Ugly Love(66)

“We have the place to ourselves,” I whisper. “Let’s make out.”
She grimaces. “I don’t feel sexy right now,” she says. “My
stomach is flabby, and my boobs are engorged, and I need a
shower so bad, but it hurts too much to try to take one right
now.”
I look down at her chest and pull at the collar on her hospital
gown. I peer down her shirt and grin. “How long do they stay
like this?”
She laughs and pushes my hand away.
“Well, how does your mouth feel?” I ask her.
She looks at me like she doesn’t understand my question, so I
elaborate.
“I’m just wondering if your mouth hurts like the rest of you
hurts, because if it doesn’t, I want to kiss you.”
She grins. “My mouth feels great.”
I rise up on my elbow so she doesn’t have to roll toward me.
I look down on her, and seeing her beneath me feels different
now.
It feels real.
Until yesterday, it really did feel like we had been playing
house. Of course, our love is real, and our relationship is
real, but until I witnessed her give life to my son yesterday,
everything I felt before that moment was like child’s play
compared to what I feel for her now.
“I love you, Rachel. More than I loved you yesterday.”
Her eyes are looking up at me like she knows exactly what I’m
talking about. “If you love me more today than you loved me
yesterday, then I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she says.
My lips fall to hers, and I kiss her. Not because I should but
because I need to.
? ? ?

I’m standing outside Rachel’s hospital room. She and Clayton
are both in the room, napping.
The nurse said he hardly even cried. I’m sure she tells all the
parents that, but I believe her anyway.
I take out my phone to text Ian.
Me: He got snipped a few hours ago. Took it like a champ.
Ian: Ouch. I’m coming to meet him tonight. I’ll be there
after seven.
Me: See you then.
My father is walking toward me with two coffees in his hands,
so I slide my phone into my back pocket.
He hands me one of the coffees.
“He looks like you,” he says.
He’s trying to accept it.
“Well, I look just like you,” I say. “Cheers to strong genes.”
I hold my coffee up, and my dad bumps his against it, smiling.
He’s trying.
He leans against the wall for support and looks down at his
coffee. He wants to say something, but it’s hard for him.
“What is it?” I ask, giving him the opening he needs. He lifts
his eyes from their focus on the coffee, and he meets my gaze.
“I’m proud of you,” he says with sincerity.
It’s a simple statement.
Four words.
Four of the most impactful words I’ve ever heard.
“Of course, it’s not what I wanted for you. No one wants to see
his son become a dad at the age of eighteen, but . . . I’m proud
of you. For how you’ve handled it. For how you’ve treated
Rachel.” He smiles. “You made the best of a difficult situation,
and that’s honestly more than most adults would do.”
I smile. I tell him thank you.
I think the conversation is over, but it’s not.
“Miles,” he says, wanting to add more. “About Lisa . . . and
your mom?”
I hold my hand up to stop him. I don’t want to have this
conversation today. I don’t want this day to become his defense
for what he did to my mother.
“It’s fine, Dad. We’ll discuss it another time.”
He tells me no. He says he needs to discuss it with me now.
He tells me it’s important.
I want to tell him it’s not important.
I want to tell him Clayton is important.
I want to focus on Clayton and Rachel and forget all about the
fact that my father is human and makes awful choices like the
rest of us.
But I don’t say any of that.
I listen.
Because he’s my father.



Chapter twenty-nine

TATE

Miles: What are you doing?
Me: Homework.
Miles: Feel like taking a swim break?
Me: ??? It’s February.
Miles: The rooftop pool is heated. It doesn’t close for another hour.
I stare at the text, then immediately look up at Corbin. “There’s a rooftop pool here?”
Corbin nods his head but doesn’t look away from the TV. “Yep.”
I sit up straight. “Are you kidding me? I’ve lived here this long, and you fail to tell me there’s a heated rooftop pool?”
He faces me now and shrugs. “I hate pools.”
Ugh. I could slap him.
Me: Corbin never mentioned there was a pool. Let me change, and I’ll head over there.
Miles: ;)
? ? ?

I realize I forgot to knock as soon as I close the door to his apartment. I always knock. I guess my mentioning in a text that I was coming over after I changed seemed good enough to me, but the way Miles is staring at me from the doorway of his bedroom makes me think he doesn’t like the fact that I didn’t knock.
I pause in his living room and look at him, waiting to see what mood he’s in today.
“You’re in a bikini,” he says pointedly.
I look down at my attire. “And shorts,” I say defensively. I look back up at him. “What are people supposed to wear when they swim in February?”
He’s still standing frozen in his doorway, staring at my attire. I fold my towel across my arms and over my stomach. I suddenly feel extremely awkward and underdressed.