Hank hurried away in a fluster, probably beyond nervous about becoming a father. I knew he’d be great, though. Some people were born to be parents, and Hank Jacobs was one of those individuals.

As time moved on, Hank informed Shay and I that the baby would probably take a little bit longer to make an appearance in the world, so Shay and I could head home to get some rest.

It was pitch-black when Shay and I left the hospital. As we walked to our cars, Shay reached hers first, and I went to say good night, but she cut in first.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” she started. She rubbed her hands together and bit her bottom lip. “About us.”

Us.

Yes.

I liked the sound of that.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I mean, the other day you asked me if I felt anything after we hooked up, and the truth was yes. It felt…” She released a weighted breath from between her lips and shook her head back and forth. “Really, really good.”

“Like the best sex of my life.”

“Exactly.” She nodded and her cheeks blushed over a bit, but she kept going. “Which is why I was thinking, maybe we can do that again.”

“Do what again?”

“You know…” She combed her hands through her hair. “The whole banging thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt something like that. I don’t want anything serious between us, obviously, but I wouldn’t be against feeling that again.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to be your fuck buddy?”

“What? No. That sounds inappropriate and wrong. It’s more like a fuck acquaintance,” she said, making me laugh.

“That sounds so much better.”

“If you’re not interested—”

“Wait, what? Are you kidding? Of course, I’m interested. I’m just thrown off, that’s all. I honestly expected that to be the last thing you’d say to me, seeing how you rushed out of my place that afternoon, seemingly uninterested in reconnecting with me.”

“I know. I’m a complicated girl, but this thing between us doesn’t have to be complicated. There just have to be a few rules in place before we start.”

“Rules? Like what?”

“For starters…it’s strictly physical. Nothing more, nothing less.”

I gave her a small smile. “Perhaps we can amend that rule down the line.”

“There will be no amendments.”

I fought back the frown that wanted to leave my lips. “Okay fine. What are the other rules?”

“It’s casual. If you’re in town, we can make it happen. If you’re not, we leave it alone.”

“Okay, sounds good. What else?”

“We don’t tell people about us. It’s a very private thing. Simply between the two of us. Also, we don’t talk about our past. We simply focus on the present. We don’t go deep.”

I smirked. “Trust me, I’m going to go deep.”

She laughed, and I loved the sound so much more than I should’ve. “Lastly, I’m the only person you’re sleeping with when you’re sleeping with me, and vice versa. If you sleep with someone else during the down time, you have to tell me.”

“I won’t be sleeping with anyone else. I don’t want to sleep with anyone else.”