When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark Book 4) Page 17
I text Nova next.
Me: I’m hanging out in town today—are you free?
Nova: Sorry, I’m out with Joel. We’re photographing the art museum today for their event next month. They wanted new photos for their fliers.
I groan and smack my hand against the steering wheel.
All my friends have jobs or things to do and I’m just pregnant.
My phone beeps again.
Nova: Jace is home. He doesn’t work until evening. Ask him.
Am I literally so desperate to hang out with someone that I’d ask Jace?
The answer is yes, yes I am.
Me: Hang out with me.
Jace: No.
Me: Yes.
Jace: NO.
Me: Please. I’m bored. Xander’s gone all the time and it’s just the dog and she likes him more so when he’s gone she sits by the door and cries all day.
Jace: Ugh.
Me: I’m near your apartment. You can meet me at a café or something. We’ll get lunch, my treat. And then walk around for a while. I just need to be out, and I’m pregnant, so being out by myself makes me lonely and then I cry. You don’t want me to cry in public do you?
Jace: Ugh.
Jace: Text me where you are. I’ll be there in five.
Jace: But you’re buying me the most expensive burger ever.
Me: Deal.
I look where I am and text him the address and then sit in my car to wait for him to meet me.
It doesn’t take him long to get there. I see him striding up the road. He’s really tall so he stands out. He’s much leaner than Xander, though. His blond hair is longer on top and shorter on the sides and he has it shoved back, like he’s been running his fingers through it a lot.
I hop out of my car and meet him on the streets. “Thanks, Jace.” I smile at him—and he should seriously know how thankful I am since I didn’t call him Jacen. I know he hates his first name, so I like to constantly use it to make him mad. Making Jace mad is a hobby of mine, because he never gets raging mad, and just gets this disgusted look on his face like he tastes something sour.
He shrugs like it’s no big deal—but a few years ago, before Nova, no convincing on my part would’ve gotten him to come out with me.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks.
“I have no real agenda. I just had to get out, so I left.”
“Smart. You did remember to close the door?” he jokes.
“Yes, I closed the door.” I roll my eyes. “I am kind of hungry. Where do you want to eat?”
He shoves his hands into the pockets of his light wash jeans. “How about W.T.F.?”
“But you work there, don’t you want to go somewhere else?”
“They have the best fucking food in the city.”
“All right then. Lead the way.” I swish my hand and he starts walking. Three strides and he’s half a block away from me—or so it seems. “Slow down!” I call after him. “I can’t walk that fast and you know it.”
He grins at me over his shoulder. “I was hoping to lose you.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not so easily shakable.”
He slows down and I catch up and then we head the couple of blocks over to W.T.F.
They do have great food and an amazing atmosphere. The bar and restaurant is more upscale, but not too snooty—or, let’s face it, Jace wouldn’t work there. I’ve met the owner, Eli, a few times, and he’s young and eccentric.
We turn left and head down the street, past Jace and Nova’s apartment, and keep walking. W.T.F. is down the street from where they live so it doesn’t take long to get there.
We arrive and on the door is inscribed:
W.T.F.
What the fork?
(Did you think we meant something else)
Restaurant & Bar
Est. 2013
Jace holds the door open for me and my mouth falls open in shock.
Wow, the boy’s learned some manners.
The hostess starts to say something to me, but then Jace walks in, grabs two menus, and keeps walking.
I shrug at her and then run after him. Thank God I wore flats today and not heels.
Jace picks a table by the windows overlooking the street. I slide into the booth.
“Why’d you bother to get a menu?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you have the thing memorized since you work here?”
“You’re buying so I’m planning on getting at least five things—I don’t know the prices so I have to see what’s most expensive.” He grins at me, his green eyes light and playful.
Joking with Jace. I never thought I’d see the day.
I pick up my menu and scan the items. I’ve been here a lot over the years, but this is one place that there are several different things I love to get, so I never know what I want.
I finally decide on the B.L.T. with truffle fries.
I lay my menu aside.
The waitress comes up to our table and smiles. “Hey, Jace.” She smiles flirtatiously.
“Hey,” he replies, not looking away from the menu.
“What can I get you guys?”
“I’ll have water with ice,” I say.
“Coke,” Jace says, still not looking at her which I can tell pisses her off. “And cheese fries for an appetizer. Extra ranch.”
“Are you ready to order?” she asks.
“Give us a minute,” he tells her, holding up a hand.
She turns sharply, blond ponytail swishing and disappears to get our drinks. I hope she doesn’t spit in our drinks for him ignoring her.
“She likes you,” I state.
“Who? Mindy?” He finally looks away from the menu.
“The girl that was just here, so if her name is Mindy, then yes.”
“Ew.” He makes a face, brow wrinkling. “That’s fucking gross she’s like twelve.”
I laugh. “She looks a little older than twelve, but at least I know you don’t have a wandering eye.”
He drapes an arm over the back of the booth, his eyes boring into me. I’ve always gotten the impression that Jace sees more than he lets on. He’s definitely not a dumb guy, that’s for sure.
