Chapter 25
SUTTON
Lila paces the house, redialing Amos’s number and texting furiously. I’ve never seen her so angry. Of course she is. I’m pissed too. I thought his little drunk statement was just that, some drunk talk. I never imagined he’d actually take off.
Lila’s voice echoes down the hall. “Amos! Quit being a little bitch and pick up your phone. Mandy was just here. She told me about the baby. This is how you deal with it? By running away? This is who you want to be? A deadbeat dad just like ours? You have one hour to call me back or I swear the next call will be on speakerphone with Mom.”
She stalks back into the living room. “You didn’t know anything about this?”
“He told me last night that Mandy was pregnant. He said he didn’t want anyone else to know yet. I don’t think he would’ve said anything if he wasn’t drunk. And I sure didn’t know he quit his job.”
She flops onto the couch beside me, shaking her head. “What did he say about the pregnancy?”
“He wasn’t happy. He said he realized he doesn’t want kids.”
“A little late for that epiphany,” she scoffs.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking. He got so wasted, I practically had to drag him to his bed. He did make a comment then about how he should run away, but I thought it was drunk talk. He was out of it by then.”
“He didn’t find out about us, right? That isn’t why he took off?”
“No, he doesn’t know.”
She nods, then gestures to my phone. “You try to call him. Maybe he’ll pick up for you.”
I doubt he will, but to my surprise, it barely rings twice before he answers, and I can hear multiple people laughing in the background. “Hey man,” he says cheerfully.
“Where are you?” I ask.
I’m not sure what his response is because Lila plucks the phone out of my hand. “Amos! What the hell is going on?”
Her eyes widen as she listens. I should’ve put the damn thing on speaker.
“A break? You need a break? Did the last three weeks off work wear you out?” Her voice steadily rises. “You quit your job. Then signed a lease three fucking days ago. And now you run off on your pregnant girlfriend? You can’t just run away. What are you going to do about this?”
Incredulity grows on her face. “How are you going to get your own apartment? You’re unemployed and buying alcohol doesn’t build credit! Get your ass back here and deal with this! Mandy is heartbroken.”
She isn’t the only one. The pain and disappointment in Lila’s tone is clear.
I don’t know what Amos says, but Lila’s voice turns husky.
“I have never been so disappointed in someone in my life. Do whatever you want, Amos. But don’t come to me for help ever again if you abandon this baby.
Do you hear me?” She glances at the phone, then holds it out to me. “He hung up.”
The expression on her face is killing me, and she hugs me tight when I pull her into my arms. “Give it a few days,” I murmur, rubbing her back. “I think he’s panicking. He’ll be back.”
“Maybe.” She takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes. “Poor Mandy. I wish there was something I could do.”
“I know.” I want to make sure of one thing right now, because I know how Lila is when it comes to family, especially Amos. She looks up at me when I put my fingers under her chin. “But none of this is your responsibility. Do you understand that? This isn’t on you.”
“I know. You want to tell my mom that?” she jokes with a reluctant grin.
“I absolutely will.”
Things are subdued all evening. Lila doesn’t want to talk about it but I can see her turning it over in her mind. We cuddle on the couch to watch some TV and she dozes off with her head in my lap.
I make sure my phone is on silent, then text Amos.
Me
When are you coming back?
Amos
I’m not. Sorry to leave you there with Lila all pissed but you’ll be in your place soon.
Me
Where are you staying?
Amos
Away. Until I figure out what I want to do.
Me
This is bullshit. You have a baby coming and Lila is going to be worried about you once she calms down.
Amos
It’ll be fine.
That’s the attitude he always has. Don’t worry, everything will be fine. He’s in for a rude awakening this time.
It’s been ten days with no word from Amos. He stopped opening my texts and doesn’t take my calls either. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone who isn’t telling him what he wants to hear. I know Lila is upset, but other than asking if I’ve heard from him, she hasn’t wanted to talk about it.
She’s been focused on work while I’ve been working on my place.
My house is finished and finally has running water, but I’m still waiting on electric.
If it were warmer, I’d go ahead and move.
We were lucky having such a warm Autumn but November came with freezing temperatures and early snow flurries.
Lila and I have spent all our spare time with each other. We sleep together in one of our beds every night, and waking with her in my arms is something I never want to end. It’s been nice not having to sneak around and I’m not going back to that.
Dusty wakes me on Saturday morning, putting his cold nose on mine. Lila doesn’t budge when I get up to take him outside. I’m not surprised. We fucked our brains out for half the night. I can never get enough of her.
When I return, she’s curled up in the middle of my bed, her hair splayed over my pillow. God, she’s beautiful. I’m not waiting any longer to tell her what I want. She peeks up at me and mumbles. “Are you watching me sleep? Creepy.”
She has the covers pulled up over her breasts, and I crawl on top of the blanket, trapping her underneath it. She pulls her arms out from under it, but I pin them to the bed. “Creepy? Take it back right now.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Or what?”
