Sinking in the Shadows Read online

  Tinley looks past her boyfriend toward his best friend and his eyes go a little wide on that last comment. Other than that, he doesn’t show any signs of the conversation affecting him. Interesting. There is definitely a lot more to this story than either one of them are letting on and Marek doesn’t even know the half of it. She doesn’t think anything has actually happened between the two of them, but there’s definitely some insane sexual tension between them and it’s bound to explode at some point.

  Finally, able to contain his almost death by hops, Anders says, “Yeah. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I would never go there.”

  He completely avoids eye contact with Tinley as he says that last part which makes her wonder if he already has which would make her first assumption very wrong. She continues watching him as he fiddles around with the laptop and finally looks up at her, no doubt feeling her eyes on him. They go wide, and he looks over at Marek and back at her again shaking his head. He quickly looks away and she leaves it at that. No reason to bring up any unnecessary drama. Besides, they’re all grown adults. If Giselle and Anders want to have a relationship, they shouldn’t let Marek stand in the way of that.

  She leaves the conversation at that, gives Marek a quick peck on the lips, and moves along to mingle with the rest of the guests. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she forces herself to have a good night even though she’s distracted with thoughts of Dakota still in the back of her mind.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After a long evening of scrolling through Netflix and not finding a single thing she was interested in watching, Tinley decided to call it a night. Not even a rerun of Friends could hold her attention and she brought out the big guns with The One with All the Thanksgivings. That one is her absolute favorite, but alas she slumped off to bed instead hoping that she could fall asleep and shut her brain off. She’s been tossing and turning every night, and with the uncomfortable silence of being the only person in the apartment, it’s been hard to function in general. She’s never lived alone before, and she didn’t have any time to prepare herself for this new experience. It’s not one she likes one bit, so when her phone vibrates with a text message, she welcomes the distraction.

  Marek: Can you do me a huge favor?

  * * *

  Me: Oh so you want a favor, do you? What happened to you doing anything and everything for me?

  * * *

  Marek: I know, I’m sorry. Normally I wouldn’t ask, but I’m desperate.

  * * *

  Me: I was just giving you shit. Seriously, what do you need?

  * * *

  Marek: Can you come stay with Luna while I go to London?

  * * *

  Me: Wait, what?

  * * *

  Marek: I was just told an hour ago that they’re sending me to a leadership training in London. I wasn’t really given an option. My parents are leaving on the cruise I gifted to them and I try not to leave Luna with Giselle for long periods of time.

  * * *

  Me: Why’s that?

  * * *

  Marek: Let’s just say the last time I trusted my sister, Luna wouldn’t stop demanding sushi and kept quoting lines from Pitch Perfect. You can only hear the phrase aca-scuse me so many times before it goes from being fun to old.

  * * *

  Me: I’m sorry but that’s hilarious.

  * * *

  Me: Is she going to call me a basic white girl again?

  * * *

  Marek: She did have a point. Ugg boots and Starbucks…come on.

  * * *

  Me: Seriously? You’re going to give me shit too? Find someone else to do it.

  * * *

  Marek: I was kidding. Do you really think those words have ever crossed my lips before?

  * * *

  Me: I hope not. You’ve used those lips in inappropriate ways on my body, and I don’t want to think that same mouth would use such language. I shudder at the thought.

  * * *

  Marek: Like that would really make a difference to you.

  * * *

  Me: You’re right. I love that mouth and its expert skills.

  * * *

  Marek: Are we turning this into naughty texting now?

  * * *

  Me: In your dreams. I’ll see you in the morning.

  * * *

  Marek: Good night Tinley.

  Knowing she’ll be spending the next few days at Marek’s house rather than alone in this apartment is enough to help her find her way into dreamland.

  “Ugh, it’s been a month week since my daddy took me to the playground. I don’t even remember the last time I got to ride my bike either. It’s pretty frustrating.”

  Tinley arrived at Marek’s house bright and early so he could catch his flight to London. Although she would have loved to go with him, she doesn’t even have a passport to make that possible. She’s pretty happy getting to spend time with Luna and get to know her better, and that’s definitely what she has done. The little girl says anything and everything as it pops into her head, providing some much-needed entertainment for Tinley. Like now, for example—what the heck is a month week?

  “A month week?”

  Luna sighs and leans back on the couch, fully stretching out. “Yeah, like forever.”

  That’s not a length of time Tinley has ever heard of or used before, but she anticipates using it again in the future. In fact, she feels like her entire vocabulary is going to be more and more altered the more time she spends with this little girl, and she doesn’t really see that as a bad thing.

