Page 21 of Hot Hearts
“Oh.” He nods, handing me the tablet. “Chef Ray is blocked.”
“Seriously?”
“He will be shortly when I can get to another television in this house.”
“I can’t.” I laugh more. “Oh gosh, Brooks. Thanks, I needed that.”
His face softens. “I’ll endure Chef Ray if it makes you laugh,” he says, sitting on the side of the bed next to me. “I mean, he is pretty laughable.”
"You don't have to endure anything. Don't you have a kitchen to run?"
"I could stay."
"Or you can go. I'll watch my TV, no Chef Ray. Then you'll come home and make me that Wellington you promised."
"Is that what you want?" I think about it. What the hell do I want? I'm not sure anymore. Your whole life can really be flipped in seconds.
"Yeah, and maybe I will read. I should probably get one of those books about babies because I don't know shit about them. Hell, I'm an only child."
"I'll have some ordered. We can read them together." A tension inside me relaxes. He's really into this. I hope that's true because I'm freaking out a bit. I love my dad, but he wasn't very involved in my life. The man adores my mom, but he is also married to his job. He's gotten better now that I'm older, but that shit did sting when I was little, and I don't want that for our baby.
"Are you lost in the whole baby area too?" I really have no clue about Brooks's family life.
"I can be lost a lot when it comes to people in general." Yeah, I'm putting that together. It can, at times, be rather endearing.
“I’ll work on being more straight with you.Workbeing the key word there,” I tell him. My emotions have been all over the place. I’m not sure if it’s only baby hormones. Brooks sparks other things to life inside of me. He makes me want things that I never have in the past. That scares the crap out of me.
It hurt when I thought he used me. It actually cut deeper than anything Felipe or my ex-best friend did, which made it allthe more clear to me that my feelings for Brooks run a whole lot deeper than I want to own up to.
"You don't have to work on anything. You relax."
"I'll try."
Brooks leans in, pressing a kiss to my lips. "Are you sure I should go?"
"Are there things you need to handle?"
"I would like to check on a few things."
"Then go." I know how important his work is, and I don’t want to keep him from it.
"If I text or call, you'll answer?"
"Yes."
"Okay." He gives me another kiss before standing. "I'll check in soon."
"All right," I laugh. "Go."
"Are you kicking me out?" he says, playfully this time.
"I'm about to," I tease.
"It is your home. I suppose you could."
"Nice." I shake my head. He's always slipping those comments in there. Brooks checks to see if I've got my phone before he leaves. I've silenced all my social media for the time being, and I blocked Felipe. I don't want to deal with him right now. He’s anticipating a reaction from me, so that’s the last thing he’s going to get.
I'm also enjoying that he is having a small freak-out. Not sure why, seeing as the hate is directed at me, but if I had to guess, he's not going to be the biggest fan of the narrative that he was cheated on. That any woman would dare step out on him.
