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Chapter Twenty-Three
Naomi
I went to Josh’s class late, like I said, and found everyone in discussion groups. Jacob waved me over to his group and I took my usual seat next to him.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Good, stressed,” I said. I glanced up and spotted Josh talking to a group on the far side of the room, I didn’t think he’d noticed me walk in.
“He’s not staring at you, for once,” Jacob quipped. I rolled my eyes at him and shoved his shoulder.
“What are we talking about?” I asked and glanced at the only other guys in our class. They hadn’t picked up on Jacob’s comment, thankfully. Class whizzed by with only a half hour left. I stayed late a few minutes with Jacob to copy his notes. He stood in front of me like a wall, shielding me from Josh and I wasn’t sure if he was doing that on purpose or not. When we left the classroom, I chewed on my bottom lip and debated asking him if he liked me. I knew the answer but I had to let him know that I was taken. We walked to the library, to our usual table and sat down.
“Hey Jacob?” I asked.
“Yeah? Do you want a bagel? I might grab some from the café,” he said.
“Wait, sit,” I said. Jacob sat, he’d grown his blonde hair out and combed it out of his eyes with his fingers. “Sometimes I get the feeling that…you might…like me,” I said. There was no way I couldn’t sound awkward saying that.
Jacob blinked rapidly and he shrugged “I mean, yeah. I try to make it obvious,” he said. “You’re beautiful and smart and cool to hang out with.”
“Thank you, Jacob. Really, that’s…flattering but um,” I paused when his expression fell and I knew that he knew what I was going to say next.
“Of course, the good ones are always taken,” he sighed. Jacob stood up again but didn’t grab his things. “Did you want that bagel?”
I smiled at him both relieved and thrilled that our friendship didn’t just end. “Um, yeah, thanks,” I said. He bobbed his head in a nod and walked to the front of the library where the café was. I honestly didn’t expect that conversation to go as it had but I was glad that Jacob was a lot more mature than I gave him credit for.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, I took it out and read a text from Josh: Dinner at my house tonight? My sister will be there. I took a deep breath, my anxiety was creeping back into my chest.
I texted him back: Sounds good, what time? Josh sent me the details and I told him that I’d be there. After that, I tried really hard not to obsess about her liking me.
#
“V, I’m freaking out. I don’t know what to wear. How do you impress your illicit affair’s sister?” I asked. V cracked up on the other end of the line. My closet was a mess, my bed even worse. There were clothes and shoes everywhere.
“He’s not your illicit affair anymore, remember? He’s your boyfriend, soon to be baby daddy. So own that and dress accordingly,” she said.
“That doesn’t help me, V!” I looked at the yellow blouse in my hand, scowled at it and tossed it on the pile of unworthy clothes. “I’m most likely going to meet his nephew too, he’s two or three or something,” I said.
“It’s dinner at his house, Naomi, relax. Wear jeans, wear tights, be comfortable and cute. That’s all,” V said.
“Tights and a light grey blouse?” I asked. I eyed a grey button down blouse on its hanger, it was long and made with sheer material that I could wear a tank top with. I had the perfect penny loafer shoes to go with it too. “Okay, perfect,” I said.
“Finally,” V said, chuckling.
“Okay, I’ll let you know how it goes, I don’t want to be late,” I said.
“Take a deep breath, dammit!” V said before I hung up. Quickly, I got dressed and put my hair in a bun. I knew nothing about little kids so kept the jewelry to a minimum just in case Josh’s nephew liked to grab stuff.
I didn’t take a deep breath until I stood on Josh’s stoop and rang the doorbell. Either I was late or his sister was early because there was a car that wasn’t Josh’s in the driveway in front of his garage.
I heard the door unlock and then the handled turned slowly and the door barely pulled open. Confused, I peered inside but didn’t see anyone behind the door until it suddenly swung wide and then a little curly, frizzy headed toddler stood in the doorway grinning at me with chubby cheeks.
“Hi,” he said. I was pretty sure that my heart melted because warmth spread through me and for the first time, ever, I was excited about the prospect of having one of these—a kid—soon.
“Hi, I’m Naomi,” I said.
“I Kaden,” he said and then reached up. I stepped inside and picked him up. The smell of steak and peppers filled the air. My stomach growled and Kaden started to laugh at me. I shut the door behind me.
