Page 73 of Bad Pucking Roommate

“Thanks for coming,” he says. “Jessie’s in the living room.”

Justus and Charlie trail behind me as I lead us through the house I know almost as well as my own. When I pass by Jessie’s chair I give her a contrite kiss on the forehead, then motion for Justus to sit next to me on the couch. He leaves only a few inches of space between us, which is exactly what I need at this moment. Enough space to reassure me I can handle whatever my friends have to say but close enough to rely on if I need him.

Propping a hip on the arm of the chair Jessie’s in, Charlie reaches down to take her hand in his. “As you know, we’re expecting,” he looks at his wife lovingly, “and before the baby arrives, we want to get some of our affairs in order.”

“Oh, God,” I groan. “Is there something wrong? Is this a high-risk pregnancy? Do you need me to find you a specialist or something? Doesn’t matter where they’re located, I will get you the best care possible.”

Jessie snorts. “Told you.” She smirks at her husband.

“Told him, what?”

“That you’d never guess what we wanted to ask you.” She turns her coy smirk toward me, which only makes me freak out a little more.

“We’d like you to be his or her godfather. And legal guardian, if something happens to us,” Charlie says.

My gaze swivels between the two of them as the punchline flies over my head. “You want me to do what?”

“You heard me.” His grin matches his wife’s.

I rub a finger in my ear to drown out the sound of my heartbeat, which is suddenly erratic. “Let’s assume I didn’t hear you correctly.”

“We want you to be our child’s godfather.” Jessie practically bounces in the chair.

Guess I did hear them correctly.

“I’m…honored, but why me? Especially after tonight.” I send an awkward glance toward Justus, looking for his take. The affection on his face sends my heart into a fresh round of palpitations.I’ll be damned. He really does look at me like I hung the moon.

“You proved why just now,” Charlie says. “You’d move mountains to take care of us if we needed you to, and we know you’ll do the same for our child.”

“That’s… Wow, that’s… It’s not weird given our—history?”

“I told you before,” Charlie starts. “Our friendship may be unconventional, but we are friends. Hell, we’re probably more like family, at this point.”

Why does my face feel wet? Holy shit! Are those tears?

I rub my face with the back of my wrist. “Yeah. Um, yeah.” I blink myself back under control. “I’d love to.”

“Great!” Jessie squeezes Charlie’s hand and leans into his side like she’s giving him a hug without arms. “Okay, we’ve filled you in on our news, your turn.”

“What do you mean?”

She lifts brows with a heavy sigh. “Do you see any blonde hair on this head?”

“No.”

“Then let’s assume I’m not easily distracted. Or fooled. Spill.” She looks at me pointedly.

Here goes nothing.“I’m…with someone.”

“Shocker.” Charlie mocks my lame attempt at opening up.

Ignoring his sarcasm, I continue. “It’s serious.”

“I’d say so since you were ready to attack me for talking to him.”

“I… What’d you say?”

“Did you think I didn’t notice?”

---