Page 21 of Anyone But Me
“One of you is,” I joked. It was hard to even say those words since they were so completely untrue though. Both Jax and Speck were unfairly adorable.
Jax pretended to cover Speck’s ears and glared at me. “Don’t be mean to my baby. He’s super cute.”
I shook my head at Jax and walked past her into the apartment. Once I was inside, I took Speck back from her and held him up against me the same way she had been. “I could never be mean to this guy. He’s the best.”
Jax crossed her arms and smiled at the two of us.
“Can I just say how proud I am? I can’t believe you not only bought something on a whim without me pushing you to do it, but you also bought a living creature.
Did you make a pros and cons list at the rescue?
” Jax lifted an eyebrow at me. “Please tell me he’s a rescue. ”
“He is. Don’t worry.” I put Speck down, and he immediately ran across the room and jumped onto the couch, spinning in circles until he found the perfect spot.
“And no. I didn’t make a pros and cons list. Thank you very much.
” I pointed to where he had made himself at home on the couch. “Plus, there are no cons with him.”
There probably were and I was sure I would find out what those were eventually, but right now, I was completely smitten. The look on Jax’s face as she stared over at Speck told me that she was too.
When she looked back at me, her eyes and smile were shimmering. “We should FaceTime your sister. She needs to meet our baby.”
I swallowed hard. There was that word again. It really shouldn’t affect me as much as it was, especially since the whole point of getting him was to help get rid of these feelings, not make them worse.
“Unless you don’t want to,” she said when I didn’t answer. “If you want this moment to just be between us, I completely understand that.”
Of course Jax took my silence as me being offended by her bringing up my sister.
It hadn’t escaped me that she had been very careful about not bringing up Olivia a ton after I talked to her about my insecurities.
It wasn’t necessary since I loved my family, but I really appreciated the sentiment.
Plus, right now, it was definitely for the best to talk to Olivia, rather than have the moment be just between us.
“We should definitely call her. She’ll never believe it,” I said with a laugh. It was only a matter of time before I called my siblings since that’s what I always did when I underwent a big life change. It was nice to have someone else in my life who also saw how special my family was.
We both sat on the couch with Speck, but Jax pointed her phone away from him, so we were the only two who could be seen when Olivia picked up the phone. It only took a few rings for Olivia’s face to pop up on the screen.
She grinned widely when she saw me and Jax. “My two favorite people. How did I get so lucky to hear from both of you on this Friday night?”
Jax snorted. “You better hope your boyfriend doesn’t hear you talking like that.”
Quinton’s face suddenly peeked onto the screen as well. “It’s okay. I know where I rank, and I accept it.”
“Just to warn you, you might rank even lower after this phone call.” Jax smiled over at me then back at the phone screen, before turning the camera to show Speck.
Olivia gasped when Speck came into view. “Oh my god, Jax! Did you get a dog?”
Jax shook her head and smirked. “It was your sister. She got him at a rescue on a whim when walking home from work today.”
“No! Hand me over to my sister.”
When Jax handed me the phone, the look on Olivia’s face was one of complete shock. “You got a fucking dog? Without making a pros and cons list?”
I rolled my eyes at my sister. Why did everyone expect me to make a pros and cons list? Okay. They weren’t wrong. Normally, I would. “I sure did.” I couldn’t stop the proud smile from spreading across my face and the look on my sister’s face definitely matched mine.
“Was buying a dog on your list?”
I wasn’t planning on telling my sister about my list, but when she called to ask a million questions about my tattoo, I let it slip. I was worried she would pressure me about completing it, but she’d actually been very respectful about me doing it on my own timeline.
I shook my head when I remembered her question. “No. The list item was to buy something on a whim.”
“And you bought a fucking dog?” Olivia let out a low whistle. “That’s pretty badass. I’m not going to lie.”
Before I could say anything else, Jax grabbed the phone from my hands. “I know, right? That’s what I said. I’m so freaking excited.”
“Me too. I can’t wait to meet him.” I heard, rather than saw, my sister gasp this time. “Speaking of which… There is a color run in Philly in three weeks. The deadline to sign up is next Saturday. Do you two want to do it?”
Jax looked over at me and when I nodded in response, she pumped her hand in the air. “Hell yeah. Are you doing it with us?”
Olivia cackled on the other end of the phone.
“Hell no. I don’t run, and I definitely don’t let people stain this beautiful face with colors.
We would love to have you two stay with us though.
We can’t have dogs in our apartment, but we could meet you at our parents’ house that Friday night so we can meet that cutie, then you two can take a break from your child and leave him with his grandmas for the weekend. They’ll love it. Trust me.”
I had no doubt they would, and I was dying to see my family, so this was the perfect opportunity. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to convince Ronan’s family to make the trip from Pittsburgh, but I was certainly going to try.
I hadn’t realized how much I was smiling until the muscles around my mouth started to ache. It didn’t bother me since it was for the best reason. My life was a little crazy right now, but it was crazy good. This new Carter couldn’t wait to see what was next.