Page 79 of Loving Whiskey

Chapter 38

Grace

Tessaarriveswithahandful of shopping bags and a smile. “Okay, I brought options and refreshments.”

I glance toward the bag with a critical eye. “You do realize I’m pregnant and can’t partake in tequila days to get ready for my date/non-date with my baby daddy?”

Tessa laughs as she bops my nose. “God, you’re cute.” She then barrels past me and starts emptying the contents of the grocery bag.

Ice cream shakes and to-go boxes litter the counter. God bless that woman.

“Are those burgers?” I ask as I make my way toward the delicious smelling food.

Tessa smiles. “Yup! Burgers, fries, and shakes at your service. If you can’t have tequila…” she drifts off, pointing toward the food.

I grab one of the shakes and take a greedy sip.

Coffee ice cream.

Oh my God, why hadn’t I thought of this before? Does this solve my conundrum of missing the taste of coffee but not having the actual caffeine? I’m too afraid to ask if there is caffeine in this shake. I don’t want to know the answer because I’m not putting it down. And God bless anyone who would try to take it right now, since I’d probably bite their hand off.

“Why are you so good to me?” I ask through sips as she brings my burger and fries to the table along with her own.

Tessa frowns. “I’m pretty sure I owe you more than burgers and fries, my girl.”

I glare at her over a bite of fry.

Why are salty fries and milkshakes the best damn thing to ever happen? Who needs ketchup?

“You don’t owe me anything. I’ve told you a bajillion times I don’t blame you for what happened.”

She shrugs. “Well, I blame me. And so does Carter.” She looks down at her burger, and I realize she hasn’t even taken a bite.

I begrudgingly put down my shake and fries and focus on my friend. “So, you’ve spoken to him?”

She nods. “A few times. I feel so damn bad about what happened, and even though he understands…he can’t get past it.”

I watch my friend who is always so cheerful and sarcastic morph into someone unrecognizable. A tear rolls down her cheek and she swipes at it quickly, as if she can somehow hide the emotions that are written all over her face. I reach out my hand to hers and squeeze. “Give him some time. He has a lot on his plate.”

She nods and scrunches her nose. “That’s just it. He needs someone serious, and we both know that’s not me. I was a fling. A fun time. He’s trying to find hischild. He’s adad.” She meets my eyes as if I can’t possibly fathom the seriousness of this allegation.

My eyes immediately dip to my stomach, and she gulps down a nervous laugh. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she adds quickly.

I smile and squeeze her hand again. “But it’s not whatyouwant.”

She shakes her head sadly. “No. Not with him, at least. I mean maybe one day I’ll want kids and I know I’ll love the shit out of yours, but I’m not stepmom material right now. Hell, I clearly don’t know how to keep secrets, and I feel like that’s a prerequisite to being a mom.”

I roll my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the freaking Easter bunny…moms have to keep all these magical secrets…it’s like in the rule book or something.”

A laugh rolls out of my throat, and I nearly start crying. “You are so absurd. You do realize that, right?”

She gives me one of her saucy smiles. There’s my bestie. With a loud sigh, she finally turns her eyes to her food.

“So, I have some news,” she says between bites.

I raise my eyes.

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