  “I’m sorry your daddy has been so busy with work lately, and I know he would much rather be here spending time with you than at a boring training. I know it’s not quite the same thing, but I’d love to take you to the park sometime if you’d like.”

  That instantly perks her up, and Luna sits up with a giant smile on her face. “Can we go down the slide and climb the spider thing?”

  She’s lost her again. It’s like she needs an entire dictionary for child speak. “Yes on the slide, for sure, but you’ll have to tell me what the spider thing is.”

  Her exasperation shows through as she sits up and sighs yet again. This little girl does nothing but sigh when she’s frustrated. “You know, the spider thing. It’s tall and has holes in it, with bars and stuff.”

  Tinley is totally confused but knows Luna will just get even more frustrated with her if she keeps asking questions. She racks her brain thinking of what would be at a playground that she could be talking about. A spider thing? It makes absolutely no sense to her. Taking a stab in the dark, she asks, “You mean a jungle gym?”

  Luna shrugs her shoulders and seems to move on from that particular topic of conversation. “My daddy lets me go down the slide as many times as I want to. When we go to the playground, he helps me climb the rock wall so I can go down the slide. It’s so much fun. And then I run and run and run. When I get really tired, I run lots to get more energy.”

  Only in the mind of a kid does that kind of logic make sense. Just thinking about walking has Tinley feeling exhausted, let alone running. Then again, she’s ready to pop at this point, and just going from the living room to the bathroom leaves her feeling winded. As much as she’d love to take Luna to the park right now, she’s feeling much more content lying here on the couch together. Maybe they’ll get to spend more time being active after she delivers her baby.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The further she gets into her pregnancy, the more her hormones rage on, and it’s even worse with Marek currently on the other side of the world. Feeling more horny than usual, she sends a quick text to Marek with only emojis. It doesn’t help that she’s currently snuggled up in Marek’s bed surrounded by his scent. Her clothes don’t fit her anymore and she’s taken to wearing his t-shirts to bed every night. She’s never done the sexting thing before, but there’s a first time for everything. She just hopes she’s doing it right.

  Marek: I have no idea
what you meant to send me, but I don’t think it was that.

  A few seconds later a GIF from one of her favorite movies, The Princess Bride, comes over from the character Inigo Montoya. She chuckles but doesn’t understand where she went wrong or why he’s confused.

  Me: What do you mean? I think it’s pretty clear what I meant.

  * * *

  Marek: If that’s really what you meant, then no. No punching or fisting involved.

  The sip of water Tinley just took sprays out of her mouth and she rereads Marek’s text one more time. What the heck is he talking about? How is that what he came up with from the message she sent him?

  Me: I have no idea what you’re talking about. Neither one of those things were ever on the table.

  * * *

  Marek: Like I said, I don’t think you meant to send me what you did.

  * * *

  Me: I don’t see how it would be anything else. I sent an eggplant and a taco. It’s pretty obvious what those are.

  * * *

  Marek: And the fist?

  * * *

  Me: It’s a fist bump. Like what bros do.

  * * *

  Me: Dude, I’m getting laid. Fist bump. See?

  * * *

  Marek: Yeah…no.

  * * *

  Me: No? I thought it was funny. You know, naughty emoji equation.

  * * *

  Marek: I get what you were trying to go for, and I’m sorry to break it to you, but you failed epically.

  * * *

  Me: Rub some salt in the wound why don’t you.

  * * *

  Me: Your pregnant and very horny girlfriend is lying in your bed and you’re a million miles away. She’s trying to sext you and you correct her? I think something is wrong with you.

  * * *

  Marek: Sexting, seriously? How old do you think we are?

  * * *

  Me: Bad idea?

  When a few minutes go by and he doesn’t respond, she starts to wonder how bad of an idea it really was. Her nerves start getting the best of her and she begins to panic, thinking her idea was completely stupid. She didn’t even think it through before sending it to him in the first place. As she scrolls back through the short interaction, she realizes how stupid the emoji equation was. Marek is right, it doesn’t even make any sense. She starts to type out another message to him then her phone starts ringing with a call from him.

  She accepts the call and before she gets a chance to say anything, he’s already talking. His husky voice comes across the line, and she’s internally kicking herself for not thinking to just call him in the first place. She could get off just by listening to him talk. “I want you to think about what you just asked me for a minute. What part of sexting sounded like a good idea to you?”

