Page 21 of Learn the Play
“Oh, he invited you last year, too, right?”
“He did.”
“When is it?”
Grabbing my phone, I pull up his message and hand it to her. She reads over the screen, and a slow smile tugs at her lips.
“We’re going to this. I’ll be your plus one.”
“What? No. No, we are not going. I don’t want to go and pretend to be the dutiful daughter to a man who left us.”
“We’ll be friendly, shake a few hands, smile, eat some good food, then post up and watch the eye candy.”
“Manda,” I groan.
“Please? For me? Besides, your dad’s been trying the best way he knows how to connect with you. I know you’re still angry with him, and I’d never tell you to forgive him, but he is your dad, and he’s trying. Even your mom said that you should have gone last year.”
“Ugh,” I groan because I know that she’s right. “Why do you want to go so badly?”
“The eye candy, of course.” She grins. “And I’d love to see my bestie be able to reconnect with her father.”
“I don’t want to go,” I whine.
“I’ll be there. We say hi, shake a few hands, and then we disappear into the crowd. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“Fine, we’ll go.”
She grins as she opens up my phone, and her fingers fly across the screen. The whooshing sound of a message being sent hits me as she hands me my phone.
Me: Amanda and I will be there.
He replies immediately.
Sperm Donor: Really? Oh, sweetheart, I’m glad. I can’t wait to see you.
“Fuck my life,” I mutter, before grabbing another piece of pizza. I might as well eat my feelings.
Chapter Seven
Reid
The sun is shining bright, and there’s laughter going on all around me. I smile when I’m supposed to, join in on conversations when appropriate, but after four very long weeks, I’m still thinking about her.
About Bellamy.
My dream girl.
At first, I thought my need for her stemmed from her walking away, but it’s more than that. Of course, I knew that all along. She made me feel, and that’s not something anyone before her has ever done. I was only trying to convince myself otherwise. Side note: It didn’t work.
“How’d you convince Natasha to let you have our little buddy for today?” Knox asks Baker, holding Camden’s hands as he stands on wobbly legs, bouncing up and down on his knees.
Baker scoffs. “She asked me. I was going to call her and ask her if I could have him just for today, but she beat me to it. There’s another shoot in Paris she just ‘had to go to.’ It’s not even her shoot. She just wants to be there,” he says, frustration in histone. “I don’t care, because it gives me more time with my son. She’s missing out on time we’ll never get back. I’m sadder for him than her, but thankfully, he’s young enough that he won’t remember. I worry that when he is, he’ll start to resent her.”
“You can’t worry about that,” Rowan, Landry’s wife, tells him. “You have to do what you can. Love him, never talk ill of her to him, and whatever happens, happens. You can’t make her want more time with him. Besides, he has us.” She nods to where Corie and her best friend, Sloane, are sitting across from her.
“Yeah, so hand him over.” Corie holds her arms out for Knox to pass Camden to her.
“We need to give Camden a baby cousin,” Knox answers, not handing the baby over to his wife.
