Page 23 of Together

“It was a bitch. That ice sucks to cut through. Few people had gone in the ditch right outside of town and there was one lady who’d tail ended another gal.”

“They okay?”

“As far as I know, yeah. People are going slow, taking it easy. But I’ll have to leave again in about six hours to clean the streets again.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. You staying here tonight?”

“She wants me to, that okay with you?”

“I’d appreciate it, actually. That way she’s not here alone. Getting too close to the end and if I’m gone and she goes into labor, I’ll be a mess.”

“I’m here then. For however long you need me.”

“Good, man.”

“I wouldn’t watchWhite Christmaswith her so she wasn’t thinking so earlier.”

He scrubs a hand over his bearded jaw, smiling. “Bet that pissed her off. She’s been begging me for a few weeks to watch it with her. I keep telling her to watch it alone but she swears it’s not the same. I can’t do it, though.”

“Same. It’s torture.”

“So what’s new with you?” he asks as I pull the bag out of the microwave and toss a second in. Since Dean’s home, I know he’ll polish off the last of the pizza but no doubt still be hungry. And let’s be honest. You could be stuffed to the gills and the smell of popcorn would lure you in for more. After pouring the first bag into a large bowl, I sprinkle it with a little bit of salt and set it on the counter, waiting for the next bag to finish popping.

“Might have gotten a beautiful lady pregnant,” I tell him at the perfect timing. He’d just chugged down a bunch of water.

Sputtering and coughing, he shoots me a glare and I laugh.

“Fuck you,” he says, wiping up the water. “Not even funny.”

“Oh, trust me, I know. It’s the truth, though.”

“What the fuck? You’re thirty-five. Don’t you know to wrap it up?”

I shrug. “It was a strange night and she said she was on the pill.”

“So she trapped you?”

“Fuck no. It’s not like that.” At least, I don’t think it is. Ashley’s not that way. I genuinely think the pregnancy, if there even is one, is an accident.

“You seem calm about this. How long have you known her? Can’t be that long since you proposed to that bitch Stacia. Wasn’t that like a month ago?”

I wince. “Yeah. It was the same night.”

Now it’s his turn to laugh. “Oh, fuck me. You had a drunk one-night stand that ended up with getting the girl pregnant? Only you. Holy shit.”

“Shut up! It’s not…”

“Like that? Oh yeah. It’s exactly like that. You’re such a dumbass.” He shakes his head and refills his glass, looking in the fridge for something to eat.

“Pizza’s in the living room.”

“Oh good. I’m starved.”

He’s always hungry. I suppose that’s what happens when you’re 6’5” and two-seventy.

The microwave dings again so I take care of the second bag of popcorn while he goes to the living room to say hello to his wife and find the pizza.

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