Chapter 23 – The Tentacle Monster & The Train
Sunday – October 8, 2023
Ash
“I just don’t understand how you don’t remember a single thing that happened at the birthday party Chastity threw you.” Tanner raised his eyebrow at me.
“And I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a huge blank. A gaping hole in my memory. I must have fallen asleep or something.”
“You know you can just tell me if you banged someone.”
I laughed. “I didn’t bang anyone. I’d definitely remember that. Besides, I can’t bang anyone when I’m uncomfortable. I need to really feel it, you know?”
Tanner smiled down at me. “If you say so. Not sure you were feeling being a Gretel sandwich, but to each their own.”
“It didn’t happen!” I thought we’d agreed on that. So why did he keep teasing me? God, the horrors of that night. And seriously, who did I Incident #8 all over? Tanner had gotten me a new phone, but it didn’t have the call log. And no one had contacted me about it. Which meant maybe no one saw it? Or...someone was too busy replaying it to text me? Please not that one .
I cleared my throat. “Speaking of being uncomfortable...can we do literally anything else other than this today?”
“You have to face Matt eventually.” Tanner pulled his car to the curb and cut the engine.
Ah! Were we here?! “Psh. Matt. It’s not even about that.” Maybe if he thought I had beef with another one of his friends I could get out of this.
“Then who are you uncomfortable seeing?”
“James Hunter. He’s a total bitch. I can’t stand the guy.”
Tanner laughed. “Um...why? You only met him that one time, right? When you threw your shirt at him in my office?”
Holy hell! No!!!! How had I forgotten about that? And how had that not become one of my incidents? If I’d made it one, I never would have forgotten. Fuck my life. “It’s not about that moment.” I was suddenly all sweaty. “I just hate billionaires.” It was a total lie. I loved money. And men with money. I had a dream of getting fresh bills from a mint and bathing in them. They had to be fresh or I’d be bathing in germs.
“I’m a billionaire,” said Tanner.
“But not like him. You’re one of the good ones. He’s a piece of shit. A real freak. I heard a rumor once that he fucked one of his students.”
Tanner burst out laughing. “Are you being serious right now? I thought you loved Penny.”
“I am in love with Penny.”
He kept laughing. “So is this like a jealousy thing? You’re upset that James got her instead of you? ”
“You just don’t get it because you’re a boy. Penny is my role model. There aren’t many redheads to look up to. And she’s a queen. And oh God, she’s going to be there too! I’m not ready to meet her in person. It was so much easier to talk to her when she was catfishing me.”
“Ash?”
“No! You can’t make me!”
Tanner laughed and climbed out of the car.
Wow, did that work? Was he actually leaving me here? Good. I’d wait in the car while he hung out with his friends.
But a second later he opened my door and put his hand out for me. “I really want to introduce you to my friends.”
I pressed my lips together. Well...when he put it like that... I sighed and grabbed his hand. Normally his touch calmed me, but I was pretty sure I was having a heart attack as we climbed the steps of the brownstone.
Tanner stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to me. “By the way. Try not to mention anything about how Mason and Bee’s gender reveal was wrong. Apparently there was a mix-up when the technician gave them the gender reveal card. New fandangled tech,” he mumbled. “I knew it was a girl all along, but no one believed me.”
“Got it.”
Tanner let himself into James’ house without even knocking.
What. The. Fuck.
I was right. James was a total freak. It was like walking into a museum. There were tons of huge nude portraits on the walls. And there were baths everywhere, even though I was pretty sure we were standing in the living room. Or was this the kitchen? Instead of a sink there was just a huge golden bathtub. And there was a spice rack full of rubber duckies.
“This way,” said Tanner, like he hadn’t just stepped into the weirdest historical bathroom ever. He opened a door on the left wall. “Welcome to Matt’s house.”
Say what? “I thought we were going to James and Penny’s house?” I never would have agreed to go to Matt’s home. He was going to think I was stalking him or something.
“It was a last-minute change. Come on, Nigel hates when I leave his door open for too long.”
Wait. “This is Nigel’s house?”
“Yes.”
Well, that kind of explained the historical nudes and bathtubs. But… “Why is it attached to Matt’s house like this?”
“For easy access.” Tanner practically pulled me through the door so he could close it.
“Wait!” Matt yelled. He jumped over the back of the couch in his living room and ran over to us. “Don’t let it close!”
