Page 233 of Wait for Him

And now I'm walking down the sidewalk swinging our joined hands between us like an idiot because this is all it takes to make me happy these days.

“What’s that smirk for?” she asks as we round the corner.

I glance over at her. “Nothing.”

Her eyes narrow immediately.

She knows me too well.

“Jackson.”

My smirk gets worse. “Just thinking about stuff.” I bring her knuckles to my lips and kiss them.

“What stuff?”

“Private stuff.”

“About me?”

“Maybe.”

“That means yes.”

“I invoke my right to remain silent.”

“You don't have that right with me.”

“Pretty sure that's unconstitutional.”

"Move your feet, people. I'm carrying a whole baby and moving faster than you. Choppity fucking chop."

Blaire is several feet ahead of us, glaring back while Bennet holds the restaurant door open. James chuckles into the front of his hoodie, wisely keeping his face pointed toward the ground so nothing he does can accidentally redirect her attention.

Smart kid.

Bennet gives me an apologetic shrug.

He knows. We all know. His wife has become a menace.

She's been giving Jenn a run for her money lately. Gone is the soft-spoken, lovable Care Bear Blaire we all knew and loved. Somewhere between finding out she's pregnant and discovering Bennet will let pregnant Blaire get away with damn near anything, the woman evolved.

Now she's an evil Teletubby right alongside Jenn.

Stabby Wabby and Dipsy Doom.

I haven't decided which is which yet, mostly because I enjoy being alive and assigning those names within hearing distance would be an excellent way to stop.

We're almost through the door when I hear a familiar voice behind me.

“Marcus?”

I stop and look back.

Stacy is walking toward us, hand in hand with a man I've never seen before.

Well, shit.

For half a second, I'm surprised. I haven't seen her since I walked out of her place, and fuck, that was more than a year ago now. The last time we were in the same room, we were both in very different places in our lives. But then she smiles, and whatever awkwardness I might've expected just isn't there. I'm happy to see her. Genuinely happy to see her.