The Baby Blitz (Varsity Dads #3)(35)
Author: Lex Martin

 

“Sounds good.” I hurry down the stairs and bury myself in the fridge, where I take a second to cool off. This pregnancy thing has me freezing one minute and burning up the next. Living with Magic Mike doesn’t help.

 

He comes down a few minutes later wearing a snug t-shirt and worn but well-fitting jeans. I’m not sure when Olly turned into my very own brand of catnip, but he’s never looked more handsome. He’s somehow even hotter now than in the tux he wore for his sister’s wedding.

 

Pretty sure “taking things slow” doesn’t mean mauling him until he cries out for mercy.

 

I make some fully loaded coffee because I know that’s what he likes, and I microwave a cup of water for some herbal tea.

 

Underneath the maelstrom of emotions I’ve been wrestling with since Olly moved in, I feel bad for stomping off last week when he got on my case about what I’ve been eating. Once I cooled off, I could see where he’s coming from. I hate that he brings out the worst in me. I turn into a sniping child with him, and that’s not how I want to be as a human, much less as a parent. That’s not how my mom and dad were with each other.

 

Not for the first time, I worry about my mom’s reaction. She always wanted me to get my career in order before I settled down in any kind of relationship. I can’t help but wonder if she’ll be disappointed by this pregnancy.

 

“Did you sleep well?” he asks as he whips some eggs into submission before pouring them into a pan with browned butter. It smells delicious.

 

I haven’t gotten around to restoring the kitchen yet. It has an ancient oven, a thirty-dollar microwave I bought at a yard sale, and an old farmhouse table. It needs a complete overhaul, but I can’t afford it yet. I spent all of my money on the casita so I could get some rental income, which I then use to pay the bills.

 

“I did, yeah. Listen, I have a little surprise for you. Can I kick you out of the house for a bit this afternoon?” I want to do something to thank him for his encouragement. For the last two weeks, he’s filled the fridge with fresh veggies and fruit. He bought me an assortment of crackers, so I don’t have to eat the stale ones in my cabinet. He found this holistic recipe for morning sickness and bought all the ingredients and makes it for me when I don’t feel well, which is often.

 

We also talked about the most pressing repairs I need to finish on the house, and he had me write a list of things I want him to do. I guess having a partner isn’t so bad.

 

His bright eyes turn to me. “A surprise?”

 

I laugh at his expression. “Yes, so I need you to skedaddle.”

 

After breakfast, which I’m able to keep down, I haul out the mower, but before I can get it started, Olly takes it out of my hands. “I got this.”

 

“I just need the area around the casita cleared up. I have a new renter coming this evening.”

 

“Sure. No prob.”

 

At noon, though, he’s still at it. The backyard is huge and completely overgrown, but he’s made a sizable dent. I make a giant jug of lemonade and take a glass out to him. “Please stop. I feel bad that you’re working so hard.” This wasn’t on the to-do list I made for him.

 

“I don’t mind, but I need to shower again and head to campus. Will you be okay for a while?” He’s sweaty and hot, and I lean close and try to get a whiff.

 

“Totally fine.”

 

“Did you just sniff me?”

 

Busted. “Yup. I blame the aliens in my belly.”

 

He hooks an arm around my shoulders and nuzzles his sweaty face in my neck. I squeal and try to push him off, but he picks me up and hugs me to him. I almost moan with how good he feels. Solid and strong. Sturdy.

 

And sweet Mother Mary, he smells good.

 

My nipples are so hard, they nearly slice through my bra and t-shirt.

 

When he finally sets me down, we’re both breathing hard.

 

Why did I want to go slow? I wonder as I pant. I almost ask him if he’s as turned on as I am, but I bite my tongue.

 

Once he’s out of the house, I rub one out in the shower, which makes me so drowsy, I almost head back to bed, but I manage to make my appointment with Dottie in town.

 

“Thanks again for these invitations, Maggie. My daughter is going to love them!” She claps her hands excitedly.

 

“Happy to help.” Dottie waits tables at the Farmhouse, a restaurant downtown. I ran into her last week at the stationery shop, and she said she wanted some baby shower invitations and thank-you cards made. She couldn’t afford the prices the shop wanted, so we worked out a trade.

 

“Are you sure you won’t let me pay you? This doesn’t feel right.”

 

I motion toward the dusty pile of workout equipment in her back bedroom. “I’m sure all of that is worth more than the work I did for you.”

 

“When my son moved to Dallas two years ago, he said he’d take this with him. I’ve given him plenty of chances to get it.”

 

“He won’t be upset when he visits and finds it gone?”

 

“I told him what I was doing. He said it’s fine. His apartment has a lovely workout room.”

 

Like Olly’s old place, I think guiltily. Olly now has to hoof it to campus or meet up with the guys at the football house to get in his daily workouts. “Too bad you don’t have a treadmill you want to get rid of.”

 

Dottie pauses with her Diet Coke in the air. “But you know who does have one? Bob Pearson.”

 

That name sounds familiar. “The guy in overalls? Always walking around town with a goat?”

 

“You’ve met Elsie? He’s obsessed with that damn animal. He’d bring her into the restaurant if I let him. But yes, he has a treadmill he wants to get rid of. I’ll give you his address.”

 

“Could I just call him?”

 

“The old geezer doesn’t have a phone.”

 

That’s how I land weights and a treadmill for Olly all in the same day, but I have to find someone with a truck before I can pick up the treadmill because it’ll never fit in my Ford Focus.

 

Half of our friends just moved away, and the only person I can think of with a truck isn’t particularly fond of me.

 

This isn’t about you, Magnolia. This is about Olly. You can eat a little humble pie to do something nice for him.

 

After I load up the weights, talk to Mr. Pearson, pet his goat, and pull up to the Stallion Station, I’m exhausted. I never should’ve masturbated this morning. I feel like all of my energy deserted me through my clit.