Page 43 of Enough Isn’t Everything (Everything Trilogy #1)

Chapter Thirty

GREAT ACTING

Rubbing Will’s arm to comfort him, I was unsure of what to say. “So how far along is she?” He twisted his mouth.

“About twelve weeks,” he admitted.

“So it was around the same time you came to college?” Will mulled this over.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, Will, let’s look at this objectively. This girl wanted you to stay home, yes? She wanted to get married, yes? She didn’t get that, and now she’s pregnant? When did you last sleep with her?”

Will said, “She’s about twelve weeks I think.”

“You told me already. I didn’t ask you that, I asked when you last slept with her.”

Shaking my head, I could see he was taking everything the girl said at face value. “Listen, Will, you need to find that out. Where is she?” Will rubbed his chest like he was embarrassed.

“She lives about thirty minutes from here.”

Standing up, I dusted the sand off my legs and shorts. “Get up. We’re going to see her.” Will looked terrified about this and looked at me disbelievingly when he realized I was serious.

“Are you serious, Lily? We can’t just rock up there.” I scowled at Will’s lack of self- preservation.

“I’m as serious as a heart attack, get in the car,” I ordered authoritatively. “We’re going to find out if you are going to be a daddy or not. You’re not just rolling over without proof, Will. You said it yourself, she wanted to get married.”.

“You think she’s playing me?” Will’s eyes widened, surprised that I could think that. “I’m not knocking on the door saying, ‘prove it’. I owe her that much,” he said, shaking his head.

“Well, my plan will be ready by the time we get there, and when I set eyes on her, I’ll decide if I believe her or not.

I’m usually a shrewd judge of character.

It doesn’t usually let me down… well, with women anyway,” I huffed.

“I’m especially relying on it today. Oh, and Will, for this event’s credibility, you are fucking me. ” Will’s jaw dropped.

“Don’t make me even more nervous, Lily.” He managed a weak smile.

“Just take my lead. We’ll get through this, okay?” He shrugged and raised his hands. “What do you have to lose?” I smiled at him, he shrugged. “That’s my boy!” I slapped his thigh.

Leanne opened the door, and Will stood facing her. “Will! I knew you wouldn’t let me down. Come inside.” She threw her arms around his neck.

Will mumbled, “I have someone else with me you need to meet, Leanne.” I stepped forward into her view.

“Hi, Leanne, I’ve heard so much about you, my name is Lily. I’m Will’s girlfriend.” Leanne’s face was horror-stricken.

I tried to sound sincere. “So… Will and I were a little shocked to hear your news, but you know, this isn’t the sixties, it happens, right?” I smiled sweetly and shrugged at her before I leaned forward and took her hand in mine. I placed my other hand over it as if to comfort her.

“So, honey, we’re all adults, and we’re going to work together to make sure that Will’s baby doesn’t want for anything.” I patted her hand. Leanne was so stunned she showed no reaction at all.

My thoughts were that, if she was indeed pregnant with Will’s baby, she would be incensed that he’d brought someone else with him to see her.

Leanne’s non-reaction told me she was either lying, not pregnant, or it wasn’t his. I smiled at her saying, “Do you have some sonogram pictures, yet?” Then I spun in Will’s direction. “Have you seen the pictures yet, Will?”

Will was trying his best not to wig out at my performance, which added authenticity to our ‘scene’ as he looked mortified and awkward at the same time.

Leanne looked at Will. “I thought you would do the right thing, Will,” she said quietly.

Smiling slowly, I asked, “For whom, Leanne? Will is a good man, of course he’ll accept his responsibilities, and I’ll help of course.”

I smiled again. “It isn’t as if I’m short of money, but firstly, we’re going to need to know when you are due. Any idea what the medical bills are? They can be sent to you, Will, and you’ll want to speak with her obstetrician too,” I said, still assessing Leanne’s reaction.

Pretended to brush something off Will’s shirt, I commented, “As soon as we have the paternity tests back, I’ll have my family lawyers draw up a child support plan for the baby. How many weeks are you by the way, what’s your due date?” I turned to speak with Will. “We’ll need that paperwork too.”

Walking over to Will, I put my hand up inside his T-shirt, like it was an act of affection.

Will shivered and grinned at me. I didn’t expect what came next.

Will’s hand cupped my chin and he kissed me hard.

