Page 103 of About that Fling
“Probably both,” Mia said, pulling out her phone and setting it on the table. She glanced at the screen and smiled. “Mark sent me a text message with xoxo typed about three million times.”
“That’s sweet. He seems like he’s trying.”
“I know, he is.” Mia sighed. “I should try harder, too.”
“Text him a cleavage shot.”
Mia giggled. “Good idea.” She glanced around, then picked up the phone and aimed the camera down the front of her V-neck top. “Gotta make good use of these pregnancy boobs while I can.”
“Carpe diem,” Jenna said, biting into a breadstick. “Or carpe pectoris? Seize the boobs.”
“Amen,” Mia said, and fired off a text message. “I’ll send one to Gertie, too. A message, not a boob shot.”
“Glad you clarified.”
“I’ll see what she’s up to. If she’s free, we can send an Uber to go get her.”
Jenna took another bite of breadstick and chewed, losing herself in the cheesy goodness of yeasty dough and garlic. She was so absorbed in the flavors that she almost didn’t hear the familiar voice calling her name.
“Jenna? We have to stop meeting like this.”
She turned to see Shawn approaching their table with a surprised smile on his face. His shirtsleeves were rolled to the elbows, showing off forearms Jenna had to admit were pretty impressive, though he gripped the ever-present smartphone in his right hand.
“Shawn,” Jenna said, swallowing her bite of breadstick. “I didn’t realize you spent so much time here.”
“I don’t. Haven’t been back since the last time you and I ate here.”
“You’ve met Mia Dawson, right?”
“Sure, yeah—at that barbecue about six months after you and I—uh, separated.”
Mia nodded. “Good memory.”
“Good to see you again, Mia. Wow, you’re looking—vibrant.”
Mia laughed and sipped her root beer. “It’s okay, Shawn. You can say ‘pregnant.’ Or ‘huge.’ If the shoe fits, I might as well wear it.”
“Or kick it off under the table in a crowded restaurant,” Jenna added.
Shawn rested a hand on the edge of the table. “Sorry, I just know it’s a bad idea to ever assume a woman is expecting unless she’s shared the news.”
“That’s sweet,” Mia said. “But when it’s obvious she’s on the brink of giving birth at the dinner table, I’d say you’re safe to go ahead and make the assumption.”
“Well, congratulations.” Shawn gestured toward the front counter. “I hope you two got your order in already. They just told me I’m looking at a two-hour wait. I should know better than to come here on a holiday weekend to fight the dinner crowd.”
“Here, have a breadstick,” Mia said, thrusting one at him. “We ordered way too many.” She looked at Jenna with an unspoken question, both about the breadstick and the empty chair at their table.
“Please, help yourself,” Jenna said, nudging the whole basket at him and nodding at Mia. Her ex-fiancé wasn’t what Jenna considered a party, but Mia had said she wanted people around her. If nothing else, Shawn was nice to look at, and Mia seemed like she could use the visual distraction.
Mia smiled, reading Jenna’s nonverbal affirmation. “Shawn, do you want to join us for pizza? Assuming Jenna’s okay with it. We were hungry when we placed the order, so we may or may not have ordered enough for a small developing nation. I feel like having company right now, so you’ll do nicely.”
Jenna nodded in agreement, so Shawn pulled out the empty chair. “In that case, I accept.” He looked at Jenna. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
“Absolutely. The more, the merrier.”
She watched as Shawn eased into the chair and set his phone on the table. He poked at the screen a few times in case the world had ended in the two minutes since he last checked it. He frowned, scrolled a few times, smiled, then poked some more.
Jenna looked at Mia and rolled her eyes, but Mia just smiled and shrugged.
