Chapter 30 #2
“My wife doesn’t like it when people pass out blowing up balloons for her baby shower.”
“He passed out ?” I repeat, wading through the balloons to try to find the rest of Jonas.
“I didn’t know dude wasn’t used to the elevation yet,” Decker says. “He’s been here for like a month. He should be used to the elevation.”
“And we figured anybody who talks as much as he does had to have good lung capacity,” Jack adds.
“Good lungs,” Jonas wheezes. “Dry. But good. Big. Big lungs.”
I push balloons aside to find him, but they keep falling back on themselves. “Can you four please start decorating the dining room with these?”
“Making—balloon pit—for Bash,” Jonas says.
“Bawoon pit!” Bash echoes. “I die!”
“Do not dive in the balloon pit, please.” The images flashing in my brain right now—Bash doing a header onto the floor and knocking himself out or gushing blood out of a head wound.
I shudder.
“We put cushioning on the floor first, Em,” Decker says, clearly offended.
“Lucky’d basically kill us if we didn’t,” Jack adds.
Decker nods. “He’s already pissed we’re interrupting his morning to come over and check out Mr. Airhead over here.”
“ So pissed.”
“My nut sack’s shriveling. And I wasn’t even the one who called him.”
“To be fair, I had a feeling he was on a date. This isn’t surprising.”
“The part where he had a date is surprising.”
“But him being pissed that we interrupted it isn’t.”
“Truer words, my brother.”
Jonas giggles.
Giggles .
It’s freaking adorable.
Also?
Bash giggles the exact same way.
I finally succeed in pushing enough balloons out of the way so that I can see Jonas’s face.
He has his eyes closed and he’s sucking in deep breaths.
I squat next to him and put a hand to his forehead. It’s automatic to check for a fever even though I know going light-headed shouldn’t cause a fever.
But what if he has a fever and that’s what made him pass out?
“Are you still light-headed?” I ask him.
No fever.
But I let my hand linger on his face while I balance on the balls of my feet beside him.
I can’t help touching him.
He’s absolutely adorable.
Not movie-star handsome. Not ruggedly handsome.
I mean, he’s both of those things most of the time.
But right now, he’s as sweet and effortlessly charming as Bash is when he’s waking up in the morning.
“Small headache.” His chest raises as he sucks in a big breath, displacing more balloons. “Worth it.”
“Did these yahoos tell you that they have pumps for the balloons?”
Jonas slides one eye open and squints at me. “My lungs are the pumps.”
I try to give him the stern mama glare, but he’s clearly going to be okay, and somehow his eyes are crossed even though only one is open.
And those crossed eyes on top of that smile?
How can I not be completely and totally smitten with this man?
“I’m Super Lung Man,” he adds.
Decker snickers.
Jack coughs.
“If you’re gonna be a superhero, be a new one,” Theo says. “You want a cape? Laney. Get this man a custom cape.”
“Will I be in trouble with your security team if I don’t get you to a doctor?” I ask Jonas.
“Nope.”
“The rest of your family?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure?”
He smiles at me. “Won’t let them be mad at you.”
I smile back, almost missing the fact that the balloons are moving around us again.
Jitter’s coming to investigate.
He shoves against me, displacing more balloons and pushing them back over Jonas’s face.
But more—Jitter’s so big, he’s knocking me off-balance.
“ Jitter ,” I gasp as I try to grab onto him to keep from falling.
The St. Bernard snorts in my face.
In my face .
I stumble sideways.
My arms flail. I try to adjust my feet to stay upright while I’m squatting here, but it doesn’t work, and I tumble.
Sideways.
With my hand connecting with denim covering?—
“ Urp ,” Jonas says.
Oh, god.
Oh, no no no.
I thump back onto my tailbone and snatch my hand back.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” I whisper.
Not there, not there, not there , I silently wish. Please tell me I didn’t land directly on his penis .
Jonas whimpers.
I can’t see him anymore through the balloons.
“ Jitter , go,” I order. “Go to your house.”
He ignores me and puts his massive head down into the balloons, right about where?—
“ Ack ,” Jonas gasps.
His body twitches next to me.
I shove the dog’s backside. “Jitter, go find Grey.”
Jitter’s head jerks up. He gives me a massive doggy grin, then changes course, galloping through the balloons and heading toward the dining room.
Decker and Jack are watching me, their identical expressions a mixture of horrified and amused.
Theo’s disappeared.
Bash pokes his head out above the balloons beneath the prep table. “Why Mama yell Ditta?”
“He licked me,” Jonas says.
“Ditta wike you!” Bash shrieks.
Sabrina and Laney are clearly stifling laughter behind us as well.
“That’s true,” Sabrina forces out. “Jitter only licks the people he likes.”
“Are you okay?” I whisper to Jonas.
“Might need to sit the rest of today out,” he whispers back.
The back door bangs open. “I’m here,” Lucky says. “Where’s the ducking patient, you ack-jasses? And why am I your personal medical professional ? Next time, find someone else.”
“Hot date?” Sabrina asks him.
He flips her off, spots Bash, goes pink, and scowls harder at her.
“I’m okay,” Jonas says beneath the balloons. “I’m incognito.”
“Why’d you blow up this many balloons?” Lucky asks. “You don’t need this many balloons.”
“Social experiment,” Decker replies the same time Jack says, “We were testing him.”
“I’m okay,” Jonas repeats.
“Did I—” I start, but he interrupts me.
“It’s fine.”
“Oh my god.”
“I’m gonna live.”
“Jonas—”
“It was an accident.”
“And I am so?—”
“Worth it.”
I go still.
You’re worth it .
I damaged his penis , put all of my weight on using his penis to stop my fall, and he doesn’t care.
“I like you, Emma,” he whispers behind the balloons.
Dammit dammit dammit .
My eyes are getting hot. So are my ears.
I don’t know who heard that.
Not that it’s a surprise to anyone.
He’s offered to give up acting for me—for us, for me and Bash.
But I’ve been telling myself it’s a sense of obligation. Of duty. Of guilt.
For Bash.
With me as a tag-along who sometimes oversteps boundaries and kisses him.
But this ?
Telling me he likes me after I’ve basically assaulted his family jewels?
That’s not obligation.
Obligation would involve the lawyers. A paternity test. Formal arrangements for child support and visitation.
He likes me .
And I can’t deny it anymore.
“Can someone get these damn balloons out of the kitchen?” Lucky mutters behind me. “Scoot, Emma. Let me make sure he’s gonna live.”
“I’m gonna live,” Jonas says. “Have to. Too much to live for not to.”
“All those award shows and women fawning over you, right?” Lucky says.
I scurry out of the way and don’t hear Jonas’s answer over the sound of the balloons squeaking together.
Laney and Sabrina are both watching me.
So is Theo.
“C’mon, Bash.” I have no idea how I’m keeping my voice normal. He likes me . All of me. Exactly as I am. Awkward moments and all. He’s not trying to change me. He’s changing his life for me . And Bash. For both of us. Not one over the other. “Let’s go put the party balloons where the party goes.”
And let my heart rate calm down.
I like you .
I don’t know if he’s said it before, but I heard it this time.
And I’m starting to truly, honestly, fully believe him.