Page 7 of Waiting for Her

That stern tone is doing something amazing to my body while my mind tries to think of algebraic equations to stop the images of him doing something very different in that position from filtering through my head.

“What food made your stomach growl?” he asks again.

This time I close my eyes, hating that I’m so insecure about something that is supposed to be natural.

“Grilled cheese,” I whisper, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Well then, grilled cheese you shall have.”

I tilt my head to the side, peering over at the clock on the wall, and see that it’s barely after ten in the morning. I tell him this but he just smiles and continues to get the ingredients ready.

“As far as I know, there isn’t a rule on when you can have grilled cheese. Technically it is just cheese on toast,” he says with a smile, my shoulders instantly relaxing, the tension leaving my body as Max comes back and crouches in front of me. The second his fingers grasp my knee, the warmth of his touch sends a whole new wave of tension through me.

“Why are you doing this?” Not able to keep the question in any longer and when he says nothing, his eyes confused, I take a breath and explain myself. “What I mean is, why are you all of a sudden so attentive?”

I expect him to get up and walk back toward the fridge. What I don’t expect is for him to tilt my chin up so that our eyes are level, his thumb grazing the side of my jaw, causing goose bumps to appear over every inch of exposed skin.

“Addison, all I want is to make sure that you and this little bean”—he places his hand on my stomach—“are okay. And if that means picking up food and cleaning a bit, then so be it.”

“Is that all this is?” I ask before I think better of it, and when his eyes widen, I want to take it back immediately.

Then he smiles, his hand cupping the side of my face as I take a much-needed deep breath. “For now, it’s enough.”

With that, he gets up and goes back to making me a grilled cheese and I sit there slack-jawed at the fact that he just said that and walked away as if it was nothing.

“That’s it?”

He peers over his shoulder, smiling before nodding his head and taking out an apron.

“You can’t say something like that and then just walk away. We need to talk about this.”

He just shakes his head, turning on the burner.

“Addi, I know we need to talk. But right now I’m more concerned with getting you and the bean some food.”

I open my mouth to argue but he holds up his hand.

“I promise we will talk, but not right now.”

I huff, crossing my arms over my chest and resting them on my belly, smiling as my nugget moves around. The first time the sensation hit that the baby was moving I was alone, sitting in front of the television watching a hockey game and I knew at that moment as I peered over at the empty space beside me that I would most likely have to do all the milestones alone. I cried myself to sleep that night.

“You know, you’re really annoying.”

Max laughs, his smile reaching his eyes as I sit there wondering what life would have looked like if this was my reality. Max and I raising a child together, married and happy. But the fear of losing that possibility makes me shake those thoughts out of my head.

“Now let’s circle back to what you expertly avoided talking about earlier,” Max mutters while he plates the grilled cheese and my mouth waters the second he places it in front of me.

When our eyes lock and he sits down next to me, I know I can’t avoid this conversation forever.

“What do you want to know?” I say before taking a huge bite and moaning the second the melted cheese hits my tongue. I haven’t had exactly what I’ve been craving when I’ve craved it in months, and the feeling is almost euphoric.

“For starters, I want to know why you said you’ve been doing this alone for months when you just told me that Brendan broke up with you.”

I take a breath, setting my sandwich down on my plate. But before I can say a word, Max shakes his head and motions for me to continue eating.

“I am not telling you this with a mouthful of food,” I joke, but he raises a brow and I reluctantly take another bite just to satisfy him. “Fine, but I warn you this isn’t a nice story and I need you to promise me you will not go after him.”

He says nothing and I give him a stern look, needing his word.

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