Page 71 of Together

“Yeah. I like the idea of keeping it for ourselves. I also like the idea of telling you first. You deserve to know. But you’ll do the same, right? If it’s getting to be too much for you to wait.”

“It won’t be. I’ll wait.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you’re worth waiting for.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I waited thirty-five years to find you. What’s a few more months?”

“Wow. That’s a good answer.” She slams her lips to mine and we spend the rest of the night in each other’s arms.

Since our talk, time has crawled along slowly and sped by fast. I know we’re both trying to soak in all the stages, but we’re both anxious for the more exciting stuff. When she felt the baby kick last week, she called me in tears. I’d left the office that night, eager to get to her. Then I sat on her couch with my hand on her belly, talking to her stomach and willing the baby to kick for me. It didn’t happen for exactly two hours and twenty-four minutes. When I felt the tiny flutter, I almost cried. Since then, Ashley has been feeling kicks and movements more often but I know from Josie that it will only increase the farther along she gets.

In exactly one week we get to find out the sex of the baby, God willing. Hopefully the little rugrat is cooperating and not hiding anything or angled in such a way that we can’t see the pertinent parts to figuring out if we’re having a boy or girl.

I stare at the picture on my phone that I snapped of Ashley just a couple days ago.

“Boss? You ready?”

From the doorway to my office, my second guy, the one who is basically me, but without the stress of being the business owner, stands. Brandon has been my friend since I was a kid. His sister lives in town as well, and Brandon’s dad is the co-owner of a construction company I work with regularly. Brandon worked for a lot of years for his father and his father’s best friend, while also being lead singer of a band. The band never made it to Nashville, but that was never their intentions, either.

Brandon still plays with the same band members, but since he and his wife Savannah have become a family of five, he decided to keep it just as a hobby.

Brandon also wanted to do something different than working with his dad forever, and I needed someone who knew the business. He and I work great together, and it makes my days go by a lot quicker because I know he’s got my back.

“Yeah. Just a minute.”

“You were staring at your phone with hearts practically jumping out of your eyes like you were hoping she was going to pop out of it like those giant cakes.”

“Who?” I ask, playing dumb, flipping my phone around, letting the smooth surface glide through my fingers.

Brandon shuts the door and crosses the room, planting himself in the chair across from me. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. Don’t try to bullshit me. I know you’re so hot for that woman it’s got you twisted up inside.”

Tossing my phone on my desk, I lean back in my chair, linking my hands together behind my head. “She does,” I reply. “I can’t help it. She wants to keep things quiet so that no one else can get in the middle of our relationship, but also so that we have time to focus on ourselves. Well, I may have been the one suggesting that part. It’s all kind of blurry at this point who suggested what. But all I know is that we’re having a lot of fucking fun in the meantime.”

“Fucking fun, huh? Is that a clue?”

“A clue? What are we, five? It’s fun. And we’re not fucking.” He raises an eyebrow at me and I amend, “Yes, we’re having sex but I wouldn’t call it fucking.”

“You realize how that sounds, right?”

“I do. I can’t bring myself to care, though.”

He blows out a breath and mimics my position. “Well, my friend, you’re quite literally fucked. I give it less than a year and you’ll be marrying her with your baby on her hip.”

The scene flashes before me and I can’t say that it’s a bad one.

He bursts out laughing and stands up, slapping the desk. “Make that nine months, if the look on your face is anything to go by. Now, tuck your dick in your pants and wipe the drool from your face. We’ve got a shit ton of people we need to hire for this job to electrify the school,” he smirks at his wording, “and unfortunately for us, that means a day full of interviews.”

“I know what my day has in store,” I grumble.

As we walk out of my office, he slaps me on the shoulder. “Cheer up. At least we get to watch a bunch of young punks squirm. After we get these hires done, everything else will be gravy.”

“Gravy? When is anything ever that simple?”

“It isn’t. And it won’t be. But it got your mind off Ashley for a beat, didn’t it?”

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