“Yeah, but it's different now. She's pregnant.”
“Are you serious?” Tessa nearly did a spit take. As it was, she choked a little on her water. “I forgot you love babies. She's an idiot.”
I shrugged. “What does Austin think of being a father?”
“Oh, you don't know that part.” Tessa grinned wickedly. “It's not his.”
“What?” I did a little mental math. “But, if she's thirty-two weeks, then she was pregnant at the end of the school year. They were together then.”
“Not his. Some guy from Fairport, I guess. Audrey refuses to say anything else about him.” She shrugged and took a big chip full of dip. I was so distracted that I hadn't even had any dip yet, but it was almost half gone.
“Nothing?”
“Nope.” Tessa lowered her voice and glanced around conspiratorially. “My friend works at the hospital and says that her bills are all getting paid by some sugar daddy. It's quite the scandal.”
“Wow.” I leaned back in my chair and had to pull my chin off my chest in amazement. “How did Austin handle it?”
“Not well. Few months ago, he made a huge scene at Casey's. Called her a slut in front of everyone and everything. It was glorious. You would have loved it.”
I imagined Audrey being humiliated, but I couldn't get any pleasure from it. Usually, her downfall would have made me wet myself with joy, but picturing her pregnant when it happened... “That actually makes me kind of sad.”
“New York did something to you,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “I knew you liked babies and all, but feeling sorry for her? You remember what she did to you, right? You're nuts.”
I bit my lip, remembering the utter humiliation she had dealt out. “She was a lot nicer this time.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “Baby crazy.”
“I am not!”
“You asked her how many weeks she was. Most people ask the due date, but I'm guessing that you know exactly how many fingers and toes the little parasite has at this stage.”
“Ten toes. Ten fingers. Like most humans,” I retorted. But she was right. I did know. And a part of me was incredibly jealous that perfect Audrey had yet something else I wanted. It was a different kind of jealousy than I had felt in high school, but still just as potent. “Anyway, share some of that dip.”
“Mine!” Tessa hissed, grabbing at the bowl and trying to hide it away from me.
“Yup. Crack cocaine.” I shook my head slowly at her, knowing that we were back to our normal games. “You might have an addict
ion problem.”
Tessa laughed and released the bowl, pushing the carrot sticks at me. They were my favorite and she had saved them for me. “So, tell me all about New York. I want to know everything.”
Chapter 6
A couple hours later, and several more orders of artichoke dip, Tessa and I had completely caught up. It was as if we had never been apart. She loved hearing all my stories about New York, and I listened with rapt attention as she shared the sordid details of everyone who had stayed in town. Tessa seemed to know all the good secrets.
The restaurant was slowing down for the night. It was time for all the high schoolers to head home, so most of the booths had cleared out and were now just filled with graduates and parents. The bar in the back was lively with a football game playing on the TV.
Aubrey dropped off our bill with a smile. I tried not to stare, and tried even harder not to feel the twinge of jealousy I felt looking at her stomach. I wondered what it felt like to have a life grow inside of me. How wonderful she must feel knowing that she was creating life.
I wanted that.
“When's the last time you got laid?” Tessa asked, cocking her head to the side. I handed her my portion of the bill. “I ask, because you are crazy good tipping a pregnant chick, and I have to think that you are projecting jealousy at getting some.”
“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes at her. She waited patiently for an answer. My eyes would fall out of their sockets with rolling before she let up. “Not that long, okay?”
“Okay. Well, don't look now, but Dennis Kamp is staring at you from the bar,” Tessa informed me as she finished off the last of our dip.
“Seriously?” I blushed. I had a crush on him all through high school. Tessa knew this, which was probably why she was pointing it out. I risked a glance behind me. He was sitting at the edge of the bar with a beer and staring at our table.