Can't Fight It - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,7
I’ll give you some money in a bit,” Colton says, setting the empty bottle aside and moving his son to his shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it. I got ya covered. Consider it a housewarming gift. For both of you,” Chase says, giving me a warm smile. It’s actually a quite nice smile. Sexy, even. I imagine that smile gets him out of any trouble he may find himself in, especially with his wife.
She enters the kitchen. “Food. I smell food,” she says as she lifts the first pizza box lid and inhales the cheesy goodness. “Oh my God, that smells so freaking good.” Then, she pulls a slice of mushroom pizza out of the box and shovels a third of it into her mouth. “Mmmgrrrmm,” she mumbles while chewing.
“What’s that, baby? I couldn’t hear you over your pizza inhalation. Did you even taste that?” Chase teases, coming over and placing his big hand on her small belly.
“Fuck off, Callahan. Baby needs pizza,” she says, drawing out that last word, before taking another massive bite.
“Come on, Hollis, let’s get you a slice or two of pizza before the pregnant lady eats it all,” Colton says, humor in every word.
“Watch it, older Callahan. Be nice, or I’ll eat you,” Gabby chastises, finishing off her first piece.
Colton grabs me a paper plate and waves me on, all while extracting a loud burp from his son. “That’s my boy,” Chase says proudly, then seems to stop. Something passes between the brothers that I can’t decipher, but the moment passes quickly. Chase grabs a plate of pizza and goes to sit next to his wife on the couch.
I follow and take the floor, trying to stay off to the side and out of the way. Not that I’m really in the way, but you know what I mean. I’m the outcast here, the outsider who doesn’t know any of the people in her company. A few minutes later, Colton comes into the living room and lays Milo down on a blanket he stretched out in the middle of the floor. The little guy starts kicking and waving his arms, wiggling from side to side and kicking his leg to the side.
“You know, it won’t be long until he’s rolling over,” Gabby says between bites.
Colton, who returned to the kitchen to grab a plate of food, says, “Hard to believe we’re already approaching that milestone. Seems like just yesterday he was getting up every two hours and making sure I never had a moment’s alone time to shower.”
Chase snorts. “No shit. He was damn good at pulling the ‘scream until you picked him up’ card.”
“It’s better now though, right?” Gabby asks.
“Much better. He’s getting up once, maybe twice a night now. And he loves that stupid singing bear, so as long as my shower is under ten minutes, I can usually get it done before the bear shuts off and he vocalizes his disappointment,” Colton says, taking a seat on the floor beside his son.
Nibbling on my slice of pizza, I have to concentrate on not inhaling my food. It’s been a long day on the road, and since I spent a big part of my travel money on gas, I kept my food to a bare minimum. I have the basic furniture to get yet, and with paying first and last month’s rent and only two jobs on the horizon, I need to make sure I stick to my budget.
“So, Hollis, what do you do?” Gabby asks, starting on her second piece.
I glance up and find three sets of eyes on me. I shift in my place on the floor, hating having all the attention on me. “Umm, I design websites mostly, but also some graphic design like logos and business graphics.”
“Oh, cool,” she says, leaning forward. “Websites, huh? Interesting…”
Chase looks at his wife and smiles. “I already know what you’re thinking.”
“Didn’t I just tell Harrison he needed an updated website?” She turns back my way and says, “The one we have now is not user-friendly. I’d really like to have a page we can keep updated with our calendar. We’ve been adding all sorts of special classes, and it would be nice to have them all displayed in one place. You know?”
“Absolutely. A good website can be a very effective marketing tool. If you constantly keep it updated, you will train your customers to look there for information.”
Gabby’s already nodding. “Totally. And you do logo design? We have four locations now, and I’d love to