Page 41 of Keeping Promises

Today’s the day we’re finding out whether we’re having a boy or a girl. Well, we won’t actually find out until this evening because Lexi thought it would be a fun idea to do a gender reveal party with just our gang. So, the doctor is going to be putting the gender on a card in an envelope. We will be dropping it off at the bakery after the appointment, where they will make the inside of the cake either blue or pink, and when we cut into the cake tonight, we’ll know if it’s a boy or girl.

It seemed like a great idea when I agreed to it at the time, but now that Asher and I are sitting in the room, waiting for Dr. Gilbert to arrive and just moments away from seeing our little peanut on the screen again, it’s hard not to want to sayfuck it!

“Don’t even think about it,” Asher says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I blink a few times to play it off. “What are you talking about?” I play coy. “I wasn’t thinking anything.”

He shakes his finger at me and makes a clicking noise with his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth. “Don’t try to pull that with me. I know you’re thinking it because I’m totally thinking it. You know we could just find out and then pretend to be surprised when we cut into the cake.”

“Okay, so maybe I was thinking that, but no. No way can we do that. Everyone is coming over tonight, and we can all find out then. A few hours aren’t going to kill us.” Although just saying those words kills me.

Asher sits back in his chair, extending his long legs as if he owns the place, and crosses his arms with a pout. “It might.”

“Hey, a girl at the salon didn’t find out the gender of all three of her kids till they were born, so I feel like we can make it just a little bit longer.”

Asher makes a whistling noise before straightening his back and resting his elbows on his knees. “They went the whole nine months without finding out?” I nod. “That takes some serious restraint and possibly some serious insanity.”

I giggle, but my laughter quickly fades as Asher says his next words. “And here I thought we had restraint, making it an entire year of sexual tension before finally banging.”

The air in the room becomes thick, and I slowly swallow.

Knock. Knock.

My head whips to the door in time to see Dr. Gilbert walking into the room. “Who’s ready to see that baby today?”

I smile at her while my inner self is raising their hand like a little kid who knows the question the teacher just asked, goingI do! I do!

A little time later, we are in line, ready to check out and schedule our next appointment with two envelopes in hand. One has the gender written on an index card in a sealed envelope; the other has the sonogram photos in it for confirmation of the gender. Dr. Gilbert had the machine turned away from us while doing the sonogram so that neither of us could peek at the screen.

“Next,” a feminine voice shouts from behind the desk.

Asher and I are softly talking when that same voice says, “All set?” We both silence when we realize that it’s Jill, that same girl from our first appointment. She was nowhere in sight when we were last here. The thoughts of our previous interaction and the result try to break through my mind, but I don’t allow them to. Asher and I are in a good place right now, and his words ring clear in my mind.Women are going to flirt with me, but I didn’t flirt back; I shut her down.

Asher must take my silence as me being uncomfortable, so he surprises the hell out of me when he reaches for my hand. The soothing touch of his thumb grazing across my skin tells me to forget about her. I could easily pull my hand back and say to him that I’m fine, but I like having his hand in mine. I enjoy the little touches here and there. His touch alone both calms me and sets me ablaze. I’ve never had that reaction with a man before—not even Josh.

Jill keeps her attention on the screen mostly—maybe full of embarrassment from either her unprofessionalism or from Asher shooting her down in general. Either way, I find it rather amusing now. I give her my best toothpaste commercial smile as I accept the appointment card from her and head out of the office.

Asher and I head to the bakery before we go our separate ways, he to the office and me home to clean up and enjoy my day off. Chad wasn’t exactly happy that I asked for the day off, but hey, it’s a big day, and the way things have been going at the salon lately, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t get slammed with new appointments or be running behind for the reveal tonight.

When we are halfway there, I realize that neither of us has let the other’s hand go.Maybe Asher’s just waiting for me to let go first.We end up holding hands the entire way to the bakery. What happens when two stubborn people are paired together? Neither of us wants to be the first to let go.

“You know, we still have time to peek before handing it over.” Asher tries one last time to find out early as he holds the bakery door open for me and ushers me inside.

I playfully shove his shoulder. “Will you give it a rest already. You’re driving me crazy.”

I swear, I heard him mutter, “So are you,” as we take our place in line, but I can’t one hundred percent be sure over the noise in the bakery. Maybe it’s just what I wanted to hear instead.

* * *

Lexi:Are you kidding me? You told us we had to wait until the reveal to find out, and Asher said you guys already know.

Me:What? He’s lying. We didn’t peek at all.

Me:We dropped the envelope off at the bakery after the appointment, and neither of us peeked. I promise, Lex.

Asher:Way to throw me under the bus. I thought we were a team here.

Me:Hey, don’t get mad at me. You started this.

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