It wasn’t a lingering kiss, but I noticed he got an instant erection.

I tried to hide my snicker when I saw him readjust his pants.

Our act was working, I could see through Leanne.

She hadn’t become emotional or angry or displayed any emotions that I would expect from someone who was having her ex-boyfriend’s baby, and who was scared to be out there on her own with the responsibility.

Leanne wanted Will. She had wanted to control him, and this was her way of doing it.

“Will, can I speak with you alone?” Leanne mumbled quietly.

Will’s eyes flicked to mine with a WTF look, but I felt confident that he could continue with our act on his own.

“I’ll be in the car. Nice to meet you Leanne, no doubt we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the future.

” I smiled sweetly and went to sit in the car.

Will came out of the house about ten minutes later, grinning. He glided into the seat in one smooth action. “Drive.” I took off down the street and as we rounded the corner, he said. “Can you stop the car for a minute?”

Pulling over, I turned to see the delight and relief in Will’s eyes. “You need to excuse me for what I am about to do.” I frowned, puzzled at what he meant to do. Will took my head in his hands and kissed me passionately. I hesitated for a second then found myself kissing him back.

My head was swimming. Will broke away and stared at me. “That’s for giving me my life back.” I was flushed and more than a little breathless.

“Anything else I can do for you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. We both started laughing. Will stamped his feet on the floor of the car with excitement, mimicking me from the last time we were excited. He was relieved after this close call.

Apparently, Leanne had told Will that she was only nine weeks pregnant, and it wasn’t his. It was his friend’s baby. Will was hurt his friend had made a play for her as soon as they had broken up but was glad to be out of the situation.

We had forced Leanne to be honest by pretending that, although Will would meet his responsibilities, they would be to his child, not to her. Our performance had encouraged Leanne to come clean. I could see the relief on Will’s face and felt so happy that he had confided in me.

There was still the awkward subject of the two kisses in half an hour to deal with, both instigated by Will. I had to admit I was turned on a little with the unexpectedness of it.

I took Will back to college to collect his car. “We need to talk.”

He looked embarrassed. “Yeah, I thought about my bad attitude toward you all the way home.” He looked sadly at me.

“What do you mean, your bad attitude, Will?” I glanced at him and he lowered his gaze.

“I have to say I was a little curious, since you told me that stuff about Alfie.” I didn’t know what to say to Will at that, so I sighed.

“Look, Will… you’re very emotional right now, hell I am too with Alfie.

It makes us do crazy things. I’m not pissed that you kissed me, actually, I think I kissed you back.

” I giggled. “We were caught up in a moment. We both love Saffy though, and you need to get back on track with that.” Will just nodded.

Once we’d cleared the air, I mentioned Alfie’s offer to watch his band.

“Sorry, I’d have loved to do that with you, but Saffy has an event this evening at her campus, and I kind of promised to support her with that.”

I smiled. “It’s fine, I will probably skip this time too, and we’ll do something next time he asks.”

Driving away, I felt good that Will’s future was secure again, but he’d kissed me twice, and we’d just have to get past that with time.

Nearing the exit to join the main road from the campus, I noticed Alfie, his arms around the petite blonde that had been watching him on campus the day he ignored me.

Her arms were wrapped around his waist in return, his face was bent close to hers, and they seemed wrapped up in each other, talking intimately.

Instantly, I felt my heart ache as it dawned on me that he could already be in an emotional relationship, maybe one that didn’t fully satisfy his sexual needs, hence needing someone like me.

The subsequent drive home was painful. I sat numb, tears streaming down my face again. I felt stupid. I saw more than one driver do a double take and figured my face had gone its usual blotchy mess.

I was miserable and more than a little angry at myself, for allowing myself to get tangled up with him again. The mixed messages he sent out were incredible, no emotions, but comfort? I was so confused by all these strange concepts he seemed to have.

On reflection, no matter how many times I had seen Alfie with women, I’d never seen him fully embrace any girl like he was holding her. Yet, with her, they seemed so natural. There was an air of contentment about the way he held her. I didn’t reach my apartment before my cell buzzed.

SEXPERT: All set for tonight?

I sat staring at it. Was I? How could he do this to her, to me?

Pink Lady: Actually, I’ve changed my mind, I’m tired, early night, have fun.

SEXPERT: Where are you?

Pink Lady: In bed.

