Page 46 of Embers in Our Past

“I got everything ordered,and I’m going to go grab the food after I go change at home. I’ll be back in about two hours. That should give you some time with them. You good here until I get back?” Clay asks as he’s about to leave.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” I yell back as I get a water from the fridge. “Their flight is about to land, so the timing should be perfect.”

I round the corner as I untwist the lid of the water bottle. “I’ll tell them the news, and hopefully, they’ll be too happy to focus on anything but the good news. You’ll arrive right after I tell them they’ll be grandparents. It should be fine. I’m nervous, but I think I would be no matter what.”

Luckily, I just look like I’ve eaten a massive burrito for lunch and not that I’m pregnant, so I’m still good with some oversized clothes to mask the pregnancy from them on this visit.

“Well, call or text me if anything changes.” He gives me a hug and then a quick kiss on the lips. We both freeze and stare at one another.

“What was that?” I ask him, frozen in place.

“I think it’s just a habit. I’m sorry,” he says, although he’s still standing mere inches away from me.

His eyes look down at my lips, and I swear he’s about to kiss me again, and I won’t deny I want him to. I’m horny as hell with these damn hormones running amuck through my body. I’m leaning closer to him, giving him permission to take another taste of me, when his phone pings and breaks the spell.

He curses a small “Fuck” under his breath and pulls away. The moment is lost.

“I should go,” he whispers and is out the door before I can say a word in protest.

I stand staring at the door Clay just walked through, wondering what to do with my feelings a little longer, then snap myself out of it.

Clay was kind enough to come over early this morning to help get the place ready for my parents to visit. I had offered for my mom and dad to stay here for their visit, but they insisted on staying at a hotel nearby.

I still wanted to make sure everything looked nice for them, so he helped me get some flowers and get the area tidied up before they came for lunch. They offered to go to lunch, but I thought something at the apartment would be nice and make it easier to relax and talk to them in private.

While I’m going through the apartment to ensure everything is set, I decide to call Marissa real quick.

“Hey. Did Mommy Collette arrive safely?” she starts off the greeting.

“She isn’t here yet.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear how it goes. You have got to give me the play-by-play. Make sure to protect Clay for me. His face is too pretty to let her vicious claws get to him.” She chuckles into my ear.

“Play nice, Marissa,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Your mom has got it out for him, although I have no idea why. He’s always been so nice to her.”

“I know. She’s always played favorites, with River being the contender between the two.”

“I know. I could tell.” Marissa laughs. Each time Marissa was around, she would sit back and watch it all play out, entertained by the way my mother doted on River and ignored my ex-husband. It was quite fascinating, although infuriating.

I’m walking through when there’s a knock on the door.

“Marissa, hold on, I think Clay may have forgotten something,” I tell her.

“Oh, I bet he forgot something, alright.” She laughs in my ear.

“You’re ridiculously dirty, you know—” I swing the door open and hear, “Surprise!”

“Marissa, let me call you back,” I say and immediately hang up without letting her respond.

And a surprise it is. My parents greet me from the other side of the threshold, arms out wide, ready for a hug. My mom is the first one to pull me in. She squeezes me tight, and I swear all the air in my lungs is pushed out of me.

My dad follows with another hug, this time not as strong as my mother’s. I’m still shocked to see them standing there, especially since they aren’t supposed to be here for at least another hour or so.

“What are you doing here? Your flight just landed? Or am I following the wrong flight information?” I scroll through my phone to open the app and see their flight landed two minutes ago.

“We caught an earlier flight so here we are!” my mom says and does jazz hands as if she’s popping out of a box or something.

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