Well, maybe a little.
Not with him exactly. I’m frustrated that our lives are so misaligned I can’t even share one meal with my boyfriend for the entire fucking week. And now he’s in Iowa.
Again, not his fault.
I have a sneaking suspicion I’m pissed at my dad, but it’s not like he can help it. His entire focus is always about getting the team to the playoffs. That’s just who he is. Wanting to change this about him is like hoping to blow over a brick wall with my breath—pointless. My mom has complained about his tunnel vision since I was a child. There’s no changing Coach.
Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about the demands he makes on his players.
A knock on the door makes me startle. I look at Marley in her bouncer. “Are you expecting someone?”
I laugh to myself. This is my life. I talk to my five-week-old infant.
When I look through the peephole, I can’t keep in my gasp of surprise.
Abigail.
I open the door. “Hey. How’s it going?” I haven’t seen her around much since my baby shower, which she reluctantly attended. I was hoping to introduce her around so she could make some friends.
She gives me a hesitant smile. “I’m okay. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” I wave around at the tornado that has exploded in my living room. “Please ignore the mess. I swear this room was clean two days ago. Then… I don’t know what happened.”
Actually, I do know. Billy left and I fell into a funk and wanted to wallow.
Which is really fucking sad.
I’m the girl who gets depressed when her boyfriend goes out of town.
That’s just great.
I promise myself to get my ass in gear. As soon as the Iowa game is over.
After I move a pile of clean laundry off the couch, Abigail and I sit down.
“I brought something for the baby.” She hands me a small gift bag.
“That’s so sweet of you.” I dig under the decorative tissue paper and pull out a little sundress that’s going to look adorable on Marley in the spring. “This is beautiful, Abigail. Thank you for thinking of her. I’ve been meaning to tell you she loves that blanket you gave us at the baby shower. I always use it to snuggle her after her baths.”
Abigail, who’s sitting at the very edge of my couch, wrings her hands. “I’m sorry I dropped by unannounced. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I want you to know how touched I am that you would get Marley something and that you came to our shower.”
Her eyes turn red, and she sniffles. “Is it sad that the only friend I have here is the girl my boyfriend cheated on me with?”
My stomach knots. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, please don’t apologize anymore. I wish I could hate you. Honestly, that would make my life easier, but you’re the bright lining here. You didn’t know he had a girlfriend.” Marley gurgles from her bouncy recliner, and I lift her out and cradle her in my arms. Abigail leans over to grab Marley’s hand. “Your daughter is so beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She has a dark head of hair like her father.
Abigail tilts her head in thought. “She looks a lot like Ezra.”
“Yeah. There’s not much I can do about that.”
She and I look at each other and laugh. “At least the asshole is attractive.”
“There’s that.”
