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Can't Compete
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
All Grown Up It's All Over Now
Jesse I tried not to grit my teeth as I left Audrey at her mom’s house with her injured ankle. But her words kept ringing in my ears. Can’t we just enjoy the time we have? she had asked me. The question went around and around in my head.The thing was, I wished that I could say yes. That we could just have a little fun and not worry about any of the consequences of that fun. But the truth was, I liked Audrey. And the more time I spent with her, the more I was going to get attached to her, I was sure.It was easy enough for her to want to just enjoy the time that we had without worrying about putting a label on things or whatever else. But she wasn’t the one who would be left behind here in Aberdeen at the end of her six months’ stay. Once her ankle healed up, she was going to go right back to Paris, to her life there, and I would be left here with a giant ballerina-shaped hole in my life.But at the same time, I knew there was no way that I could tell her that it wasn’t okay for us
All Grown Up What He Deserves
AudreyI stared up at the ceiling unseeingly as my thoughts swirled chaotically around in my head. I couldn’t help feeling guilty for the way that I had snapped at Annabelle earlier when she had told me that I needed to take it easy and give my ankle a rest. The thing was, I knew that I needed to rest my ankle more. I was more frustrated than I could say about the way things had happened that day.It was like each time I thought my ankle was getting better, it somehow managed to get worse all over again. Like I was never going to get back to dancing.Not being able to dance, to have my life back, was starting to drive me crazy. I didn’t know how much longer I could stay couch-ridden. I didn’t want Mom or Clayton to have to drive me everywhere. I didn’t want to be sedentary.I knew that I needed to take things easy. But it was just so damned hard to do.But I felt more guilty for what I had said to Jesse. Can’t we just enjoy the time that we have?I knew that I was avoiding conversatio
All Grown Up Find A Hobby
AudreyI heard the front door open. Mom and Clayton were already in bed, so it must be Annabelle coming home after her shift at the bar. I hadn’t realized that it was already that late, but when I looked at my phone, I saw that it definitely was. I sighed and flopped back on my bed. It was late, yet I still felt ages away from sleep.Annabelle crept into the room, taking pains to stay quiet. I appreciated the effort, but I wasn’t asleep. And I knew that I needed to apologize to her for earlier. There was nothing that I could do about the Jesse thing at the moment, but at least I could try to take one weight off my mind for the evening.I sat up. “Hey,” I said quietly.“Hey,” Annabelle said in response, her tone frosty. That, in itself, told me just how hurt she was about what I had said earlier.I looked down at my duvet. “I’m sorry for earlier,” I apologized. “I know you’re just looking out for me. And I don’t want to make excuses, but I’m just frustrated about all of this. I want to
All Grown Up Training Chance
JesseThe more time I spent training Chance on the opening procedures for the shop, the more sure I was that I was never going to trust the kid to open up on his own. Or at least, I would risk getting called in halfway through, as he somehow managed to screw something up or get confused on something simple like, oh, opening the register to count the float.“Come on, you’ve got this,” I coaxed. “I know you know how to do this when we’ve got customers.” The kid had been working there for over a month, after all. And even though he was a bit clueless, he seemed to mostly be doing fine.Until something new came up, something that he hadn’t dealt with before. Whether it was a person asking him where the paint chips were or opening procedures, any time something new was introduced to him, it was like his brain just totally shut down.Right now, he looked at me with pleading eyes, clearly hoping that I would just give him the answer. I tried not to sigh. “All right, now pretend that I’m a cu
All Grown Up It Would've Been You
JesseOnce everything was up and running for the day and I had Chance occupied with a messy drawer full of nuts, bolts, and other hardware bits to sort, I slipped into the back and pulled out my phone.I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Audrey had said the night before, about just enjoying the time that we had. That wasn’t what I wanted, not in the least. But at the same time, I would have had to be a fool to tell her no.Anyway, right now, that wasn’t what I was thinking about. Right now, I was wondering how she was doing, how her ankle was treating her. I gave her a call, holding my breath as I waited for her to answer. She did so almost immediately, and a smile broke out across my face.“Hey,” she said brightly. “You must have been able to feel my boredom from all the way over there.”I laughed. “How’s your ankle?” I asked her. At least if she was bored, it had to mean that she wasn’t dancing on it, right?“It’s been better, but it’s feeling okay,” Audrey said, and I co
All Grown Up All To Myself
AudreyI groaned internally as I heard Jesse knock on the front door. I was still in my bedroom, which meant that by the time I made it to the door, moving slowly and doing my best not to hurt my ankle anymore, Mom would have had plenty of time to reach the door and start interrogating him. He should have just texted me that he was here; I could have met him outside.But on the other hand, there was something about him meeting me at the door that made me smile. It was almost like we were going out on a date.I tried to remember that I had been the one to say, the day before, that we were just enjoying the time that we had. Tried to remember the fact that as soon as six months were up, if not sooner, I was headed right back to Paris where I belonged. It wasn’t a good idea to start thinking of this as dating. Even if that was what I sort of wanted when I let myself think about it.I didn’t know if we would last forever, but I did know, now, that I had feelings for Jesse. And not just in
