LOGINShare
Chapter 67: Annie
Related chapters
The Bound Collection Chapter 68: Annie
I'd been on such a high yesterday with Brett's game and hanging out with Lissa, Lynn's showing up this morning brought me crashing down. We'd made plans earlier in the week to take the dreaded monthly pregnancy test, but somehow it didn't feel right without Brett. Or maybe I didn't want to face the disappointment without him. I never understood how women said they knew until now-now I understood. I knew I wasn't pregnant and didn't need to pee on a stick for confirmation."You're really not going to do it?" Lynn asked, miffed."What's the point?" This had become harder each month that ended with the same answer."Maybe this is the month? You guys haven't been trying that long."I glared at my friend-time was relative. A year may not seem like much in her world, but it was an eternity in mine. I knew what she meant, but that wasn't the way my heart wanted to take it. As sweetly as I could muster, I responded, "You're right. It hasn't been the years many people try, but I've now had
The Bound Collection Chapter 69: Annie
Gray texted me daily. None of it seemed significant, and I shared every message with Brett, but he hadn't been interested in the details. I'd watched for signs of irritation but hadn't seen any. I offered to let him read the communication, but while he appreciated my telling him about them, he didn't need to see them. I guess he figured if I shared that they took place it wasn't likely I was doing something I should be hiding. But after a taxing night of baby discussions, miscarriage acknowledgments, and once again beating the dead horse about adoption, I made a mistake and reached out. It wasn't so much that I wanted to talk to Gray as I wanted to vent to someone who wouldn't stick up for Brett and tell me what a wonderful husband he was for trying to give us a family. I already knew all of that, but I needed an outlet who wouldn't insist on playing Devil's advocate. The words flowed too easily, the confessions too intimate. Every doubt, every fear, every frustration, and hang up-
The Bound Collection Chapter 70: Brett
It pained me to contemplate her wanting to see him again, but there was something in Annie that would never heal until she could recognize it wasn't her job to save him. There wasn't an ounce of me that believed she wanted to be with him although that may have been naïve. I just knew my wife. She had told me years ago she hoped they could be friends. Before we ever married, she confided in me her desire for friendship, but I never believed it would transpire. I assumed when Gray realized she had moved on, he'd leave her alone in favor of some other obsession. Maybe I had hoped some part of him loved her enough to do so. But that would require him to acknowledge he had hurt her to begin with, and he clearly had yet to do that. After almost four years, I foolishly believed he was out of her life forever. I knew our relationship was strong enough to withstand the likes of Gray, but I didn't want her confiding in him. Selfishly, I didn't want her sharing any of our lives with him. I didn
The Bound Collection Chapter 71: Annie
We agreed to meet at Applebee's. I couldn't help but think of the odd significance this restaurant had in our relationship. The first time we hung out beyond the DC was at the Applebee's closest to 3 Tier when Gray was still married. Now it was the Applebee's closest to my newest client, and I was the one who was married. The difference was Gray knew I was married, and my husband knew where I was. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I continuously rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans. I hadn't seen Gray, not even in passing, in years. It was odd how the universe kept throwing us together when we were single, but once I got married, I never ran into him, never even caught a glimpse of him until I ran into him at the DC recently. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw him standing up against a silver Harley with his feet crossed at the ankles and arms over his chest. He was just as stunning as he'd always been, but he'd filled out a little. Mostly it was just the natu
The Bound Collection Chapter 72: Annie
Eliminating the pressure of having an agenda in our marriage brought Brett and me back to where we'd been pre-baby craze. It didn't change the fact that every time my period came, I wondered whether it was a fertilized egg that was unable to implant in my uterus-an unrecognized miscarriage so early on we weren't aware it was a pregnancy-but at least that was only once a month. We tried to resume our social life and just enjoy each other. We spent more and more time with Dan and Lissa, and I had fast developed a strong bond with Dan's girlfriend.We spent most weekends with them, and those we didn't, I talked to Lissa regularly. Dan and Brett joked about how dependent we'd become on each other, but the truth was, I had really connected with her. She knew just about all there was to know about me, except what happened with Will. She knew the gist of it but didn't have any details. Even after all these years, sharing his story still felt like a violation, so when his name came up, I only
The Bound Collection Chapter 73: Annie
The next morning, I remembered little of the night before, but I felt every sip of it. Holy crap my head was throbbing. As I peeked through the tiny slits between my eyelids, attempting to avoid the light of day, I rolled into a wall of Brett. I had no idea if everyone else felt the way I did, but I hoped for their sakes they had stayed sober. Cheap wine had not been good to me. When Brett groaned in pain, I realized my husband had followed me down a drunken path. I couldn't remember much about what we'd done after we got home last night other than started drinking. I knew they had put some movie on, but Lissa and I were yapping, and the wine flowed, and before I knew it, I had delved into stories about my past. Oh God, as bits and pieces came back to me, I wondered if Brett and I even still had friends and why my husband hadn't left me.His large hand found my hip and pulled me to him. "Do you feel as bad as I do?" he croaked with his head under the pillow."Worse. What were you t
The Bound Collection Chapter 74: Annie
Lissa was just as much a lightweight as I was. She hadn't bothered coming in when she honked in the driveway. I put on enormous sunglasses and a hoodie and met her at her car. When I got in, she lifted her dark shades to express her irritation with the day, and I burst out laughing."We're two peas in a pod. I feel as bad as you look like you do." "I'd still be in bed if Dan hadn't forced me to get up. He's like some Herculean drinker or something. They drank just as much as we did, and Dan acts like it's just another day. How was Brett?""Giving me advice on how to handle a hangover." I rolled my eyes to express my irritation with my husband who had revived after a shower and measly cup of coffee. "He swears we need grease and another cocktail.""Holy crap, Dan, too. Do they share a brain?" She'd pulled out of my driveway and onto the street. I didn't know where we were going but trusted we'd agreed on something since she seemed to have a destination. "You haven't figured that
The Bound Collection Chapter 75: Brett
The knock startled me. I almost never closed my office door, and if I did, no one ever knocked, they just opened it and barged in. I was having a hard time focusing on the mounds of reports on my desk with the noise in the DC and had hoped to eliminate some of the racket."Come in," I called out.Dan opened the door and peeked his head around."Why are you knocking?""You never close the door, so I didn't know if maybe you had a private guest you might be entertaining." He wagged his brows at me like an idiot."The only private anything I'd have would be Annie, and that doesn't happen here.""Well, maybe not now. But it did."I threw my pen at the asshole. He was screwing with me and thought he was funny."Speaking of your better half, have you guys considered Lissa's offer?" The joking stopped instantly, and his face took on a serious expression. Dan swung the heavy metal door open far enough to allow his giant frame to pass through before shutting it behind him.I hadn't ans
Latest chapter
The Bound Collection Chapter 150: Epilogue
The Bound Collection Chapter 149
The Bound Collection Chapter 148
The Bound Collection Chapter 147
The Bound Collection Chapter 146
The Bound Collection Chapter 145
The Bound Collection Chapter 144
The Bound Collection Chapter 143
The Bound Collection Chapter 142
