by Nia Arthurs
“This is about the Governor isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
I got up and washed my dish in the sink.
“You don’t have to say anymore. I get the gist.”
She smiled.
“Thanks for stopping by, dear.”
I gaped. “You’re kicking me out?”
“No way.” Mom yawned. “I’m going to bed. You can stay or go. Just lock up before you leave.”
I smirked. “All right. All right. I get the picture. I’m out.”
I padded toward the door.
“I love you.” Mom called.
I shook my head and swiped my car keys from the glossy counter, “Thanks for the food, Mom and I love you too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I took Mom’s words to heart and tried to let all of the stress of the past weeks go. The only problem was that I couldn’t control my feelings. I felt as hung up on Drew the next Saturday as I did the first time he barged into my world and called me a bad mother. This time, however, I was a little more put together.
I think.
I stocked up on a couple of Oreos before dropping by my parents house that weekend, just in case.
“Hey stranger!” Mia called to me as soon as I stepped into the foyer.
“Hi.”
She gave me a hug. “I was beginning to wonder if you had some kind of life changing disease.”
I do. It’s called love.
“No, I was just really busy.”
Mia arched an eyebrow but said slowly, “Okay.”
We walked further into the living room.
“Hey!”
“Lexi!”
I was greeted with a round of enthusiastic smiles and waves.
Melody sat on the ground nursing a packet of Ferrero Rocher. She spotted me and hunched over immediately. Stuffing a huge ball into her mouth, she commanded in a muffled cry,
“Hide the chocolate!”
“Too late!” I said happily.
Spencer and Peyton stood near the television watching a game. The men were still in their fancy white button-down shirts and black slacks, indicating that they had gone to work on a Saturday.
The poor chaps.
Archie sat on the armchair stool swiping away on his phone. Melody was trying to shove all the Ferrero Rocher into her mouth before I could race after her and snatch the bag from her grasp. I grinned. I was blissfully relieved to note that Drew was absent from the full living room.
“Drew’s coming in a minute.” Susan patted me on the back and burst that bubble.
So much for that.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I whispered back.
“No problem.”
Susan continued her trek and lounged on the couch, effectively preventing Mia who was just about to sit from claiming her seat.
“Hey!” The tall, dark-skinned woman protested.
“Snooze you lose.” Susan teased, kicking off her sandals and getting more comfortable.
Mia huffed, “Fine, you snooze and I’ll sit.”
Lowering her form, Mia sat on top of Susan.
“Oh,” Susan groaned, “I’m getting up. I’m getting up!”
“Thank you.” Mia replied primly as the light skinned Susan shoved herself to the other side of the couch.
“Geez, woman. Why are you so heavy?”
“Expect me to get even bigger.” Mia mumbled.
My baby radar skills were no match for her muttered musings.
I stalked over to the woman on the couch.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” Mia tried to brush away the comment.
“Mia.” I stooped down before the woman who had been like a sister to me as much as Melody. “Are you… pregnant?”
Melody crawled closer to hear what her best friend had to say, carrying the bag of chocolates with her.
“Mia?” Melody inquired with a note of wonder in her voice.
Mia opened her mouth and glanced helplessly at Peyton. As one, the women faced the tall, auburn haired man too.
“Well,” Susan demanded, staring Peyton down, “is she?”
Peyton brushed a hand through his hair and pointed a finger at his wife. “This is your show, babe.”
On autopilot our heads swung back to Mia.
“Just spit it out!” I yelled.
Mia pulled at the hem of her black checkered skirt. She straightened her lacy cream camisole. She flattened her long black hair. If primping helped her to feel more comfortable, I wouldn’t complain.
At last, Mia had stalled long enough.
“I. . . .”
“Hey, everyone!” Drew’s voice resounded in the quiet living room as he burst through the front door.
“Shhh!”
“Come on!”
“Really?”
Our unenthusiastic responses to Drew’s pleasant greeting caught the handsome man by surprise and he stopped in his tracks.
“Lexi?” He focused in on me. If we were in a soap opera that would have been the moment the camera panned in on his face.
“Hey.”
Awkward.
“I’m pregnant!” Mia screamed.
I pushed the ‘Days of My Life’ drama occurring between Drew and I to the back burner and squealed happily.
Babies!
“How far along are you?” Melody shouted.
“I’m almost eight weeks.”
“Congrats, man.” Spencer and Archie clapped Peyton on the back.
“Thanks.” Peyton smiled and his dimples curved adorably on his face. “I’m kind of freaking out and anticipating it at the same time.”
“This calls for ice cream!” I thundered and stood to my feet to trek to the kitchen.
“Mr. Rey is coming right now with the food, Lexi.” Mia pointed out like a mature, responsible adult.
“Are you kidding me? Go and get the tub!” Melody urged me on like the mentally insane woman that she was.
I laughed. My sister was incredibly obsessed with Ben and Jerry’s.
