Page 106 of Misconception (Unrequited 2)

“Come on, Mic. I want you with me.” I cupped her belly, leaning down to kiss it. “Want you with me too, baby girl.”

She heaved a sigh. “Then stay in here with me.” She crossed her ankles, drawing my attention to her bare legs. “I’m too comfortable to go back out there.”

The door swung open, and Yael strolled in. “What’s up, party people? Need I remind you, you’re the host, Moses? You can’t hole up back here all day.”

Squeezing Mic’s leg, I stood from the bed. “Gotta get back out there. Come with me, pretty.”

It took her a long time to answer, but she finally said to give her a minute and she’d be out. I left her in our bedroom, heading back to the kitchen for my beer.

“She okay?” Yael asked.

“Tired, but she’s fine.”

She slapped my arm with the back of her hand. “Should we clear out and let her rest?”

“Nah, it’s early. It’s not like we’re having a rager.”

Murray was still in the kitchen, and he’d been joined by Darcy, the friend of the chick who’d been unforgivably rude to Mic.

“Where have you been hiding?” Darcy asked.

I jerked my head toward my room. “Back there talking with my girl.”

She arched a perfectly manicured brow. “Still the same one?”

“Always gonna be the same one.” I propped my hip on the counter and stretched out my legs. Jimmy, a producer Unrequited worked with in the recording studio, was in the city for the first time in a while. He’d wanted to meet up at some bar, but I told him I’d do him one better and invite a few people over in his honor.

He leaned on the counter beside me, his own beer in his hand. “What’s up with you, man? I’ve been hearing rumors about you settling down.”

“In this case, the rumors are facts. Got my girl and got a baby on the way. Things are looking up.” Saying that out loud, that I had a girl, I really had her, filled my chest with stupid pride.

“A baby?” His breath whooshed. “Damn, man. When you settle, youreallysettle. Didn’t know you were into the whole family scene.”

“I didn’t know it either, to be honest.”

Murray held up his guitar. “You want to jam? Darcy’s asking for some music.”

“Sure. Let me go grab my guitar.”

My instruments were in the guestroom, which had now become Mic’s storage. At least twenty boxes were stacked up in there, and she hadn’t ventured once into this room since she’d moved in. Every time I saw those boxes, panic shot through my heart. It’d be too damn easy for her to walk. All she’d have to do is load them back on a truck and it’d be like she was never here.

Shaking off the negative thoughts before I got stuck in them, I went back into the living room with my guitar case in hand. Most of the party had migrated there, including Michaela. She sat in my orange chair, her feet propped on the coffee table. It took me a second to come to terms with the fact that she’d come out here without pants on and was lounging in front of everyone without a damn care in the world.

Eating the distance between us in long strides, I kneeled in front of her. “What are you doing?”

She blinked at me. “I came to the party.”

“Babe, think you forgot to put pants on.”

“No, I didn’t. I told you I was comfortable, you told me to come out here anyway. So, here I am. This is a compromise. You get your way, I get mine.”

“Mic.” I dropped my head to her belly. “I can’t have everyone seeing you like this.”

She pushed my head away. “Too late.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know what you’re going to do. But I’m going to sit right here in this big, comfy chair and listen to Murray play his guitar.” She placed an imperious hand on her bump and trained her eyes on my best friend.

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