Page 6 of The Opposite of Romance
“Mooom!” Asher almost tackles me when David drops them off on Sunday afternoon.
“Hi, honey. Did you have fun with yourdad?”
“It was fine.” He shrugs. “I like this house better.”
He doesn’t overthink his response, but I do. On one hand, I’m glad to hear he loves it here. On the other, I would hate for him to not like going to his dad’s. A knot forms in my stomach, guilt eating at me from the inside. This whole thing is a mess.
Liv gives me a half-hearted hug before disappearing to her room.
“Was everything ok?” I ask David.
On the outside, he looks just like the man I fell in love with, though a decade and a half older. Green eyes, well-dressed, with meticulously styled hair. Slightly taller than me, always taking care of his physique.
“Yes. Liv was a party pooper, but that’s not new. And Asher was all over the place, so same old.” It was supposed to be a joke, I guess, so I smile politely though I don’t find it funny.
Even talking to him drains me. After fights, and crying, and ultimately giving up—this fake normalcy is killing me. But we need to stay cool for the kids. Even though I want to scream at him. I want to tell him it’s his fault, that I just wanted to be loved. That I just wanted his attention.
But it’s too late.
I guess he notices my awkward silence because he decides to break it. “Anyway, see you on Friday.”
“See you,” I respond, and he’s gone.
Chapter Four
“Have a nice day, you two!”I yell after my kids as I drop them off at school. Olivia grumbles in response while Asher waves excitedly.
It’s going to be a good day today. I’m going to do some writing and hopefully have my deck sketched out.
This time, I’m looking put together with clean hair, a cute, flowery top, and skinny jeans as I sit down in my office chair. I don’t care what the kids say—skinny jeans will always beitfor me.
Just as I get the hang of it, a doorbell rings.
“What are you doing here?” I ask my sister when she steps into my house with her baby perched on her hip, her ash-blonde hair bobbing behind her.
“Well, aren’t you happy to see me?” She purses her lips in mock offense.
I roll my eyes. “Of course, I’m happy to see you. But I didn’t have the pleasure of being aware of your arrival.”
“I just needed to get out of the house for a bit.” She shrugs. “Besides, we need to figure out your whole dating thing. What are you up to?”
“Writing, finally.”
Her lips tip up. “Great, I’ll keep youcompany.”
My sister is not only my best friend and my personal assistant, she’s also the person I bounce my ideas off of. She helps me brainstorm when I get stuck and offers ridiculous suggestions that could only work in romance. She might not be an author, but she lives and breathes romance.
With her by my side and Stella peacefully sleeping, I get about two thousand words in, which is more than I wrote in a very long time.
Stella fusses in Sandy’s arms, so I pick her up to give her some well-deserved cuddles. Just as I’m blowing bubbles on her tiny baby belly, the doorbell rings again.
“It must be the deck guy. I need to let him in.” I get up from my comfy pink chair with Stella in tow.
Sandy has already stolen my chair. “I’ll reread what we wrote today.” She’s probably my biggest fan.
Making my way to the front door, I leave Sandy to read. I open the door to find Logan on the other side. “Thank you for coming so soon.”
His eyes land on the newborn baby on my chest and widen.
