“Yeah.” A spark of jealousy hit me directly in the chest. This should have been me with Janice. I’d been so sure before. Now, I had no clue what direction my life was taking.
Brad pushed back the chair and shifted to reach for something in his back pocket—a small velvet box, which he placed on the table.
I reached for it and flipped open the box. A huge single solitaire sat on top of a thin platinum band. “Well … it’s big.”
His girlfriend was a petite little thing. The rock would span two of her fingers.
“I was debating on getting a smaller stone, but then I thought of Jeff, her ex.” He chuckled. “The stone is more for me so that Jeff and everyone in a hundred-foot radius can tell she’s taken. That she’s mine.”
He reached for the box and lifted it, getting a closer look. The stone glimmered, catching some of the kitchen light. “I had this for a while before she told me she was pregnant.” His voice was choked with emotion. “I was just trying to find the perfect moment to do it. What if she thinks I’m just asking her to marry me because she’s pregnant?” His expression turned vulnerable, a vulnerability I hardly ever saw from Brad.
I placed one consoling hand on his shoulder. “She won’t.”
“You just don’t understand. I love her so much.”
“I know.” That jealousy dug a little deeper. I’d had what he had. At least, I’d thought I did.
Chapter 3
Mason
The workweek flew by, and I had successfully avoided Janice, which I hadn’t done since we broke up. If she thought I was being rude, I’d take it. It was either that or live on the never-ending cycle of our new norm—the crying, the sex, the talk about how we’d broken up and how we shouldn’t be seeing each other.
Saturday morning, I left my condo in Chicago and drove to our Barrington home. In the business of life, Becky made it a point of having lunch at their house every Saturday. Sometimes, we’d all be there, and sometimes, Brad or I would be missing. Either way, it was open and known that Saturday lunch happened in Barrington.
I walked into the house, hearing the voices of my brothers and laughter from my nieces.
I was bombarded with the scents of spices and tomatoes and lemon, and my stomach rumbled in response. Charles was assisting Becky at the stove. Whatever concoction my sister-in-law was cooking up, I was sure it was going to taste amazing. There was nothing Becky cooked that was short of a five-star meal.
“Uncle Mason!” Mary, my six-year-old niece, leapt off her chair and lunged toward me.
“Hey, princess.”
Brad patted my shoulder. “You’re late.”
I scoffed. I was never late, but recently, my mind had been all over the place. “Becky said one thirty,” I lied.
“I said one o’clock.” Becky waved from the stove. “Mason, there is chicken piccata and pasta here. Also, Charles made a salad.”
“Thanks. Where’s Sarah?” I kissed Mary’s forehead and placed her on the ground.
“Sarah’s upstairs. She’ll be down in a bit.”
After grabbing my food, I plopped in my spot at the table. Janice’s spot was noticeably empty.
“No offense, bro. But you look like shit.” With Brad, he always meant offense.
Sonia slapped his side. He was in a much better mood than he’d been the last time I saw him. He walked to the kitchen table, pulled out a chair for Sonia, and sat down next to her.
And I couldn’t help it; I sat there, staring at her stomach. It had been a week since he told me Sonia was pregnant, and I guessed, now that he was back to his normal self, I could assume he’d settled everything with Sonia.
Brad … a father. Inside, I hoped for a nephew. Playing Barbie and watching princess videos was fun, but I wanted to teach the kid how to swing a golf club. Not like I couldn’t teach my nieces, but they just weren’t interested in sports. Sarah was into music, and Mary … Mary was the typical girl, girlie enough for the both of them.
Brad cleared his throat and gave me a death stare.
Shit. I hadn’t even realized I was still staring at Sonia’s stomach.
“It’s only one thirty. It’s called fashionably late.”
More like, I hadn’t been able to sleep since the Janice fiasco. She’d texted to apologize, and I’d chosen not to answer. Maybe it was rude, but we needed to end the cycle.
“Janice won’t stop calling me.”
The table audibly sighed. With relief. Even Mary.
I laughed because it was comical that I’d been with a girl for six whole years, and it was so obvious my family disliked her.
As I took in the scene—Charles and Becky, Brad so in love with Sonia—a pang of jealousy filled me. If Janice were here, everyone would be wishing she weren’t. Not only did I not want to be with her, but also my family didn’t want me to be with her, which only solidified the fact that Janice was not the girl for me.
“What was it this time? Did she lay on the tears or seduce you?” Brad chuckled, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he was spot-on.
Sonia slapped him again. But he was prepared though, catching her hand and kissing the top.
“Brad!” She wiped her hand with a smidgen of pasta sauce against her white linen napkin.
Mary peered up at Becky. “What’s seduce?”
Charles threw me a look, and I kept silent, not confirming Brad’s assumption. I stuffed pasta in my mouth instead.
“You didn’t fall for it again this time, did you?” Brad asked. His fork held a piece of chicken midair. “Because we all know there were tears.”
Everyone’s attention swung my way, and I swallowed. He’d said this time. Because he’d known about it last time and the time before that. Funny how I could dish out advice, but I never managed to take it. They’d advised me to change my number. Had I? No. I wanted to move on but not be cruel.
“Well, did you?” Brad repeated.
I shook my head and sliced a piece of chicken.
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t, okay? I didn’t see her.” My voice was soft, defeated, and utterly exhausted about this never-ending Janice saga.
“What you need to do is get out there. Go speed-dating or something,” Sonia said, smiling.
“Speed-dating would mean Mason would actually have to socialize, talk to people. He’d have five minutes to impress them,” Brad scoffed. “Yeah, not your strong suit, sorry. I guess you can talk about the latest stock you bought.”
Sonia slapped him again.
“What’s speed-dating?” Mary asked.
“Let’s chat after lunch.” Charles tipped his chin toward Mary. “Big ears.”
“Hey!” Mary grabbed her earlobes and tugged. “I do not have big ears.”
“You have cute ears,” Brad said like the gushy uncle that he was.
“Hey, guys!”
Our attention was diverted to Sarah, who walked into the kitchen, not looking like her normal self. Usually in Converse and overalls, she wore more fitted clothes today.
I straightened and blinked. Is she wearing makeup? When had Sarah ever worn makeup?