me but I still want him so badly."
Her eyes turn down.
"I'm guessing you don't have any advice on that front."
"If only." She offers me a hug.
I take it.
Then I head to my room before Forest can get any ideas about asking me questions.
* * *
Despite my best efforts,work fails to clear my head. My thoughts stay tuned to Chase. I can't concentrate enough to crunch numbers, much less tackle complex problems.
For a while, I grade undergrad assignments. It's easy, mindless work. But it only fills my brain for so long.
Thoughts of Chase creep in.
Student 11, Problem One. Wrong.
Am I falling in love with Chase?
Good show of work. Halfway to the answer. Calculation went wrong here. Circle in red.
Is he really hopeless?
Problem Two. Right.
There must be some way I can figure this out.
Problem Three. No answer. Problem four. No answer. See me after class.
I'm not giving up our mission. That's out of the question. Even if it means the agony of heartbreak.
I'm making this baby.
That's the baseline. The place where we start. From the premise that I'm continuing our meetings.
Student 12, right, right, right, right. Great work.
I breeze through the rest of the assignments. Pick up my cell. Tap a text to Chase.
