Page 14 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
But he's your friend, you idiot,I reminded myself. Never mind the fact that I couldn't saddle him with another alpha's baby. David deserved better than that.
"Sam, are you feeling all right?" Conner asked, making me realize that I'd been silent for too long.
"Yes, I'm fine, sorry. You probably need to get back to your mate, right? Thank you for your card... and everything."
"You're very welcome. Tell your parents I said hi, okay?"
I nodded, and Conner gave me a short hug before he left. I watched him vanish into the bustle of people in the mall, and then, only a few seconds later, David was there beside me.
And yup, he still smelled amazing.
This was silly. If I'd wanted to start anything with David, I should have done so years ago. Way before leaving for college. Way before getting myself knocked up.
So why couldn't I shake the idea of him and me in bed together? Naked?
God, the weight of his body would feel amazing on top of mine.
"Sam?" David asked, and I jumped, somehow fearing that my friend knew exactly what I'd been picturing--but that was silly too. I'd had these thoughts a million times ever since I was a teenager, and he'd never caught on.
"Sorry, spaced out," I apologized.
"What were you guys talking about?" David asked. "The baby?"
"Yeah. Conner is gonna help me apply for benefits and stuff."
"That's good. Smart of you to ask him."
I nodded, not admitting to the fact that it hadn't been my idea. "See? I can too accept help."
David gave a small laugh and ruffled my hair. "Maybe I judged you too harshly."
I nodded again, the skin in the back of my neck prickling. How bad was it that I wanted David to keep his hand on me? Even if his touch was innocent. I blew out a breath, trying to shake the feeling. "Let's head back," I heard myself say. "We got work to do." I vaguely pointed at all the bags of decorations. Our loot.
"You're right," David said. "The ice cream parlor needs a little Christmas cheer."
I suppressed a sigh, because, didn't we all?
5
David
The ice cream parlor had become fairly busy by the time we made it back. Parents were swinging by with their children on the way home from school. The overall noise level in the store reflected this. I smiled to myself, watching my dad trying to take orders from three children all talking to him at the same time. Other people might have been annoyed by the ruckus, but to me, it just made the place feel more alive. I liked children. It was really too bad that I didn't have any siblings. My parents said they didn't have the time or resources to raise more than one child.
I'd always kind of envied Sam his large family. He was an only child too, but it never felt that way when he was running around with his cousins. I had some family scattered across the rest of the country, but none who lived in Oceanport.
At least I'd always had Sam, who'd always done his best to make me feel like I was part of his family, and who was now doing his best to act as if he was part of mine too. He didn't waste any time getting to work. He set his bags down, grabbed one of those stupidDream Creamaprons from the back and then started bustling around the parlor, helping my dad take orders.
Which was exactly what I should be doing instead of standing here and watching him.
Since my dad and Sam seemed to have that part of the restaurant under control, though, I decided to take control of the kitchen. It wasn't really a kitchen, just a room barely bigger than a closet where we could clean our dishes and make our waffles, but it was secluded enough to be a little quieter than the main part of the parlor. For the next hour or so, I kept myself busy. My dad brought me the orders from the store, and I prepared the waffles in between loading and unloading the dishwasher. It was mindless work, for the most part, especially because I'd done it all a million times. My thoughts drifted while I squirted maple syrup on waffles.
Sam had been so upset by the store with the baby supplies. Why? Because he couldn't afford all those things? Of course, raising a child had to be expensive, but I'd never seen my friend so worried. He usually shrugged everything off as if it was nothing. He'd never needed anyone to reassure him that things were going to be fine, but now that he did, I so badly wanted to be that someone.
I squirted the syrup bottle a little too hard and got too much syrup on the waffle in front of me. Shaking my head at myself, I put the plate aside, preparing to get a new waffle ready. Looked like this one was going to be my lunch. Good thing I liked maple syrup.
Sighing, I replaced the waffle I'd ruined. I really needed to focus better and stop thinking about Sam. If Sam was interested in me, he would have told me by now. He always went for everything else that he wanted. I was just getting carried away because he was back in town now and looking vulnerable for the first time in all the years I'd known him. It made me want to take care of him.
It made me want to kiss him in the worst way.
