Page 17 of Taming You

“You’re not as cute as the baby.”

He holds a hand to his chest and feigns pain. “Oh, Zo, you wound me.”

I throw my head back with a laugh. “Matt, you and I both know you’ve got enough ego that you’re not wounded.”

That makes him laugh.

“It’s not ego, it’s confidence,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “You keep telling yourself that. Now let’s get this adorable little munchkin in where it’s warm,” I say, bopping Jayden on the nose.

Matt and I walk into the lobby, and I spot our group chatting when all of a sudden the entire lobby gets quiet and they’re staring at us, except Liv and Josh, who look like they’ve been hiding secrets.

“What the hell?” Hannah practically yells, and I jump in place.

“Oh, man, what did you do?” Grayson asks, humour filling his voice.

We make our way closer to the group, and their eyes only seem to get wider as they get a better look at the baby strapped to Matt’s chest.

Liz, one of my best friends and someone who’s great at reading people, narrows her eyes at me. “Zo, why are you not the least bit surprised about the baby strapped to Matt’s chest?”

Okay, I did not think I’d be the first one under fire. I’m not the one with a baby strapped to them. I’m not the one dropping some surprise bomb on all our friends right now.

I shuffle from foot to foot and look at Matt. He shrugs, knowing no matter what, it’s all going to come out one way or another. They’ll just continue to hound us for details until we give them. I’ve also noticed he has no shame when it comes to claiming Jayden as his. He’s definitely expressed how upset he is that he didn’t know about him before, but that was entirely out of his control. It’s not like he just abandoned his son.

“I’m kinda the one who found Jayden when he was dropped off at Matt’s,” I say.

“What do you mean you found him?” Bailey asks. Bailey joined our group after she started dating Caleb, Matt and Josh’s friend. She was a single mom when she first met Caleb. Her daughter Charlie is running around with some other kids who are here with parents for games.

“I crashed on Matt’s couch and when I woke up the next morning to head home, I opened the door and found Jayden in his car seat,” I say.

Matt and I do a quick retelling of the story, and when Jayden manages to grab a fistful of my hair, I take him from Matt, securing the carrier on me now.

The guys eventually leave us and head to the dressing room while the girls and I head to the bleachers to watch the game.

CHAPTER 8

Matt

Iguess I should have been prepared for all the questions I was going to get today when I showed up with Jayden. Josh already knows all of this, and Caleb is more observing and taking in information as Grayson peppers me with questions.

“So, who’s the mom? Where is she?”

“Some woman I was seeing casually a while ago. We called it off, and she never told me. She’s in Winnipeg with her family,” I say.

“Is she coming back?” Grayson asks.

I shrug. “I have no idea. I have no idea what it will mean if she does. I’ve been taking this all day by day. Not looking too far into the future past looking for a place to move. My place isn’t big enough for him to grow up in. I’ve been saving, and I think it’s time I look for a house.”

Caleb nods and says, “There are a few nice houses up for sale in our neighbourhood. I’m sure you could find one you like. We’re in a great school district. I can send you the listings tonight.”

“Thanks. That would be great.”

“Can you send them to me, too?” Josh adds, and I turn to look at him.

“You guys moving?”

He shrugs. “I know Olivia wants a backyard for when Cate is grown up and more space for kids. Our place works for now, but I get it, she’s always wanted to be more out of the city. We can’t fully escape the city right now because of me and the company, but we can get out of the heart of downtown. And what Olivia wants, she’ll get.”

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