Page 25 of A Baby for the Firefighter
“I’m looking forward to it,” Griff said before hanging up, but he still sounded nervous.
Well, at least that made two of us.
11
Griffin
Oh God, Dean was on his way over. Totalk.I swallowed, even though my mouth was completely dry. Eli had left a few minutes ago, wishing me good luck, and now I was pacing through the house, trying and failing not to completely freak out.
Normal people didn’t feel like this when their crush was coming over, or did they?
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the doorbell rang, heart pounding in my throat.
Breathe, Griff. You’re going to be fine. Think of what Eli said. If he really likes you, he won’t mind waiting a bit.
But what if he didn’t like me enough?
Pulling my lower lip between my teeth, I walked to the front door and opened it.
Dean looked nearly as gorgeous as he had the night before, even though he wasn’t wearing those tight pants now. But hewaswearing a smile and carrying a box with muffins, and if there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I’d take muffins over tight pants any day. This man really knew the way to my heart was paved with sugar.
“Hey,” I greeted him, and somehow, a smile found its way on my lips as well. It was nearly impossible to look at him and not light up—no matter that I had difficult things to explain. “Come in. And let me take those muffins out of your hands.”
“Oh yeah, they were really getting too heavy to carry.” Dean handed the muffins over gracefully. They smell of freshly baked sweets was heavenly—almost as intoxicating as the scent Dean was giving off.Almost.
I led Dean into the living room, where I’d sat with my brother just half an hour ago, watching silly cartoons to relax. I kind of wanted to go back to that, but I didn’t think Dean would be open to the suggestion of watching cartoons just then.
Putting the muffins on the coffee table, I sat on the couch and patted the free space next to me. “Sit with me?”
“Sure.” He left a few inches between us, unsurprisingly. He’d never been pushy. Even the night before, he hadn’t tried to kiss me again after that one time.
What was I so scared of?
“So uh… about last night,” Dean started.
“Yeah?” I prompted.
“You should know I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”
“Really?” How could that be true? Had we both been secretly pining for each other? “For how long?”
He gave me a pained smile. “Too long, really.” Stroking a hand through his hair, he continued. “It kind of started shortly before I moved away. You were the first omega I’ve ever had a crush on. But then, you know… You were my friend, and you didn’t seem like you would be interested in making out. I didn’t want to say anything and lose you. And then I left town.” He shrugged helplessly. “I thought I was over my crush when I came back here to help Shane, but then I saw you and it all came back. You’re even more handsome now than you were when I left here.”
Heat spread across my cheeks. I couldn’t believe Dean really felt that way about me. I was nothing special. Just a small-town omega who refused to act like an adult. “I had no idea you liked me that way.”
Dean only shook his head. “How could I not? You’re sweet and funny and… always there when anybody needs help.”
I laughed, because I was so embarrassed by all his kind words. “So are you, Mr. Firefighter.”
“We make a good couple then,” he said, making me pause. Were we a couple now? Was it that easy? “I’m sorry,” Dean said when he noticed my confusion. “I’m moving too fast, aren’t I?”
“I don’t know if you’re too fast or I’m too slow,” I said honestly.
“I guess we’ll have to meet in the middle. I can slow down. It’s no big deal,” he promised.
I took a deep breath. “How slow can you go? Because uh… I might need you to slowwaydown.” I tried not to wince as I said that, and I barely managed to meet his gaze. The only reason I could do it at all was because his eyes were kind and gentle.
“Whatever you need,” he said, and there was so much honesty in his voice he almost convinced me. “I know you’re serious,” he added, “because you haven’t even tried the muffins yet.”
