Page 55 of Pucks and Likes

I was number one.

As I should be.

Laughter is in my voice as I say, “I can’t strap it up there when I have the top down.”

“So, you’ll be riding with the top up?” she asks cheekily, but she doesn’t spare me a glance.

“Maybe I’ll leave my nagging woman at home so I have room,” I tease, and she gives me a dark look.

“Nagging, huh?”

“Just a bit,” I say, poking her ribs. “I bought this car as a gift to myself for being awesome. I don’t want to give it up. You don’t like my car?”

“The only vehicles I actually care about are food trucks.” I can’t help but snort at her. She flashes me a wide grin. “I need you to have room for the baby. Which means, I guess, we’ll be driving the baby in my car.”

I don’t give two flying fucks what we drive. She said “we’ll.” It feels like my heart is being squeezed to shit as I shrug. “Or I can go buy another car, and this can be our date car.”

“Date car?” she asks, looking up at me. “We need a car to go on dates?”

“Yeah. So no matter what, it’s only us two.”

Her lips tip up. “I like that. Though, that means no one would watch over our baby when we’re dancing.”

I scoff. “I won’t trust anyone with our baby, especially not some randos at a restaurant who were eye-fucking each other the whole time.”

Her cheeks fill with color, but she nods. “I think I was stroking your cock with my toes.”

“You were,” I say with a wink, and she snorts. “It was a damn good night.”

“It was,” she agrees, and when she drops her hand from her phone, tucking it between her legs, I capture her hand in mine. I thread our fingers together, and I feel her looking at me. “You could have just told me to put my phone down.”

I shake my head. “Not when you’re working. I can be patient.”

I look over in time to catch her smirking, and my heart soars. I am beyond excited, and I feel almost jumpy. I thought the early morning skate and workout would have helped, but they didn’t. I have been waiting for this day. The day we find out the sex of our baby. I squeeze her hand, loving the feel of her palm in mine, before I ask, “Are you excited?”

Her lips are still curved in that little smirk as she quickly nods. “Excited but nervous.”

“Nervous? Why?”

She shrugs, and I hate that her smirk falls away. “I don’t know. My mind is fucking with me.”

“Talk to me,” I urge, and she swallows hard, bringing her other hand up to cup our clasped hands. She doesn’t answer right away, but her posture tells me everything I need to know. She’s scared. “You have nothing to be scared or nervous about. I’m excited to see our child with you and to find out what we’re having.”

“But aren’t you mad? You missed all?—”

“Didn’t I tell you that doesn’t matter anymore, that all that matters is our future?”

She presses her lips together. Her breathing is labored as she clings to my hand with both of hers. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle everyone at the doctor’s office judging us for you not being there until now.”

“I wish they would,” I scoff.

She side-eyes me. “Behave, Alejandro Benito Cruz.”

I flash her a smile full of teeth. “No can do when it comes to you, Elliot Bea McDavid.”

She rolls her eyes, and I squeeze her hand, pressing her to tell me more. “I’m a little worried you’ll get upset when you realize how much you missed.”

“Mami, stop this,” I urge her. “I want to be here, I want to be with you, and I want this. Nothing will change that.”

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