by Harlow James
Silas didn’t balk at my vibrator when I whipped it out during sex. In fact, he’s one of the few men I’ve slept with that made me come without one. And now thanks to revisiting that night with him, I’m slightly horny but too tired to move from my spot.
Annoyed with the Duke of Hastings, I turn off Netflix and go back to my comfort show—the Antique Roadshow. Shayla is the only one who knows that this show is my vice.
There’s something about watching these people find artifacts that have substantial value, pieces of history that mean something to someone else. But the real aspect I love is when they bring on family heirlooms and they tell the stories attached to them.
Call me sentimental, but since I don’t have items like those myself, I live vicariously through the people on the show. One day I hope to have something to pass on to my child, something of value, but more of the sentimental kind. And as that thought assaults my mind, so does a deep level of exhaustion.
I stifle a yawn and then place the container of wings on the coffee table before lowering myself down on the couch. Exhaustion hits me out of nowhere right now, but I’m almost done with this episode, so I’ll just lie down until it’s finished, and then get ready for bed after.
I turn around to look at the time on the microwave. Six-thirty? Am I really going to be in bed before eight?
Apparently that’s exactly what my body wants because within a few minutes, I doze off and wake up to crusty buffalo sauce on my fingers and ranch in the corner of my mouth.
Classy, Chloe. Real classy.
Guess I should get used to passing out randomly now while this child continues to suck the life out of me. But hey. At least I was able to keep those buffalo wings down. Add those to the list of things I can eat.
Chapter 4
Silas
I huff out a wave of irritation as I knock on the door of Wes’s house. It’s been a few weeks since Hayes and Waverly’s wedding, but apparently it was time for us all to hangout out again.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my boys. Hayes and Wes have been one of the only constants in my life that I haven’t felt the need or desire to abandon. But now that they’re both married, I sort of feel out of place, like a fifth wheel when Shayla and Waverly are around.
And since they’re married now, that means they get convinced of ideas concocted by their wives, ideas that make me roll my eyes when I’m summoned to be a part of them.
Game night? Really? When did playing board games become acceptable in your thirties?
Suddenly my internal dialogue has me questioning whether I’m starting to sound like a grumpy old man.
“Silas!” Shayla exclaims when she opens the door, a beaming smile on her face. Her long, black hair is down and she has an apron on over her jeans and blue tank top. Jesus Christ. Apparently wedded bliss translates into owning an apron. Even Nonna wears one still and my grandfather has been dead for a long time, and I know I’ve seen Valentina wear one a time or two.
“Hey, Shayla.” I step in and kiss her on the cheek. “You look beautiful. Thanks for inviting me. I brought some wine,” I say, handing her the bottle of Fruliano that I brought with Chloe in mind, a detail that I definitely won’t be sharing.
“Oh! Is this the wine Chloe and I were drinking at your restaurant in Vegas?” Well, I guess I wasn’t as sly as I thought.
“Yes. I know you loved it and figured you could take down a glass or two.”
Shayla eyes me over her shoulder and then smiles tightly. “Oh. Yeah, I’ll definitely have a glass.” She spins around and heads toward the kitchen as I follow her.
Huh. Guess Shayla really liked that wine.
When we exit the long hallway that leads to the open concept kitchen and living room, I can see that I’m the last person to arrive. Hayes and Waverly are sitting next to each other on the couch, Wes and Shayla are moving around each other in the kitchen, and Chloe is staring at her phone in her seat in the oversized chair in the corner.
“Hey, Silas. Glad you could make time for your friends.” Wes steps around Shayla and reaches for my hand to shake while flashing me a wink. He’s been giving me shit about not coming around, particularly when they’ve been extending the invite. But I’ve been too busy with work, or something is going on with my family. And sometimes, the idea of leaving after I finally get home seems like more work than my job. Besides, sporadic get-togethers mess with my routine, which in turn makes my anxiety spike.
But Wes was insistent that I show up tonight because Shayla has been wanting to have a game night for a while now and they needed the teams to be even. So I guess I can only assume who’s going to be my partner. Doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure that one out.
“Silas, my man.” Hayes pats me on the shoulder while reaching for a buffalo wing on a platter on the counter.
“Hayes,” I reply.
“I know you are not eating my buffalo wings, Hayes,” Chloe declares, rushing over to where I’m standing next to my friend, fury in her eyes.
Hayes pauses with the wing in front of his mouth, his eyes open with hesitation. “Uh…I didn’t know these were just for you, Chloe.”
“They’re not,” Shayla says, widening her eyes at Chloe, holding a conversation between the two of them without any words. “I have plenty, Hayes. Have at it.”
Hayes shifts his eyes between the two of them before grabbing a few more from the plate and running off, scared for his life.
Chloe glares at her friend. “There’d better be more, Shayla.” She starts to load up her own plate with wings before twisting slightly and meeting my eyes with her own. “Oh. Hey, Silas.”
“Chloe. You look beautiful,” I say, even though I probably shouldn’t say things like that in front of our friends. But I did just say the same thing to Shayla when she answered the door, so it doesn’t look too conspicuous—although no one was around to hear that.
