Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,59
center console, the screen lighting up.
JJ looked over at it at the same time he did, but she quickly looked away. Baz tapped the button to send the call to voicemail.
“You’re not gonna talk to her?”
“Not right now.”
JJ was silent for a minute, maybe two, but then the questions began.
“She doin’ all right after the storm?”
“Seems to be.”
Truth was, Baz hadn’t gone to see Molly in a couple of weeks. He didn’t care to see her, didn’t want to spend time with her. The only reason he was doing it at all was the fact that Molly was pregnant. And according to her, the baby was his.
In fact, she was exactly seven weeks pregnant, a fact he knew because Molly had sent him a meme noting it. Every week she sent them with hearts and flowers and Molly + Sebastian = baby as the heading.
The only problem he had was that she wasn’t interested in proving it with hard facts. And since he felt like a shithead for even insinuating she might be lying, Baz had decided to embrace it. No, he didn’t want a life with Molly, but he had every intention of taking care of his child. He had even told Molly he would share the news with his parents after the first trimester.
“I’m gonna start lookin’ for a place soon,” JJ said as he was pulling his truck into the parking lot of the diner.
It was the same thing she said every couple of days, as though she thought he needed to hear it. Usually Baz would nod and offer to help if she wanted him to. This time, he decided to go with the truth.
“I really wish you wouldn’t,” he told her, focusing on the parking lot. “I like havin’ you around.”
And yes, he said it because he knew JJ needed to hear it.
Plus … well, it was the truth.
*
Of all the things they could’ve talked about, JJ hated talking about Baz’s relationship with Molly, but she didn’t know what else there was. It was different when they were at work or out and about. When they were at the apartment, they could talk about television shows and movies they liked or hated. They could have lengthy debates over them, even.
Sometimes JJ would get so caught up in the moment, it was as though they were still a couple, still enjoying the getting-to-know-you phase of their relationship. Only that damn phone would ring and Molly’s name would appear and JJ would be reminded all over again that they weren’t. Never would be.
Once they were seated at a table and had ordered drinks, JJ pretended to mull over the menu while giving Baz ample time to do the same. When the waitress returned, she rattled off her choice, then listened as Baz once again ordered a double bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries. That was his go-to meal and he ordered it every time, without fail.
“I’m gonna get you to try somethin’ else one of these days,” she promised, hoping to get his mind off the phone call he had avoided a few minutes ago.
“Not if it has liver in the name, you’re not.”
She smiled, took a sip of her tea. “How’s your dad doin’? I heard you talkin’ to him earlier? They make it through the storm okay?”
“They did. Weathered it in Cancun, actually.”
“Cancun?” JJ’s eyes widened. “Well. How about that?”
She recalled the days of no water and wondering when the electricity would go back off after coming on for a couple of hours at a time. She’d gotten pretty good at predicting it, her electronics plugged in and ready for when it did. The worst part for her had been the spotty cell service since she’d been utilizing her phone’s hot spot to continue researching while she toughed it out.
“They travel a lot,” Baz said. “A trip every few months. He says it keeps them young.”
It kept them something, JJ figured.
“And your mom? You talk to her?”
“Every day through the storm. She’s good. Had to work from home, which damn near killed her.”
JJ watched his eyes light up when he talked about his mother. She envied the relationship Baz had with his parents. It was a far cry from the one she had with her own. Hell, she’d texted them during the storm but hadn’t gotten a message back for a couple of days. From either. Which was saying something considering they hated one another as much as they hated her.