I happily bounced to the kitchen, my mind completely focused on the fact that our family would grow in less than a year. I loved babies. I loved the way their little toes were so perfect and tiny. I loved the way their eyes sparkled at everything. I loved their smell, that clean baby smell. My favorite thing about babies, however, was that I didn’t have to be around to clean their poop or have my sleep disturbed in the middle of the night. After holding the little bundle of joy in my arms, I could deposit him or her right back to their parents and leave the poor saps with doody duty.
It was a win-win situation.
I was humming happily to myself when footsteps thudded into the kitchen. Though my head was in the freezer, my spirit responded to the man in the room with me.
Drew.
It was almost pathetic the way that my heart both skipped a beat and shut down when he was near.
I took a deep breath and brought the ice cream out of the cold air, depositing the round container onto the counter.
“You want some help?” Drew inquired.
“Sure.” I kept my gaze on the cold treats and far away from his captivating blue eyes.
Drew pulled out some plates and I grabbed the scooper from the drawer. We worked together in silence and shared the dishes of ice cream to the celebration going on in the living room. Through the rest of the night, I felt Drew’s gaze. It simultaneously flattered me and freaked me out a little.
Why did he keep glancing my way?
Was there something on my face?
I tried my best to pretend that his presence didn’t affect me. Laughing and teasing Mia, Melody, Persia (who bounced in way later) and Susan was the only way I knew to exchange the strange jittery Lexi for the one who was in control.
I wanted to be in control.
And in the midst of my half-crazed attempts at keeping my attention on anybody but Drew, Mom’s words came back to haunt me.
The Governor will guide us.
&n
bsp; I needed some guidance right about now. As much as I liked being in control, hiding from my feelings and trying to keep the reins wasn’t working out.
I talked to the Big Guy. Hey, if you wanna try a thing or two, go right ahead.
Lightning didn’t storm down from heaven. The little Mermaid’s dad didn’t burst from the sea with his trident or anything like that. But I felt better. I felt heard. And I was a lot less mental the more I decided to give up.
By the time Mom and Dad came home with Baby Ally and the chicken, I was way more relaxed.
“Pepsi,” My precious, and soon to be sharing her throne little niece called.
“Hi baby.” I stood from around the small couch/stool where the married couples were locked in a Scrabble game.
I grabbed Ally from my mom, who winked at me, and hugged her sweet self close.
Babies.
Unfortunately, Aunt “Pepsi” did not hold the same appeal as Aunt Eryn and her big television so Ally soon left me out in the cold. Though I frowned, I was quickly buoyed by the promise of fried chicken.
Belizean fried chicken is probably the best in the world. We made sure that the fat the chicken was cooked in never got changed, which promoted maximum flavor. And health inspections? Yeah, that happened every once in a while, but to keep the seasoning just so, a little bit of nice and nasty was key.
I trekked down the hall to wash my hands in the bathroom and realized that someone was in there. I was just about to turn and walk back toward the kitchen to wash my hands in the wide, stainless steel sink when the door opened.
Drew’s head full of dark hair popped into my vision. Tonight he was dressed in a red Iron Man T-shirt and dark jeans.
I hiccupped.
Meeting your crush after spilling your feelings out to him and then telling him to leave you alone so you could get over them was a pretty awkward situation.
Meeting said crush after he did his business in the bathroom was a little more uncomfortable.
Since there was nowhere to run and hide, I slapped a brilliantly fake smile on my face and shrieked.
“Drew!”
Immediately after that heinously annoying greeting, our little corridor was flooded in darkness. The hall light automatically came off every sixty seconds.
Yay me.
“Hi, Lexi.”
He moved out of the bathroom and closed the door. “It’s really good to see you.”
I tried to play it cool. “What are you talking about? I see you at the Gym all the time.”
He shrugged and pointed out. “You don’t sit next to me anymore.”
“That bench is too crowded. You can sit comfortably now. Lots of, ah, space.”
Oh Lord, I sounded like a mattress salesman. “And here we have the Sleep Alphabet. It’s got lots of space for the kids.”
Drew’s gaze was intense as he regarded me, and the corridor was getting narrower and narrower. The dim lighting added an air of intimacy that was very disconcerting. The organ that pumped blood to my veins throbbed painfully in chest. Just being around Drew impacted me so physically, I wondered if I would be able to keep standing for much longer. After a few beats of silence where I rocked back and forth unsteadily on my heels and Drew kept memorizing my face like it was a priceless Picasso, I made my exit.
“Well, nice talk.” I clapped my hands, did an about face and tried to get out of there before I fainted at his feet.
“Lexi.” He called before I could stalk off.
I turned back. “Yes?”
He ducked his head and then brought his gaze back to mine. “I miss you.”
Three little words. They could mean absolutely anything.
“You miss me.” I repeated with a slightly confused expression.
He threw his weight backward and leaned against the wall. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he said it with more conviction this time.
“I miss you.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” I cut the air with my palm. “What does that mean?”
He straightened and a glimmer entered his eyes. In the shadows of the hallway, Drew advanced.