Was Matt about to leave? Hallelujah. I tried to stop the door from closing, but it was too late. It closed with a thud.
Matt tried to open it, but it had already locked. He sighed and turned to me. “Did you just see in there? What was it like? That stupid door has been attached to my house for months and I have no idea what’s on the other side. ”
“It’s full of...”
“Nigel prefers his privacy,” said Tanner.
Matt shook his head and then smiled at me. “He always says that. But forget about the weird door. Welcome to my home, Ashley .”
I cringed. “Please just call me Ash.” I still couldn’t believe that Tanner had referred to me as Ashley for months just to mess with him.
“You got it.” Tanner turned around. “Guys, I wanted this to be a surprise. This is Ash.” He gestured toward me.
“Wait, Ash, Ash?” A guy with dark hair asked. Just kidding. I knew it was Rob. I knew who all of them were because their beautiful faces were always splashed across the tabloids. I even recognized the kids running around playing. Matt plopped down on the couch between Rob and James. They were all already watching the Giants game. And Rob and James were each holding toddlers. Those must have been their sons, RJ and Liam.
I realized I was awkwardly staring at them. “Yup, that’s me name,” I said in a weird Scottish accent. Stop it.
Rob smiled. “ You’re the girl that set Matt on fire?”
Did he really have to remind everyone immediately? So much for making a good first impression. I nodded.
Rob laughed. “Freaking awesome. Welcome, Ash. Wait.” He stared at Tanner and then back at me. “Are you dating this clown?”
“Um... ”
Tanner put his arm around my shoulders. “Yes, this is my girlfriend, Young Robert.”
Rob glared at him. “Would you stop calling me that, man?”
“Wait, you’re Young Robert?” I asked. “I thought Tanner had beef with some kid?”
Rob rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why he calls me that. He’s younger than me.”
I laughed. Tanner was more than 300 years older than Rob.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” I quickly said.
Rob gave me a weird look, but then the Giants scored and he got distracted. “Touchdown!” he said down to RJ. “RJ, Liam, cheer!”
Both toddlers clapped. And then RJ got so into it that he started screaming at the TV.
Well, that was adorable. Kind of. Nope. RJ kept screaming and it turned into crying very fast. And then Liam started drooling. James reached down and wiped the drool off with the side of his hand and then wiped his hand off on his Giants jersey.
Ew.
No.
What the fuck did he just do?
I was right before. James really was a freak.
He looked up at me. “Nice to see you again, Ash. Are you a Giants fan too?”
“No, I hate them.”
“Oh. I just assumed...” he gestured to my Giants jersey .
Crap, right. “I was just...” I don’t know. I wanted them to like me.
“Psh, the Giants,” said Penny as she walked into the room. “Hey, Ash.” She gave me a hug like we were already best friends. Or at least like we’d already met in person. “Please tell me you’re an Eagles fan. If I remember correctly, you’re from Delaware too, right?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t believe she remembered that. We’d talked a lot before and a little after my date with Matt. But I didn’t think she’d remember.
“Trust me, you don’t need to pander to them. They get what they want too often.”
A little girl ran into the room, quickly followed by a girl that looked just like Penny. Jacob was chasing them and they were all giggling.
“That’s Sophie, Rob and Daphne’s daughter,” said Penny and pointed to the first girl. “And the redhead is Scarlett. You can probably tell she’s mine,” she said with a laugh. “And that’s Brooklyn and Matt’s son...”
The boy skidded to a stop and looked up at me. “Hiya, Miss Ashley. Wait, does that mean my abuelo is here? Abuelo! Abuelo!”
Jacob laughed as Tanner picked him up upside down.
“I’ve actually already met Jacob,” I said. “Tanner and Nigel were babysitting him one night.”
“It’s so funny that you mention Nigel. I had actually been thinking of you recently. And I had this idea in my head that you’d be a good match with Nigel...”
“Nigel?” I laughed. “No. Absolutely not.”
Penny smiled. “Yeah, I see it now.” She looked at Tanner playing with Jacob. “Tanner is a much better fit. And I’m so happy he’s found someone. I’ve been a little worried about him recently. He was traveling a lot more than usual and he seemed so worn out. But he seems like a new man today.”
Tanner had left me for months. It had been the worst few months of my life. And I understood that he was trying to keep me safe. But it kinda felt good to know that he’d been as miserable as I was.
“And he’s so good with kids,” said Penny. “He’s going to be a great dad.”