SEXPERT: My favorite place for you, can’t you nap and I’ll pick you up?

Pink Lady: What do you want from me???

SEXPERT: A friend.

I stared at the screen. To be fair, he had been fine since our truce. Why should it matter to me that he’s with someone if I was a friend? My true feelings for him were anything but that of a friend. I didn’t answer him, instead, I rolled over and fell asleep, exhausted from thinking about it all.

“Lily, honey… Lily!” Saffy shook me awake. I was disorientated because it was still daylight, but I was in bed. Then I remembered I was napping.

I cracked my eye open, and she smiled at me. “Alfie’s here, Lily, he thinks that he’s taking you to see his band.” I sat bolt upright.

“He’s here?” She nodded.

“Yup, thing is, I need to leave soon. Will’s picking me up. I have an event on my campus this evening.”

I smiled weakly. “Yeah, Will told me about it this morning.”

Saffy huffed. “So, you need to get a wiggle on and make yourself decent. I need to leave in about fifteen.”

The last thing I wanted was a scene with Alfie in front of Saffy, so I went into the bathroom and took the quickest shower ever.

It was too hot for jeans, so I put on a cute little skater dress.

It was deep red with black edging. I accessorized this with some bangles and a couple of cloth bands on my wrists, then put on some ballet pump type shoes for comfort.

Alfie may not deal with emotions, but my stomach was in crisis. I had butterflies, the adrenaline in my veins pumping so fast I could hear it deafening me. A swooshing noise was in my ear, so loud it prevented me from eavesdropping on the conversation he and Saffy were having only feet away.

My smile hid my feelings, as I tried to enter the living room as breezily as I could. Saffy turned and smiled. “There you are. Okay guys have fun. See you tomorrow, Lily.” She kissed my cheek and whispered, “You’re a knockout in that dress.” She winked at me and left us to head for the door.

Following her, I closed it behind her, and was turning back to face Alfie when he spoke. “Oh God, Lily, you look stunningly beautiful in that dress.” His reaction was genuine, I could see the pleasure I was giving him on his face.

My aching heart cracked again, that he desired me, but not enough to commit to anything.

Alfie looked such a bad-boy, and very sexy in his skinny jeans, white T-shirt, and brown leather jacket.

I always struggled to look at his face without wanting to kiss it.

I think I stared too long, and he moved beside me. “Are you ready?”

No, I’m never going to be ready to be just friends with you. “Sure,” I squeaked out, my voice less convincing than the smile I was giving him.

I gathered up a wrap. Even though it was Florida, the air conditioning in some places was set so low, it made me feel uncomfortably cold. As we were leaving he tried to place a hand on the bottom of my back, but I kind of scooted to the side so it didn’t linger there.

I thought I saw the beginnings of a smile in his eyes, but I let it pass when his body language seemed normal.

As we walked to his car, I wanted to ask him about that woman on campus, but I had no clue how to start that conversation, and I didn’t trust that I’d be able to carry on with the evening if his explanation wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

My mouth was dry, suddenly nervous to be sitting next to him, my hands betraying my feelings as I kept picking at the hem of my dress. “Did you have a good nap?” He turned to look, briefly at me smiling.

“Yeah, I think so.” I was struggling to engage with him, dwelling on my earlier visual of him with his little blonde woman. She was cute too, which made me feel even worse. I wasn’t sure who I felt worse for, her or me.

Breaking the silence, Alfie said, “Is this how all our evenings are going to start?” I glanced at him, but he was looking straight ahead at the road.

“Sorry?” I offered puzzled. He flicked his eyes to me, giving me a half smile.

“You not talking, being shy?”

I felt annoyed with him, but I tried hard to contain this. “I’m not sure what you want from me, Alfie.”

Suddenly his head snapped round quickly this time.

“Didn’t we do all this before? Friendship, Lily, isn’t that what you wanted too?

” He looked back at the road. I tried to make it okay between us, but my feelings were becoming more of a barrier every day.

I wanted to be with him in every way, yet it seemed that I’d have to choose one or another.

I could either have sex with no feelings, or friendship with sexual frustration.

“Sorry, I just don’t fully understand why we’re doing this, it feels a bit weird.” He did something I hadn’t expected at that moment, he took my hand in reassurance.

“Lily, ‘friends with no benefits’, it’s your call. If you change your mind, you only have to say, and we’ll stop.”