Page 73 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

“Did you get ahold of Elle?” Butch says as he hands me a bottle of water.

“Yeah. Thanks for letting me use your phone.”

“I can take you to get a new phone tomorrow.” He crawls back into bed and strokes my face. “You okay? You seem nervous or something.”

“I’m fine,” I say, stretching up to kiss him. “Just dehydrated.”

“Drink up. I brought enough water to get your body weight back to where it should be.”

“Thank you. I kind of like being taken care of like this.” I take a long drink and then lay my head on his shoulder. “But don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to be kicked out of the independent woman club or anything.”

“It’s our secret.” He kisses my forehead. “I like taking care of people, but I wasn’t sure if you were ever going to let me, especially after that first day on the trail.”

“I’m not opposed to it,” I say slowly as Mateo shoots through my mind. “I’m just not used to it.”

“Get used to it.” He takes my empty water bottle and gives me another one.

“Who’s the kid on the lock screen of your phone? I thought you said you didn’t have any.”

He laughs. “I wouldn’t lie to you about having a kid. That’s Mo. He’s Millie and Mason’s son.”

“He’s darling.”

“Yeah.” He grabs his phone and looks at Mo’s picture. “He’s a good one.”

“So two marriages, no kids.” I burrow into his shoulder. “Why haven’t you had any before this?”

“It just never happened. Thankfully, I guess, since neither of those marriages worked,” he says. “You dodged my question the other day. Do you want kids someday?”

“Yeah, I definitely want kids. I’m ready any time.” I sit up. “I mean, not like today. I—”

“Kit,” he says, smiling as he pulls me back down onto his chest. “It doesn’t freak me out. I’m ready any time, too.”

“Okay. It’s just when we were little, Elle and I always talked about living next door to each other so our kids would be best friends like we are. I know she’s going to get pregnant right after she gets married.”

“Well at least you’re getting closer to that, right?”

“Excuse me?” I say, looking up at him.

“The living close part,” he says, tapping my nose. “Not the baby part. You said Elle lives in L.A.”

“She lives part time there, part time here. We decided that I’m going to live with her in L.A. until she graduates from law school, then who knows? I think she and Nash want to live in Blitzen.”

“Maybe then you can move to San Diego to be closer to me.”

“Maybe,” I say. “Hey. I’ve been thinking. As part of the courting thing, can we take a real hike sometime? I feel like you haven’t seen my true athleticism.”

“What are your talking about?” he says, rubbing his hand over my stomach. “Are you already forgetting the last hour we spent together? Not to mention your amazing water-treading skills.”

“Stop,” I say as I finish off my second bottle of water. “I’m serious. I want to go real hiking with you sometime.”

“Sure,” he says, hugging me tighter. “I love hiking. We can go anytime you want, but for now, maybe you can show me more of your athleticism in this area. I think you could probably win some awards here, too.”

* * *

After a full night of having nightmares about Mateo walking into the room while Butch and I were having sex, I jolt awake to a knock on my door. I reach over to wake up Butch, but he’s not there.

I hear the knock again. I pull the comforter around my chin as I start hyperventilating. Another knock. I look under the blankets to see if somehow Butch’s enormous body is hiding under there. It’s not.

The knocking gets louder. I jump up and check the bathroom. Butch isn’t there either. I tiptoe to the door and look through the peep hole—fully expecting Mateo to be standing in the hallway. I don’t see anyone.

“I can see movement under the door. Open it or I’m going to break it down.”

I peep through the hole again. Butch is leaning against the wall, holding up a pair of boots.

* * *

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