Of course she was going to bring that up. Hell, a day rarely passed when Stevie didn’t think the same thing. How she’d forgiven Stone so easily when he deserved her wrath.
“How do you feel about that?”
“Well, Dr. Phil,” Stevie teased, staring at the phone head-on. “I think I’m crazy, to be honest. I think things are movin’ fast because I let them. I think I let Stone off the hook too quickly.” She sighed. “And every night when I go to bed, I think about how much I still love him even though I shouldn’t.”
“No one said that, girl.” Niyah’s smile grew. “As long as you aren’t making this leap into romantic bliss blindfolded, I think you’ll be fine.”
“My eyes arewide open,” she huffed. “That doesn’t make it any less stupid.”
“It’s not stupid to want something you’ve waited your entire life for,” Niyah countered, always the optimist. Her best friend grinned. “Plus, you’re not gettin’ any younger.”
Stevie snorted. “Neither are you.”
Niyah’s face lit up, and her mouth opened, but she closed it quickly.
Stevie knew that look. She’d seen it a million times since the fourth grade. Niyah always did it when she had some kind of news. It was her way of contemplating whether it was the right time to deliver it.
“Tell me,” Stevie insisted.
“I … um…” Niyah giggled, her eyes glittering with what could only be tears. “I’m pregnant.”
Stevie jerked back, her chair rolling away from the desk as she clapped her hands together. “For real?”
“For real.”
“Oh, my God!” Stevie squealed. “You’re gonna be a mommy!”
She couldn’t resist the urge to launch to her feet and dance in a circle. When she returned to her seat, Niyah was laughing.
Stevie leaned toward the screen. “That’s so great. How far along?”
“Ten weeks.”
She did the math in her head. “You were pregnant before you left? And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know,” Niyah said, still grinning.
“Well, at least you’re gonna give birth to a Texan,” she teased. “Being conceived here gives him residency. Or is it a girl?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Have you told Nico?”
Niyah canted her head. “What do you think? I couldn’t tell him before I told you. He sucks at keepin’ secrets.”
That much was true. “When do you plan to tell him?”
“Since you’re gonna go all out tonight, I figure I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
Stevie huffed, flopping back in her chair. Now that they’d come full circle in the conversation, she realized she still had no idea how to make tonight special.
“Don’t look so forlorn. I’ve got an idea,” Niyah said.
Hope flared to life as she sat forward and listened to her best friend map out what she needed to do.
***
Nico was climbing into his truck whenhis phone buzzed. He checked the screen to find a text message from Stevie.