I swallowed hard. It was odd meeting Tanner’s friends when I was the only one that knew his secret here. Tanner couldn’t have children. Not unless I whored around town and banged my lesser true love.
“Not that he’s in any rush or anything,” she added quickly. She must have seen my reaction. “I just meant that I could picture it, you know?”
I nodded. I could picture it too. But then I saw RJ drooling even more than Liam now. Nope. I couldn’t picture having kids at all. They were too gross.
“Come with me, I want you to meet Daphne. Brooklyn’s upstairs with the baby. I’m sure she’ll be down soon. But I’m so bummed that Mason and Bee aren’t here to meet you too. They thought Nova was running a temperature and didn’t want to risk it.”
“I actually work with them. I mean, for them.” I’d seen pictures of their beautiful baby girl in one of the many tabloids. She was adorable. But probably drooly too... And honestly, I was worried that if I saw Mason I’d punch him in the face for making Mr. Frost my boss. I’d freaking earned that promotion.
“You work at BIMG? Ah, that’s awesome. ”
I nodded. I really didn’t understand how I still had a job after wrecking the place though. It was a good thing Mr. Frost loved sausages so much.
We walked into the kitchen.
Nigel was busy getting some snacks ready. He looked up at me. “Mistress Ash, the snacks will be ready shortly.”
“Oh...um...great.”
He bowed and then turned back to the stove.
“Daphne, this is Tanner’s girlfriend, Ash,” said Penny.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” said Daphne.
I smiled. I wondered if she’d automatically hate me since her husband hated Tanner. But she didn’t look upset with me or anything. And she hugged me too.
Sophie, Scarlett, and Jacob sprinted into the room, chasing each other around the kitchen island. Jacob stopped and coughed.
Ah! Germs!
I jumped out of the way of the little goblins. “Let me help you with that, Nigel.” I lifted up one of the trays of food.
He smiled up at me. “Thank you.”
We walked into the living room and set the snacks down. Everyone sat down and the only open seat was between Matt and Tanner.
I turned to the TV and just awkwardly stood there.
But then Tanner grabbed my waist and pulled me into the empty spot. He kissed my cheek.
Rob gagged. “How can you let that liar kiss you?”
Um...what?
“You do know that he’s harboring some kind of terrible secret, right?”
Wait, does Rob know?!
Tanner laughed. “Young Robert, please. It’s beneath you to poison my girlfriend against me. That would be like me sleeping with your wife right under your roof.”
Rob looked so pissed. And Daphne awkwardly laughed as her cheeks grew red.
I had a feeling they fought like this a lot. But seriously...did Rob know?!
I looked to the left out of the corner of my eye at Matt. He was focused on the game. Wait . Was he ignoring me? And if so...was it because I’d videochatted him? Gah. No. Yes? Ah! I scooted a little closer to Tanner as a commercial turned on.
“Perfect,” said Tanner. “Should we watch some real football now?”
“This is real football,” said Rob.
“You know what I mean. Oh, or maybe we can watch some footy?”
“What the hell is footy?” Rob mumbled.
“Or at least cricket.”
Matt laughed. “Tanner, you knew we’d be watching the game. We do it every Sunday.”
“And I always think you’ll see reason. What about croquet?”
“What the...”
“Rob,” Daphne warned. He’d definitely been about to curse in front of the kids.
“Who the heck watches croquet?” Rob finished.
“Gentlemen and scholars,” said Tanner .
“Hold the baby,” said Rob and handed RJ to Daphne, like he was about to fight Tanner.
He had no chance of beating Tanner, unless he knew some really weird kung fu. Or had a three-hole punch to chuck at his head.
“No fighting,” said Daphne and gave Rob a hard stare.
“But he started it,” said Rob.
She gave him the look again.
“It’s so hot when you look at me like that. You know what else is hot? The truth.” Rob and Tanner started bickering again.
Matt laughed.
I turned to him and we awkwardly made eye contact. Which meant I couldn’t just look away.
“So...what’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing. Seen any videos recently?”
“Of what?”
“Nothing.” I cleared my throat.
“So...what have you been up to?” he asked.
“I haven’t burnt anyone recently if that’s what you’re asking.” Good Lord, why had I just brought that up?!
He laughed. “I’d hope not.”
“Is it...like...okay?”
“Is what okay?” he asked.
“Your...um...pants sword.”
He raised his eyebrow at me.
“Because I mutilated it.”
