Page 126 of Fluke
“And I have an idea. I’m going to text you in a little bit because I have to find the name of it, but I think your dad got it at Brinkmann’s in Sunnydale.” She laughs. “I had to quit using it because he drove me nuts. He’d start in before I got out of bed and, I love the man, but enough. I get it.”
“Do I want to know what this is? Because I love your love with Dad but I don’t need details, you know?”
She starts to speak when a sound rustles from the kitchen. We look over to see Banks grabbing the chip box off the counter.
“Love you, Mommy,” he says, slipping down the hallway. The back door pops closed.
I chuckle as Mom shakes her head.
“You know,” she says, going back to whatever she was doing when I walked in. “Maybe not having kids is a good choice.”
I laugh, give her a wave, and head home.
* * *
Pippa
“More, more, more—stop.” Kerissa bends down to her wineglass and slurps the top down so it doesn’t spill. “It’s been a day. A week, really.”
“What’s going on?”
I haven’t said a word to Kerissa about Jess. She’s been such a good friend and listened to my work drama for the past few weeks. I’ve dominated the conversations.
It’s time I repay the favor.
“On Tuesday, so two days ago, John told me he wanted to be with me seriously,” she says.
I pull my brows together. “Who is John?”
She takes a long drink, downing nearly half the glass. “The mayor.”
“Oh. I don’t think you’ve ever said his first name in this context. Anyway, proceed.”
She curls her feet beneath her. “He’s all like—I’m transferring you out of my office so we can be together. I really see a future for us. We just click.” She lowers her chin. “Look, I know men can be full of shit, and I’ve played my fair number of games with them right back. But I believed this fucker.”
Oh no. I grab the wine bottle and top it off.
“Thanks.” She takes another sip. “So on Wednesday, yesterday, he takes me out to dinner in Lakely. Wined, dined and sixty-nine’d me.”
I choke on my drink.
She pats me on the back as I sputter. “There’s no better way to put it.”
“Noted.” I hold a hand to my chest and gasp until it doesn’t burn to breathe anymore. “Keep going.”
“I slept at his house last night. I left my fucking toothbrush there because, by all accounts, we were going to replay the last part of our night again tonight.”
I nod, not wanting to imagine that visual.
“Then I get to the office today and get a text that says something like, ‘Hey, it’s been great but I’m getting back with my ex-wife so we need to cool things.”
My jaw drops. “What? Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m serious.” Her eyes narrow. “I hadn’t been out of his bed forthree, maybe four hours, Pip. And he went from jizzing all over my face to getting back together with his ex-wife. What the fuck?”
I lean back and give her room to process. It’s obvious she hasn’t done that yet.
This won’t permanently damage Kerissa. Guys are a dime a dozen to her. But she’ll still need to wrap her brain around what happened and conclude he’s a dick.
