Page 135 of Ruled Out

“Better,” I reply. “I don’t have a huge headache, for one.”

“When does she think you’ll be ready to begin the course of therapy she’s recommended?”

Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, I remind myself that I’m not only doing this for me, but I’m also working through everything for us too. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR for short, is something Ashley and I are preparing for, but to carry out this course of treatment, it takes some initial groundwork to identify what areas of my memory we want to explore and recall.

“In a week or so. I need a couple more sessions first,” I reply.

When she takes my hand in hers under the table and squeezes it, I know whatever my mind unearths over the next few months, I absolutely have my girl by my side.

“Have the owners accepted your offer yet?” Jon asks me across the table, bringing all conversations to an end, including mine and Mia’s.

I shake my head and take a sip of soda. “The signed offer was sent to their agent a couple of days ago. Still waiting to hear.”

“Oh, it’s in the stars, trust me. I’m so excited for you both,” Luna squeaks. “I just know in a few months, we’ll be all sitting in your yard, having a barbecue, while the kids are in the swimming pool.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me to thank you, babe,” Kate replies. “That sitter you recommended?” She gives a chef’s kiss. “Perfection. Will and June love her. She’s already sent me, like, three videos since we got here.”

Luna holds up her phone and plays a video of Aster knocking down a huge tower of building blocks, his laughter ringing out across the table. “Me too,” she replies. “We have fantastic sitters.”

Pulling out his phone, Jon taps the screen a couple of times. “Yeah, we can all get live updates of our babies; I have around-the-clock footage of my new Porsche.”

It’s as if time stands still when his eyes blow wide, his brain catching up to whatever’s on his screen.

“What is it?” Zach asks, slightly concerned.

Pointing to his screen, he opens his mouth, but words clearly fail him for once in his life. “Uh … there’s, uh …”

“There’s what, baby?” Felicity asks, her lips shaking with obvious laughter.

His head whips to her as he continues to point at the phone in his hand. “There’s a brand-new fucking Mini Hatch in our driveway.”

Completely unfazed, Felicity leans across to look at his screen. “Technically, no. It’s actually a convertible.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

MIA

“Iliterally cannot believe our freshman year is almost over,” Tara says from beside me as we sit, listening to the professor wrap up our late afternoon class.

“I know,” I reply. “I have zero idea where the past three months have gone.”

Tapping her pen against her notepad, as she always does, she keeps her eyes straight ahead. “Yeah, if I’d spent them mainly beneath an NHL superstar, I guess all my days would blur into one as well.” She side-eyes me, pursing her lips together. “They do say time flies when you’re having fun.”

A couple of rows in front of us, I watch as two girls look behind and at me for the hundredth time in the past hour. They turn back to each other and smirk, clearly saying something, which I’m guessing is about me and probably not a compliment.

“Want me to say something?” Tara asks, her eyes still trained on the professor, but I know she’s referring to what I’m looking at.

Since Jessie and I went public with our relationship, I’ve mainly been left alone by other students. But there’s always the few who like to make shit up. The latest rumor is that I’m knocked up and I tampered with my birth control to trap an NHL player.

At what point will women realize that spreading shit about other women only perpetuates negative stereotypes? I mean, so fucking what if I was pregnant? I’m not, but why try to shame me for something that, for one, has absolutely nothing to do with them anyway?

I lean back in my seat and close my notes as the professor gathers a stack of marked assignments, ready for us to collect as we leave class.

My stomach knots in anticipation. I could really do with a high grade on this paper since social psych is exactly the area I want to major in.

I shrug a shoulder. “Nah, it’s fine. Haters gonna hate. I don’t need to waste my energy on false rumors. Especially when they clearly aren’t my girls.”

She tilts her head slightly to the side, and I’m surprised when Tara’s face fills with emotion.