I set the bags on the counter and chuckled. “Only one way to find out.” I pulled out two bags of potato chips, a jar of pickles, cookie dough, two pints of ice cream, sprinkles, ice cream cones, marshmallow fluff, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, soft pretzels, cheese sauce, and salsa.
“What in the ever-loving…” Delaney moved to stand next to me and looked down at my bounty from the store. “This is the most random shopping I have ever seen,” she laughed.
“I wasn’t sure what you like.” I had intended just to get ice cream, but then I thought about sundaes. Once I grabbed everything for the sundaes, I was by the chip aisle and then things had just started to drop into my basket. I desperately wanted to impress Delaney, and I might have completely blew it with my ridiculous shopping spree.
She grabbed the two containers and smiled. “I heartily approve of everything you bought. I was running dangerously low on fluff so you’ve prevented me from having to go to the store tomorrow.” She smiled wide, and I took a mental picture of her.
Delaney wasn’t hot.
She was fucking gorgeous.
Every other girl I had been with didn’t hold a candle to her.
Her long, reddish-brown hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head with tiny wisps framing her angelic face. Her lips were perfectly shaped, begging for me to kiss them, and her eyes were an intoxicating shade of blue. I could stare into them for hours and never get bored. “Even the salsa? That was a last minute impulse buy.”
She grabbed the jar of salsa. “This is a bit out there, but I’m sure it will go good with the pretzels.”
“That was my thought process.”
She looked over at the pizza on the island. “Uh, why don’t you open that, and I’ll get all of this put away.”
“Don’t put away the toppings. We’ll need those for after dinner.”
She nodded. “Will do.”
I flipped open the box and looked back at Delaney, who was holding out two paper plates.
“Did you bring anything to drink or did you get distracted by buying the whole store?”
“Shit.” I grabbed the plates and set them next to the pizza. “I left them in the car. I’ll be right back.”
I jogged back to the car and grabbed the bottle from the backseat.
Delaney had everything put away and was sitting down at the island when I walked back in.
“Wine?” she asked.
“No. Well, yes, but it’s sparkling non-alcoholic cider.” I peeled off the foil wrapper and twisted off the cap. “Glasses?” I asked.
She nodded toward the cabinet behind me. “Top shelf. Mom keeps them up there.”
I reached up in the cabinet. “Mom?” This was the perfect opportunity to find out more about Delaney.
“Uh, yeah. I still live with my mom. With med school and having a job, it’s easier right now to just stay at home.”
“Makes sense.” I pulled down two glasses and set them next to the pizza. “I lived with my sister and her husband while I went through trade school. That’s where Frankie and I met Remy.”
“Those are your friends?” If I acted like I knew who he was talking about, he would figure out just who I was.
“Yeah. Frankie, the girl you met at the party when I passed out, we met in high school. Remy was from up north and was in the same program for engine building in college. We all became pretty close quickly.” I poured the sparkling cider into each of our glasses then sat down in the other stool under the island.
“So you have a sister?” she asked.
I grabbed a slice of pizza and set it on her plate. “Yeah. Leelee. She basically saved me from being a hoodlum.”
She quirked her eyebrow. “Instead, you’re a player on a drag racing team.”
“Did I tell you what I did for a living when we met?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah. You mentioned it in passing.”
That could have been. I did know telling chicks I worked on a race car totally worked in my favor. “What about you? You got a brother or sister?”
She nodded. “Yup. Three brothers.”
I whistled low. “Damn. I don’t think I could have two more siblings than Leelee.”
She shrugged. “It was definitely interesting growing up.”
“They all doctors like you?” I grabbed a slice of pizza for myself and folded it in half.
“I’m not a doctor yet,” she corrected. “I have about four years before that happens. And yes, one is a doctor. The other two are lifers in the Army.”
“So, in other words, your brothers aren’t anyone to mess with?” I chuckled. If two of them were lifers in the Army, then I knew they were badasses.
“As long as you don’t mess with me, then you don’t have anything to worry about. That’s what they always told my friends growing up.”
“And also a warning to me right now.” I cleared my throat. “Although, they might not be too fond of me for getting you pregnant.”
She shrugged and took a bite of pizza. “They all live on the west coast. I wouldn’t worry about them too much. My mom is the one you should worry about.”
My mouth went dry, and I looked around the kitchen. “Uh, didn’t you say this was your mom’s house?” Hell, I didn’t need to be sitting in her mom’s kitchen, eating pizza, waiting for her to come home to kick my ass.
She laughed and nodded. “It is, but she’s gone for three weeks for work. And she doesn’t know about the baby yet. I’ve only told you and a close friend.”
“Really?” I was surprised she hadn’t told more. “Everyone at work knows. Not because I told them, but because Frankie opened her mouth.”
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.” Everyone would find out eventually.
“So have you always wanted to be a doctor?” I was determined to find out more about Delaney. The little I knew about her, I liked already.
“Yeah. Well, at first, I wanted to be a vet, but then my dad was sick and I saw how well the doctors took care of him.”
“Sick?”
She nodded and reached for a napkin. “Yeah. He had lung cancer. He passed away six years ago.”
“I’m sorry, ba…” I cleared my throat. “Delaney. I’m sorry, Delaney.”
She shook her head. “You need to come up with a new endearment, Jay. Babe doesn’t do it for me.”
“I’ve noticed,” I mumbled.
“So anyway, my dad was sick and the two doctors who took care of him were amazing. They were knowledgeable, kind, and sympathetic.”
“So you decided you wanted to be like them.”
“Well, yeah, though I seem to be a bit straightforward sometimes. I’ve always believed it was best to just rip the band-aid off instead of slowly and gently taking it off. I act the same way when talking to patients. Mave gave me such hell about it when I was on rotation with her.”
“Mave is?” She hadn’t said her mother’s name, and I thought maybe she was talking about her.
“One of the doctors at Southern State. She’s the other one who knows about the baby.” She took two massive bites of her pizza and sighed. “This is the best pizza ever.”