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Talk to Me
Last Updated:
2024-05-14 03:03:45
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Getting Luckyย ย ย Upset
EmberThanking my lucky stars for having a best friend like Gracie, I jumped in and told her everything. Once I had spilled my guts and was lying broken and bleeding on the floor, Gracie cleared her throat. โSo let me get this straight. You find out your boyfriendโs dad is dying, but your boyfriend doesnโt know, and you donโt tell him. Instead, you orchestrate a meeting for them in a place they both hold sacred when you know heโs not talking to his dad, and now youโre hoping they havenโt killed each other?โโPretty much.โ I sat back in my chair, spinning it around to face the city skyline and wishing phones still had cords so I would have something to wrap around my finger. Or my neck. โWhen you say it that way, it sounds really bad. I should have just encouraged him to return his dadโs calls, huh?โโProbably,โ she said. โBut on the other hand, news like that has to be delivered face to face, so they would have had to end up in the same room at some point. Also, maybe Kaden hasnโt cal
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย Going Away
KADENSlamming down the lid on my medium-sized suitcase, I wheeled it to my front door while scrolling through flights on my phone. Ryan was right. I needed a vacation. I needed to get away. I thought I wanted to get away with Ember, but right now, I needed to get away from her. From her, from my dad, from New York. I just needed to get away.I barely slept a wink after getting home from the office last night. The conversation with my dad played over and over in my head. Well, calling it a conversation was probably a stretch since I hadnโt let him get a word in edgewise.But I couldnโt stop thinking about everything I said to him, almost wishing Iโd let him reply so I would know what he had to say for himself. Although it was highly unlikely he would say anything other than how my outburst proved his point about me. That I was immature and shouldโve been able to bury all those feelings I had like a man.Burying it all, my ass. In my opinion, men were allowed to feel things too. We you
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย He's Proud
KadenI shrugged. โI donโt know. To be honest, probably not.โEmber lifted her eyes to mine. Up until this very moment, she hadnโt been planning on giving an inch. I saw it as soon as she got out of car, just like I saw it the second she changed her mind. โJust hear me out, please? I promise I can explain.โโYou lied to me,โ I gritted out, feeling the same stab of betrayal twisting in my heart I felt when I saw my dad on the roof last night. โThatโs all I need to know.โโI understand why you feel that way. I really do. But there are things you donโt know. Extenuating circumstances, if you will.โ She was as close to begging as the word damn was to being a cuss word, but she was hanging in there. โI had to get you to him. He talked to me about you the other day in his office. You werenโt taking his calls, and he really needs to speak to you.โI laughed humorlessly. โI donโt believe you. If he talked about me, youโd know he only needed to speak to me to remind me of what a disappointment
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย Oncologist
EMBERThe look on Kadenโs face as he listened to whatever he was being told on the phone was unlike any Iโd ever seen him wear, which was saying something since Iโd been carefully studying his reactions since I was a preteen and only just starting to realize that boys didnโt really have cooties.It shifted from anger, annoyance, and suspicion about what else I might have been hiding from him, to shock, dread, and, worst of all, fear. The combination left a blank mask in its place that scared the crap out of me.It was almost like he felt so many things in such a short space of time that he just switched off. And that, more than anything, made me connect the dots.Hank. Something had happened, and that call was to let Kaden know. My heart sputtered, its sporadic beats pounding in my ears. I suddenly felt like someone had a vise grip around my neck, choking me and cutting off my air supply.No matter how hard I tried or how deep I gulped, it felt like my lungs refused to expand. I was f
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย It Means More
EmberโWhatโs his prognosis?โ He all but whispered, looking the doctor right in the eyes. If Dr. Christie had noticed the size of the bomb he had just inadvertently dropped on Kaden, he didnโt let on.He ran a hand through his graying hair, but there was nothing casual about the gesture. I didnโt know the man, but I recognized the signs when I saw them. In front of me was a man who was about to deliver really bad news. The lines on his face seemed to deepen right before my eyes, a ragged exhale and a soft shake of his head confirming my fears.โYour dad is on life support,โ he said. At least he had the decency and probably the years of experience that allowed his voice to remain steady and to keep his gaze firm on Kadenโs. He wasnโt going to give him any false hope or make any promises he knew he wasnโt going to be able to keep. โAt the moment, these machines are the only thing keeping him alive.โThis time, I definitely felt him sway. He was holding my hand so tightly it felt like it
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย Pull the Plug