“Or I’ll never make you come on my tongue again.”
“We both know you’re lying,” she says, wiggling and trying to get her hands free.
She’s got me there. “It’s not my fault you’re so gorgeous that I don’t want to look away.”
I love how her cheeks turn pink. She drops a quick kiss on my lips. “Fine. It isn’t creepy.”
I move off of her and let her sit up. “That’s more like it.”
When she gives me that sleepy morning grin, I can’t wait anymore. I slide my hand into hers. “I know we agreed this would be a casual arrangement, but there’s not a damn thing that’s casual in how I feel about you. I want to be together. Without hiding it from anyone.”
My heart thumps in my chest. It feels like everything important in my life hangs on the next words she says.
I don’t want to move out without knowing that we’ll still see each other.
I don’t want meals at my new table without the sound of her laugh, evenings in my new living room without talking to her, or nights in my new bedroom without her warm body wrapped around mine.
Her tongue slips out to wet her lips and she looks me in the eye. “I want that too.”
“You want to be my girlfriend?” I clarify.
She nods, a smile growing on her face.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need verbal confirmation.”
She straddles my lap and hooks her arms around my neck. “I am your girlfriend.”
“Ha! You like me. I knew it.”
“Do we have to go that far?” she teases, running her thumb over my nape.
I slide my hands under her shirt and around to feel the warm skin of her back. “Admit it, Delilah.”
She leans in and plants a kiss on my neck. “I might be…” Her mouth travels to my jaw. “Just a tiny bit…” She lets her lips hover over mine. “Crazy about you.”
When she kisses me, I roll her underneath me and show her just how crazy she makes me.
Afterward, we shower and go out to shop for new furniture together. Lila only needs a few things for her apartment but I have a whole house to fill.
“Do you want to check the thrift stores first?” she asks.
“Good idea. Then we’ll go look at couches.”
“Do you have any idea when your electric will get hooked up?” she asks as we enter the thrift store.
“They say two weeks. But they also said that two weeks ago.”
She wraps her hand around my arm as we browse. “I was talking to Maren. I can move into my place anytime, really. If your electric isn’t on in the next month, would you want to stay with me until it is? So we can let them get the trailer ready for the next person on the waiting list.”
“Absolutely. If they still haven’t hooked it up by then, I’m going to be camped out in front of the utilities building.” I drop a quick kiss on her lips. “But yes, of course I’d stay with you. We can get everything out of the trailer by then.”
Lila is just as excited about her new apartment as I am about my house.
It’s funny, we began by living together and now that we’re officially together, we’ll be living apart.
It doesn’t matter. We’ve had a little test run so we know we’re compatible when the day comes that she doesn’t want to live on her own.
I have no doubt we’ll end up in the same bed most nights.
Lila buys a small table and bar stools at the thrift store and I find a good kitchen table and chairs that only need some sanding and refinishing. We spend a few hours visiting a furniture store where I order a new couch and Lila gets a recliner.”
“My recliner spoiled you, didn’t it?” I tease, as we sit down at a restaurant for lunch.
“You know, I always thought they were more for old people, but yeah, call me old, because that thing is so comfy. And my new one lays all the way back.”
“We’ll get use out of that.”
She chuckles, shaking her head at me as my phone buzzes with a text.
I’m surprised to see Carson’s name. I left him a message earlier to let him know I was looking for Amos, but I doubted I’d hear back. We all used to hang out, but he became more Amos’s friend once I stopped partying.
Carson
Hey, don’t worry about Amos. He’s fine. I hooked him up with a tree job with one of my friends in Florida and he’s staying with him. Having the time of his life.
Along with the text is a picture of Amos standing in front of the ocean with a beer in his hand.
Me
Thanks for letting me know. Can you give me the address so I can send him some stuff?
Carson
Sorry, he said not to. He got some girl pregnant and wants to lay low for a while.
“What’s wrong?” Lila asks.
“Do you remember Carson Maxwell?”
“Vaguely, he was a couple years ahead of me in school.”
“I left him a message about Amos.” Instead of explaining, I hand her my phone to read the texts and see the picture.
Her jaw drops. “He’s in Florida? He got a job in Florida in a week?”
“Tree job is Carson’s way of saying he’s selling weed.”
“Oh perfect. Maybe he can add to his arrest record.” She sits back in her chair. “I need to tell Mandy. She needs to know that he isn’t coming back. Not anytime soon. He’s too busy getting fucked up on a beach. Unbelievable.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this from him either.” I knew he was lazy, that he had no ambition and could be thoughtless. But I didn’t know he could be this selfish.
“I know.” She reaches over and lays her hand on my arm, then forces a smile. “Today has been fun and we still have shopping to do. We aren’t going to let him ruin it.”
“Agreed. Now, as your boyfriend, am I entitled to your pickle?”
Her face lights up with a genuine smile and she moves it to my plate. “Pickle privileges are included.”