Page 106 of Crave

“No.” She takes a slow bite and I swear I hear her moan. She catches my eye and bats her eyelashes at me.

“No? Give me that, you tease.” I reach for her hand, but she backs away. Too bad for her she backs into the wall.

“No ice cream for you. I want to keep that body as it is.” She taunts me by taking another slow bite, but I pin her to the wall, take the ice cream sandwich from her and break it in half.

“Too bad I’m stronger than you are.” I stick my tongue out at her and finish the ice cream sandwich in two big mouthfuls. “But I get it, baby. You don’t want me to end up with a dad bod like Troy. It won’t happen.”

Troy stops mid chew and looks at me. Even Sandy’s eyes go wide at my intentional interaction with Troy.

“This dad bod can still kick your ass.” He turns his back as he says it, but I swear I see tears fill his eyes. Sandy comes to my side and wraps her arms around me, planting a firm kiss on my lips.

“Uncle Jake?” Emma’s voice forces me to stop kissing Sandy. “Uncle Troy is going to be my Dad. Aunt Tracy says we can have a party when the adoption is final. Will you and Sandy come?”

“We’ll be there.”

“And for my birthday this time?” Not to be left out, Tristan tries to pin down his uncle too.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

The kids high five each other.

“I love you, Jacob Clark.”

“I love you, gorgeous. Now, let me eat my lunch, woman.”

CHAPTER 37

SANDY

ONE WEEK LATER

“Why does your cousin always walk like someone is chasing after her?” Jake asks as we watch Vivian briskly walk across the field with two huge bags. “I think those two bags together must weigh more than she does.”

She hands Troy the bags, ruffles Emma’s hair, and starts walking back towards the parking lot.

“Vivi,” I yell as she walks past our bleachers. “The game’s almost over. Why don’t you stay?”

“Can’t. Auntie is waiting for me. It’s so busy today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Hi, Jake!” she yells, but her back is already turned to us.

“That answers that,” Jake laughs. The whistle is blown, and the last soccer game of the season is over. “Let’s go get some pastries before they’re all gone.”

“Go. I’ll catch up. I need to tie my shoes. Grab a croissant for me.” He’s gone before I finish my sentence.

I tie the laces to my pink Nike’s and grab our empty coffee cups before walking down the bleachers.

My eye catches Tracy as she waddles in my direction. I’m slightly ahead of her, so I increase my pace towards Jake.

Despite spending hours in the hospital last week, I never saw or spoke with Tracy. Jake and I stayed in the waiting room with the kids and his parents the entire time. We got updates from Troy, and I was relieved when Tracy never asked to see me.

“Sandy,” she yells. I turn and she’s waving her hand at me. “Hold up.” Unsure of what to do, I stand still as she waddles to me. I paste a fake smile on my face as I pretend to watch Jake interact with Tristan’s teammates.

Other than a wave, and maybe a brief hello, we’ve never interacted at these games. When she finally approaches me, she rests a hand on her round stomach but doesn’t say a word for several uncomfortable seconds.

“How are you feeling?” I finally ask, no longer able to tolerate the tension between us.

“Good most days. My blood pressure’s been okay this week, but I’m bored out of my mind though. This is my first big outing since I got discharged from the hospital.” I smile and nod, not knowing what else to say. “Tristan just loves having his uncle here. He talks about him nonstop.”

“He’s a sweet kid.” I take a sip out of my water bottle, hoping by the time I finish Tracy would have walked away, but no such luck.

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