KADENMy dadโs hand was ice cold in mine. His chest rose and fell in simulated breaths, his skin a sickly gray under the lights in his room. Machines hummed and beeped, but I was barely aware of the sounds.For twenty-seven years, the man lying on the bed in front of me had been my tormentor. Apart from brief moments in time, a day here and week or two there, he had been brutal.He pushed me every second of every day, and he never took โnoโ or โIโm tiredโ as an answer. If I got eighty percent on a test, heโd asked where the other twenty went. If I came in second place in debate, he told me to bother with preparation next time. It was the same with everything else.No matter what I did or how well I did, I just never did quite well enough. I never quite satisfied his expectations. He just kept pushing and pushing, and eventually, I started pushing back. Itโd been that way for years now. Since way before I went to Harvard or came to New York to work for him. In many ways, it felt like
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย He's Already Gone
KadenโIโm not taking him off fucking life support,โ I snapped, enraged that this man had the nerve to stand in front of me and tell me we were out of options. โYou are going to figure out something else, or Iโll have him moved to another hospital where the doctors are competent enough to actually do something for their patients.โDr. Christie lifted his hands, holding up his palms, and took a step away from me. Smart man. My breaths were coming hard and fast, my hands in fists at my sides. I was pretty sure my nostrils even flared.โIโm going to have to ask you to calm down, Mr. Marx. I know this isโโโYou donโt know shit.โ My voice came out louder and harsher than I intended. Several nurses at the station and some of the other doctors heโd been talking to earlier turned to look our way. I didnโt have any fucks left to give about that. โDonโt tell me to fucking calm down. My dad is dying, and you refuse to treat him. How am I supposed to be calm about that?โโIโm not refusing to trea
Last Updated : 2024-05-14Getting Luckyย ย ย Drunk
EMBERโItโs been a week, Ryan. A week and Iโve hardly seen him or heard from him. Iโm worried. I know you said to give him space, but Iโm not sure how much more I can give him.โ Sitting in Ryanโs kitchen, I watched him stir scrambled eggs in a pan.When he invited me for breakfast, I came over thinking we were going out. I never imagined he meant he would be cooking for us. Jeez. I didnโt even know he could cook.The two of us were slowly but surely growing closer. This week, weโd texted back and forth more than we ever had.Sure, it was mostly about Kadenโs dad. I let Ryan know what was going at the hospital, and then it was about the funeral. We kept each other up to date and helped Kaden plan without seeing much of him. But it was still communication, which was more than I could say about Kaden this week. Not that I blamed him, of course.Ryan finished up with the eggs, laying them down on toasted bagels with strips of smoked salmon and chives on them. My mouth watered as he picked
Last Updated : 2024-05-14
Latest chapter
Getting Luckyย ย ย Gender Reveal
KadenAs an adult, Iโd always been too busy to spend too much time on hypotheticals like if I wanted to settle down and have a family someday. I used protection religiously to avoid conceiving a child with a woman I didnโt really know in my younger days, and after that, I kind of gave up on ever finding a woman I could imagine myself spending the rest of my life and having kids with.Until Ember.Everything I used to want, worry about, think, or believe changed the day she walked back into my life. She still teased me some about my previous life of being a jerk as a kid or a player, but I could hardly remember what that was like either. Just like with my apartment, those were vague memories I didnโt care to recall.All my life, Iโd heard people say you couldnโt change. I was living proof those people were wrong. To be fair, Iโd started making changes before I even met Ember, but the guy I used to be wouldnโt have taken the whole day off work to go to the doctor and then to stock up on
Getting Luckyย ย ย Ultrasound
KADENโEverything is looking good so far,โ Doctor Kruger told us, holding the ultrasound wand still on Emberโs growing stomach. She was really starting to show now and thought she looked more and more like a whale every day. I couldnโt disagree with her more. โThe baby is growing well, and everything looks the way it should at around twenty-four weeks.โDoctor Kruger was the gynecologist Ember chose. She came highly recommended by the girls at the office. She looked a little bit like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, with hair so thin you could see most of her scalp, but there was a whole wall of awards in her office speaking to her ability.Ember smiled up at her, squeezing my hand tightly. Her eyes were glued to the screen beside her though, as were mine. It was hard to believe the black and white smudges we saw was an actual baby growing in Ember, but now and then, we could make out a hand or a foot or something that drove the point home.The doctor moved the wand higher, squeezing ou
Getting Luckyย ย ย A Dozen
EmberโHave you felt it move yet?โ Kaden asked, dragging his chair around to my side of the table so he would be next to me instead of across from me. โAnd should we be eating Mexican? Isnโt it too spicy?โโI ordered it mild,โ I reminded him. โBut I donโt think eating Mexican is a problem. Sushi is probably a no-no for me until the baby comes, though.โHe nodded, and I could practically see him adding the information to some kind of mental checklist. โSo, you didnโt tell me if youโd felt it move yet.โโNot yet,โ I said honestly. โI would have told you immediately if I had.โThat much was true. Despite my misgivings about his reaction, I wouldnโt have kept him from anything involving his child. Something as major as feeling it move for the first time especially.โWhen do you think youโll feel it?โ he asked, cocking his head and shifting back on his chair to make space for him to get his phone out of his pocket.I lifted my shoulders, shaking my head. โNo idea, but it will probably be s
Getting Luckyย ย ย Four Months
