Page 83 of Single Teddy
“Save it for your hot teacher.”
“Will do,” I said and messaged Wesley.
After lunch, we drove home to rest. However, the mailroom offerings had other plans.
The first bills had arrived, so instead of chilling out or preparing for my date night with Wesley, I dove into balancing my checkbook and trying to figure out how I could afford everything Bear and I needed month in, month out.
Working thirty hours a week wasn’t going to cut it. That was for certain. But I didn’t know what other options I had, considering I couldn’t afford childcare. And I couldn’t rely on Slade for everything. He was busy studying to get his teaching certificate, and even if he wasn’t, there were limits to free help.
There was the option of sending Bear to after-school clubs, but I didn’t know if he would take kindly to them. He had made leaps and bounds of progress in such a short amount of time, but I didn’t want to overwhelm him.
Besides, I didn’t know if a few extra hours a week would make a massive difference when I needed a whole extra income.
“Someone’s at the door,” Bear called out from the living room, and I shook my head back to reality.
“Huh?” I asked, but I made my way to the door.
“Hi. Is this a good time?” Zach beamed at me and held up a box that I knew held some real treats inside.
“Oh yes. Please,” I said and stepped aside to let him in.
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Fine,” I said.
Zach didn’t seem convinced, but he did make his way to the kitchen, where he put the box down and opened it in record time.
“Something tells me you need this.”
He offered me a muffin and I wasted no time biting into it. My tastebuds exploded with flavor on impact. The sweet spiced notes of apple were complemented by the gooey custard filling, and in my eagerness to swallow the thing whole, I made a mess of myself.
“That’s delicious,” I said, but Zach reached for the kitchen towel and passed it to me, laughing.
“I’m pretty sure Bear would make less of a mess,” he said.
“Why don’t you test that theory?” I told him with a raised eyebrow, and Zach called Bear in and handed him an apple custard muffin.
Little shit proved Zach right. Which made Zach all smug.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked.
Zach burst out laughing.
“Just checking in on my neighbor. Is that a sin?”
I grabbed another muffin and sat down, and Zach mimicked me.
“Of course not. Busy day?” I asked.
“I was rushed off my feet. I had to close an hour early because I was exhausted. How was your day?”
“Slow. And I’ve got a headache.”
“Why?” Zach narrowed his eyes.
I looked down at the paperwork in front of me, and Zach bit his lip.
