Page 44 of Pick Me This Time

I shook my head. “I’m chaperoning. I’m basically the booze and hormone police.”

She giggled. “Do you at least have a nice dress?”

I shrugged. “I have a dress. It’ll have to do.”

Sighing loudly, she reminisced about homecoming back in our day for a while, but it wasn’t long until I saw her starting to fade. As soon as her root beer was finished, I drained what had been left of my own and offered her my arm.

“Let’s go, babe. You’re tired and it’s getting real loud in here.”

“I’m sorry I’m such a mood ruiner these days,” she said but accepted my arm and let me help her up.

“You’re not a mood ruiner. You’re in the final stages of growing a baby. Exhaustion is to be expected. Besides, I don’t mind. Really. It was a long day for me too.”

She nodded, but I saw the longing look she shot at the bar as we left. “One of these days, I’m going to be able to join the party again.”

“Excellent. I’ll babysit when you come out,” I offered happily.

She rolled her eyes at me. “We don’t need to drink to be part of the celebrations. The music was good in there.”

“It was, but we can listen to it at home too,” I said. “At a volume that won’t hurt our ears.”

After I walked her to her car and said goodbye, declining a ride home in favor of walking again, I took off, sliding my hands into my pockets and tucking my chin into my collar. Night was falling fast now and it was getting chilly. Thunder rumbled in the distance once more.

I couldn’t wait to get home, planning a long soak in the tub once I got there. I’d hardly made it to the end of the block when I heard someone calling my name, though. The voice was so achingly familiar that my heart skipped a beat, but I didn’t want to believe it was really him until I turned and confirmed it for myself.

Sterling North was jogging toward me. His black hair was messy. The scent of whiskey mingled with his masculine cologne when he caught up to me. “Thanks for waiting.”

“Sure,” I said easily, noticing that despite the whiskey, his eyes seemed clear enough. “How are you doing?”

He waved me off, falling into step beside me when I started walking again. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Where’s that?” he asked.

“Same place it’s always been,” I replied, frowning when he kept walking with me. “I’ll be fine. You can go back to the homecoming celebrations.”

“Nah. I’m good. I’d rather talk to you.” It started drizzling again and I groaned, upping my pace. “I could go get the truck.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “We’re almost there.”

He kept up with me easily, still walking while I was almost jogging at this point. “Do you really still live with your parents?”

“Yes and no,” I said. “I moved into the guesthouse at the back. I pay rent.”

“Thanks for telling me, but it’s not really any of my business.”

“No, I know. I just don’t want you to think I’m some kind of freeloader.” Or gold-digger, for that matter. “Do you want to come inside for a minute?”

We’d reached my place already. As we stood under the little awning outside my front door, his gaze hooked on mine and he nodded. “Sure. It’s pretty chilly out here.”

He seemed conflicted about it, though. Moving slowly in after me, he stuck close to the door, his hands in his pockets and his damp jacket remaining on even as I slid mine off.

“Would you like something hot to drink?”

Eyes on mine, he shook his head but watched me closely. I flicked on the lights in my little living area and drew the curtains so we had some privacy. Still feeling him being torn about being here, I finally wrapped a blanket from the couch around my shoulders and sat down.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You can come in, you know. You can sit. You can have something to drink. I’m not going to accost you. I just want to know that you’re okay. For real okay.”