But she does look gorgeous. Her hair is down and her natural curls are full and tucked behind her ears. She’s wearing a black sleeveless sundress that doesn’t quite cling to her body but still gives her a shape. And her face has very little make-up on it, which I love because I honestly don’t think Chloe needs it. But she does look a little pale and tired, which is sort of what I noticed at Hayes and Waverly’s wedding.
“Uh, thanks. You look nice too.” Her eyes drift down my torso and then flick away once more as she dips a spoon into a bowl of ranch for her buffalo wings. And then she walks away from me, much like she did at the wedding as well. Did I say or do something wrong? Why does it seem like this woman is avoiding me?
“Uh, are you hungry?” Shayla says, pulling my attention back to her. “We have plenty of food.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll grab a plate. Thanks.” I spend a minute filling my plate up with finger foods while being mindful not to take too many buffalo wings. Apparently those are Chloe’s favorite and she’s not too keen on sharing. And if the woman is mad at me about something, I definitely don’t want to give her more ammunition.
Once we all have drinks and food, we settle around each other in the living room, where an easel is set up in front of Wes’s fireplace.
“I’m so excited!” Waverly exclaims, bouncing in her seat. “I can’t remember the last time I played Pictionary.”
“Pictionary?” I ask with a little too much irritation.
“Yes, Pictionary. Is that a problem?” Hayes asks and then smirks. “Oh, that’s right. Silas can’t draw.”
“I can draw just fine,” I fire back.
“Not from what I remember.” He starts laughing. “Remember that time in high school when Silas had to go up to the board in Spanish class and draw pictures of the vocabulary words, and he had to draw a palm tree?” Hayes says to Wes, and Wes instantly joins Hayes with his own laughter.
“Oh my God. What did he draw?” Shayla asks, fighting back her laughter.
“I drew a palm tree, but this child over here yelled out ejaculation in front of the entire class,�
� I reply, tossing my thumb in Hayes’s direction.
“Ejaculation? Why would you say that?” Waverly swats Hayes in the chest.
“Because it looked like a dick shooting a load,” he replies as Wes loses his composure on the other side of the room.
“I think we need to see what this drawing looked like to make a clear judgment,” Chloe interjects, causing me to turn in her direction.
“I’m not drawing shit. And you guys wonder why I don’t come around that often.”
“Oh, pull your panties out of your ass, Silas,” Hayes says. “It was funny. But hey, Waverly made sure to take all of the dirty words out of this game much to my displeasure, okay? So if you draw something that alludes to ejaculation, that’s all on you.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Can we just play?”
“Yes. Let’s play. And maybe you need another drink, Silas,” Shayla adds, standing from the kitchen and fetching me another beer. I drain the one in my hands and then take the full one she offers me willingly. I don’t usually drink much, and two will probably be my limit, but something tells me I’m going to need them to get through this night, especially with the way Chloe’s gaze is landing on me right now.
I wish I knew what she was thinking, and why she keeps glaring in my direction. Is she just as irritated about being here as I am? Perhaps we can share in our misery of being surrounded by our happily coupled friends later after the game.
Wes and Shayla go first after we all roll a die to determine the order. Wes draws the word crayon, and Shayla guesses it way too quickly. Hayes and Waverly go up next, and she draws volleyball pretty easily. Since all the guys went first, I suggest the same. I draw the word from the basket and smirk once I see what’s on it, knowing I can easily draw an eel and Chloe can figure it out. She’s a smart woman.
I put the marker to the paper and begin to draw, turning to take in her reaction as I complete the eel’s body.
“You can’t seriously be drawing another penis, Silas.”
“I’m not!” I yell in exasperation, but she just rolls her eyes and urges me to continue. I make the ocean above the animal, which has Chloe successfully guessing the word with just a few seconds to spare.
“You had me worried there for a second about my partner,” she jokes, taking a sip of her water.
“I’m going to punch those guys for bringing that up.” I look down at the glass in her hands. “You know, I brought some of that wine you loved at my restaurant. Would you like a glass?”
She stares at the cup in her hands before lifting her eyes to mine. “Um, no thanks. I appreciate that though. I’m just gonna stick with water tonight.”
“You sure? What happened to always having fun?”
“You can have fun sober,” she counters, but not convincingly.
“I don’t think you even believed the words that came out of your mouth just now.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, that was a tough lie to sell. Seriously though, Silas. I’m good. Thanks for the offer though.” She smiles and then Shayla moves up to the easel. “But you’d better expand your drawing skills quickly because I’m not going to lose because you can’t draw anything but phallic shapes.” She winks at me and then watches Shayla begin to draw.
We all take a few more turns and the further along we get in the game, the more I feel myself relax. Even though I was fighting it, it was nice to come out. Chloe had me pegged from the beginning. I don’t have a lot of fun, and perhaps I need to change that, make more time for my friends, more time to do something besides work.
