“With all these hormones and this fucking divorce going on?” She glanced at him. “You’d better believe it.”
“I can imagine. I think that was the only thing that kept me sane the last few years.”
“Really? You had time for that?”
“When I couldn’t sleep.” He pulled another controller out of the box and started unwrapping it. “Shooting the shit out of a bunch of trash-talking assholes on a TV screen was better than staring at the ceiling all night.”
“Amen to that.” She tossed an empty box onto the growing mountain. “Okay, I think that’s as good as it’s going to get today.” She stood, rubbing her lower back gingerly. “Coffee?”
“I can always go for coffee. Is your back all right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t tell my grandma my posture hasn’t been great today.”
He set a box aside and pushed himself to his feet. “My silence depends on the quality of the coffee.”
Dara arched an eyebrow. “I can put something in your coffee to keep you—”
“Okay, okay, you win!” He showed his palms. “Don’t poison me.”
They both laughed, and he followed her into the kitchen. After she’d poured—and not poisoned—some coffee, they moved back into the living room and knocked some boxes off the couch so they could sit. They sat on opposite ends, Dara’s feet tucked up under her, Matt twisted toward her with his knee on the cushion between them. She balanced a coffee cup on her leg.
“Well,” he said, looking around the room, “it’s starting to look a bit more settled.”
Dara nodded. “Almost seems pointless to put this much work into unpacking and settling in when I’m just going to move out again.”
“How long do you think you’ll stay here?”
“Don’t know yet. I would like to get a place of my own before the baby comes, but…” She sighed, eyes unfocused as she wrapped both hands around her coffee cup. “A lot of that depends on how long Jon drags out the divorce.”
“Why the hell is he dragging it out? He’s the one who wanted it in the first place, right?”
“Yep.” One word had never been laced with so much bitterness. “But for someone who felt emasculated by me making money, he’s trying his damnedest to get his hands on as much of it as possible.”
Matt groaned. “For God’s sake. Seriously?”
“Yep.” She rolled her eyes. “He knows damn well he’s not entitled to any alimony, but he’s got our lawyers figuring out how many of my investments he can grab, if any.” Into her coffee cup, she muttered, “Like it’s my fault he didn’t think to make any of his own.” She took a sip, then set the cup on the table. “But whatever. No matter how it works out, I’ll be okay financially. I just want it over, especially so I can get out of this place.”
Matt nodded.
“I mean, it’s a nice house. I don’t care for the décor, but the house is nice. And if I’m still here when the baby’s born…” She shrugged.
“Maybe it would be better to stay here either way. No matter how long the divorce drags out.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, by the time everything is settled, you find a place and you close on it, you’re going to be a few months farther along than you are now.” He tapped his fingers on the side of his cup. “Maybe it would be easier on you to ride it out here, you know?”
“I know.” She frowned. “I just hate the idea of pissing money away on rent when I don’t have to.”
Matt smiled. “When did you become so financial?”
Dara laughed. “An old coworker taught me a few things about making my money work for me. So I started investing a little here and there, and it’s paid off.” She grinned. “If my ex-husband keeps his paws out of it, I’ve already got a college fund started for the kid.” She patted her stomach. “This is one child who will never know the feeling of being ass-deep in student loans.”
“Excellent.” Matt gave her a thumbs-up. “Though even if your ex-husband does get his hands on it, I’m pretty sure, between the two of us, we’ll have college taken care of.”
Dara held his gaze and then laughed. “You know what’s weird? When we’re both just sitting around, most of the time I completely forget that you’re richer than God.”
Matt chuckled. “You want to hear something crazy?”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t hang out with you.”
“Very funny.” He glared playfully at her. “Anyway. When I go to buy something more than, say, fifty bucks, there’s still a part of me that panics if the debit card machine takes more than a few seconds to approve it.”