“Bonkers that you ran into him. I thought he asked to be traded here for you.”
“He didn’t know I was pregnant,” I admitted. “I do think he would’ve masterminded the trade himself had he known, though.”
“Or retired,” Lucy chimed in, and the girls snickered again.
“This is so romantic,” Marissa said.
“Kind of like Cinderella,” Rebecca added.
“Because I’m a janitor?”
Rebecca tilted her head, considering it, then gave a self-aware, embarrassed sort of nod.
“Yeah, I guess the similarities stop there.”
“Oh my gosh, can we throw you a baby shower? Have you already had one?” Hunter asked. I froze again, a moment too long, because Hunter rushed to add, “No pressure, of course. I just love throwing parties. It would be so fun to do another baby shower, so please say yes.”
“Are you sure? That’s insanely generous,” I said. “Honestly, I feel like I am here on unearned valor. Barry isn’t even my boyfriend.”
They all laughed like I said a joke. Marissa nodded solemnly when I didn’t correct my statement, then patted my arm.
“He is deeply in love with you,” she said.
“Very obviously,” Lucy said.
My heart rate skyrocketed in ways that should concern me, but all I could feel concerned about was the concept of Barry being so obviously in love with me that the entire Utah Raptors hockey organization and the wives and girlfriends therein were privy to this fact. I knew he cared for me, knew his feelings were getting dangerous, and mine too, for that matter, but “deeply in love” with me felt dramatic.
Didn’t it?
“I would love it if you wanted to host a baby shower for me,” I said. “That’s really kind of you.”
Hunter squeaked and clapped, and I think she might have dived right into planning then if another, older child didn’t run up to her and pull on her arm.
I glanced back in Barry’s direction across the loud room one more time, and he was already looking at me. Smirking, he winked.
I socialized with Barry around the party for the better part of an hour, then excused myself to find a bathroom. The design of the little bathroom off the kitchen was as gorgeous as the rest of the house; it had these perfect green tiles covering the mirror wall that looked handmade, the dreamiest illustrated greenery wallpaper, every detail made me feel excited about the renovations for my own bathroom—the ones I’d be able to do much sooner than I expected because of Barry.
When I wandered back into the party, I didn’t realize I’d been rubbing the sore spot under my stomach until Hunter found me again and grabbed my elbow with a sympathetic look.
“Getting heavy, huh? Do you wear a belly band?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t really feel like it’s helping lately,” I admitted. “I’ve been having round ligament pain.”
“Oh, I’m all too familiar,” she said. “Have you tried belly taping?”
I shook my head, the concept foreign to me. Hunter gave a solemn nod and tilted her head in the direction of the stairs. I glanced back at where Barry was talking to one of his teammates and followed her through the rest of the pristinely decorated house. She accepted my compliments and chattered about the quirks of the house as we ascended the stairs and walked down the hallway.
I followed her lead and kicked off my shoes before walking into her bedroom, the carpet so nice and plush beneath my sore feet I had to suppress a ‘fuckme’.
“I like your wallpapers,” I told her in the primary bathroom. “You have great taste.”
“I wish I had this vision,” she said as she rummaged in a large drawer. “Parties are one thing, but we hired a designer for the house for sure.”
“Like an interior decorator?”
“Yeah, this girl’s great. I found her because she was posting DIY videos flipping her house in Lehi and begged her to help me.”
I thought about this concept of doing what I was doing for my house—the designing, flipping, renovating, for someone else. Someone with a bigger budget who wanted the help. It intrigued me.
