Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Jessie
Nothing about today has gone how I planned it. I didn’t really believe that we were going to go shopping. Sure, in the moment, I was all for taking his money. But as the days passed, I knew I wasn’t actually going to take him up on the offer.
Little did I know, he was going to show up at my apartment with Eli in tow, ready to spend the day watching me try on clothes. I was confident that as soon as we started, he would regret his decision. But, no, he had to be all supportive and fun. It seemed like he was actually enjoying himself.
And now—fuck, now—my entire world has been flipped on its axis after what happened in the dressing room. Those moments were hotter than all of my sexual experiences combined.
The way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world left me breathless. The energy between us was so overwhelming that it felt like the ground shifted beneath my feet.
It just proved what I’d thought since I was eighteen—us together would be explosive. I’d felt it in my bones back then, and today only made me sure of it. But I can’t let it happen again. Not if he’s still saying that we can’t be together.
Just as we step outside onto the sidewalk, his phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and groans.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“My sister.”
He goes to put the phone back in his pocket, but I stop him.
“What are you doing? Why don’t you answer?”
“Because she already texted me last night. She wants me to stop over. And I can’t do that until I tell her about Eli.”
For all the things this man makes me feel, he still manages to annoy the crap out of me. Eva is the most supportive person in this world. I don’t understand how he can be so afraid to tell her. His parents? Now, they’re a different story.
“You pick up that phone right now and tell her we’re on our way.”
His eyes open wide. “Excuse me? What makes you think I’m ready to tell—”
“If you don’t tell her, then I’ll march my ass over there right now and tell her.”
His jaw drops. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I see him scan the bags that are taking over both of our arms, deciding whether or not to throw the fact that he just spent the equivalent to my entire year’s salary on me.
I raise my eyebrows at him, daring him to go there when he all but forced me to do this today despite my protesting. His shoulders sink as he presses a button on his phone and brings it to his ear.
“Hey, sis,” he says with a hint of displeasure in his voice.
I can’t hear what she’s saying on the other line, but when he hangs up a minute later, he shoves his phone back into his pocket.
“There. You happy? Looks like I’m heading over there now.”
I smile triumphantly. “Perfect. And don’t think I’m missing this.
I want to be there to make sure you don’t chicken out.
Plus, I need me some baby Addie time. Oh my gosh!
” I jump up and down as we walk in the direction of their penthouse.
“Addie and Eli get to meet. They’re going to be the best of friends. Aww, this is so exciting!”
He pushes the stroller and sighs, but I see the corner of his mouth tip up. “I’m glad one of us is excited.”
Since we don’t have a car seat base, we are forced to walk fifteen blocks with the stroller while carrying ten large shopping bags stuffed to the top. My arms are killing me.
“My arms are gonna fall off. I can feel them going numb,” I cry as we reach the halfway point.
He looks me up and down, then rolls his eyes. We both seem to know how to get on each other’s nerves.
“Here,” he says as he stops. “Give me your bags. Just push the stroller.”
“What? You’re not going to carry all of these,” I argue.
“Dammit, Jessie. Do you want me to help or not? You can’t complain about carrying them and not carrying them.”
“Fine.” I extend my arms and let him start to peel them off of me, exposing the red marks underneath each handle. “Be my guest.”
Once he has all of them covering his arms, I grab the stroller and begin to push. Eli is still awake as her eyes look all around her, probably trying to figure out the noises of the city.
“Hi, baby girl.” I smile down at her. “Are you excited to meet your cousin?” Despite knowing she has no idea what I’m talking about, I continue to talk to her. “You’re going to love her. I bet you two become the best of friends. Just like me and your auntie.”
We finally get to their building and take the elevator up to the top floor. Walker seems slightly agitated as he pounds on the door. The door swings open seconds later.
Eva is holding Addie, who is snuggled up into her mama’s neck. Her smile fades as she looks between me and Walker, then down at the stroller.
“Ummm, hi,” she stutters as her eyes continue to bounce between us and Eli. “Come in.”
The second she closes the door behind us, Walker drops the bags to the ground and rubs his arms, which are no doubt hurting.
Roman walks into the foyer and gives Walker a hug. “Hey, man. Thanks for coming.” He glances at me, doing a double take. “Oh, hey, Jessie. I didn’t realize Eva had called you too.”
I bite my bottom lip, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. Why isn’t Walker saying anything?
Roman’s head crooks to the left. “Are you babysitting?” he asks casually as he notices the stroller.
I look over at Walker, who is standing frozen, like a statue. “Umm, kind of. I have babysat this little one before.”
Roman seems completely unfazed. He clearly has no idea what’s going on. Eva, however, knows there’s something up.
“What’s going on? What are you and Jessie doing together, and since when do you babysit? And what in the world are all these bags for?”
Walker pulls at his neck. “Uh, I think we should maybe sit down. I have a lot to explain.”
“Did I miss something?” Roman asks.
I try not to smile as Eva huffs and rolls her eyes at him.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Come on in.”
