As I swallow over the bitterness in my throat, I ease into the cushions. “There’s not a lot to tell. I’m enjoying being back in Brookhaven and seeing everyone. It’s nice.”
From this vantage point, I’m greeted by a wall full of photographs of Kaleb and Emily as they grew from elementary school to adulthood. There’s even one display with photos of all our friends hanging out together.
“Did you leave a girl behind?” She sets the glass on the table beside her.
“No.”
“That’s too bad.” She cringes as she adjusts her back against the sofa. “Kaleb and Emily don’t ever bring anyone home either. Apparently, not only did your mom and I lose our children to adulthood, but we did everything wrong, and now we’ll never have grandchildren.”
“Um….” I lick my lips and wish I’d stayed home.
She jerks her head back. “You do want kids, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Not that I’ve really thought about it much. There’s plenty of time for that. Maybe when I’m thirty. Thirty-five. I rest my ankle on my opposite knee and cross my arms over my chest. “Someday, I’d be okay with having kids.”
“Good.” She nods and presses her lips together. “You know, you and Em would make beautiful babies.”
“Well….” I lurch upright while coughing.
“Jake and Emily aren’t going to make babies together, Ma.” Kaleb bursts into the living room from the kitchen. He’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. The outfit appears clean, so he either didn’t get involved in extinguishing the fire or he took a shower before stopping by.
“I should go.”
“Great job, Mom. I leave you home alone for an hour, and you’re already scaring Jake off. He just got back into town.” He rakes his hand through his hair. “Besides, Jake thinks Emily is a pest.” He shifts his attention toward me. “Right?”
“Yeah, right.” The heat that was crawling up my neck is now burning my ears as I shove out of the chair. “I should go.There’s some soup that my mom made in the kitchen for the two of you to eat.”
Damn him. If he’d shown up five minutes earlier, this entire awkward conversation could’ve been avoided. Marriage and children? Maybe. In the future. Way into the future. And with whom, I have no idea.
“Kaleb,” Aurora barks at her son. “See what you did? Jake and I were having a pleasant conversation about your sister and them having babies together, and you had to come interfere. I was so close to convincing him to date your sister. You know that would’ve made….” She trails off as if she’s just now remembering she and my mother are no longer close. “Well, anyway, you interrupted.”
“Enough.” Kaleb raises his hands in the air as if warding off her onslaught. “My best friend and my sister aren’t going to date. If she’s lucky enough to find some loser who can see past her annoying personality to date her, I don’t want to be friends with him. Tolerate him at Christmas? I’ll try. Hang out and talk about getting her pregnant? That’s a hard no.”
“Kaleb Zachary Grey.” Aurora glares at him. “Just because you’re twenty-five doesn’t mean you’re going to talk like a sailor in my house.”
It’d be funny to watch them snipe at each other, but it’s over Emily, me, and an imaginary relationship. I shiver as images of the act of getting Emily pregnant infiltrate my head and put down permanent roots. All those glorious curves and glistening skin. The freckles that sprinkle over her cheekbones. Her sweet mouth. Those gorgeous eyes raking over me with heat.
Her belly growing big with my child. My heart clutches in my chest. Shit. She’d be beautiful, and it sure beats imagining her with this made-up guy that Kaleb will tolerate at Christmas. Of them having sex. Of some other asshole getting her pregnant.
I swipe my hands on my sweats. If anyone gets her pregnant, it’s going to be me.
Fuck. What am I thinking?
“Jake, ignore, Kaleb. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’ve seen how the two of you have mooned over each other for years.”
‘When’ is on the tip of my tongue, but I snap my mouth shut. “I’m glad the surgery went well and that you’re recovering. If you need anything, let me know, and I’ll come over.”
“Thank you, dear.” A smile curves up her cheeks. “I’ll tell Emily that you want to have kids. She’ll be relieved to hear that.”
“Mom!” Kaleb snaps and marches to where I’m standing. “That’s enough. They’re not interested in each other.” He elbows me in the ribs. “Besides, Jake isn’t ready to get married and have kids and won’t be until well after Em settles down. Em is the epitome of relationship-ready, and Jake wouldn’t know how to have a long-term relationship if it bit him in the ass.”
What in the fuck? “I know how to be in a relationship.”
“Please.” Kaleb rolls his eyes. “You’ve never even had a long-term girlfriend. The longest was with Amanda back in high school, and she cheated on you because you were too busy with school and sports. That’s not boyfriend and certainly not husband and father material.”
He’s wrong. Just because I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school doesn’t mean I don’t know how to be in a relationship. My parents have been together for years and have the kind of relationship I aspire to have when the time is right.
“I know how to commit to a relationship. I just have never wanted to be in one.” If it wasn’t Emily, then what was the point?
