“You left while she was sleeping,” Caleb fills in for me.
“You did not, Theo.” Sierra’s voice is tight and her jaw is clenched. “What is wrong with you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“So you’re with her because she’s having your baby, or are you guys going to just coparent?” I knew, out of all people, Caleb would be the one to ask me the questions no one else would have the balls to ask me.
“I like her,” I admit to him. “I want to make sure she’s okay, and the baby is okay. But since I’ve started to get to know her I . . .” My voice trails off.
“So you might want to pursue where it goes?”
I nod my head. “I want to see where this is going. We obviously know we’re good in bed together. Great, even.”
“That’s, like, the most important thing.” Sierra rolls her eyes.
“No, it’s not,” I huff out. “I’ve been spending time with her and I really fucking like her.” Caleb starts to interrupt. “And not because of the baby. Fuck, when I saw her at the hospital, I was about to ask her out. I did ask her out, but I didn’t know she said yes because she wanted to tell me about the baby.”
“Awkward,” Sierra sings, “and you’re a dick. I wouldn’t put that story in the baby book, that’s for sure.”
“I’m going to be there every step of the way for whatever she needs. If that leads to more, then it leads to more. That would be the cherry on top.” They share a look, and I finally say my biggest fear. “Fuck, what if I want her and she doesn’t want me?” I’ve been asking myself this the whole time I’ve been trying to get my bearings. “I literally don’t have any answers to any of the questions. I don’t think she does either. We said we’re going to talk this weekend.”
“You going to ask her to be your girlfriend?” Caleb asks.
Sierra hits his arm. “It’s not high school, Caleb.” She shakes her head, then turns to me. “This can get really messy.”
I know, but something inside me says Collins isn’t that person. “If it’s meant to be that we’re just friends, then I’m going to bust my ass to coparent in the healthiest way possible.”
“I don’t know what to say, man,” Caleb starts. “It’s?—”
“It’s.” I smile. “I’m having a baby.”
“Technically, she’s the one having the baby,” Sierra counters.
“He put it there.” Caleb points at me.
I get up. “I’m going to head out. She gets off shift at three, and we said we’re going to be leaving at seven. I want to make sure I have everything ready.”
“If she works until three in the morning, when do you see her?” Sierra asks me, and I smirk.
“I go to her house every night at three to cook her dinner and wait for her to go to bed, and then I go to work.”
Sierra blinks away tears. “Isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard?”
“Oh my god,” Caleb mutters. “That’s why he’s been dragging his ass and taking catnaps on the job.”
“Yeah, listen. Before I leave, I wanted you to know I hired Nino and Frankie to work for me this weekend.” Caleb’s eyebrows pinch together. “Collins’s house is sort of on its last leg, and I know she isn’t going to let me do anything, but they are going to be redoing her front porch and her back porch.”
“You think that’s wise?” Sierra asks.
I shrug. “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.” I try to convince even myself of that.
“That’s very smart,” Sierra deadpans. “Also, not okay.”
“If she needs to have it done, she needs to have it done,” Caleb says, taking my side. “If that was me, your ass would be living in my house the minute I saw you shouldn’t be living there.”
“Wow,” Sierra says.
Caleb turns his attention back to me, ignoring Sierra. “When are you going to ask her to move in with you?”
