Page 47 of Unexpected Kisses

Shit! Is this weird? Maybe it is, but I’d really like to meet his family, especially now he’s met mine.

Me:Okay. That sounds like a plan

AJ:Great. I’ll pick you up at 1:30

Me:See you then

“Here’s your order.” The waitress gains my attention.

“Thanks.” I clear my half of the table so she can place the items.

“Enjoy!” she says brightly, then spins on her heel and heads back to the counter.

I smile at her retreating back, then look at my friend. I feel bad I have to wake her, but she could probably do with this. She never gets a chance to eat properly when she’s working, not that this is proper food. I don’t know how she maintains her slim figure.

I reach across and gently push the mass of blonde curls away from her face. “Melly Belly. It’s time to wake up.”

She twitches her nose. “Just a little longer.”

“Your food is here,” I coax. Her head rises sleepily. “Oh my God, Mel. We could have caught up another time. Seriously, let’s have this and then you need to go home to bed.”

She flicks her wrist between us. “I’ll be good to go now. I’ve had a power nap.” She smirks as she drags her coffee and devil’s chocolate mud cake toward herself. “I only seem to see you when my shift aligns with your volunteer shift lately and I miss you. There’s no way I’m going to miss out!”

And that’s exactly why we’ve been friends for most of our life. We love each other and genuinely miss each other when we can’t catch up regularly. “I miss you, too.”

I drag my decadent triple chocolate flake cake toward myself and lean down to take a long whiff of the rich chocolate scent. This is always my favorite cake when we come here. It starts with stunning flakes of chocolate on top of a white chocolate layer of cake, the next layer is milk chocolate, then finally dark chocolate at the base, because you can never have enough chocolate. We each take a bite of our treats and moan at the same time.

“So good!” Mel says as her eyes roll back inside her head.

“I know, right? It’s been a long time since I indulged myself like this.”

Mel nods and we’re both silent except for the occasional moan as we dig in. The cake is so rich, that I have to slow down once I reach halfway, so I take a sip of my coffee. “Anything interesting happening in your life?”

She scoffs. “You’re joking, right? I feel like all I do is work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat!”

“You need to get a work-life balance before you burn out.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not sure how to achieve it, though.”

I slump my shoulders forward. “Yeah. I don’t know how you can either. What do the other nurses and doctors do?”

She shrugs. “We’re all in the same boat. Why do you think so many doctors end up hooking up with nurses.” She smirks. “They’re the only ones who understand the craziness that is our life.” We both take another bite of our food. Mel looks at me pointedly as she chews her food. Once she swallows the cake, she asks, “So how are things going with the baby daddy?”

I choke and half of my drink comes out of my nose. Grabbing the napkin quickly, I wipe my face. “Oh God, Mel. Don’t call him that.” I snicker.

She shrugs and leans forward. “Tell me you’ve at least screwed him. You’re not still using the collection condoms.”

I shake my head. “Sorry, I can’t tell you that.”

She groans, dropping her head back. “You know, this could be your last opportunity to have hot sex for a while. Once you’re a mom, you’ll be too busy to date. You should be using this as an excuse to be jumping that guy’s bones any chance you get.”

I huff out an extended breath. “Oh, Mel.” I sigh. “I already like him too much for that. I don’t know what I’m gonna do when this is all over and he doesn’t need to come over anymore. You know, he sends me a text every single day, without fail, to check on me.”

Her eyes go soft and dreamy and she reaches across the table to brush my bangs out of my face. “Oh, Sare. Maybe you could try with this guy.”

I take a moment to gaze around the coffee shop, giving myself time to collect my thoughts. “I’m too scared,” I whisper as I bring my eyes back to my long-time friend.

“Oh, Sare.”

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