“It means, that last week when I went by Ms. Allysa’s to buy food, I wished you were with me.”
He stepped closer, slowly hypnotizing me with his words and eyes.
“When I had an idea for the show, all I wanted to do was drive to your apartment and talk to you about it.”
My heart thudded harder against my chest and I stuttered, “So, basically you missed eating food and talking shop with me. That’s nice.”
He ignored my words.
By now his slow advance put him in my personal space. Like a woman transfixed, I stood and let him work his magic.
“I wasn’t done.”
He touched a cast-away curl hanging near my cheek.
“I missed the way you smile. One side of your lips tilts a little higher than the other.”
A grin bloomed on my face.
“Just. Like. That.” He touched my lip and immediately, butterflies started trashing around in my stomach.
“And the way you laugh. I miss hearing it because the sound of your laughter makes me happy.”
Was it just me or was it getting hot in here?
“I miss you, Lexi.”
He dipped in for a kiss and I almost let him. Until I recalled the last time we’d done that. I placed a hand on his chest.
“I can’t do this.”
He opened his eyes and peered down at me.
“Do what?”
“Whatever we’re doing right now.”
He straightened.
“You don’t trust me?”
“I-” I placed my arms across my chest and hugged myself tight. “I’m afraid of what you’ll do to me if I do.”
A knowing expression crossed his face. “This is about the camping trip.” He stepped back.
“Kissing me and storming away didn’t help.” I admitted. That had been a crappy way to end a kiss. I was far from a phenomenal kisser but at least I didn’t run like the wind when the smooch was done.
Drew shook his head and blew out a breath. “I’m sorry that I walked away. It had nothing to do with you.”
I stood silently and gave him time to explain.
He sighed. “I care about you.” His blue eyes flashed up and I read sincerity there, “I like you, Lexi.”
My heart jumped at his admission.
“But I didn’t want to lead you on.”
My heart deflated.
Drew continued, “I need to go back to New York in two weeks. My work is there. My life is there.”
I stepped away from him. “No,” I shook my head emphatically. “I get it. I totally get it.” I scratched at my temple, trying to remain cool. “We’re great friends. We don’t need to mess that up. It’s totally fine.”
He caught my hand as I tried to walk away and tugged me back to him.
“No. It’s not ‘totally fine’.” He grinned down at me and held my chin. “Being without you is not ‘cool’.”
My poor heart tipped its head to the side wondering if this was just another set up and Drew was going to say something else to grab the feeling of triumph from its bloody arms.
“What are you saying?” I asked stupidly.
He stepped forward and backed me up against the wall. I craned my head up to keep his gaze.
“I’m saying that the next time I kiss you, Lexi Reyes. I am not walking away.”
He made the promise with all the conviction of a judge delivering his final say and then returned to the chaos of the living room. I leaned back against the wall and tried to gather my breath and calm my heart.
People as hot as Drew should come with some kind of warning.
May cause you to immediately combust.
I was kind of disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me though. What was the promise of a kiss if it wasn’t delivered in the moment? I knew that Drew was the kind of man that kept his word, but couldn’t he keep hi
s word after he kissed me?
I groaned and hit my head lightly against the hard surface of the cement.
Andrew Darcy was going to drive me nuts. But I’d be carted to the crazy house with no complaints.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After his steamy confession, Drew and I returned to our state of friendship on Monday. And yes, we were friends with absolutely no benefits. At all. Drew stayed as far from my lips as was socially acceptable. Though it made me frustrated that our relationship was still at the basic level, I was satisfied to have my best friend back in my life.
On Tuesday night, I was sitting at the computer working on the programming for a local business, when a knock sounded at the door. I’d been expecting Drew to pop by sometime during the evening so I was fully dressed in jogging pants and a T-shirt. I did take a little bit more care with my hair, however. It was actually combed out and loose about my shoulders. Though things were getting to back to their usual ease between Drew and I, the times were decidedly different.
I swung the door open.
“Hey.” He grinned at me.
“Hi.” I replied.
He immediately offered the bag of plated nachos in his hand. I sniffed its contents happily. This was probably one of the best parts of having Drew back in my life.
Free food.
“Wait.” I weighed the bag in my hand, “was the dip made with real cheese or fake cheese?”
He arched an eyebrow, the amused expression once more garnering his face. “What is your definition of fake cheese?”
He closed the door and took off his jacket.
“The nasty yellow gunk that comes from a can.” I shivered as the thought of that monstrosity crossed my mind. “Fake cheese that tastes like CheeseWiz belongs in a sandwich not on corn chips.”
Drew laughed. “You’re very passionate about something like cheese.”
I peered at him. “Cheese is important. Calcium is good for your bones, you know.”
“I know.” Drew slapped a black backpack on the end of the couch.
I nodded at his burden, “What’s that.”
He grinned a little boy grin, causing my heart to stutter within my ribcage.
Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Drew announced, “I brought my life’s work.”