Page 32

Chapter 31

JORDY

Being here made me want to donate all of my money to all the homeless shelters. Everyone had their own story of what got them to this place in their life, and I wanted to learn every single one of them.

“And one time, I was running real fast and scraped my knee. It hurt real bad,” a little guy, Josiah, said as we sat together.

“Oh man. That sounds terrible. Why did you fall?” I asked.

“Well…” Josiah looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs.

“It’s okay, man. I can keep some great secrets.” I zipped my lips and threw away the key. “Promise.”

“Okay. Well, my shoes were untied. I don’t know—this is embarrassing.”

I patted his back. “It's alright, little man. You can tell me.”

He glanced at the clock and so did I. My time was almost up here, and it made me sad.

“Alright, but you can’t make fun of me.”

I held my hand against my heart. “I would never.”

“I don’t know how to tie my shoes.”

My heart started to beat an extra pump. Another kid that didn’t know how to tie their shoes.

“Can I tell you a secret?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I also couldn’t tie my shoes, but I had a friend that took time to teach me how. Could I teach you?”

He beamed a snaggle toothed smile. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

I knelt down in front of Josiah and went through the same steps Dani had shown me for tying. I did it a few times and let Josiah try. After a few minutes of working through it with him, he understood how to do it.

“Alright! High five!” Our hands clapped together.

“Holy Moly!”

“What? What is it?”

His finger pointed in the direction of the door, and to my surprise, Dani was standing there. Looking for me.

I leaned toward Josiah to ask another question. “Can I tell you another secret?”

He nodded profusely. “That woman over there?” I gestured to the door. “That’s my girlfriend.” Josiah made a face with raised brows, and it made me chuckle. “And you know what else?”

“What?” he whispered.

“I love her.”

He made a stinky face, and I patted him on the shoulder, standing to my full height. “I'll see you next time, okay?”

Josiah smiled and gave me knuckles.

When I turned to head towards Dani, I could feel my heart beating a thousand miles a minute. Her face—wait, what was that look on her face? And why was she here?

“Hey babe. What are you doing here?” I asked.

She gave a smile. “I just wanted to come see you.”

“Well, it’s about lunch time. Wanna go grab something?”

“That’d be great.” She nodded, something lingered in her voice.

Around the corner was a delicious burger joint with the absolute best nacho cheese fries. I ordered us some to share before our meals arrived. “So, why did you really come find me today?” I inquired.

She put the French fry down mid-bite and took a sip of water. “I just wanted to come and tell you I love you.”

“Of course you do. Why wouldn’t you?” I smirked and I grabbed another fry.

“Huh. Okay, Mr. Overly Confident.”

“Please, you love it.”

She sighed, leaning back in the chair. “Jordy. I have something to tell you.”

“Okay, spill what is it? You got me a gift. You—I know. You got me Velcro shoes.”

She giggled, but her face morphed back into seriousness with an inhale. “Jordy, there’s really no easy way to say this, but…I’m pregnant.”

What.

Time stopped and all I could hear was the pulsing in my ears.

I’m gonna be a dad.

Was I gonna be a dad?

Dad.

Kids.

Screaming babies.

I don’t know if I like screaming babies.

We weren’t exclusive really—I never asked if we were, if I could remember. What if it was someone else’s and not mine? That honestly kind of pissed me off.

“Is it mine?” I snapped.

Wrong thing to ask, you fucking idiot. So, so, stupid.

Dani’s jaw dropped. “What? Are you kidding me?”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I just meant—”

She tilted her head. “Have you been sleeping with other people?”

I gasped. “No. No. I haven’t. I just—are you sure?”

Dani slapped the pregnancy test on the table, and I glanced down at it. Two pink lines were there. I knew what that meant. Dani was pregnant.

Dani was pregnant with my baby.

Oh my God. I got her pregnant. Why was this turning me on? I had serious issues.

“Okay so, did you call your doctor yet? Or have you told anyone else?”

I popped another French fry in my mouth and watched as her shoulders relaxed.

“Wait, you’re okay with this?” she questioned.

I was okay with this. Should I not have been?

“Well, I mean, yeah. I love you. You’re pregnant and I’m the dad. Why wouldn’t I be?” I wiped my mouth before adding, “Are we going to tell anyone?”

She pressed her lips into a straight line. “I need to go to the doctor first, make sure everything is okay before we start telling people.”

I took a deep breath. “That’s gonna be…so hard for me. I just want you to know, but I will do it. Keeping a secret is not meant for me.”

“Jordy, why are you seriously being so cool about this?” Dani asked, almost flustered.

The rest of our food came, and we stopped the conversation briefly to say thank you to the waiter. “I’m cool about it because I love you, Dani. Plus, we had a lot—and I mean, a lot —of unprotected sex. Actually, what are you doing after this?” I wiggled my brows at her.

We laughed together and god that felt good. “I guess to really answer your question, I’m more than okay with it. We’re adults, we love each other, and I don’t know any other person I’d rather raise a human with than my best friend, and if you’re wondering…that’s you ,” I insisted.

Dani’s eyes glistened before taking a bite of her burger. Without saying a word, she held up a finger, pressing the napkin to her mouth and running to the bathroom.

I was going to be a dad.

Holy shit. I couldn’t talk to anyone. I’d have to be completely silent because I’m sure everyone would know if I started acting weird.