She turns around and walks into the family room with Addie still asleep on her chest. She takes a seat and absentmindedly rubs soothing circles on Addie’s back. Walker takes Eli’s car seat out of the stroller, and I follow him slowly into the family room.
Silence falls upon the room as we all sit on different ends of the sectional sofa. I peer into the car seat and notice that Eli is starting to make weird faces and scrunch her body. She’s about to lose it. Walker had better spill it before Eli freaks out.
“So”—Roman claps his hands together—“is this where you tell us that you two have finally pulled your heads out of your asses and gotten together?”
“Roman!” Eva scolds. “I can’t believe you said that. And be serious. They hate each other. Jessie literally can barely be in the same room as him.”
Roman laughs loudly while Eva looks over at us.
“Right?”
I look at Walker, who is staring at the carpet. I swear I have no idea how this man is a successful corporate attorney.
I can feel my face redden at the question. “Walker …” I bite through clenched teeth.
He takes a deep breath, then meets Eva’s eyes. “Jessie and I are just friends.”
Yikes. Him starting with that feels like someone rubbing salt in the wound. I know it’s true, but after what happened earlier, it’s still hard to hear, especially from his lips.
“And the baby’s name is Eli.” He pauses. “She’s my daughter.”
For a beat, no one breathes. The words hang in the air, heavy and impossible to ignore.
Eva’s mouth falls open, her eyes darting between Walker and me, like she’s waiting for one of us to laugh and say it’s a joke.
Roman leans back on the sofa and crosses his arms like he’s deciding whether or not he believes it.
Eva finally finds her voice. “Your daughter?” she repeats.
“Yes, my daughter.”
“H-h-h-how?” she follows up.
Walker chuckles lightly. “I think you know the answer to that. I only found out about her last weekend. A girl I’d hooked up with a couple of times dropped her off at my door. Told me she couldn’t do it anymore.”
“Fuck,” Roman exhales as he realizes Walker isn’t joking.
“Yeah.” Walker nods his head. “That was pretty much my reaction.”
“She just … dropped her off and took off?” Eva asks. “I thought that stuff only happened in the movies.”
“Apparently not,” he responds.
Eva turns her attention to me. “And how do you factor into this?”
“Umm, he called me, freaking out. He needed help.”
Eva’s face falls. “You called Jessie for help, not me?”
I see the look of betrayal in her eyes. Eva and Walker are siblings, but they are also close. They have always been there for one another. She’s hurt that he didn’t call her first.
Walker looks crushed, knowing he hurt her. “I’m sorry, Eva. I didn’t want to stress you out. You have enough going on. The last thing you needed was to worry about helping me figure my own mess out.”
“I could have helped you,” she replies softly. “And how was Jessie your second option? No offense, babe. I love ya. But I figured Walker would know better than to ask you to help since you’d rather make his life harder than easier.”
Walker and I both look at each other and smile.
“He’s not so bad,” I reply, then look at her. “Plus, I told him not to bother you. He needed help. Like, a lot of help. I spent the entire week at his place.”
“You did? Seriously?”
“It was only because I was afraid for the safety of this little one if I left him alone with her.”
Roman chuckles. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“And you didn’t call any of your friends or Mom and Dad?”
“Mom and Dad? Really?” Walker questions. “I needed help. Not a lecture.”
She bites her bottom lip and smiles. “Okay. Fair point.”
“And don’t get me started on my friends. I couldn’t take Roman away from you, and the rest of the guys are as clueless as me.”
Eli decides she has had enough and lets out a loud, shrieking scream. Walker moves to grab her, but I swat his hands away.
“It’s fine. I’ll feed her. You guys talk.”
I reach for the diaper bag that he brought over and pull out a bottle.
“Do you need to use our bottle warmer?” Eva asks. It’s sitting on the counter by the sink.
“Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll be right back.”
By the time I’m back, Eli is sucking down her bottle in my arms. I take a seat and tune back into the conversation.
“June 26. Are you serious?” Eva squeals. “Our babies are three days apart?”
Tears are now streaming down her cheeks. I knew she was going to be over the moon after the shock wore off.
“I can’t believe it,” Roman adds. “How are you handling everything? What’s the plan with work, going forward?”
“Well, I’ve already hired a nanny. She starts Monday. Honestly, I still have no idea how I’m going to manage all of this. My work isn’t conducive to being a father, let alone a single father.”
“We’re here to help,” Eva says with her hand over her heart. “I’d love to help watch Eli. She’s my niece. I want to be there for both of you.”
I can see the emotion rise up in Walker, who is currently trying to hold it back. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
Once everything settles down and both babies are awake, they wind up putting them next to each other on the carpet. Eva is obsessively taking pictures and talking to both girls about all the fun they are going to have.
But my mind keeps slipping back to the dressing room. To the feel of his hand on me, burning my skin as he inched closer and closer to my breast. My skin breaks out into goose bumps as I envision the way he looked at me and the feel of his hard length pressing against my back.
I force myself to smile, to pretend everything is normal. But the second his eyes hit me from across the room, I know … nothing about us will ever be the same again.