One Baby Daddy (Dating by Numbers #3)(18)

“Oh, Jesus.” Logan scoffs. “Okay, so you have a crush on the guy.”

“How could I not? He’s dreamy and thoughtful and . . .” I lean forward and squeeze Logan’s arms. “Did you see the forearms? Rock-solid boulders, that’s what those were. Every time he shifts, it’s like a wave of sinew rolling up and down.”

“Okay, so you have a crush on him, and he has muscles. What does that mean about the next few weeks? What happens when he leaves?” I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to think about it. “I want you to be careful, okay, Adalyn? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Like you hurt me?

I want to say it, it’s on the tip of my tongue, but before I can put those searing words between us, Logan pulls me into him, the rolling chair I’m sitting on making it incredibly easy. Encasing me with his strong embrace, he hugs me tightly to his chest and kisses the top of my head.

“I care about you, Adalyn.”

Relenting, I fall into his embrace and say, “I know you do, and I appreciate it. But this is just, you know, a little date. Who knows, we might actually hate each other and not know it yet. Maybe he thinks Zack Morris is more superior than AC Slater?”

Logan chuckles quietly, the rumble in his chest warming me. “That would be a fucking game changer.”

“A quick kick to the curb if you ask me.”

“Personally, I think you should lead with that question on your date. Who is more superior: Zack or AC? If he answers Zack, you walk right back out that door, you hear me?”

“Oh, believe me, I would hightail it so fast. That is a deal-breaker for sure.”

Chapter Six

ADALYN

“Oh, Zack Morris is by far superior,” Hayden answers, draining a pot of boiling noodles into a strainer.

“What?” I can feel my eyes bulge out of their sockets, my entire world flipping upside down. How on EARTH does anyone believe Zack is better than AC Slater from Saved by the Bell? “How can you possibly think that?” If I wasn’t so damn curious as to why he would think such a thing, I would be grabbing my purse and walking out of this quaint little cottage to my car to get as far away from this . . . this . . . anarchist as I can get.

“Well for one, AC’s real name is Albert Clifford.”

“Not by his choosing.”

“Two”—Hayden wiggles two fingers at me while he stirs the aromatic pasta sauce bubbling on the stove—“the dude has a curly mullet.”

“That was the style back then. You would have been so lucky to be able to have such luscious locks like AC.”

“Three.” Hayden pulls the pot from the stove and puts it on a trivet. Staring at me from over the island where I’m sitting, he grips the counter and says, “AC didn’t get the girl in the end.”

“What are you talking about? He had Jesse.”

Eyes shut, a smirk on his face, Hayden slowly shakes his head. “Jesse was a hot mess. She had a drug problem—”

Jabbing my finger into the counter, I can feel myself become far too passionate. “She took caffeine pills! It wasn’t like she was shooting up heroin in the girl’s bathroom at Bayside. It was caffeine pills.”

“That’s where it starts, with caffeine pills, then next thing you know, she’s doing Molly at Coachella.”

“You’re ridiculous.” I fold my arms over my chest.

Snagging a noodle from the strainer, he pops it in his mouth and says, “I’m right. The girl to get was Kelly. Every guy who ever watched the show will agree with me on this. Kelly was the it girl. Hell, even AC wanted to be with her, but who ended up marrying her in the end? Zack. Despite AC trying to throw his jock, macho-man status in Kelly’s way, she saw past his shifty veneer and went for the by far SUPERIOR guy.” Smiling like a fool and nudging me with his finger, he says, “Come on, you know I’m right.”

“You’re not.” I turn my nose up at him.

“Denial. It’s okay, I’ll let my logic sink in, because it will. Sooner or later, you will realize I’m right. Kelly was the voice of reason in Saved by the Bell and there was only one choice for her to make: the right choice, and she made that with Zack Attack.” Hayden pauses for a second and then adds, “Plus, he was one of the first kids ever to have a fucking cellphone . . . soo . . .”

“That ‘phone’ was a monstrosity.”

“That phone was an absolute dream and you know it.”

I fiercely press my lips together. “By the time we were old enough to watch the show, we had cellphones that eclipsed that phone in cool status. So frankly, I can’t take your word for anything.”

With a steady glare in my direction, he slips another noodle into his mouth and says, “I would have traded a Nokia for Zack’s phone any day.”

“Just goes to show”—I snag a noodle as well, slurping it past my lips—“you don’t have very good taste.” Hayden’s eyes are transfixed on my mouth.

He licking his lips seductively and gives me a full once-over, his eyes blazing a wave of fire up my body. “Pretty sure I have great taste.”

A blush creeps over my cheeks from his compliment and heated stare. Unsure of how to answer, I clear my throat and wave my finger over the steaming pots. “So how does this work? Uh, just put the sauce on the pasta?”