Page 62 of The Best Man Problem
It was going to be a long, silent, tense drive back to the city.
“I do.” He grabbed his keys from his jacket pocket. “It’s in my trunk. Wait here while I take care of it.”
She nodded, eyes focused on the snow outside. He made his way into the chilly February-morning air. The sun shone brightly, a mocking juxtaposition to his current mood. He opened the driver-side door to insert the key and start the car, blasting the heat and defrosters so the vehicle would be warm once he finished scraping.
After tossing his bag in the trunk and grabbing the snow scraper, he went to work brushing the fluffy snow off the car’s windows, roof, and hood. It took a few more minutes for him to scrape the ice that had frozen overnight. Once he finished and the car was ready to hit the road, he replaced the scraper in the trunk, turning to get Lilly. But the woman already stood outside, locking the cabin door. She strode toward him as if she were walking a red carpet instead of trudging through a few feet of snow. He noticed she prudently placed each of her steps in the footfalls he’d made.
“Hop in. I’ve got the heater going. It should be warm.”
She said nothing, moving to the front passenger side and sliding in. She buckled up and placed her bag on her lap, grip tight as she leaned to the side, as far away from the driver’s side as possible.
Yup. This was going to be a really long drive.
Chapter Eighteen
Men are stupid.
Lilly had no idea why her confession turned Lincoln from fiery lover to ice man. He hadn’t once tried to contact her since he dropped her off at her building two days ago. Not that she’d tried to contact him, either, but he had been the one who said they should go on a date, the one who pursued her this whole time, the one who bought her a drink in the bar all those weeks ago. Why was he suddenly Mr. Silent now?
Because you slept with him. Didn’t you learn anything from your mother?
No. She would not listen to that nasty little voice in her head. Lincoln wasn’t like all the men her mother dated. He wasn’t the type of guy to get his jollies from a woman, then ghost her. He’d already had her once. If he didn’t want something real, a true relationship, he wouldn’t have kept trying to start something up again.
Right?
Maybe she was just as delusional as her mother when it came to men.
“Okay, spill.”
At Mo’s demand, Lilly glanced up from the open file she’d been staring at but in no way reading.
“Huh? Spill what?”
The smaller woman rose from her desk, making her way across the office to pop her hip on the edge of Lilly’s.
“The reason you’ve been all mopey the past two days.”
She scowled at her roommate’s assumption. “I have not been mopey.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Pru said, rising to join Mo. “But you kind of have been a bit of a grumpapotamus.”
Mo arched an eyebrow. “Grumpapotamus?”
Pru winced. “I’m really trying to clean up my potty mouth before the twins start talking. Finn swears Simon said ‘dada’ the other day, but I think he was just burping. We’re trying to cut out the naughty stuff so we don’t have toddlers shouting the f-word in the aisle of a crowded restaurant.”
Lilly smiled. The first genuine one she’d felt in days. See, who needed a stupid man when she had her friends?
Mo chuckled. “I think I was that toddler.”
“Big surprise,” Pru deadpanned.
The image of toddler Mo sitting in a restaurant, swinging her legs while innocently shouting obscenities, made Lilly lose it. She tipped back her head, boisterous laughter escaping her lips. She slapped a hand over her mouth, but that just made her snort out her nose, which in turn led to more laughter. Mo quickly joined in the hilarity. Lilly had no idea if her roommate was laughing with her or at her, but it didn’t matter. It felt good to laugh again. The past few days, she’d felt like a dark storm cloud hung over her head. Raining on every thought she had. Dampening her mood, no matter how hard she tried to smile.
“I wish my parents found it as funny as you, Lilly.” Mo smiled. “They took away my favorite crayons for two days when I said ‘shit’ during dinner with Nonna. On the bright side, it got you to smile for the first time since you came storming into the apartment the other morning.”
Lilly sighed. Mo could be a bit overdramatic. “I did not storm.”
“You most certainly did.” Her roommate pointed a finger in her face. “You stormed to your room while muttering something about stupid men and slammed the door behind you before I could even get in a hello.”