  Tinley starts to shrug then realizes he can’t actually see her. “I don’t know. I honestly didn’t even think about it. The idea popped into my head and I just went with it. Now that I say it out loud though, it really does sound stupid.”

  “It wasn’t stupid. I was a little shocked, for sure, but I think if we’re going to have sex of any kind with thousands of miles between us, I’d much rather have video or phone sex rather than sexting.”

  Her face turns bright red at the idea of video chatting. It’s not something she could imagine herself doing, at least not while she’s hugely pregnant and a month out from delivering their baby. She feels like a whale as it is, and she doesn’t need to see her five chins on her phone while trying to be sexy. No thank you.

  Tinley laughs and says, “I’m an introvert. I’d much rather text someone than talk to them on the phone, which is hilarious considering my day job, but my first instinct is always to text someone first rather than call them.”

  “Well, there’s always FaceTime.”

  “Yeah, so you can see my five chins? Hard pass.”

  He groans and says, “Tinley, we’ve talked about this. You’re gorgeous and I love you. Every pregnant woman puts on weight—it’s normal, and the fact that you’re pregnant with my child makes you incredibly sexy in my book.”

  “You can keep throwing those compliments my way, but you won’t be seeing my face right now.” She yawns into the phone and checks the clock on the nightstand.

  “Did you just yawn on me? I thought we were going to have some sexy times.”

  Tinley tries to hold it in as another yawn comes on, but she fails and lets it slip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what time it was. It’s way past my bedtime right now.”

  Marek laughs and she can hear shuffling on the other end. “I have to get going for training anyway. I need to leave here in twenty minutes.”

  “Are you sure?” She fights sleep as her eyes start shutting on their own. “I’m sure we could do a phone sex quickie.”

  “As much as I’m into that idea, I think I’m going to pass. You need your rest, and I’ll be seeing you tomorrow anyway.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Tinley ends the call and drops her phone beside her on the bed. As she lays her head down on the pillow and closes her eyes, all she can think about is how soon she’ll get to see Marek. But for now, she hopes for some sexy dreams where she’s not hugely pregnant.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Reaching into the refrigerator, Tinley grabs an apple juice box and pokes the straw in. The little expectant eyes in front of her are enough to make her melt. She can’t ever remember being such a sap toward children, but the pregnancy hormones must be getting the best of her. She hands the juice over, and Luna offers her a giant grin.

  She sucks on the straw, gulping down as much as she can in one breath, and with an overly long ahhh, she says, “Thanks, bro.”

  Tinley can’t hold in her laughter as she looks down at the little girl standing in front of her, sucking down her juice like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Where does she come up with this stuff? Never in a million years did Tinley think most of her daily entertainment would come from the mouth of a child.

  As Luna dances around the kitchen in her tutu and rain boots, Tinley takes inventory of the food in the fridge and freezer. She’s lacking any kind of creativity today and turns toward the tiny dancer. “Luna, what do you want to eat for lunch?”

  She briefly stops her dancing and taps her finger against her chin. She drinks more apple juice while considering her options. “How about a cheese quesadilla?”

  For the most part, Tinley has been letting Luna take the lead, and it’s been relatively easy taking care of her, but seeing as she just fed her a quesadilla for dinner the night before, part of her thinks she needs to give her something else to eat. What would Marek say if she fed his child the same thing over and over again while he was gone? That doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do. So, she tells her, “Why don’t you pick something else? You had a cheese quesadilla for dinner last night.”

  “No. I want a cheese quesadilla.”

  Tinley sinks to the floor, getting on the Luna’s level, and looks her in the eyes. Luna continues slurping down her juice and tilts her head to the side, watching Tinley’s every move. She feels dumb as she tells herself over and over to be strong and stand her ground. She’s dealing with a little kid, for goodness’ sake. Shaking her head, she says, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I won’t be making you another quesadilla. How about a tuna fish sandwich?”

  Luna sticks her tongue out and spits. “Yuck. Fish is gross. I won’t eat it—you can’t make me!”

  Marek never told Tinley what to expect when a tantrum comes, and she really hopes that isn’t where this little conversation is going. As it is, her legs are starting to shake from the crouched position she’s currently taken up, and she doesn’t know how much longer she can last. She racks her brain trying to think of any other options she could feed Luna, but her mind comes up blank. She doesn’t want to give in so easily, because w
hat will that say about her own parenting style when she becomes one herself? She doesn’t know who she’s trying to prove something to at this point—herself, Marek, or Luna—but she refuses to give in.

  “I understand what you’re asking for Luna, but I think you should try something else today. What else can I make for you?”