“You growing the uterus, babe?” Kate teases. Then she looks at me. “Y’all might rethink that ten after pushing one out, sweetheart.”
“Not to mention carrying it for nine months.” Blake adds.
“When are you going to start, you two?” Kate asks Ruby, who is sitting next to me on the couch.
“Well, I think we’ve already started trying, since Tucker’s here now.” Ruby says. “I didn’t want to steal anyone’s thunder.”
“Oh, please. Y’all don’t have to wait on account of me.” Kate tuts.
“Oh, yes she did.” Maverick interjects, matter-of-factly. “Every woman wants to be in the spotlight when they’re expecting.”
“What does it feel like being pregnant?” I ask Kate.
“Well, it just feels like y’all have a backpack tied to your front, and when it kicks, it’s like gas bubbles, mostly. Sometimes he’d do somersaults inside me, but not too often. Tucker here is a sedate kid, even now. He doesn’t cry unless there’s a reason to.”
“Not like Gunner here.” Blake says. “Gosh, he used to cry at the drop of a hat.”
“Still does.” Austin says.
“If I didn’t just bust my arm up I’d punch you one for that.” Gunner jokes. And then his eyes are on me. Not sure what he’s thinking. I’m not even sure how he feels about kids. But he does seem to be admiring me holding one. I don’t let myself believe that maybe one day Gunner and I will be together and have one of our own. I don’t let myself think that based on how much my heart is still his, that we have a chance.
…but those eyes of his…make me wonder.
Chapter 14
Gunner
I’m standing at my locker, stuffing multiple books inside my backpack, when I feel her hands cover my eyes. “Guess who…” she says in a singsong voice. We play this game and as cheesy as it sounds, it’s fun.
“I know those cold clammy hands.”
She removes her hands and takes my bag. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be carrying that much, mister. You’ll hurt your arm.”
“I wasn’t going to use that arm.” I argue kindly. Ava’s been fussing over me, and I hate to admit it, but I like it.
“Well, now you’re not using either arm.” She drapes my backpack over her shoulders, holding hers in her hand.
“Ava, you’re going to hurt yourself, now. Come on. I tell you what. I’ll take the big textbook out, okay? Then my bag won’t weigh more than ten pounds.”
“Fine. But at least let me help you put it across your shoulders.”
“Alright.”
She pushes the bag over my arms as I bend slightly, since she’s so doggone tiny I tower over her. For a little thing she sure has gumption. When my bag is satisfactorily hung on my back, she sighs. “There.”
“Are you happy now?” I tease.
“Yes.”
“Can we get to my truck now?”
She relented and let me start driving her home from school. It’s only been a day or two, but I feel a lot better about this whole situation. The throng of students in the hallway has reached astronomic proportions, so I grab her hand, not caring if she pulls away, but she doesn’t. “Y’all want me to take you straight home, or is your butt feeling good enough now to go for another ride?”
Her face lights up like a goddamn Christmas tree. “Well, if you wanted to go so bad, why didn’t you just ask?” I scoff, good-naturedly.
“Well, I didn’t want to impose.”
“It’s not an imposition, darlin’. I ride every day.”
