Page 73 of Dump and Chase

I was on my third quesadilla wedge when I felt a punch in my stomach. Was it the salsa? No! The baby. It was kicking. I jumped when it did it again.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked, eyes wide.

I grabbed his hand and placed it on my belly. The baby kicked again, probably pissed that I was eating spicy salsa. I’d have to cut back on that.

Ethan’s face lit up when he felt the small kicks. “We’ve got a soccer star in there,” he said.

“It appears that way.”

Ethan kept his hand there until the baby took a rest. “Wow, Tang. That’s our kid doing that.”

“I know. I carry him or her around all day.”

He put his arm around me and pulled me close, lightly kissing the top of my forehead. “I don’t care how this sounds, but I’m so glad we’re having this baby. I realize now that there is no one else in the world I’d rather have a baby with.”

My bottom lip started to quiver. “Me too,” I said, turning and hugging him back. Even after all we’d been through, I would always love him. And maybe that was why we got so caught up in the moment because the next thing I knew, he was kissing me and I was kissing him back. All those old feelings came flooding through me. But one swift kick from Baby Kildare-Grant brought me back to reality.

I pulled back, my heart racing and my breaths quick. One look at his eyes and I wanted to jump back into his arms. “We can’t do this,” I said instead.

“Why not?” he asked, his hand gently brushing a lock of hair from my face.

“Too much has happened. I can’t get hurt again. You mean so much to me, Ethan, but you hurt me. I can’t get past that.”

“Tang, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you. Just tell me what you want.”

He knew what I wanted: the same thing I’d always wanted. After all this time he still hadn’t figured it out, and now I was pretty sure it was too late.

“Thanks for dinner,” I said, taking my plate and loading it into the dishwasher. “I’m going to go sit for a while. I’m a bit tired.”

I was glad he didn’t come after me. I went to my room and shut the door, my heart still beating like crazy. I sat on the bed and when my phone buzzed on the nightstand, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I grabbed it and saw a text from Brandon.

Want to go for dinner Friday? Mario’s? We still need to get you introduced to his daughters.

I’d love to.

Yes, that was what I needed. A distraction and to be far away from Ethan.

ChapterThirty-Five

Ethan

We had a short four-day road trip to play games in Seattle, Calgary, and Edmonton. On the short flight to Seattle, I couldn’t help but notice that Warde’s social circle had widened. He usually had a handful of old-timers who hung out with him, and maybe a few of the new kids, but this time all the new guys had gravitated toward him. For a guy who pushed so damn hard, this development was unusual.

“What gives?” I asked Ryan, elbowing his arm as he played Candy Crush on his phone.

Ryan glanced up and followed my gaze. “What am I looking at? They’re playing cards, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, all with Warde. Since when did he get so popular?”

Ryan put down his phone and looked at me sympathetically. So this was going to be a long conversation. “He’s been playing nice, like he had a colonoscopy or something.”

What? “Do you mean lobotomy?”

“Whatever.”

“No, not whatever. They’re completely different. A colonoscopy is when they shove a tube up your ass. A lobotomy has to do with your brain when they drill a hole in it.”

Ryan scowled at me. “You know what I meant.”

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