Page 30 of Unexpectedly You

How the fuck do I know?I’m a lost cause. I can’t last three seconds without cursing.

I nod as she keeps talking. “We have some cute things for that age.”

I follow her while she walks as if on a mission, and she keeps talking about things I don’t know.

“What do you think of this? And this? And this?” she says, placing more and more stuff in my hands.

“I’m totally lost,” I say to her, my voice coming out all growly, sounding more like a bear than a human. My face probably shows how frustrated I am, because she takes a step back and smiles at me awkwardly.

“I can tell, but we are here to help.” Her smile is a forced one, and new doubt fills me.

What if I treat Arianna the same way? Is she going to hate me because of who I am?

I relax slightly when there’s no judgement in her eyes. Instead, what’s there is understanding.

“These are good for a four-month-old? But you’ll need at least ten more.”

“Ten?”

“What babies do is spit up and explode.”

“Explode?”

“Yeah, they’re utterly chaotic. They don’t really explode, but the house will look like they did.”

I let out a sigh. I’m stepping so far out of my comfort zone that it’s making my hair go gray faster and faster. I won’t have to wait until she’s a teen before having it.

I spend the next hour interrogating the young lady, and I’m surprised by the fact that she doesn’t lose her patience with me. I understand why when we get to the till.

“That’s two thousand three hundred pounds.”

What the actual f… dam… what in the heavens. I’m getting better at this shit.

I’ve got the money, but this baby thing is expensive. Now I wonder how my sister could support herself after that fucker of her boyfriend fled the scene after getting her pregnant.

“I’ll call someone to help you get everything in the car.”

Another thirty minutes and I’m on my way home. The drive to my place is more relaxed than the drive to the store.

“Hey, man.”

I’m fucking grateful when I manage to keep in the squeal pushing up through my throat when someone approaches me from behind. I turn around to check who it is, but when I’m met with Kai’s smirk, as if he knew I was going to scream like a scared cat, I’m like a viper ready to attack.

“Fucker,” I say, and then set myself to ignoring him.

“Good afternoon to you too,” he says, unfazed by my outburst. His tone is full of amusement.

“What do you want?”

“I’m checking on Jay.”

“Didn’t you check yesterday?” Was it only yesterday?

“Jealous much?”

I grit my teeth but I don’t say anything.

His smirk, though, tells me he noticed. “I’d be jealous as well, if I had that little thing in my house.”