Page 39 of More Trouble
“Not now,” I whispered, even though my body almost screamed otherwise.
Before he could do anything else, I slipped away from him. I grabbed one of the boxes with chocolate chip muffins in it and shoved it in his direction. They had always been Andre’s favorite and I guess, subconsciously, it was why I’d made them in the first place. “Here, try one of these.”
“Mmm, I haven’t had one in so long! I hope they’re as good as I remember.” Eagerly, he took one and bit a huge chunk out of it. “Delicious.” He grinned and I couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“We should go. You know what Scarlett’s like about timekeeping.”
“Can’t I finish this first?”
“You can eat on the way.” I grabbed my purse, and a muffin for myself, and then ushered him out of the apartment.
The drive to the hospital was largely quiet, but thanks to the muffins and the chewing, I could blame the awkwardness on eating.
Andre turned off the engine but didn’t get out straight away. I knew he wanted to talk. I knew he was frustrated I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t know what I’d say when we did finally speak about us.
“Not now,” I urged, as he turned to me. “We need to think about Scarlett first. We need to focus on her and the baby. Later.” I was adamant. I couldn’t have a serious conversation about our future sitting in the parking lot of the hospital. It was too important, whatever the outcome.
He let out a hard breath. “Okay. Later.”
Without looking at me, he got out of the car and slammed the door. I followed him into the hospital, and we retraced our steps from the previous evening to Scarlett’s room. She had a lot more color in her cheeks than the last time we’d seen her.
“You’re here.” She smiled, sounding sleepy.
I rushed over to her bedside and gave her a hug as best I could.
She hugged me back, before pushing me away. “The doctor stopped by and they’re prepping discharge papers.”
“That’s good. Did you manage to get some rest?” asked Andre.
“A little.” Scarlett paused. “I have no idea how I’m going to live alone and manage bed rest, but it is what it is.”
“You’re not going to be alone,” I announced.
“I’m not?”
“She’s not?”
Scarlett and Andre spoke at the same time. Both fixed me with a stare, almost identically wide-eyed.
“I spoke with Tori this morning. I’m going to stay here for the next couple of weeks at least until Scarlett’s feeling better and allowed up and about again.”
It was difficult to say which of the two of them looked more surprised.
“Willa, that’s fantastic news!” Scarlett broke into a huge grin. “It’ll be like old times, having sleepovers, talking about boys…” Her gaze went to Andre. “Well, one boy in particular.”
Andre touched my arm. “It’ll be good to have you around, Willa.”
“Won’t it?” agreed Scarlett. “Dre, can you get lost? I want to get dressed.”
He did as he was asked, stepping outside of the room and leaving us alone. I passed the bag with fresh clothes into Scarlett.
“Ugh, I guess you raided my pile for the thrift store?” she complained as she pulled out a pair of leggings and an oversized hoodie. “I’m not big enough to wear this yet.”
“I grabbed the first thing I could lay my hands on. Sorry I didn’t check in with the fashion police first,” I grumbled.
“Did you and Andre spend the night together? You two finally had the chance to be alone.”
Scarlett’s question was perfectly innocent, but my heart almost stopped. There was no way she could have known what had happened between us last night.