EMBERFor four weeks, I had been waiting to find the right time to talk to Kaden about this. There just never seemed to be enough time. Though we were practically living together and had adjoining offices now, we were also busy and running around for work.My heart hammered against my ribcage so hard it was almost painful as I leaned forward, forcing myself to look into Kadenโs eyes. I had no idea how he was going to take this news. We had so much on our plates as it was, and weโd never even come close to talking about anything like this.Every word I knew suddenly disappeared from my brain as I looked into his gorgeous eyes, questions darkening them while he waited for me to tell him what Iโd been waiting for the right time to talk to him about.Grasping for words, any words at this point, I ended up just blurting it out. โIโm four months pregnant.โKaden paled, his eyes going huge. His jaw loosened, and his throat worked. Oh crap.This was exactly the reaction Iโd been afraid of. Me
Getting Luckyย ย ย Home
KadenA faint line appeared between Carolโs eyebrows before she schooled her expression, shaking my free hand again. โWeโll be in touch soon, I assume? If you could email the paperwork to my assistant, the same one who set up this meeting, Iโll have the lawyers look it over and send it right back.โโIt will be in your inbox before the end of the day tomorrow,โ Ember promised. If I knew her, she was already planning on firing off a text to Scotty as soon as we were out of Carolโs sight.Ember and I were sharing Scotty as our main assistant now. We each had a second assistant working under Scotty, but he was our go-to guy and the one who organized our respective second assistants. It was a system that was working really well for us.Once we were settled in my car, I glanced at her before putting my hand on her headrest and backing out of the parking space. โDid you ask Scotty to send her the documents yet?โShe smiled, holding up her phone to show me the text she was typing. โJust about
Getting Luckyย ย ย How Far Along?
KADENโIf you consider we only started putting this together for you last week, I think youโll appreciate the growth you would already have seen if weโd started making these moves only a few days ago.โ I was speaking to our new potential client, an older woman with her dyed black hair pulled back in a severe bun.She was the CEO of a hotel group that was starting to pop up everywhere. The company was only a few years old, but they were expanding at an impressive rate, and Ember and I both really wanted to sign her.โWe can do great things together, Carol,โ Ember added, clicking a button on the remote in her hand to move onto the next slide we had prepared for her. โBoth our companies have shown exponential growth over the last six months, and together, I think we can keep that trajectory going.โI could feel Emberโs excitement coming off her in waves from where she was sitting next to me at a mahogany conference table at one of Carolโs groupโs hotels. The group had two new boutique ho
Getting Luckyย ย ย Together Again
EMBERWhen Kadenโs lips crashed into mine, it was with such passion and fervor that a fresh wave of tears welled up behind my eyes. Different tears this time, happy tears. I couldnโt believe he was here, that he was in my arms and kissing me the way he was.An hour ago, I was convinced our relationship was toast. When I didnโt hear from Ryan, I thought the worst. I thought Kaden was so mad at me, heโd convinced Ryan he was right, and I was wrong. I thought Ryan wasnโt going to speak to me ever again either.I thought so many things, all of which were apparently wrong. It was hard to have faith in people when you felt as guilty and as badly as I did, though. In my defense, those werenโt feelings I had much experience with, and now that Iโd felt them in their fullest glory, I had no intention of ever finding myself in a position like that ever again.From now on, I was going back to honesty. I still regretted the way I handled things with Mr. Marx, but Iโd also learned from it. With Kad
Getting Luckyย ย ย Big Brother Talk
KadenShit. I even made her promise to stop avoiding me. I shoved her even deeper into the impossible corner she was already in. I made her look me in the eyes and sleep in my bed, even when she couldnโt do it, and now I was pissed at her for doing exactly that?I groaned out loud, bringing my forehead to my desk.As if Ryan could tell what I was thinking, he said, โShe loves you, Kaden. She loves you more than anything in the world. Youโre everything to her. Trust me when I tell you she never meant to hurt you. She was stuck in purgatory about this for weeks.โLifting my head only enough to catch a glimpse of his eyes, I frowned. โIs this a big brother talk? Because I donโt think I can stomach one of those right now.โI really couldnโt bear to hear him tell me how much she loved me after the way I acted. Sure, I was shocked, and she shouldnโt have done what she did, but I honestly didnโt know what else I could have expected her to do under the circumstances.Even if she did, would sh
Getting Luckyย ย ย You Don't Listen
KADENMy head was spinning. I felt nauseous, my stomach twisting and turning as I tried to focus on the screen in front of me. I was trying to get everything with Ember out of my head and get some work done, but it was proving to be harder than I thought it would be.Despite everything, I still didnโt want to let my dad down. Sure, he told my girl he was dying and not me, butโโFuck,โ I muttered, dragging my hands through my hair. Again. I shuddered to think what I looked like by now. At least no one was bothering me.Scotty was keeping his distance, and most people would probably be leaving soon. They were giving me the day to get settled in, which was a fucking blessing since I had no idea how I would be able to handle meetings or making any big decisions today.Iโd been so damn optimistic just this morning, determined to make this work no matter what. I was so damn sure I had this under control, that I was going to walk in as CEO and things would just fall in place.I was prepared
