Page 141 of Taking Sides

“Nah. I prefer mine on you.”

“Hmmm. You don’t happen to have one with you, do you? I left mine at your place.”

“Unfortunately, no. I’ll start carrying one with me at all times.” I kiss her, then look into the guest room. Light yellow paint covers half of one wall and there are boxes of furniture stacked in the middle of the room. “How can I help?”

“Order me food and tell me I’m pretty as I stuff my face. Then maybe put that bookshelf together.”

I laugh. “Done.”

I order food, then push up my sleeves to get to work on what will eventually be the nursery, but for now we’re calling it the guest room. Whitney said she wants to wait to fully decorate it until we meet the little girl or boy. My friends are taking bets on the gender. Travis and Penn both think girl. Galaxy and D-Low have boy. Me? I don’t know. It’s hard to picture either right now. But I know without a doubt that I’m going to love this baby with every fiber of my being. The same way I love their momma.

“Really though, you should think about bringing some more stuff here.” She doesn’t look at me as she goes back to running the roller through the tray of yellow paint. “You’re spending most nights here. I can clean out a drawer or a side of the closet or whatever you need.”

There’s something in the way she won’t look at me that has me questioning the words she’s saying. “Are you asking me to move in, baby?”

“No.” Her face flushes, and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “Maybe. Will Danny miss you terribly?”

“Probably.” I nod. “But I’ll still see him at the rink.”

“Really?” The excitement in her expression makes me laugh.

“We’re getting married. I assumed that meant eventually we might also live together.”

“Eventually, as in now?” she asks hesitantly.

I pull out my phone. Whitney shoots me a confused look as I put it to my ear.

“What’s up?” D-Low answers, casually.

“I’m moving in with Whitney. That cool?”

“What’s he saying?” Whitney whispers. “Is he mad? Is he never going to speak to me again?”

I put him on speaker. “Can you say that again?”

“Which part? The thing about how I’m going to turn your room into a library or game room or how I’m going to cry myself to sleep every night without you?”

I chuckle softly as Whitney’s expression fills with guilt.

“He’s joking,” I assure her.

“Just kidding, Whit.” D-Low laughs quietly. “But I am going to need to borrow your man occasionally. We haven’t finished our Denzel marathon.”

“You can have him when you travel,” she says, grinning now.

“Travel and two weekend nights a month,” he counters.

“One weekend night a month. We’re having a baby. I’m going to need help with diapers and all that.”

“Fine. Fine. Deal. Congrats, you two.”

“Thanks, buddy,” I say. We’d already talked about what’d happen if either of us wanted out of our lease, so I knew he’d be fine with it.

“Later.” He ends the call, and I slide my phone into my pocket.

“Well . . . now what?” I ask her.

She smiles before lunging into my arms. “Welcome home.”