“You could move in with me. I have a big house with lots of room and just me living in it.”
Blue stared at him as if she’d just noticed he had a second nose.
“I’m clean and house-trained. Plus, I cook,” Jay added, wondering if he’d lost his mind, offering her a place to stay.She’s the mother of your child, idiot. Of course it’s not wrong.
“I couldn’t move in with you, Jay.”
“Why?”
“Well… ah, we don’t know each other, for one.”
“You’re carrying my child, Blue. If you need a place to stay that’s quiet and offers you the space you need to get through, then why not take it?”
Could he live with her? Jay had offered, but the truth was, since leaving his aunt’s house, he’d never lived with anyone. He’d always told himself he didn’t want to share his own space.
“I-I don’t think so,” she murmured.
“Okay, well, the offer is there, for however long, if you need it.”
“Everything has turned on its head, Jay,” she admitted. “I quit my job. I don’t know how long I can work. I don’t know what I’m supposed to need or when?—”
Jay squeezed her hands. “We’ll figure it out.”
Her brows pulled together. “Jay?—”
“I mean it,” he said. “Plans are just problems waiting to be solved.”
That earned him a small, watery smile. She was still too pale for his liking, but the smile was good.
“You sound like you’re negotiating a contract,” Blue said.
“Force of habit. You feeling okay?” he asked.
“The nausea is weird. It just happens like, oh, let’s hit her with it now when she’s not expecting it,” Blue said.
Jay dug into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out the small bag he’d tucked in there, for no other reason than he felt he should, and handed it to her. “They may be a bit crushed.”
“Wh-why are you carrying saltines in your pocket?” Blue whispered, clutching the bag.
“I told you, I like to be prepared.”
“So you carry saltines?”
He nodded, not wanting to tell her he’d carried them just in case he ran into her and she needed them.
She studied him then—really studied him. “Thank you.”
“Welcome,” he said. His throat felt suddenly tight.
“Are you scared, Jay?”
He didn’t deny it. “Yes. Are you?”
She nodded.
They sat there like that, knees touching, breath syncing. The quiet settled between them, heavy with everything unsaid. And then she crunched on a cracker, and he found a smile.
Jay rested a hand over hers, feeling the warmth beneath her skin as thoughts of an uncertain future whirled inside his head. For the first time in many years, he wasn’t in control, and for someone who’d been unable to control his past, that was terrifying.
