And so Anne got out an acoustic guitar. I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to her play next to me. She sang softly, her voice emotional as she sang about love. It wasn't really her voice I was hearing, though.
It was James.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I left her house in much better spirits. I
was ready to talk to James about Nicole. I was ready to talk to him about Ryan. I was ready to talk to him about playing the guitar, if he wanted.
I wasn't sure I was ready to talk to him about the pitter patter of little feet.
I thought about Anne's ex-girlfriend and how she accused her of making a lie of omission. I didn't think it was fair in her case, but I hadn't exactly been up front with James. In fact, I remembered what I had said when he had asked me, point blank, if I was on the pill.
“What do you think?” A wink and a smile as I laid across his desk, legs spread and already filled with his seed.
Yeah, I'd say that was a pretty big lie of omission. Still, it had been too late at that point anyway. Well, not too late for Plan B or something similar, but I never would have used those anyway. Still, he probably wouldn't have made love to me another five times if I had told him right then. Or he would have worn a condom? Or he would have watched me take the pill? I didn't know.
I sighed, thinking about what a mess I had gotten myself into. The cry with Anne had felt good, but it had hardly gotten rid of my problems.
I started to walk back to James' apartment, hoping he'd be there. As soon as I pulled out my phone to text him and make sure he hadn't gone into the office, it began to ring.
Tessa.
I sighed. One more problem that I hadn't even thought about. What was I going to tell her?
The truth, I decided. I had just told Anne, and I might as well tell Tessa as well. Except that I knew that she would ask if James was the father, and I wouldn't be able to lie my way out of that. She might judge me, but it was just something that I'd have to deal with.
I answered the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey, girlfriend. How was the concert?”
“Oh.” It wasn't the question that I had expected her to ask first. “It was okay.”
“Did Lover Boy sing to you?” Yeah, ha ha, this was more like it. Her mocking tone showed me that the first question had just been a setup for the second one.
“Har har. Actually, he didn't sing at all.”
“So. Tell me!” I was about to spill it all out. I still hesitated, but I knew I had to tell her. She was my best friend, and she deserved to know. I opened my mouth but before I could get any words out, she jumped in again. “He knocked Audrey up, didn't he?”
What? That's all she cared about? I thought.
“No,” I said softly. “No, that's not what happened.” I kind of didn't know where to start.
“So he straight up told you he didn't sleep with her,” she stated.
“Tessa, I- Let me start from the beginning.” I wasn't sure whether to start with Ryan getting handsy with me last night or the concert that Audrey got pregnant at.
Unfortunately, I must have hesitated too long. “So now you're going to defend him too?”
“Tessa!” I yelled into the phone, annoyed.
She must have known that I meant business at this point. “I'm listening.”
I inhaled sharply. “James admitted to me last night that he did sleep with Audrey while she was still with her boyfriend, but it was over a year ago. His band mate Ryan-”
“Oh, so he's just going to throw his buddy under the bus, and you're going to believe him immediately.”
I paused, unsure of what to say. “Tessa, you seem to be taking this awfully personally.”