All Grown Up Adorable
AudreyI raised an eyebrow at him. “Jesse Miller, did you just lie to my mom?” I asked teasingly. “And make a liar out of me as well? She’s bound to ask me how the movie was.” But I felt a shiver run up my back at the thought of him having me all to himself for an evening. I remembered the earlier comment that I had made, about how I could think of plenty of things we could do that wouldn’t require me being on my feet.I felt a momentary pang of loss at the thought of that now, though. I had just been joking earlier. Not that I didn’t want the night to end there, as it were. But I had been looking forward to going out with Jesse as well.I supposed I didn’t really deserve a date with him, though. That would be doing just what Annabelle had accused me of. I might not be taking advantage of him, per se. I liked him too much for that. But it would mean treating this like it was permanent, like I was back home for good. And I clearly wasn’t.“Wouldn’t be the first time either of us lied t
All Grown Up No Fixing It
JesseAs much as I wanted to take Audrey out and show her off, despite the fact that she and I weren’t dating, there was a deeper part of me that just wanted her all to myself, no distractions, for as long as we had. Luckily, with the fact that she had to stay off her feet, our options for going out were pretty limited anyway. I was a little afraid that she would call me out for being too forward by taking her straight home with me, but then again, she had been the one to hint at all the ways that she’d like to be kept off her feet tonight.Besides, we would eat better at my place than we could out in town, and I liked the idea of snuggling with her on the couch.She had been the one to say that she had missed me, but I had to admit that I was feeling it too. Like I just couldn’t get enough time with her. It was like my body was already reacting to her return to Paris, even though she was right here in Aberdeen for the next five months or so.It seemed like we were already saying good
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All Grown Up All Grown Up
AudreyI couldn’t believe that Jesse had gone to all of this work to build the perfect nursery for our baby. From the looks of the crib, it was hand-built, not just one of those flimsy things that you put together from the store. I could tell that there was still some work that he planned on putting into that, and there was a rocking chair only half finished on the floor. But Jesse was building me a nursery for our baby.I could barely believe it.Here I had been so worried that he would want nothing to do with me or the baby, when in fact, exactly the opposite was true. He wanted this enough that he was willing to put his love and dedication into incorporating us into his life and his home. He wanted our baby to grow up here just like he had grown up here.He was so perfect. I didn’t know how to tell him that.Instead, I was given the opportunity to show it to him.I caught his hands in mine and tugged him out of the nursery and back down the hallway to his bedroom. This time, I was
All Grown Up Moving Forward
JesseWhen I heard Audrey’s reasons for why she hadn’t told me about the pregnancy, I felt my heart break a little. Not because her reasons were terrible, but because I’d been so terrible to her this week. If she’d only explained things to me before. I knew that was my fault, though. I hadn’t let her explain. We’d been tired and too full of emotions to really talk last weekend, but I at least should have made time to see her earlier in the week.I didn’t know what I’d been expecting from her, but her actual reasons for not telling me were almost too sweet.“I’m assuming that you want to try to get yourself back into shape and go back to being a ballerina once the baby is born?” I said now, at dinner.To my surprise, Audrey shook her head. “Honestly, I think those days are over.”“I’m sure you can talk to your director and work something out with him,” I said, frowning. “I know there was the injury as well as this, but he seems like a reasonable guy. It’s not like you don’t have the ta
All Grown Up Mending Bridges
AudreyJesse slowly came up to the porch, like he thought I might run in the other direction. “You look really pretty,” he said quietly.“Is that all you came here to say?” I asked tartly.The lips of his mouth twitched with a grin. “Just the start of it,” he promised me. “Have you already eaten? I was hoping that maybe I could take you to dinner and we could talk.”I stared at him for a long moment. So now he wanted to talk? I wanted to hear whatever it was that he wanted to say, though. I wanted him, so badly that I ached. I found myself nodding. “Let’s go,” I said, heading toward his truck.We were both silent on the way to the restaurant that had been our favorite as teens. I should have known that he would take me there. Back to where it all began. There was a part of me that was terrified that I was never going to be able to come back here again after this too-serious conversation that we were about to have.There was another part of me that soared with hope, wondering if this m
All Grown Up Missing Him
