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My mouth fell open and I stared at Andrew like he’d grown a second impressive penis. “What?”
“If you can wait a couple of minutes while I get dressed, I can watch him. You know me from back home. If you need, I’ll call my mom and she’ll back me up. I’m good with kids.”
The guy next to me, Jack, nodded. “I’ll help him. You’re getting a hell of a lot more common sense with the two of us than you would be getting with just Taylor watching the kid.”
I shook my head and gestured to Jesse. “I couldn’t do that. I don’t know two of you and I haven’t seen you, Andrew, in years. I…”
“Give us two minutes to get dressed.” Andrew flashed a kind smile that immediately made me feel slightly calmer. “Last time I moved towards you, you nearly cracked your head open. I need to get past you, though.”
Managing to blush even hotter, I jolted to life and grabbed Jesse. “I’m so sorry.”
“You’re not the one who should be sorry, Olive.” I’d stopped just inside the room full of lockers, horrified to see there were more naked men standing around. Andrew’s voice came from right next to me when he spoke again. “Lady in the house, guys!”
The quickness in which the men grabbed towels or shifted to hide their bodies from my view would’ve been funny if I hadn’t felt like a creep. I was pretty sure I’d seen the same scene in one of my cousin’s movies from the eighties, only the roles had been reversed. “Sorry!”
Jesse giggled. “It’s a ding dong store!”
3
***Olive***
“Yes,ma’am.Yes,of course. Yes, ma’am, I will.” I handed Andrew’s phone back to him after speaking to his mom, my cheeks redder than ever. “She said to give you a hug and a kiss from her.”
He grinned, fully clothed, and shoved his phone in his pocket. “Later. Do you trust me now? At least enough to watch Jesse?”
His mom, Melissa, had sworn up and down that Andrew was amazing with kids. She’d done a little more than hint that she was ready for him to start producing grandbabies for her. Andrew was my only hope of getting to my interview and starting my new life without catastrophe. I’d known him most of my life, but we’d never been close. He’d been best friends with Taylor when I dated Taylor, but I’d been fifteen to their seventeen at the time. He’d been too busy to do much more than nod his head at me back then.
“Caleb and I will help, too, like I said.” Jack was slightly less intimidating in clothing, but only slightly.
“Um, I can’t help with the kid.” Caleb, the one who’d been horrified about Jesse getting his eye poked out, held up his hands. “I’m good for just about anything else, though. Do you have a ride to this interview? I could drive you. Or I could do your homework, or something. I just can’t help with the kid.”
Jack and Andrew both shot him disbelieving expressions. Andrew shook his head, sending water droplets flying from his hair. “Ignore him. We don’t need him, anyway.”
Jesse, sensing weakness in the way that only kids could, inched closer to Caleb and just stared up at him. My son was never quiet, but as he watched Caleb, it was like he could tell he was weirding Caleb out.
“Whatcha doing?” Caleb took a slight step back. “You have your mother’s big eyes, kid, and you’re really using them right now.”
I pressed my lips together to hold in a laugh while tugging Jesse back to my side. “Are you guys sure? This isn’t a small favor. You’re saving me here.”
Andrew closed the distance between us and rested his hand on my shoulder. It made me feel tiny in comparison. “We’re sure. Give me your number and I’ll call you so you have mine. I’ll go ahead and text you our address so you can come over after your interview.”
I rattled off the numbers and made sure his number was saved in my phone before I knelt down in front of Jesse. Pushing his glasses up and brushing his hair off his forehead, I bit back the surge of emotion threatening to choke me. “Mommy’s going to her interview now. Andrew and Jack are going to hang out with you and watch you until I get done. Is that okay?”
Jesse shrugged but turned a critical eye on Andrew. “Do you have Mario?”
Andrew knelt next to me and I had an out of body experience as he chuckled and charmed my son like they’d been best friends for life. “We have a bunch of different Mario games. You want to race? We’ve got it. You want to jump across blocks and get coins? We’ve got it. You want to play games and try to save Princess Peach? We got it.”
I’d never had someone kneel down with me to talk to Jesse and it felt so intimate that I found myself standing up and backing away from it. I’d been on my own with Jesse from the beginning. Taylor had never been around in any real way and seeing a man so naturally lean into caring for Jesse was so shocking it was almost alarming.
“Bye, Mom!” Jesse grabbed Andrew’s hand and that easily, they were best friends.
I tried to gather myself and make sure I was taking care of everything. “You’ll have him at your house? If he eats, I’ll repay you for the food. He just had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, though. He’s not allergic to anything… He’ll tell you he’s allergic to all vegetables, though. Um…”
Andrew stood up and turned that charming smile on me. “We’re going to be fine. You just focus on your interview.”
Caleb swung a set of car keys around his finger. “How about that ride?”
I nodded while looking down at my feet. “It would be really helpful, actually. I was going to walk but I’m not sure I have the time now.”
