Vegging out in front of the TV was the only thing I planned.
I pointed the remote at the TV and flipped through the channels ‘til I landed on reruns of Full House.
I inhaled the plate of crackers, and my stomach growled for more food. “Are you kidding me?” I said to my belly. “How can you still be hungry, kid?” I laughed.
My phone rang in the kitchen, and I jumped up to answer it.
It was Jay.
Hell. I had been short with him yesterday because I was trying to work and not get fired. Also because that was just how I was when I texted.
“Uh, hello?”
“Delaney?”
I closed my eyes and tried not to like my name coming from his lips. “That’s me.”
“You busy?” he asked.
“Uh, just grabbing a snack and watching TV.” It was a second snack, but he didn’t need to know that. My eating habits were rather large and not anything I liked to share.
“Oh, I was calling to see if maybe you wanted to grab something to eat.”
My jaw dropped, and I tried to find something to say. Why on earth did Jay want to go out to eat with me? “Uh, well, I just had some crackers.”
“Good,” he laughed. “Then I can have the appetizer all to myself.”
“What?” That wasn’t what I meant at all. “I mean, I ate. I’m good.” I did not need a pity date from Jay Perez just because he knocked me up.
“You ate crackers, and now you’re good. For the rest of the night? ‘Til you wake up in the morning.”
“Well, no. I mean, I can just eat at home. I don’t need to go out.”
“Then I’ll bring dinner to you if you don’t want to go out. Pizza or Chinese.”
My stomach growled at the mention of pizza. A huge cheesy slice with pepperoni and onions sounded magical right now. “You’re coming over?”
“Yeah. Just as soon as you tell me what you are craving and where you live.”
I looked around the kitchen and sighed. I lived with my mom.
I did not want Jay coming over.
“Uh, you know what? I guess I’m not hungry. No need for you to come over.”
“Delaney,” he drawled. “You need to eat.”
I rolled my eyes and set my paper plate on the counter. “Trust me, Jay. I’m eating.” Way more than I probably should be.
“I’m coming over.”
“You don’t even know where I live, Jay. Have fun figuring that out.”
“I’ll just drive up and down every street knocking on everyone's door until you come out.”
I laughed. “How do you even know what town I live in?” For all he knew, I could be from a few towns over. We really knew nothing about each other.
“You live in Leeds Square. It really won’t take me long to figure out where you live. I’ll just ask around where the hot med student lives.”
“You really don’t need to lay on the charm, Jay.”
“I think you’re talking about my personality, Delaney. That was my personality you told me to lay off on.”
I scoffed. “Well, your personality is much too charming. Knock it off.”
“Tell me where you live, and I promise I’ll try to reel it in.”
“If you come, you need to bring pizza with extra cheese, pepperoni, and onions. Heavy on the sauce.” My stomach growled again. Yeah, I was going to annihilate that pizza if he came over.
“Just give me your address, babe, and I’ll be right over.”
“Don’t call me that,” I blurted. It didn’t feel right for him to call me that. I felt that was what he called any woman he came into contact with.
I didn’t want to be lumped together with all of the other women he had been with.
“What did I call you?”
Jesus. He was so used to calling any woman he met babe that he didn’t even know he was doing it. “Babe. Please don’t call me babe.” I rattled off my address before he could say another word then ended the call.
He started speaking right when I hit the end call button.
I tossed the phone down and braced my arms on the counter. My eyes focused on the tiny bump slightly bulging against my shirt. “I think you just made me look totally hormonal, bump.”
Yeah, that was completely hormonal. That was the only thing that could explain the slight sting of jealousy I had felt when I thought of Jay with other women.
We weren’t even together. Why in the hell would I be jealous of the women he was with? He was totally single, and I was just his baby mama.
“That’s all it is, bump. He’s your dad, and there isn’t anything else there. That’s all it is,” I repeated.
Maybe if I kept telling myself that, I would actually start feeling that way.
I did know if he called me babe to my face, I was likely to punch him in the nuts and totally blame it on my hormones.
*
Jay
I balanced the pizza box in my hand and raised my other hand to knock on the door.
Before I picked up the pizza, I stopped at the store to get some drinks and anything else a pregnant woman might like.
Delaney swung open the door, and my eyes instantly went to her stomach. I couldn’t help it. My mind was completely fascinated by the fact that she was carrying something I had helped to create.
“My eyes are up here.”
My eyes shot up to her face, and thankfully, she was smiling. “Sorry, ba…” The word died in my throat, and I held out the pizza. “Sorry, Delaney. I have to run to the car to get the rest of the stuff. Can you take this or show me where to put it?” The fact she had hung up on me after telling me her address told me she really didn't want me calling her babe. The endearment fell out of my mouth so easily that I knew I was going to have to watch myself.
“I thought you were just bringing pizza?” She grabbed the box from me and looked past me toward my car.
“I picked up a couple of extra things. Give me two seconds.” I jogged back to my car and grabbed the four bags off the floorboard.
“Did you go grocery shopping?” she called.
I pushed the door shut with my foot and walked back to the house. “Stopped for a few things.”
She stood off to the side and held the door open for me to walk in. “That looks like more than a few,” she mumbled as I brushed past her.
“Which way to the kitchen?” I asked.
She shut the door and walked around me. “This way.”
I would be lying if I said I didn’t check out her ass as she walked in front of me. Delaney was most definitely my type of woman. The soft yoga pants she was wearing hugged her hips and ass while the fabric flowed down her legs. Her shirt looked soft, and my hand itched to caress the slight bulge I saw when she had stepped back from me before.
“You really only needed to bring the pizza.”
I blinked twice and dragged my eyes off her ass. We were standing in the kitchen, and she was setting the pizza on the kitchen island. “I know. That’s all I planned on bringing, but then I stopped for drinks, which led to me thinking we need dessert,” I held up the bags, “and then before I knew it, my basket was overflowing.”
She turned to look at me and laughed. “I can only imagine what you have in there.”