Page 44 of Coast

“Please. I bought for two. I’m hiding the sales slips. No sense having Brax flipping out,” Luna said as she opened the door and slid from the seat to the ground, then hit the latch on the side, so the seat leaned forward to allow Carly and I to get out of the third row.

“After seeing how much you four spent on kids, I’m a little less anxious to get pregnant,” Carly said as she jumped down out of the vehicle. I followed her, but not as gracefully and easily as she had. Height definitely was a factor in the big SUV for short people. My height had been the deciding factor when I’d purchased a smaller SUV.

“Since I don’t have to worry about spending money on kids, it was fun to help you ladies spend your money.” With the day’s shopping trip focused around kids and the upcoming babies, I’d been asked if I wanted kids or did seeing women go through labor regularly curtail that desire. So, I’d shared with the women the same talk I’d had with Emery. Minus my insecurities.

After they told me how sorry they were, they’d said the same as Emery had. That I didn’t need to birth a child to be a mom. Then the subject was dropped, and everything was the same as before. They’d treated me no different. I’d been thankful for that because I hadn’t wanted the women to feel as if they needed to walk on eggshells or avoid any future talk about babies around me.

“I’ll say. I’m blaming every cent I spent today on you, Mac. I don’t even know the sex yet. Why did I let you talk me into buying so much?” Bailey said, and I chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m with Bailey. Poppy won’t be able to wear all the stuff I bought her before she grows out of it. Half of them came from you digging through the racks and finding more cute things. And I can’t even explain the four bags of stuff for the baby that won’t be born for months,” River griped.

“Don’t blame me. But I do want to suggest if you ladies ever ask me to go shopping again that we take two vehicles. The extra truck space would come in handy, and I won’t have to worry about falling out of the vehicle,” I said as I held onto the back of the seat and the door’s frame and lowered myself until my feet hit the ground.

“Ifwe ask you to go again? Why the heck wouldn’t we?” Bailey asked as she lifted the backdoor where the bags were stashed.

“Because Emery and I may not work out and though I know we’re friends, he’s your family. I wouldn’t want it to be awkward for anyone.” I shrugged, and all five women stopped and stared at, then began to laugh.

Luna composed herself first. “You’ve been around the men for months. Have you not noticed that they do nothing they don’t want to do? I’ve seen Coast look at you, and, girl, he wants you.”

“There are different types of want. I’m not naïve. Men may think they want you, then after the chase and they spend time with you, they change their minds,” I said and reached for a bag and got told to leave them, the men would get them.

“We’ve had this discussion. Besides, I got fifty bucks riding on you and Coast,” Carly said then laughed. It probably was from my facial expression.

“Hey, I didn’t get asked if I wanted to bet. And what does the bet entail between the two of them,” Luna said and placed her hands on her hips.

With Sami, Luna, Bailey, and River standing in a row facing Carly, they looked like a chart that showed the different stages of pregnancy.

“The bet is when you think they will be married—like Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s... They discussed it at the meeting, and Crusher told me about it. No way I was missing out on that,” Carly answered Luna as I stared at her.

“There are bets on when Emery and I will be married? Are the men insane? We’ve only been dating for a week!”

“Dating? Is that what you call it?” Bailey said and snickered.

“Yes. We are getting to know each other and taking it slow. So, I hate to inform you, but you wasted your money, Carly.”

“First, we aren’t crazy. Well, at least some of us aren’t,” Bailey said and looked to first Luna, then Carly. “Second, Coast has been vocal about what he wants. He won’t settle for anything less, and what he wants is you, my friend. Because he sure isn’t looking at anyone else and he looks like a man on a mission,” Bailey finished and pointed behind me.

The men headed in our direction from Carly and Crusher’s house. The only one missing was Flirt. When I looked at Emery, Bailey was right; his eyes were on me.”

“Better tell her bye now, ladies. ‘Cause he doesn’t have the face of a man who is going to stand around chit-chatting,” Luna said and laughed.

When the men reached us, Emery didn’t even say a word until he lifted me up and started in the direction of his house. He ignored my protest of his behavior but yelled over his shoulder about if I had bags in the truck, he’d get them later. Then he marched us in his house and up the stairs to his room. Instead of saying how much he missed me. He showed me.

It'd been a great end to the first week of us being a couple.

In week two of theso-called ‘dating’ to get to know each other, I waited for Emery to start stepping back. Instead, he stepped up in showing me the man behind the rough exterior. The side of him I got to see and no one else.

Like him taking the time in the middle of his day to ride into town and drop off lunch because I’d mention the day before that I had a full schedule and wouldn’t be able to even go out and grab something.

Or the day he picked up my car and took it into the garage to have the oil change that I’d put off for months. Where not only did my car get the oil change it needed, it was tuned, cleaned, the gas tank was full, and it sported four new tires.

When I asked, “Why?”

He replied, “Because it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”

As the end of week two came to a close, it was the understanding he’d shown when I was called away from the intimate dinner he’d planned and cooked.

Into week three, wehad the schedule of whose place we stayed at down pat. My apprehension about spending so much time together dissolved. I found as each day passed, we grew closer. I wasn’t sure if I could sleep alone again if we split.

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