Page 70 of Wild Side
When I lift my eyes, I am met not just with Lainey, but also with Dakota’s smiling face. “Oh, this girl needs something to eat immediately,” Dakota cries out.
I watch as she bends slightly and takes something out of the case. Without a single word, she rushes toward me, shoving a blueberry muffin against my chest. I take it, my eyes widening.
“It’s an emergency snack. You can get your actual order in a minute,” she says.
I almost laugh, but I’m too hungry to think about doing anything other than shoving this muffin in my face. So, I do just that. I open my mouth and take a huge bite, closing my eyes as the sweet dough touches my taste buds.
Heaven.
I ignore Chase’s chuckles, mainly because I am just that damn hungry. I put off eating for too long, and as soon as I’m halfway into the second half of the muffin, when the first half hits my stomach, I’m slammed with a wave of nausea.
Pulling the muffin slightly away from my mouth, I blink a few times, then lift my gaze to meet Lainey and Dakota’s. Lainey is smiling, but Dakota’s gaze is sharp and focused on me. She narrows her eyes slightly, then dips her chin, her gaze never leaving mine.
“You okay?” she asks.
I nod slowly, moving my head up and down about three times as I take a few cleansing breaths. “I think I am,” I whisper. “Maybe.”
Only then does Dakota smile. “You’ll be okay. You waited too long to eat,” she says before she shifts her gaze to Chase. “Why did you let her wait so long to eat?” she snaps.
Chase dips his chin, his gaze flicking down to his boots before he lifts it back up to meet hers.
He’s being scolded, and he knows it.
He moves toward the counter and says something in a low voice that I can’t make out. Then he takes a step backward, and I watch as Dakota rolls her eyes to the ceiling, but Lainey’s eyes flick to meet mine, and she gives me a huge smile.
“Okay, you’re forgiven,” she murmurs.
A few moments later, I understand exactly why she forgives him as I watch both her and Lainey filling up separate canary-yellow boxes. Twelve each. Twelve cupcakes and twelve assorted muffins.
I turn my head, and my eyes slide up to meet Chase’s. His gaze meets mine, but before I can say anything, he dips his chin slightly, his lips touching mine before he speaks. “I feel like a shitbag. I hope this somewhat makes up for it, honey.”
“Only slightly,” I whisper against his mouth.
“Slightly?” he asks, and if I weren’t so close to him, I imagine I would see his brows lift in surprise.
“A few orgasms later will seal the making up.”
I hear his laughter, then he presses his lips to mine in a firm kiss before he lifts his head. I watch as he pays Lainey for the two dozen bakery treats. I’m not sure if I should eat them all, but I already know I’m going to, and I’ll probably regret it when I’m the size of a whole house before this baby is born.
Today, I don’t care.
That will be tomorrow’s problem.
MAVERICK
The real estate agent is already there. I look up at the house andtilt my head to the side, taking it all in.
I didn’t have many requirements for her when I asked about finding a place to rent. There is no way I could be picky. Not only did we have to find a place that would accept cash and zero fucking background check, along with zero fucking paystubs, but we had to do that within Thunder Rock, which, let’s be fair, is not a thriving metropolis.
“This is nice,” Zadie murmurs from beside me.
She’s just finished two muffins and a cupcake. Now she’s drinking a bottle of water, her gaze focused straight ahead on the house in front of us. Shifting my own attention forward, I look at the place again.
It’s not nice.
It looks shitty.
I don’t say that, though. Instead, I open the pickup truck door and climb out. Walking over to the passenger side, I open the door for Zadie, then hold out my hand for hers. She turns around to place the almost two dozen treats on the back seat, then she shifts to face me and throws her legs over the side of the seat before she slips her hand in mine.