AudreyI shook my head. “It’s more complicated than that,” I sighed. “He just got mad because I didn’t tell him that I was pregnant until we were on the way to the hospital. I lied to him about why I was back here, and he can’t trust me anymore.” I bit my lip. “I deserve it, for waiting for the perfect time. I just didn’t think waiting was going to end up making things so terrible.”“Oh, Audrey,” Annabelle sighed, coming over to sit next to me on the bed and giving me a hug. I knew she was probably going to be running late for her shift, but she didn’t seem to care. She just wanted to make sure that I was all right. I nearly cried with how much I appreciated it.She noticed. “Are you crying?”I had to laugh. “Hormones,” I told her. “I’m pregnant, remember? My emotions are all over the place.”She shook her head and went to grab me a tissue from the box on the dresser. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think he’ll be mad at you forever,” she said. “You didn’t see him when you were in Paris
All Grown Up Baby On Board
AudreyI’d had a great day with Mom and Annabelle, cooing over all the adorable little things that we could buy for the baby in the local mall. I knew that they were really excited about the baby, but as much as I tried to match their enthusiasm, I still couldn’t help but feel upset and unsure. It would have been so much easier if I had known that Jesse and I were an item and that he was going to be there for me. For us.I still hadn’t heard from him, though, and now it had been nearly a week since he had found out about the fact that I was pregnant.It had been a long week. Other than that shopping trip, I had barely left the house. What was there to do? Anywhere that I went around town, there was a chance that I might run into Jesse. I didn’t want to admit that I was avoiding him, but the conversation that he and I needed to have wasn’t one that I really wanted to start in public where anyone could witness it.It was a small town. Soon enough, everyone was going to realize that I wa
All Grown Up Audrey
JesseI took a calming breath to steady myself. No. I at least knew Audrey well enough to know that she wouldn’t do something like that without at least telling me that was her plan. Even though I hadn’t reached out to her, she knew where to find me if she really needed to talk about something like that. She knew where I worked, and she knew where I lived.At least, I thought I knew Audrey well enough to trust in that. If not Audrey, though, I had a feeling I would have caught an earful from Annabelle if her sister was even considering that.“You’re sure it’s yours?” Joe asked.“Yeah,” I said. I grimaced. “I actually asked her if it was someone else’s and that was why she hadn’t told me about it. She got pretty upset that I had even dared to think that she might have been with someone else. I believe her.”Joe nodded, and I could tell he was thinking everything over.“Am I right to be angry with her?” I asked, when he didn’t say anything. “I mean, she flat-out lied to me. You were rig
All Grown Up Processing
JesseI knew that I should probably talk to Audrey. Not talking to her was driving me crazy. She had always been one of my best friends, and if there was anyone that I wanted to talk to, it was definitely her. I missed her. I wanted to know how she was handling all of this. I wanted to know what she was thinking.I wanted to make sure that she was following the doctor’s orders to rest and stay off her feet for a little bit, in case it was the stress that had caused that terrible cramping that she’d had the other night. It had been hard for Audrey to stay off her feet before when her ankle was injured, so I could only imagine how she was coping with it now.I hoped for the sake of the baby, our baby, that she was taking the doctor’s words seriously. I had a feeling she would be, though. Somehow, I knew that she was going to make an incredible mother. That little baby was lucky.It was one of the few things that I was sure of.The rest of it was all uncertainties, and that right there w
All Grown Up Stress
Audrey“Eleven weeks,” I said. “Annabelle and I went for the ultrasound on Friday.” I pulled out the picture to show her, and her face lit up.“Look at that little peanut of a thing,” she cooed. “He looks adorable.”“He?” I asked skeptically. “You can’t possibly tell that from the picture.”Mom tutted. “Let me have my dream,” she said. “It would be good to have a little man around the household again. Besides, look at the way he’s positioned. He must be a boy.”I tried not to laugh. “Maybe it’s a boy,” I said, glancing at Annabelle.“Audrey’s hoping it’s a girl so that she can teach her to be a ballerina,” Annabelle said.“The world could use more male ballerinas,” Mom said, winking at me. “I always wished that I would have a boy to balance out you girls.” She sounded wistful, and I suddenly realized that I had never known if two kids were all that she planned to have or if things just hadn’t worked out for more. It suddenly seemed like something that I should know.Mom was wrapped up
All Grown Up Telling Mom
AudreyI had barely left my bedroom for the rest of the weekend after Jesse dropped me off at home. I couldn’t help thinking of the terrible things that he had said to me out in the driveway. I couldn’t help thinking of how much I deserved for him to say those things and more to me.I had fucked up. I knew that now. No, I had known that all along. I knew that I should tell him about the baby. All the reasons not to tell him seemed so stupid now. I couldn’t even think how to apologize to him, in fact, that’s how stupid all the reasons sounded in my head.Not that I was going to get a chance to apologize to him. I had given him his space on Saturday. He wanted time to cool off and process things, and I would give that to him. Sunday, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from texting him, though. I understood if he wasn’t ready to talk yet, but I just wanted to know when he might be ready to talk. The uncertainty was killing me.He hadn’t responded. Suddenly, I felt panic go through me, eve
