are we supposed to stand on the sidewalk all damn day?” Fish asks his friend, as he walks right by me and up the stairs. He brushes his shoulder against Mack’s, which makes him shake his head and grin, before continuing through the open front door.
When we’re the only two left outside, I finally find my voice. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he parrots. He stands up tall and takes a step back. “Come on in.”
My legs feel heavy as I walk up the steps. When I’m a mere foot away, his scent hits me, strong and familiar. It reminds me of our date nights, when he was freshly showered and in clean clothes, but the more I notice his appearance, he looks a little frazzled too. His black shirt is wrinkled and his hair, which is longer than before, is wild and uncombed. The exhaustion surrounding his eyes is more pronounced now, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s slept.
Something hits me as I gaze at his unkempt appearance.
Is he sick?
Is that why he’s brought me here? He needs help because he’s ill and has no one else in his corner?
His eyes land on mine, and they seem to smile back at me. “You look good, Lean.”
There it is. The old nickname. The one he used when we were alone, and usually intimate. Way back when, I thought there was nothing better than to hear him call me Lean in the quiet of my apartment, when we were tangled in the sheets. Apparently, I was wrong. Hearing him say it now, after three long years, holds just as much of a punch as it did then.
“You too,” I tell him, rocking on my feet. I wish I knew what to do, but I doubt there’s a ‘What to do when you see your ex after three years’ handbook.
Too bad there isn’t…
“Come on,” he says, as if snapping out of his own stroll down memory lane.
I follow behind and slip inside when he holds open the door. The house is nice. It’s cozy with a good-sized living room, open to a dining room and kitchen combo. I spot my suitcase sitting beside the staircase and turn to take in the view from the front room. I can see the front shrubs and trees, but not the street. Mack obviously has some decent privacy.
A noise catches my ear, and I turn to the kitchen area. Fish is there, heading my way, with something in his arms. The closer he gets, I realize what it is. It’s a baby. A tiny little human wrapped in a blue swaddle blanket. All I can do is stare as he approaches where Mack and I stand. “This one was getting fussy,” Fish says, rocking side to side like a pro.
I smile down at the baby, who’s suckling at his fist. “What a cutie pie. You didn’t mention you have a baby,” I tell the man who delivered me to my ex’s doorstep.
Fish just looks at me, and then to the side. I feel Mack’s presence and body heat as he steps right next to me and runs a finger along the baby’s little fist. My heart does this weird pitter-patter in my chest at the sweet gesture. Fish finally glances my way and says, “I don’t have a baby.”
It takes a few seconds for the light bulb to flip on. My heart is like an earthquake in my chest as I slowly turn to face Mack. His eyes are full of pain, worry, and plea. Plea for help, maybe? All I know is I wasn’t anywhere prepared for the words about to come from his mouth.
“I do.”
Chapter Two
Mack
God, she’s beautiful.
More beautiful than in my wildest dreams.
She’s real.
And standing right in front of me, her jaw practically unhinged as she gapes at me.
“What?” she asks, her wide eyes flying to the baby and back to me.
My baby.
I sigh. It seems I’ve been doing that a lot in the last eighteen hours. “Turns out, I apparently have a baby.” I look over at Fish, who’s holding my son. Blood test will be able to confirm it shortly. At least that’s what the social worker said.
Lena looks from me to the baby again, and I hate how my heart kicks up a few thousand beats per second when I see the look on her face. It softens as she gazes at the child, a far-off look of longing. But as quickly as that look appears, she pushes it aside. “Is this…”