“Trust me, Nova’s all I want and will ever want.”
“Good.” I nod. “You guys are great together.”
His lips tip up in a half smile. “I think so too.”
Mindy comes back with our drinks and takes our order. I tell her mine and then Jace orders.
“I’ll have the cheeseburger with fries, nachos, uh … and the filet salad.”
“You seriously want all that?” Mindy looks at him in disbelief.
“Yes.” He nods. “She’s paying,” he says by way of explanation.
“I’ll get that in.” Mindy turns and heads over to one of the computers to enter in our order.
“What happened to ordering the most expensive items?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I decided to get what sounded good.” He looks out the window.
It’s a nice day, and hot, for early September. You wouldn’t believe fall is just around the corner, but it’ll get cold soon. Much too soon in my opinion. Sometimes I wish Xander would get traded somewhere warmer, but then again, staying near our friends and family is a whole lot more appealing. Especially with the baby to think about.
Mindy brings us the order of cheese fries. I’m starving so go to grab one and Jace smacks my hand away.
“Hey,” I defend. “What’s that for?”
“These are mine.” He points at the fries.
“Are you going to deny a pregnant woman fries, Jacen?” I glare.
He narrows his green eyes on me. “Are you going to call me Jacen all fucking day? ‘Cause I can leave and take my fries with me.”
I sigh. “Fine. Can we call a truce?” He nods and lets me continue. “I’ll stop calling you Jacen, for the day, at least, if you share your cheese fries with me.”
His lip curls, clearly not pleased with this proposal, but, finally, he nods and agrees. “Fine. Deal.”
I grab my fork and end up shoveling half of Jace’s cheese fries onto the small extra plate Mindy dropped off.
Jace glares at me. “Did you have to take all my fucking fries?”
I point at his plate. “You have half. This is called sharing, Jace.” I put emphasis on his name since I didn’t say Jacen.
“That’s called, you stole all my fucking fries and I want them back.”
“You ordered like three meals,” I defend. “I’m growing a human, what are you doing?”
“I’m fucking hungry and that’s my food.”
I pick up a fry and make a big show of eating it. “Don’t make me tell Nova you were mean.”
He narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would, and you know she’d choose my side in this situation.”
He shakes his head. “You’re as crazy as they come.”
I smile widely at him. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment,” he grumbles.
“I know.” I smile like a shark.
Jace reluctantly shuts up and I can finally enjoy my—his—fries in peace.
Mindy comes by at one point to refill our drinks and tell us the rest of our food will be ready soon.
“Are you gonna steal the rest of my food too?” Jace asks, fighting a smile.
I shrug. “Depends on if it looks good or not.”
I’m surprised when that gets a gruff laugh from him. He’s not a big laugher. Jace is kind of … intense.
Our food arrives and Mindy clears away the empty plate of cheese fries.
My B.L.T. looks delicious, and despite the fries I just ate my stomach rumbles.
“So, I know I must’ve been your last resort to hang out with. I’m surprised you didn’t go by yourself.”
I frown, growing serious. “I’ve been spending a lot of time on my own lately. Xander’s tired, or at practice, or the gym—and his playing season is going to start soon, so it’s just going to get worse. I get sick of being in the house by myself all day long, since nobody wants to hire me, and now I’m pregnant so they really don’t want to hire me. Rae’s busy working, Cade too, and even Nova. While I’m just cooking a baby. It sucks. Is it bad that I miss living with Rae and Cade? At least then people were running in and out of the house all the time. Now that it’s only Xander and me it’s so … quiet.”
Jace doesn’t come back immediately with something snarky like I expect. Instead, he stares at me, his head tilted to the side like he’s studying me.
“I get that,” he finally says.
“You do?” I ask, my voice small.
“Well, sure.” He wipes his fingers on a napkin. “Right now, Nova’s gone a lot. She has work, and her and Joel are trying to start a business together, so that’s her focus. I work most evenings. It’s hard to see each other. The apartment is quiet a lot and it sucks. So yeah, I get it.”
“I guess you do,” I sigh. “I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy or what, but I feel really emotional about it, which I hate.”
“Right now is a big transition for you,” he reasons. “You’re not in school anymore, you don’t have a job yet, you’re in a new house, and your husband is gone. It’s a lot of new and different things. I think it’s perfectly reasonable for you to feel emotional or off balance about the whole thing. I don’t think it’s because you’re pregnant.”
“Hmm.” I sit back in the booth. “You know, you’re actually kind of smart.”
He laughs fully at that. “Don’t tell anybody. I have to let them think I’m just a pretty face.” He rubs his jaw and smirks.
“I can’t believe summer is over,” I mutter, looking out the window.
“Winter’s not so bad.”
“Bleh.” I gag. “It’s cold and wet, and did I mention cold?”
He chuckles. “It’s not that bad.” He picks up his burger and takes a bite, making a big show of chewing.
“Is it good?” I ask.
“Fucking fantastic. So, what’s new with you?” he asks.
