"Oh, shit." Jamie pressed her hand to her forehead. "Did he get all over you about us talking?"
"Yeah, but I should have known better." He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee.
"I wish I could say that I understand, but I don't. My sister married my ex and even though it's weird as all get out, I still wouldn't chew her for talking to Alex. It's a trust issue more than anything else." Jamie sat back and crossed her legs. "I'm not sure it's going to matter for much longer anyway."
"What? Why is that?" True concern brushed across Mark's features, making her like him all the more.
"Because he has some shit going on in his life and I guess he thinks that pushing me back is the best choice right now." She shrugged and forced the hard emotions that accompanied the conversation back down. "I'm just going to be as supportive as I can until he figures out what he wants."
"You're being horribly cryptic." He smirked.
"I know, right? I just feel like it should be his news to share with you. Hopefully that's okay."
"Yeah. Just shows what a classy lady you are. I hope you guys move past this. I know Alex and I have our differences and a bit of a bumpy past, but he's still my older brother. I want what's best for him, and I'm pretty damn sure that that's you."
"I hope so too." She took a long drink of her coffee as her heart contracted painfully. She could come up with a plan for what life needed to look like if Alex turned away, but it was just a plan. It wasn't the reality she wanted for them. They hadn't uttered their love for each other, but it was on the tip of her tongue.
Whether she would get a chance to ever tell him or not was another story altogether.
“How about we walk?”
He nodded and stood, without saying a word.
They walked around chatting about life in general as they walked the streets of New York and then enjoyed a causal conversation and two slices of pizza at the little parlor Mark was dying to go to. After forcing an ice cream down, they drove back to Alex's house, Mark turned the radio station to country music and started belting out the melody in an extremely decent singing voice.
Alex's Mercedes was in the driveway as they pulled up.
"This guy has more vehicles than a car sales lot. I have no clue what he does with those many cars." Mark rolled his eyes and got out of Jamie’s little shit-beater.
"No clue, but I know he loves them. I guess if you find a few things you truly enjoy and you work hard for your money, then you should be able to spend it as you see fit." She moved up beside Mark as nervousness swelled in her belly.
Things hadn't ended too well with Alex the day before, which left her at a disadvantage to know what to expect. As long as he didn't blow up on Mark, they would be good. He had a tendency to be a total ass to those he was closest to when something was wrong.
Good thing to remember. You really want a man who blows up on you because he's upset with someone else?
She discarded the thought as soon as she had it. Everyone did that, her included.
"Alex?" Mark called out as they walked through the front door.
"In the back."
"He's on the patio. I'm going to use the restroom and then I'll join you guys."
"Alright. I'll get him to sign this shit so that we have it out of the way." Mark smiled at her, pausing. "Hey... thanks for today. Best fun I've had in years. Just felt good."
She nodded. "It was fun. Thanks for letting me tag along."
He laughed. “I think I was the one tagging along.
Turning, she walked to her apartment and tried to shake the feeling off that her time with Mark would come back to bite her. Alex was the jealous type, which was perfectly fine and even a little flattering, but he was the one that sent her to get Mark. It wasn't fair for him to set up the encounter and then get raging pissed because her and Mark had fun in each other's company.
She washed her hands and checked herself in the mirror, noticing that her face looked a little fuller than it should.
"Probably the ice cream, donuts and pizza. Life's not been too kind lately." She growled and turned the light off, not wanting to add anything else onto herself for the moment. Hanging out with Alex and Mark would be enough for the night.
She walked out onto the patio in the middle of the guys talking about Annette from what Jamie could tell. She took the seat closest to Alex and smiled kindly as he glanced over at her.
"Right, so why she decided to wait this long to say something just seems ridiculous. I've been with Jamie for six or seven weeks now. The bitch had to know that she was pregnant before now. Why wait?" Alex's vein in the side of his neck was budging.
"Because she's lying or it's not yours. There would be no other reason for it. Is she in love with you?" Mark asked just before his eyes shifted to Jamie. There was a hint of sympathy in his gaze and she was grateful for it.