One Moment Please (Wait With Me #3)(37)
I pull my lip into my mouth and chew. It’s been a week since our therapy session, and Josh and I have spent a few nights together. He’s taken me out for a couple of dinners. And we even went bowling like actual humans. Although, he got all snappy when I picked up an eight-pound ball and he downgraded me to a four-pounder that I think was meant for children. I laughed it off, but I’m getting the sense that Josh is paranoid about me hurting myself. He is overprotective to the extreme.
Which is probably why he keeps asking me to move in with him every time he drops me off at Dean’s. Every. Single. Time. It’s weird but sort of cute. He’s very serious about wanting to watch over me, and I guess that’s comforting. I appreciate the fact that he’s invested in the life growing inside me. It makes me less alone in this whole process. And there’s been no sign of the original dickholeitis ailment he had when we first met. He’s not Mr. Warm and Fuzzy by any means, but he’s at least not calling me crazy anymore.
Plus, we have had some seriously intense moments when I think he wants to kiss me, or devour me, or lay me out naked in a public setting. And I find myself encouraging those moments. I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy hormones or just the Josh-effect, but dammit, his scowly demeanor is even occupying my dreams as of late. And they aren’t PG-13 kind of dreams.
“Josh is definitely still pushing for me to move in.” I shrug. “I think a part of that is because he just doesn’t want me living with you.”
“Me?” Dean asks, shooting me wide, innocent eyes. “What’s his problem with me? Is he offended by the fact that I bought you those baby books and booked you a prenatal massage? Man, I’m such a dick.”
I hit him with a flat look. “Obviously none of that, but you could be a little nicer when he comes to pick me up. You stand at the door like you’re my bodyguard or something.”
Dean smiles, clearly pleased. “I’m just not sure he’s worthy of you, Lyns.”
“I’m more interested in knowing if he’s worthy of this baby we’re going to have together.” I rub my hands over my jeans-clad thighs. “I’m still not sure if he’s even interested in me beyond sexual attraction, or if I’m interested in him for something more.”
Dean glances at me for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. He goes quiet, his bearded jaw sliding back and forth as he chews on a thought. “If you want my advice…my parents’ divorce was messy and dramatic, and they gave no fucks that I was smack dab in the middle of it at twelve years old.” Dean’s jaw tightens. “But if you’re going to try to figure out how you feel about each other, you need to do it before the kid is old enough to know how miserable you make each other.”
I frown at Dean’s very candid reply. He’s normally not much of a sharer, choosing to be Mr. Fun instead of Mr. Real most of the time. But his parents’ divorce is a big reason he’s not good with relationships. In fact, a psychologist might say it’s why he only tries to date his close friends. He can only attempt to settle down with people who he feels safe with before he eventually sabotages the relationship.
He’s jaded against commitment, which is why he gets into heated arguments with Kate over her happily-ever-after romance novels. He says that’s not real life, and one of these days, she needs to write a messy, sad ending because that’s how it works out for most people.
Yet deep down, he has a huge heart, and he cares about his friends. I mean, he was willing to let me move in after finding out I was pregnant without hesitation. He could definitely be a happily-ever-after kind of guy if he just truly let someone in.
However, he’s not exactly the most eligible bachelor with a pregnant girl sleeping under his roof. I hadn’t really considered that until this conversation. Dean’s life shouldn’t be on hold because of my situation.
My musings are distracted when we pull up to Miles’s ranch home built into a bluff on the edge of town. It’s a gorgeous fixer-upper that Miles has been renovating for the past few years. I still can’t believe how happy Kate is with Miles. Her history with guys was never this serious this fast. But, I guess, when you know, you know.
The party is in full swing as Dean and I make our way inside. We spot Kate’s red curly hair in the kitchen with Miles, Miles’s little sister, Maggie, and Sam.
Kate’s eyes go wide when she sees us. “My best friends are here!” She rushes over and hugs both of us, and then grabs our wrists and drags us down the hall into the master bedroom.
“Gross, I don’t want to be hanging out in your sex den,” Dean groans, his nose wrinkling. “It smells like leather and balls in here.”
“Shut up, Dean,” Kate snaps, holding her hands out to get our full attention. “Tonight’s top story is that Miles’s best friend Sam is fucking Miles’s little sister.”
“Ew!” I say at the same time Dean cheers, “Yes!”
“Why did you have to say it like that?” I ask, my face twisted in disgust. “Maggie is in her twenties. It’s not like she’s a teenager. Stop saying little.”
“It was my elevator pitch,” Kate retorts, shooting me a wicked smile. “And it’s more salacious if I say it that way.”
I roll my eyes. “You are such a smut writer.”
Kate sticks her tongue out. “So, they’ve been sleeping together for weeks, and Miles just found out the night you went to the ER, Lyns. So it’s still kind of new, but Miles has accepted it even though I can tell he’s fighting the urge to punch Sam every time he puts his arm around Maggie. But like…it’s so good because Sam and Maggie are in love, and we love love, right?”