I raise a brow. “Are you seriously asking me about my life?” I have to bite my tongue not to call him Jacen.
“I’m trying to be nice. You make it difficult.”
I laugh. “Well, we bought a house.”
He groans. “I fucking knew that. I’ve been there.”
“No, we bought another house. Xander calls it a cabin, I call it a mansion. It’s like a getaway house. He wanted some place for all of us to be able to go and hang out. He’s really excited for the winter when you all can go snowboarding.”
“No shit. That sounds fun.” His eyes widen, clearly impressed.
“I’m excited about it. I wasn’t at first, but once he told me why, I understood.”
“So what the fuck is up with this dinner at Rae and Cade’s place? It keeps getting canceled and it’s pissing me off.”
“I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe she’s pregnant too,” I joke.
Jace laughs. “That’s all we need, two of you pregnant at the same time. Though, I doubt any one of them would be as psycho as you.”
“You say psycho, I say … nope, I’m psycho.”
We finish our meal, and Jace ends up asking for a box to take the rest home with him for Nova.
“Are we done now?” he asks when we exit the building.
“No, I want to shop a bit.”
An inhuman growling type noise escapes him. “No.”
“Yes.” I grab his arm and tug him in the direction I want to go.
There are all sorts of stores, so this could take hours.
I smile to myself at that.
Jace might lose his mind by the end of this, but oh what fun I’ll have.
“For the love of God, let me walk you back to your car,” Jace groans, tilting his head back dramatically. “I only have two hours before I have to go to work.”
“One more store,” I plead. “Just one.” I hold up a finger and wiggle it around.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agrees, weighed down with my shopping bags.
For the record, I didn’t ask him to carry them, he offered, and he’s probably really regretting that now.
We enter a cute little boutique. It’s full of unique clothes and I immediately eye a pretty boho chic dress.
The walls of the store are painted yellow and around the top are little plaques with quotes.
It’s a really cute little store.
“Can we go now?” Jace asks.
I glare at him over my shoulder. “We’ve been in here five minutes. Chill.”
He groans. “I’m never, ever, for the rest of my life, answering a fucking text from you, ever again.”
I hold up a hand. “Silence.”
He groans and rolls his eyes.
I move further into the store and Jace hangs back. Good riddance.
I browse their jewelry and pick up a bracelet with a dainty moon and various stars.
“Constellations,” I murmur to myself.
“Hi, can I help you with anything?”
“Ah!” I jump back, startled by the salesgirl since I didn’t see her. “Um, hi. Yeah. I want this.” I point to the bracelet.
“Is that it?” she asks.
I nod. I’ve done enough damage today.
Apparently, shopping is my form of therapy.
I follow her to the checkout and notice a sign proclaiming WE’RE HIRING.
I point at the sign. “Do you have an application?”
“Yeah, sure. I can stick one in your bag?” she asks and I nod.
Working in a cute boutique like this is about as far as you can get from my degree, but I think I’d like it.
“Did someone ask for an application?” another voice calls from the back room behind the register.
“Yeah,” the girl checking me out says back.
A woman appears, she’s probably in her forties, with dark brown hair, and kind brown eyes. They’re slightly crinkled at the corners like she’s spent a lot of time smiling.
“Are you interested?” she asks.
I nod enthusiastically. “I really need a job, and your store is beautiful. I think I’d be happy somewhere like this.”
“You’re hired,” she says.
My jaw drops. “Are you serious?” I feel like I’m being Punk’d.
She nods. “Yeah, I’m sure. We need the position filled, desperately, and you look nice enough so you’re hired. Can you start Monday?”
“Yeah, absolutely.”
She holds out her hand for me to shake it. “You’re hired.”
I pay for my bracelet and head to the front.
“You look really fucking happy about something,” Jace comments, holding the door open for me.
“I just got a job,” I tell him.
His eyes widen, impressed. “Good for you.”
“It’s not social work, but I think I’ll like it. I mean, I love clothes so it should be a good fit.”
Jace walks me back to my car and helps put the bags away.
“See you later,” he calls, walking away. “And never text me ever again.”
“I’m calling tomorrow, honey pie!” I call after him.
He gives me the finger. “Blocking your number, psycho.”
I get in my car and text Xander.
Me: I got a job.
I’m surprised when he texts right back.
Xander: Really? Good for you? Where?
Me: A little boutique downtown. It’s called Sunshine’s.
Xander: Cool.
That one word tells me all I need to know. He’s not happy about this.
But I need to get out and have my own life. Can’t he see that?
Thea
18 Weeks Pregnant
Baby is the size of a sweet potato
I leave work early and head straight to my doctor’s appointment.
My heart is racing in my chest, I think it’s excitement, but maybe it’s fear. I can’t really tell anymore.
Today, we find out if we’re having a boy or a girl.
It makes it all the more real, because now, instead of some vague shadowy creature that I see in my head it’s going to be a real person.
Not that the baby wasn’t real before, because I know it is, and there’s no denying the kicks I now feel—Xander still hasn’t been able to feel one—or the outrageous morning sickness I’m still dealing with.