Page 25 of Used

I look down at my body. I know change is coming and that things will have to shift when the baby comes. But that’s an issue for later, and I don’t need to worry about that right now.

“I have time,” I murmur.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight.” He says.

“It does when you become a parent,” I reply with a little too much sharpness. “I was preparing to do this on my own from the beginning, Marshall. There’s no reason for that plan to change.”

His eyes grow wide, and his face falls like I’ve genuinely hurt him.

“Except that I’m here. I’m here and asking to be a part of this, Elsie.” He says, getting up from where he was sitting on my couch to come stand beside me at my desk.

With the gentlest of touches to my chin, he lifts my face to meet his own piercing brown gaze.

“I want this, Elsie. Don’t deny me the chance to be a part of my child’s life.”

His voice is so tender, and the look he’s giving me is so open and honest that I can’t push down all the tears that want to come up.

Stuffing the emotions down, I shake free from his delicate touch and reach for the folder Oliver left on my desk.

“Here,” I say, my voice a little too shaken for my taste. “Read and sign.”

Chapter 7

Marshall

Elsie thrusts the folder in my direction without a glance and shifts back to her computer screen to continue working.

I take it from her desk making my way back to my seat, and collapse into it before opening the folder to examine its contents.

Of everything I could have thought it would be, what I find was not on the list.

“What is this?” I ask, looking down at the sheet of paper before me.

“Read it, and you’ll find out,” Elsie says, rolling her eyes and avoiding looking at me.

“It says ‘Roommate Rules.’” I say, scanning the heading of the page again. “Elsie, what is this?”

“Exactly what it says they are.” She snaps, turning to face me from behind the safety of her desk. “If you’re going to barge into my life, camp out in my apartment, and interrupt every facet of my life, then you’re going to do it with at least some respect for my life and how you’re disrupting it.”

My jaw drops in shock.

I know having me move in and be around all the time has been an adjustment, but this seems like taking things a little far.

“So, we need a formal agreement?” I ask, still taken aback by the whole idea.

“Yes.” She says shortly.

“Elsie,” I say with a sigh. “Do you really think this is necessary?”

“I do.” She says, trying for a bit more patience. “Read and sign, Marshall.”

The list isn’t long, but I have to re-read each line to really wrap my head around what she’s asking me for.

I can feel Elsie’s eyes on me as I read, and I glance up a few times only to catch her looking away.

“It says I’m not allowed to eat anything you’re unable to eat?” I ask, fully facing her this time.

“Yes. No sushi. No lunch meat. No coffee. Et cetera.” She reasons with a roll of her eyes. “If I’m going to put up with you being around for the next seven months, then I’m not going to put up with you taunting me with food I can’t eat.”

---