Page 12 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
Don’t even get me started on that bitch. “She was an idiot. She’s still an idiot, wherever she is.”
He smiles and I see him trying to hide the hurt that lies under it all. “Maybe, but I can’t fuck up a marriage like he did if I don’t enter one.”
“I’ve never known you to shy away from a risk.”
“This isn’t a risk, Willow. It’s guaranteed failure. I’m not cut out for it. And why are you so anxious to get rid of me, all of a sudden?” He elbows me in the ribs.
“I’m not,” I protest.
“Well, good. Because I like how things are. I don’t want them to change. Do you?”
I’m not sure how to answer. In a way, I don’t want things to change either. I’ve always known that if either of us finds the one, what we have will be gone. But thinking it could happen sooner rather than later is a little sad, even if it does mean reaching my goal of becoming a mom.
Because I love my time with Reid. I love our easy friendship and the way we have no expectations or demands. He is truly my best friend and if he gets married, he’ll belong to someone else. And the baby I’m going to have will be my priority, instead of him.
But life has to move forward, doesn’t it?
“Yes, Reid. I do want things to change,” I admit. “I want to start the next phase of my life, raise a child, and have ... something.”
He stops walking and looks at me. “You do have something. You have us.”
I look up into his blue eyes and touch his chest. “I have us. I know. You’re my best friend, and I love you. Always will. And I want you by my side through everything. But …”
“But you want a Butterball.”
“What?”
“A turkey-baster baby.”
I sigh heavily. “This is why we can’t ever have a serious conversation. You’re an infant.”
He pulls me close. “See? You don’t need a kid, you got me.”
I groan and bang my head against his chest, wishing I could magically transport to a place where men weren’t so stupid.
Reid doesn’t have to understand it, I just need him to support me. Hopefully, once I find him the love of his life, he won’t give a crap about my baby-making parts.
This will be a win-win.
Won’t it?
Four
Reid
“So she’s going to just shoot some shit up her vag and get a baby?” my idiot brother Leo asks on Sunday evening.
“I’m sure it’s a little more in-depth than that.”
Normally I’d never go to Leo about this, but Willow isn’t around—she met some girlfriends for lunch, and then said she was going to the gym and to bed early.
So I’m stuck with this idiot for tonight.
“Why doesn’t she do like all the girls did in high school? Tell her to get drunk, forget to take her birth control and call it a day. Boom. Baby.”
“It’s a wonder your girlfriend left you.”
“I know, right?” He pushes his head to the side with a nod. “It’s her loss.”