All of the teams are close in score and now it’s Chloe’s turn to go up. The past few rounds we’ve barely guessed each other’s words before the time ran out, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this evening, it’s that Chloe is highly competitive.
“Don’t let me down, Silas.” She points a finger at me as she removes the cap from her marker.
“You’re the one drawing here. We’re depending on your artistic skills to carry us right now.”
“Focus,” she warns before opening the piece of paper with the word she has to draw, and then her face goes flat. Her skin pales as she swallows hard and casts a glance at Shayla. They share a look and then she clears her throat and turns to face the paper. “Ready?”
“Yup.”
I watch her create her picture, having trouble with what she’s trying to depict. It looks like a person bending over holding their stomach.
“Stomach ache?”
She shakes her head and then draws another picture of someone throwing up in the toilet. “Vomiting?” Another shake of her head. “Stomach flu? Food poisoning? Tossing your cookies?” I shout just as the timer goes off.
“Fuck! What was it?” I sit back in my chair, pissed that I couldn’t find the right word. “Obviously it has to do with throwing up.”
“Hey, they lost! That means we win!” Hayes shouts as I wait for Chloe to say the answer. But she’s standing still, her eyes fixated on me.
“You guys didn’t win. We did,” Wes chimes in.
“No way. You and I both know that Shayla didn’t get that last word before the timer went off.”
“Yes, she did!”
“No, she didn’t…”
“Chloe!” I shout over the four of them arguing. “What was the word, damn it?”
“It was nausea, Silas! Which is exactly what I’ve been feeling for the past month ever since you knocked me up in Aruba!!!”
Silence descends upon the house as everyone turns to face Chloe and then casts their gaze over to me.
But I’m frozen, trying to absorb the words she just spoke, or more like yelled out loud in front of our friends.
“You’re… what?”
“I’m pregnant, Silas,” she states and then her feet carry her out of the room while everyone shifts their gaze to me.
Chloe’s pregnant? There’s no way. We used a condom. And that was what…over two months ago?
Hayes’s mouth is hanging open, Wes is shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking awkwardly on his heels, while Waverly and Shayla stare sympathetically at me. “Silas, you need to talk to her.” Shayla walks toward me, holding out her hand. But I can’t move, can’t think, can’t understand how this happened.
“What?”
The sound of the front door opening and closing startles us all. “She probably went outside for some fresh air, but you two need to talk.”
“You knew?”
Shayla nods, which has me launching out of my chair in fury. Wes steps in front of her, shielding her from me, even though I would never put a hand on her. But the fact that she knew before I did has my blood running wrathfully through me.
“Calm down, Silas. I know your head is spinning right now, but this isn’t Shayla’s fault.”
“I only just found out a few days ago when Chloe did,” Shayla interjects. “I’m her best friend, she was scared. But you need to speak to her now. Please.”
Glancing at Hayes and Waverly who remain quiet to the side, I take a deep breath and charge out of the room, down the hallway to the front door, opening the door expecting to see Chloe standing there—but she’s gone.
“Chloe?” I call out, and then the creak of metal has me turning to my right.
On a porch swing under the eaves of Wes’s house sits the woman who I haven’t been able to shake, swinging back and forth slowly while looking out into the yard of Wes’s home.
“I’m sorry I told you this way.” She shakes her head as I close the distance between us and stand in front of her. “I didn’t mean to, but everyone was yelling and I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“You’re seriously pregnant?” I ask, my chest so tight as I wait for her confirmation.
“Yes, Silas.”
“And you’re sure it’s mine?”
Her head swings in my direction and her eyes burn with anger. “Yes, it’s yours. I’m not a slut. I know who I’ve slept with.�
��
I hold my hands up, instantly regretting asking her that question. “I wasn’t accusing you. I just didn’t know if there could be someone else to consider.”
“You’re the last person I slept with.”
“But…we used a condom.”
“Yeah, well haven’t you seen Friends? Condoms are only 98% effective.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her eyes grow wide and then she shakes her head. “Just great. The father of my child hasn’t seen the greatest television show of all time.”
“Chloe…aren’t you on the pill or something?”
“Yes, but that’s not 100% preventative either, Silas. And I know you’re not blaming me for this right now…”
“No…”
“It takes two, you know. And believe me, the last thing I need at this moment is to deal with this life-changing predicament.”
“But you’re keeping it?”
Her head twists up to mine again. “Yes. I am. And you can be as involved as you want, but I’m keeping this baby.” The determination in her eyes is the same grit I saw when she wanted me that first night in Vegas. And now I know better than to question her because it seems this woman always gets what she sets her mind to.
“I…shit.” I motion toward the empty side of the swing, asking for permission to sit with her. She nods and then I take a seat, leaning back on the swing and surveying the black sky out above us. “How…when…”
“Say that a few more times and you might be where I was a few days ago.”
“When did you know?”
She sighs and then speaks. “I felt off for a few weeks before Hayes and Waverly’s wedding, but then I actually got sick at the reception. That was my first indication something was going on.” I remember how pale she looked that day, and now it makes sense. “I took a test a few days later and it took no time for the lines to appear.”
