“My concern is that she’ll tell Lucas.”
“I made her promise me she wouldn't. I know Jessica. If she promises something, she sticks with it.”
“You might know her that way, but I don’t.”
“Well, what’s done is done. And I can guarantee you that Jessica isn’t the kind of girl to go off and tell something like this to a man she’s dating. She knows how worked up I am about this. How nervous it makes me. And besides, I needed someone to talk to about this.”
“You have me,” I said.
“Other than the man I married and can’t remember having half-decent sex with.”
“Just half-decent?”
She rolled her eyes before a grin slid across her cheeks.
“You’re sure she isn’t going to be talking with Lucas about this,” I said.
“I’m sure, Everett. Okay? Jessica’s one of my best friends. She wouldn't do that to me.”
“Well, just to reiterate it, we’re keeping this hush hush. You know, we aren’t blasting it out everywhere.”
“Trust me, I don’t want to,” she said.
I wasn’t sure why her words stung like they did, but I pushed the feeling aside to address what was in front of me.
“Did you, um…”
Fuck. How was I going to ask her this?
“Did I what?” Andrea asked.
“Have you been experiencing any sort of side effects from the pill you took?”
I watched her furrow her brow before she shook her head.
“I just wanted to ask. I took my winnings from the table to the bank, and I did some research on it. Apparently, it comes with some pretty nasty side effects for some women.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Nausea. Headaches. Joint pain. Mood swings. Ironically, the kind of things that might come with pregnancy, so then the woman panics and thinks it didn’t work and the stress becomes even greater.”
“Well, thank you for asking. But, no. I haven’t been feeling any—”
She cut off her statement before she drew in a quick breath.
“There was one point in my conversation with Jessica where I got a little nauseous.”
“Are you all right? Do you need anything?” I asked.
“No, no. It’s fine. I think it might have just been the panic of the situation? You know, with what we were talking about. Because once we got the issue settled, the nausea went away.”
“That’s good. What were you two talking about?”
“She brought up a good point about the difference between an annulment and a divorce.”
“Wow. So, you guys really talked,” I said.
“We really did. And I’m sorry if that upsets you, but it felt nice to talk with someone about it. You know, that isn’t you.”