So cute…

  Without closing the fridge, I gulped down a whole water bottle. Breathing hard, I glanced at the clock above the stove. I had some time, so I decided to call my parents. To just rip the band aid off. I opened the sliding door and headed outside to the back patio. I flopped down in one of my beat-up lawn chairs and pulled out my phone.

  “Logie!” Mom shouted affectionally into the phone after answering on the second ring.

  My childhood nickname locked me in a full body cringe. Like every other time I called, Mom put me on speakerphone so both she and Dad could talk to me at the same time. Usually, it was annoying, but this time it served its purpose. My parents always watched my wrestling. It was something for me and Dad to talk about, as he wasn’t a man of many words. As expected, Dad gushed about my recent match. He knew the ins and out of the business but still called my opponents assholes, even when I was playing the bad guy.

  “So, I’ve got some news.” I said once there was a lull in the conversation.

  “Are you finally coming home for a visit?” Mom screeched.

  “Please tell me those assholes in management are gonna put my boy in the title picture?!” Dad exclaimed on a different topic entirely.

  I sighed and rubbed my temple with my free hand. “No, not yet, Dad. And I’ll come home soon, I promise Mom.”

  “You always say that!” I could hear the pout in Mom’s voice.

  I sighed again. “Anyway, I’ve got something I need to tell you… In about six months, you guys are gonna be grandparents.”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, my stomach twisted in terror. Silence greeted me from their end. Suddenly I was a lanky, mop headed teenager terrified of what his parents thought all over again.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  “What did you say?” Mom’s voice trembled, letting me know she heard me clearly.

  “I’m gonna be a Dad. A girl is pregnant, and the baby is mine.”

  “How could you not tell us you have a serious girlfriend?” Mom asked.

  I winced at the question.

  “…Elle isn’t my girlfriend. People don’t have to be together to have a kid.”

  “You got some random girl pregnant!? We did not raise you like that, Logan Elliot!” Mom’s screeching attempted to murder my fucking ear.

  I leaned back in my chair and held back the massive groan that brewed in my throat.

  “I know we never had a talk, but I thought you knew what condoms were.” Dad suddenly spoke up.

  I wished I could have blamed this on my parents’ lack of a sexual education for me, but I took responsibility for my own shit. Dad clearly thought I was a dumbass. Despite being impressed with my wrestling skills, it hurt to hear he didn’t think much of me.

  “Well, I’ve gotta open up the bar. Love you guys. Bye.” I hung up the phone and resisted the urge to toss it across the yard.

  When Elle looked at me like I was a dumbass, she was absolutely right.

  Elle

  It had nearly been a week since bathtub dick gate. Nearly a week since Logan told his parents about me. We didn’t speak about either incident. I was too scared to think about how his parents reacted. Instead, I preferred to think about Logan all wet standing in the tub with his dick dangling between his legs. Long, thick, and smooth. I wanted to grab it, suck it and … I swallowed hard and shook the sexual daydreams out of head. I was not the time or the place. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. Logan was wrestling today, so Renee was picking me up for my doctor’s appointment. She could be scattered brained. I hoped she hadn’t forgotten about me. No sooner than the thought crossed my mind, her car whipped around the corner. I locked the front door with the key Logan had given me and hopped into the passenger seat.

  “Hey girly!” Renee shouted at me as I fumbled with my seatbelt.

  “Hey.” I smiled.

  Renee looked cute with her locs pulled up in a ponytail. Her strapless gold sundress made her skin look flawless. Seeing her in all her hippy/hipster glory, it was easy to see how Trish fell for her.

  “So…” She pulled up her round sunglasses up to rest on her forehead and leaned forward to look out the window, “He’s got a pretty nice place.”

  “Yeah?” I shrugged, knowing there had to be more to that leading statement.

  “Just commenting,” she returned my shrug.

  “…When I asked you to pick me up, I noticed I never gave you the address.” I raised an eyebrow.

