“That’s what the signups say,” I admitted. “Though, they said they ‘highly discouraged’ same-day registration.”
“You’re the Kilgore SWAT team. I’m pretty sure all the excitement you will garner will totally cancel out the fact that they have to scramble to find a place for you in the event.” She sighed and turned her body so that she was facing the couch more than the television. Her phone fell between her and the cushion. “You’re so comfortable.”
I snorted. “Did you just call me fat?”
She pinched me on the side. “I didn’t and you know that I didn’t.”
I grinned and pulled her closer to me, inhaling deeply so I could get the scent of her in my lungs.
“Why do you always smell my hair?” she asked tiredly.
Her eyes were closed now and her nose and mouth were so close to my skin that I could feel each inhale and exhale against my arm.
“Because I like the way it smells,” I told her. “Today it smells differently, though.”
She laughed, the small puffs of breath against my skin making my amusement notch upward.
“I found a new smell at the store that I wanted to try. I don’t think that I’ll ever use it again, though. I liked the smell until I was smelling it all day long. Now it’s making me nauseous,” she admitted.
I frowned. “You’re nauseous?”
She pressed her lips against my skin in an absent kiss that made my heart disgustingly warm.
I liked this.
A lot.
“Only when I get a whiff of my hair,” she admitted. “Though, sometimes when I get a whiff of your deodorant, it does the same thing.”
I made a mental note to find a different smelling one at the store tomorrow when I went.
“But don’t change it,” she said as a yawned cracked her jaw. “I like the smell most of the time.”
I couldn’t keep the smirk off my lips.
“I’ll buy some new stuff. Then you can see if that’s better or worse,” I offered.
She sighed. “I think I’m fairly lucky, considering. Your mom said that she was nauseous twenty-four-seven when it came to Sierra. And my mom said that when she was pregnant with me that she had to take meds for her nausea. If she didn’t she had to go to the hospital because she was dehydrated because she couldn’t keep anything down.”
That would suck.
It was bad enough that she was nauseous some of the time.
According to Adam, Amelia was throwing up every single morning. I’d yet to see Hastings need to.
Thank. Fucking. God.
I would hate if she wasn’t feeling well because of me.
“I’m just going to take a nap right here,” she said.
“It’s ten o’clock in the morning,” I pointed out.
She smiled against my chest. “And?”
She had a point.
So, for the next couple of hours, we did nothing but lay around and be lazy.
Neither of us would realize how much this day would come to mean to us in the weeks to come.Chapter 21
You need to let that shit go.
-Hastings’ secret thoughts
Hastings
I was brushing my teeth and glancing at my text messages when I froze.
“Nooo,” I moaned, spitting the toothpaste out of my mouth and rinsing despite only having brushed the top half of my teeth. “Son of a fucking whore!”
“What’s wrong?” Sammy asked as he came in the room.
His eyes automatically went to my belly that was on display since I was standing there in a bra and panties.
I threw the toothbrush down onto the vanity and looked at him with horror.
“I was just contacted by the place that I use to publish my books through. Apparently, there’s something wrong with my book, and I need to upload a new file.” I nearly cried. “It’s showing up as a blank document.”
He frowned as he looked at his watch.
“You’ll have to hurry if you want to go with me,” he said.
I waved him away. “This is not going to be a quick or easy fix. Just go. Pew, pew, pew.”
“What about the photos that you wanted?”
I couldn’t even think.
“I…” I shook my head. “I’ll have to… fuck. I can’t even think right now. What a disaster! I have like two hours to get this uploaded before it’s locked completely and this version is released to the public.”
“I’ll call your mom,” he said. “She can take photos for you.”
I looked at him with a smile on my face, despite feeling like I was about to throw up.
“Thank you, Sammy.” I walked up to him and threw my arms around him before dropping a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”
Before he could reply or say a word, I rushed to my office to do damage control.
***
I smiled when I saw the familiar man at the door.
“Hey, Trist.” I grinned. “What are you doing here? Sammy isn’t here.”
Trist looked down at my belly and shook his head.
Trist I’d met the day before. We had a unit that was being built and he’d come to express the desire to rent it when it was done. When Sammy had come to the door, it was then I realized that Sammy had instructed him to come by and let me know his intentions.