Page 2 of What if It's Us

“Nope. But now that you mention it, perhaps what I tell you will perk those blue balls of yours right up.”

“Ooh…” Griffin rubs his hands together, suddenly interested. “Tell me you have some Marlee Remington news without telling me you have Marlee Remington news.”

Layken leans over and kisses Griffin’s cheek. “I do, indeed, have Marlee news. How ever did you know?”

Marlee Remington is the team’s Events and Operations Manager and has been with the organization for the last four or five years. Since the day we met, I’ve had a massive crush on her. There’s something undeniably beguiling about her—hard-working, constantly busy, yet approachable, kind, and incredibly down-to-earth. Her confidence and sharp sense of organization are what keep the team running smoothly. Despite the pressures of her role, Marlee’s far from the stuffy, uptight type. She knows how to laugh and finds humor in the chaos. Conversations withthe guys on the team come naturally to her, and to top it all off, she’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.

I guess I’d say she’s average height—probably around five-foot-six, with dark brown hair that falls just past her shoulders when it’s not pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes are a hypnotic blue-gray, constantly shifting with the light, and I swear I could stare into them for hours.

And her body? Total fire.

She’s not the waifish type—her curves are exactly where they should be, and those tits? I’ve had more than a few dreams about getting lost in them. Marlee is literal perfection.

She’s also the one person in this entire universe who sets my insides on fire. I’ve talked to her many times over the years, but if we’re ever alone my stomach ties in knots and I’m pretty sure I stop breathing until she walks away.

If only I could get the nerve to tell her how I feel.

She brings the middle school boy right out of me.

“I swear to God, Layken, if you’re about to tell me she’s seeing someone else now…”

Layken shakes her head. “Nope. That’s not it.”

“What then? Does she have a twin?”

She snickers. “Ooh double the crush, double the fun, eh, Ledge?”

I let out a breath. “Alright just tell me.”

Layken leans across Griffin so she can be closer to me. Lowering her voice, she says, “I was just asking about her summer and she said she’s thinking very seriously about trying to have a baby.”

Wait.

A baby?

But she’s…

Bodhi leans across the table having heard Layken’s news. “So, she’s seeing someone again? Or did she get back together with the last guy?”

Layken shakes her head. “Neither. She’s thinking about going it alone and having a baby on her own.”

“Why would she do that?” I ask with morbid curiosity.

I have no doubt Marlee Remington will make an excellent mother to any child, but why on earth is she trying to go it alone? Surely she has a line of guys waiting to take her out.

“I think she’s over trying to find the right guy.” Layken shrugs a shoulder as she sits back in her chair. “Her biological clock is ticking, you know?”

“What does that even mean?”

Corrigan joins in. “It means she’s in her thirties and for women past the age of thirty, for some weird reason, the medical people say it’s considered risky to have a baby. There could be complications or abnormalities, things like that.”

“That’s crazy,” I say, frowning. “Thirty isn’t even old.”

Corrigan shakes her head. “Nope, but would you believe pregnancies in women over thirty-five are actually categorized as geriatric pregnancies?”

“Geriatric?” I scoff. “That’s fucked up. Who decided that?”

Having just popped an entire care ball into her mouth, she raises a finger signaling me to wait while she chews and swallows. “Probably some old man who liked his women young and bouncy and not so experienced. I don’t know. It just is what it is. But it could also be that once we hit our late thirties or early forties some of us start to experience symptoms of perimenopause and that could create issues for us as well. I’m not saying women can’t have babies when they’re past forty. Certainly, lots of women do. It’s just riskier is all.”

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