  Renee rolled her eyes. “Elle, they don’t make Dateline specials for missing Black girls. I looked his ass up the moment you told us you were pregnant. If I was worried, he might be shady, you wouldn’t be staying with him.”

  We were both quiet as Renee pulled into traffic. Of course, I was thankful my family was looking out for me. But Renee’s snooping made me feel like even after all these years my aunts didn’t think of me as a trustworthy adult. I was pregnant by a guy I barely knew. Maybe they were right.

  I squinted at the ultrasound print out. Blobby was Blobby no longer. They had little hands, little arms, little legs, and little feet.

  A person is growing inside me…

  That thought was one I’d struggled with since I decided to keep the pregnancy. Seeing them growing and developing normally made joy swell in my heart. I placed the printout on my table and rubbed my stomach. After my appointment, Renee took me for a late lunch. Today’s craving was Middle Eastern, so she took us to the closest Shawarma place. Sitting across from me, Renee grinned at her own ultrasound photo. She asked the technician if he could print an extra photo for her, and he happily agreed.

  “My baby is adorable!” Renee gushed.

  “Your baby? If I’m not mistaken, I’m the pregnant one here.” I scoffed.

  “Semantics.” Renee waved her hand. “Did you send Logan a picture of the picture?”

  “Not yet.”

  He did say he wanted to know about my appointment. I had planned on telling him when he got home, but sending him a picture wouldn’t hurt anything.

  Right?

  I positioned the picture in different spots on the table until it had the smallest possible amount of glare from the overhead lights and from my camera. Photo taken; a slight tremble shot through my hands. My brow scrunched at the sudden wave of nerves.

  It’s a picture! Calm down!

  I pressed send. I let out a heavy breath out my nose and I placed my phone face down on the table.

  “This occasion calls for falafel!” I exclaimed as I pushed back my chair and sprinted to the buffet.

  Sweet smells filled my nose as I grabbed a plate. I tried to focus on filling my plate with as many falafels as possible, and not Logan’s reaction.

  “Did you bring enough falafel for the rest of the class?” Renee asked as I returned with a plate full of steaming falafel and another plate of hummus for dipping, of course.

  “You can have some,” I rolled my eyes and pushed the plate of falafel to the middle of the table.

  Renee had to be fancy and ordered a sandwich for herself. I was content with the all you can eat buffet. I grabbed a piece of falafel, dipped it in hummus, and closed my eyes as I brought the piece of fried heaven to my mouth. Before the falafel touched my lips, my phone started vibrating. Startled, I trembled and dropped my falafel on the floor. Thankfully, because I was so lucky, the glob of hummus landed on my jeans.

  “Shit!” I muttered under my breath.

  “Are you going to answer that?!” Renee asked with wide eyes and a mischievously nosey grin.

  I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat didn’t budge.

  “Answer the man’s call!” Renee shouted while still grinning at me.

  I ignored my trembling hands and grabbed my phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey!” Logan breathlessly exclaimed.

  “So… Is that our Blobby?” He asked.

  Our Blobby?

  The lump in my throat dissolved as my lips curved upward into a face splitting grin.

  “…Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

  “Wow!” I couldn’t see him, but the smile on his face was evident in his voice.

  Neither of us said anything for a long moment. Content, I sat there grinning like an idiot. Noises and voices in the background suddenly got louder. Logan cut in by muffling the phone and shouting,

  “Fuck off for five fucking minutes! Jesus!”

  Groaning, he apologized. But the moment was gone. We were pulled back to earth.

  “…No need to apologize. Do you have a match tonight?” I asked, in an attempt to sober us up.

  “Yeah. Nick and Zeke do too. That’s why I can’t have privacy for a few seconds around here. I think they want to run some spots by me. I’ve gotta go.”

  “Okay. Good luck tonight. I’ll be watching.” My cheeks heated at the confession.

  “Thanks. You will be?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I’ll make sure to be impressive then.” He teased.

  “Make sure you knock my socks off.”

