Page 173 of Wait for Him

"Maybe stop treating your friends like a dating inventory."

"No."

Macy laughs and presses a soft kiss to my temple. "Let's get you packed. Properly this time. And I'll walk you down to the ferry."

"You're one of my favorite people, you know."

I look up at her, and there it is. The disappointment she tries very hard not to let me see.

I see it every time.

Macy has never pushed me. Never asked for more, never made her feelings my responsibility, and that somehow makes it harder. I love her. I do. Just not in the way she wants me to, and she's too important to me to offer her half of something because I feel guilty that I can't give her the whole thing.

My heart is still rooted somewhere else.

"I know, love." She smiles, even if it doesn't quite reach where it usually does. "You know I love you with my whole ass chest."

I wrap my arms around her neck and hold her.

If only...

Chapter Seventeen

Jackson

"Look at you, moving on," Jenn whispers.

We're standing in the hallway of Bennet and Blaire's place, where I am currently being held hostage. Jenn has both my hands pressed flat against the sides of her belly, waiting for the little one to kick, and she absolutely has the patience to keep me here until it happens.

I've been in this house for approximately three minutes, long enough to introduce Rian to everyone, accept one glass of wine I haven't sipped, and get yanked into a hallway by a pregnant woman with the grip strength of a dockworker.

I shift on my feet, running the math on two separate problems: how long is appropriate to stand in a hallway holding a pregnant woman's stomach, and what the odds are that Joe walks in on exactly this and forms very clear intentions about my continued health.

"She's so pretty. And smoking hot." Her bottom lip turns downward mid-praise. "I used to be hot."

"You're still a smoke show, Jenn."

"I've gained twenty-three pounds, I waddle, and I don't have a waist anymore." The tears start immediately.

Sweet suffering fuck.

"The sexual positions have gotten so limited, Jackson. Yes, the orgasms are unfuckingreal, but I miss my limber legs. I used to do this one thing where I—"

"Nope."

I retrieve my hands and walk away mid-sentence.

"Coward!"

"Hormonegeddon!" I call back over my shoulder, and nearly collide with Joe rounding the corner.

The man looks like he's seen hell and left something behind there.

"Did she corner you?" He grabs my shoulders, then looks past me toward the hallway. "Where is she?"

Is he...

Is he hiding in front of me?