“You did not mutilate my dick. I’m fine.”
I think I mutilated it...
He laughed. “Ash, I just had a baby. I’m fine, I promise.”
“But I also threw that bottle of wine at it. It might not be fine now.”
“I’m fine. We can move forward from this. Truly.”
For some reason we both just sat there staring at each other. And it felt like neither of us was moving on from this. I was just picturing his trouser snake so mangled.
“I think it’s time to order pizza,” said Daphne.
“I’ll help!” I practically screamed and jumped to my feet to get away from the awkward conversation I was trapped in with Matt. Although as I sprinted away from him, I was worried that only I thought it was awkward. Why couldn’t I get over those incidents? I knew I needed to. But...fire penis.
“Do you mind holding RJ?” asked Daphne. She thrust him into my arms before I could even respond.
He giggled and looked up at me. Aw. And then he touched my left boob. Eek, don’t do that, little man. He touched my other boob and started to drool again.
“I’m so sorry,” Daphne apologized as she waited for someone to pick up the phone at the pizza place. “But you should take it as a compliment. RJ is a very picky eater.”
How was he a picky eater? Wasn’t she the only one that fed him?
“Hi,” said Daphne into the phone. “I’d like to order three pizzas.” Pause. “One plain cheese. But with red sauce. Nothing spicy, just normal red sauce. And mozzarella cheese only.” Pause. “Yes, only mozzarella.” Pause. “And I’d like one supreme pizza. But I want to remove the mushrooms...unless they’re in season. Are they in season?” Pause. “No, no mushrooms then. And no red onions or green peppers. Do you have any yellow peppers?” Pause. “No, then no peppers.” Pause. “So yes, just pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and sauce.” She laughed. “Oh, yes, I guess I could have just ordered the meat lovers. I’ll remember that for next time.” Pause. “No wait, there’s a third pizza. Yes, I need three.” Pause. “I’d like a white veggie pizza. But I want it with sauce, so not white at all. And I’d only like broccoli and basil on it. Is this pizza 100% vegetarian?” Pause. “Oh good. Then I’d like to add pepperoni.” Pause. “Yes, I want pepperoni and sauce on the white veggie pizza. Unless the pepperoni is cured. Is your pepperoni uncured?” Pause. “Perfect, yes, a white veggie pizza with the added meat and sauce. Perfect.”
Damn, I liked her style while ordering. RJ kept poking at my boob as I stared at Daphne. I needed to start ordering like that. I always just ordered right off the menu like a peasant. She was a total boss.
Daphne hung up.
“That was amazing!”
She laughed. “Are you going to make fun of me too?”
“No, that was seriously cool. I always want to make changes but I never want to bother the waiter. But I’d rather have what I want, you know? I need to start doing that.”
She smiled. “It is nice to get what you want, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. I always just let everyone walk all over me. You should have seen me when the cops...” my voice trailed off. Oh, shit. Now she was going to think I got arrested or something. I didn’t want to talk about this, but what was the alternative? That she thought Tanner was hooking up with a felon? “My sister disappeared a few years ago. And the cops were super incompetent.”
Daphne put her hand over her mouth. “Ash, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay...”
“You don’t have to say that. I know what it’s like to lose a sibling.” She lifted RJ out of my arms when he started drooling more. “I lost my brother.” She looked down at her son and started blinking fast.
I gave her a big hug and she hugged me back.
“But I bet your sister is still out there,” she said. “Do they have any leads? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Daphne was seriously amazing. We started talking about the strange photo that no one remembered being taken. And then the conversation somehow turned into remembering embarrassing photos we’d taken on school photo day.
“Yo, ladies!” Rob called from the other room.
Daphne laughed. “And I’m sorry about him. I don’t understand what his feud is with Tanner. I’m hoping he’ll outgrow it. We all love Tanner.”
I laughed. I loved how she talked about Rob like he was a petulant child. We walked back into the living room.
Rob had pulled out some kind of VR headset. “Everyone was playing earlier, but I’d love to get your thoughts on the new Hunter Tech VR headset during halftime.”
“What’s the game?”
“It’s a game based on Supernova Six. Are you a fan?”
“Uh, yes!” Who wasn’t?
“You really don’t have to do it,” said Daphne.
“Please leave Ash out of your shenanigans,” said Penny at the same time.
“Oh, come on,” said Rob. “You’ll love it. Especially since you’re a fan.”