  “I’ll knock off more than that. Bye Elle.”

  I placed the phone back on the table and let a wave of gooey warmth wash over me. My happiness cooled instantly when I looked up and locked eyes with Renee. Her smarmy grin took a knife to my warm feelings.

  “What?!” I huffed as I grabbed another piece of falafel and stuffed it in my mouth.

  “Don’t what me!” Renee rolled her eyes. “Several things, but first things first, you like that man. For all you’re trying not to, you ended up liking him!”

  Having bitten off way more than I could chew literally, I furiously shook my head no in protest. Renee ignored me and continued her rant.

  “You slept with him, ran out of his bed in the middle of the night while he slept. After you told him you were pregnant, he stepped up and showed you he wanted to be there for you. You keep running from the man Elle! Running for what? You like him even if you don’t want to admit it, and he clearly likes you. I swear to God kids these days never want a good thing when they’ve got it, only to cry when it’s gone!” Renee tossed up her hands.

  I trembled as Renee opened her mouth to fuss more, but thankfully our server saved me by bringing her sandwich. Called out and embarrassed as hell, I grabbed my water and took several large gulps. Water and falafel hit my stomach, but I wasn’t hungry anymore. I stared off into the distance while Renee ate.

  There were moments with Logan when I wanted something more. When he did something or said something, and my heart squeezed. When sometimes the longing became almost suffocating. But reality crept in. It always did. A relationship with Logan was a fantasy. A rose-colored daydream where I was able to admit it might be nice. But that confession stayed in my head. I would never admit it to my aunts, or Logan. We were co-parents. I was happy we were going to work together well. But every now and again, it was nice to be embraced by the fantasy.

  Co-parents!

  Co-Parents!

  Co-Parents!

  I made a point to keep screaming that mantra in my head. It helped. Until the end of the day when I was in bed all alone. In the dark room, under the privacy of the covers, my body screamed. I’d slide my hands down my body and masturbate to take the edge off. I always tried to keep quiet by muffling my orgasm screams in a pillow. Every morning during our morning coffee, Logan never seemed any the wiser. His daisy duke workout shorts did nothing to hamper my horny. He’d strut into the kitchen with that scrap of cloth barely covering his dick and ass. It took all my willpower not to snatch off those ‘shorts’, drop to my knees, and suck his soul out through his dick like a fucking straw.

  Slurp, slurp.

  “Did you hear what I said?” Logan asked.

  “What?” I blinked at him sitting next to me.

  My mind had wandered. It was Tuesday morning, and we were going through our routine of having coffee together. We had a whole schedule that was cute, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

  “When I leave this week on Wednesday, I’ll be gone for four days.” Logan explained again.

  “Four days?” I pouted.

  “Yeah. It’s my first pay-per-view for MWA and they want me to do press and interviews.”

  I’ll miss you…

  I took another sip of my coffee and tried to ignore the hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Logan excitedly explained some of the company’s plans for him. I nodded along. I was happy they had such high hopes for him, but selfishly I would miss him. Our days together had become comfortable. When I fell asleep on the couch after dinner, who would wake me up to go to bed? I took another sip of coffee. The man was going off for work. He wasn’t dead. I’d see him again on Sunday. I was being silly. Yep. Totally silly. We finished our coffee, and I went into the pantry for a granola bar or 4 and Logan went to get dressed. Granola bar in my mouth and a few others in my hands, I flopped down on the couch just as Logan walked out of the bedroom.

  “I’ll see you and Blobby tonight,” he smiled.

  “Have a good day at the bar!” I exclaimed as clearly as possible with a granola bar hanging out of my mouth.

  Logan shook his head and laughed. We exchanged waves as he turned to leave. I watched his cute, toned ass walk out the front door. My brow furrowed as I noticed the stiffness to his steps.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, just as he turned to close the door behind him.

  “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You’re walking weird.”

  “Oh, that.” He shrugged. “Just a bit stiff. I’ve not been sleeping great.”