I wasn’t sure why Penny and Daphne said I shouldn’t play. But I really wanted to. “I’ll try it.”
Rob handed me the headset and I pulled it on. I was immediately transported into the game.
Woah. It felt SUPER real. I gasped when Orlando Jackson, decked out in his space marine uniform, walked in front of me. Chastity was obsessed with him, and now I could see why. He was so tall and totally jacked. And he was so realistic. I could see every vein in his muscles. My eyes trailed down his biceps.
And then the rebels started attacking. Ah! I pulled out my gun and returned fire. Shooting the rebels reminded me of playing Golden Eye with my brother, but way more realistic. It really feels like I’m on another planet...
I somehow managed to escape from the rebels, and then a tentacle monster came out of nowhere to fight. It looked disgusting and I almost gagged.
Orlando turned to me. “Climb up and shove a satchel charge in its mouth. ”
You got it, boss. And it was actually really fun to climb the monster. I jumped off with a jetpack and turned around to look at the monster over my shoulder. It was awesome to watch it blow up, but then I got covered in goop. Ew.
I landed with some space marines on a train. And now I had to fight off aliens in orange spacesuits all whacking me with big clubs. Take that! Whenever I killed one another one jumped onto the train.
GAME OVER flashed across the screen.
I pulled off the headset. “Oh my gosh, that was amazing. It felt so real! Can I go again? It totally reminded me of all those summer nights I spent hanging out with my brother during high school.”
Everyone was staring at me.
“I can’t believe how big Orlando Jackson is. I mean, I knew he was a big dude. But seeing him up close and personal was really eye opening. And the way you captured every vein was pretty amazing.”
“What was your favorite part?” asked Rob.
“Oh, definitely the tentacle monster. It was so big and slippery. I thought it would make me gag, but once I got my hands on it, I was hooked. And don’t even get me started about how satisfying it was to watch it explode, even if it did get all over me.”
Penny’s eyes grew round as she stared at me.
I wondered which part she didn’t like? “And I loved the train. Even though I was getting pounded by all those aliens, it was so exhilarating. Just when I thought I’d taken care of one, another would jump on. And it was so cool how it felt like it was really happening to me. Have the kids tried it yet? I feel like they’d love it.”
Everyone looked horrified.
“That is NOT appropriate for kids,” said Penny.
Daphne cringed and I could tell she agreed.
Oh, I knew the problem. “I mean, not for the babies. But I bet my man Jacob here would love to ride that train. Am I right?” I lifted my hand and gave Jacob a high five.
Matt cleared his throat and covered Jacob’s ears with his hands. “Ash, I was really hoping to start fresh. But I think it might be best if you leave.”
“Why would she want our kids to watch that?” Penny looked at James.
James looked truly shocked.
And then Rob started laughing hysterically.
“Oh, no,” said Daphne. “Rob, what did you do?”
It took him awhile to stop laughing. “I pranked everyone so good. I showed all of you one thing and Ash something else entirely.” He turned to me. “Wanna see what they saw?”
“Sure...”
Rob put the headset back on my head.
It started out with me getting absolutely railed by Orlando Jackson. Then a tentacle monster tossed him out of the way and started fucking me. And then a bunch of aliens came up and ran train on me.
Oh fuck…
I thought back to everything I’d just said. The veins. The tentacle exploding all over me. The alien train. And worst of all…saying Jacob would love riding that train. And oh God, I said it reminded me of long su mmer nights with my brother. I started to dry heave and pulled the headset off.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I truly thought Jacob would like it. Not what you all saw. What I saw. No one was running train.” Everything I said just seemed to make it sound worse. “It was an actual train with aliens.”
Tanner laughed.
Tanner, help me!
But he seemed to enjoy the fact that I’d been pranked just as much as Rob did. Why were they even bickering? They were practically the same person!
Daphne stepped in to help me. “I’m so sorry that my husband has started acting like a teenage boy recently.”
I dry heaved again but it turned into a laugh.
“Rob, seriously?” said Penny with a laugh.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Anyone who can’t appreciate a good prank is a total loser.”
Rob smiled at me. “Damn straight. I had a good feeling about you. And I have a feeling we’re going to get along really well. Speaking of getting along, maybe we should both share a secret we have. We can keep it between ourselves. You can start if you want. How about you tell me Tanner’s thing?”
Matt sighed and removed his hands from Jacob’s ears.
If Rob thought he could sweet talk me into telling him Tanner’s secret, he was dead wrong.