  On that note, Logan shut the door before I could press him further. In an effort not to focus on him being gone for the next four days, I grabbed my laptop off the coffee table. Like I had promised Dani, I hadn’t thought too much about the script. Blobby and Logan’s sexy ass had occupied most of my brain space. If anything, our time apart gave me a chance to focus on work. Just as she had promised, an email sat in my inbox.

  Hey chick!

  I hope you followed my advice and didn’t overthink things with The Fury and The Flood! But knowing you I bet you did! Anyway I had a long think about it and think these things will help. Please let me know if there’s anything thing else, I can help with! Also, just let me know how pregnancy is going!

  Miss your face!

  -Dani x

  I downloaded the untitled attachments and was greeted by an original script and a file of redesigned character sheets. I shoveled down the last bit of granola bar and opened another one as I held back the tears. This was perfect! Envisioning the script outside of the terrible comic art was just what I needed to jumpstart my writing. Grinning like a loon, I replied to Dani’s email with a bunch of exclamation points and swear words. That bitch was a mind reader, and I loved her so much. I spent most of my day reading through the script and making notes in a new document. The tapping of my fingers on the keys was invigorating. It was just note taking, but the gears were turning again. It felt so good to be working again.

  I woke up Wednesday to an empty house. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Wednesday, but sadness circled me. Like it had many times before, work carried me through my loneliness. I loved having my own space but living with Logan almost felt natural. We were going to be great parents, but damn that little voice in the back of head constantly screaming for more. I popped in my headphones and turned my music all the way up. After several hours of reading and note taking, I sat my laptop aside and climbed off the couch. I groaned loudly at a sharp pain in my ass and lower back.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I grumbled as I dropped to the floor to stretch my back.

  No wonder Logan walked like he had a stick up his ass. His couch was comfortable in short bursts, not lazy afternoons or weeks at a time. I cringed at the realization.

  Damn.

  Why hadn’t I noticed before? Why hadn’t he said anything? He wanted me to be comfortable, he didn’t want me to worry about him. I groaned. That bastard. That sexy, thoughtful bastard.

  Logan

  “Are you fucking serious right now?!” Zeke groaned and slumped against the lockers.

  “Yeah, I am.” I nodded.

  Zeke groaned again, and Nick rolled his eyes. My match was going great. Lance Silver and I were on firing on all cylinders, and we pumped up the crowd. He threw me over the barricade towards the crowd and I landed funky. The moment I hit the ground, red flashed behind my eyes. Dislocated my fucking shoulder. Not the worst injury ever had, but still not ideal. We had to end the match early and Joe Hollis MWA’s owner made the call for Silver to pin me. I wanted to punch something, but in the end, it was nobody’s fault but my own.

  Nick and Zeke had their match earlier and were instantly at my side when I came backstage. MWA’s doctor popped my shoulder back into place. I may have screamed, I won’t confirm. The doctor put me in a shoulder stabilizer, which was basically a sling with an extra band attaching it to my waist. He said I would need to follow up with my primary doctor on Monday morning. Until then, he assured me, I would be fine not moving it much, icing it, and taking Tylenol. Nick and Zeke wanted to celebrate their win and I think I heard Nick talking about some women’s wrestler he wanted to hook up with. These fuckers were my best friends. They’d just helped me shower and get dressed. Why they thought I’d want to be anywhere else but in my own space tonight was stupid. They were pissed, but that was the downside to carpooling.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and muttered an “I’m sorry,” under my breath.

  Nick and Zeke ignored me as they snatched their bags. The pair marched ahead of me to the parking lot, their collective rage almost visible around them. To the best of my abilities, with my right arm in a sling under my hoody, I grabbed my gym bag with my good arm and headed to the parking lot.

  “Hey Logan!”

  I turned around to Joe Hollis running down the hall after me. Joe was a bespeckled guy with short black hair and very piercing gray eyes. Generally, a friendly dude, but it was still unnerving to see the billionaire owner of the company you work for chasing after you.