“Hey,” someone said from behind us.
I turned around to see Brooklyn walking into the room with a baby in her arms .
“I couldn’t get Chloe to sleep. I think she didn’t want to miss out on all the fun...” Brooklyn’s voice trailed off when she saw me.
But I was barely paying attention. Because Chloe was the most adorable baby I’d ever seen. Her big eyes blinked up at me. It looked like she’d been crying, but I swear she smiled when she saw me.
“Brooklyn, this is my girlfriend, Ash,” said Tanner from the couch. He turned around to smile at me.
“Your girlfriend?” Brooklyn looked so excited. “Oh my goodness.” She handed Chloe over to Matt and turned back to me. “Ash, I’m so happy to meet you.” She threw her arms around me just like Penny and Daphne had.
I’d never met such friendly people before.
“I’m so thrilled to meet you,” said Brooklyn. “And I’m so glad Tanner found someone,” she whispered before pulling back.
I’m glad he found me too. I looked over at him on the couch laughing with his friends.
“Tanner is like the brother I never had,” said Brooklyn. “I think that makes you family.” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “Oh my gosh, I’m being rude. Can I get you a drink or something? Wait. Did you say your name was Ash?”
Matt walked over to us, cradling Chloe against his chest. He’d ditched his Giants jersey so Chloe could snuggle against his bare skin.
I guess they were taking the skin-on-skin thing very seriously in this household.
“Yup, it’s that Ash,” said Matt .
Brooklyn smiled. “No way. I told everyone you’d be a good match for Tanner. I said it. I swear I said it!”
Matt kissed her cheek. “You did indeed.”
“Brooklyn, I’m so sorry about what I did to your husband. I didn’t mean to mutilate it.”
She laughed. “Mutilate what?”
“His...thingy.”
She laughed again. “Girl, it’s fine, trust me. More than fine.” She blushed. “And I freaking love that story.”
Matt shook his head. “She really does love that story.”
“So you don’t hate me?”
Matt smiled. “I’ve been trying to tell you, Ash. We’re cool. All of us. I hope you believe me now.”
I slowly nodded. If his sausage really was still delectable...I guess there was nothing to be upset about.
Chloe cooed.
Oh my God I want one.
Wait.
What?
What the fuck is happening to my brain?! Kids are disgusting.
Chloe cooed again.
But now I really want one. Unfortunately, Tanner’s skeet would literally kill me if I touched it. Crap. I’m going to need a boner donor.
I tried to ignore my thoughts as we watched the rest of the game. It was fun seeing Tanner with his friends. He seemed so laid back and actually his bickering with Rob was kind of hilarious .
But I couldn’t get the baby thing out of my head. I even took turns holding Liam, RJ, and Chloe. And I didn’t even mind the drool.
Fine, I minded a little. That’s what napkins were for. Not hands, James. You nasty.
As we climbed into Tanner’s car late that night after the Giants victory, I turned to him.
“Did you have fun?” he asked.
“So much fun. But...”
“You’re still scared of Matt?”
“What? No.” I laughed. “I have baby fever.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even said it. I’m sure I can shake it off.” But I was getting old. I didn’t have that much time to shake away. Oh my God, am I running out of time?
Tanner grabbed my hand. “I want to give you everything you want, Ash. So if you want kids, I see two options. We can find your lesser true love so I can be free. Or...we can find a sperm donor.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. I didn’t know how long it was going to take to find my lesser true love. Obviously I’d prefer to have kids with him. He’d be a great dad, just like Penny said. But...suddenly I could hear my biological clock ticking down in my head. Out of nowhere, it just hit me. I was running out of time.
He dropped my hand and turned on the ignition. “I know the best fertility doctor in the city,” he said without looking at me. He slowly pulled away from the curb. “I’ll make us an appointment.”
I hated how upset he seemed. “Are you sure? ”
He didn’t respond.
“Tanner? Are you sure you want me to go to a fertility clinic? And have another man’s baby?” Saying it out loud made me cringe. That wasn’t what I wanted. But I really wanted a baby. No. I NEEDED a baby. “You know I wish I could have your baby, right?”
He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “Actually...” His voice trailed off. “Actually, yes.”
“Yeah?”
He smiled to himself and nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s actually going to work out quite swimmingly.” He started whistling.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re going to be a great dad.”
“Yup. Sure.” He continued whistling.
That was a strange response. But as long as he was on board...