“Morty?” I asked.

  Trish nodded, “Fucking Morty! I run my ass out of that room so fast!”

  “We had been dating for about 4 months by that point, so I didn’t mind so much when she called me out of the blue. She was fucking hysterical on the phone, and I rushed to her place, thinking something was wrong or something happened to Elle. Nope! Just a hamster. So, like the amazing person I am, I swooped in and saved the day.” Renee leaned in a rested her head on Trish’s shoulder.

  “My hero.” Trish swooned.

  “And that’s why I haven’t had a pet since I was a kid.” Elle explained with a half-smile.

  “If we got a pet, what kind of pet would you want?” I asked in between sips of iced tea.

  “Honestly, I’m not really sure. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out, but for now I know it’s a far off down the road thing because our hands are gonna be full with the baby.”

  “Good point. Besides, does Logan’s place have enough room for a baby, a dog, or a cat, or God forbid a Morty the second?” Renee asked.

  Elle shifted in her seat. Her aunts had no way of knowing they were poking at a very raw and tender subject. Although it wouldn’t hurt to try and get them over to my side. I reached over and grabbed Elle’s hand.

  “I understand that it seems like my house is mine, but I mean it when I say what’s mine is hers. Besides my gaming and workout room, Elle is free to change whatever she wants. But Renee does bring up a good point. I’m starting to think our current place isn’t big enough for all of us. But I offered to buy her a house. She turned me down.”

  Elle squeezed the ever-loving hell out of my hand as my counteroffer to our earlier argument tumbled out of my mouth. Renee and Trisha just stared, slacked jawed, at Elle like what I said was the most flabbergasting thing they’d ever heard. A long moment stretched between us before Trisha slapped the table and screamed, “GIRL WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!”

  Elle snatched her hand out of mine and said, “Trish, you always told me not to depend on anyone! Besides, what would happen if we broke up? We aren’t married and adding a house just makes everything so much more difficult!”

  “I TOLD YOU THAT BEFORE YOU HAD A MAN OFFERING TO BUY YOU A FUCKING HOUSE!” Trisha snapped back.

  “She’s right, you know?” Renee interjected quietly in comparison to their shouting.

  Elle jerked to her feet. She bumped the table, and I lunged forward to save my glass of tea. Her fists were balled up at her sides in an effort to keep her top from blowing up. Her aunts looked at her with narrowed eyes. They knew just like I did that Elle wasn’t physically going to lash out, she didn’t have it in her. But her hurt had turned to anger, and that was my fault. I needed to fix things. I look a deep breath before standing up. Cautiously, I approached Elle. Her cute little face was scrunched, and cartoon smoke puffs threatened to shoot out of her ears. My heart clenched as I stepped closer, and the comedy of her expression gave way to the reality of tears collecting at the edge of her eyes.

  Damnit! I’m such an asshole.

  I took another deep breath before reaching out and grabbing Elle by the shoulders. The sensation of her bare skin on my hands pulsed through me. My touch clearly affected her too, as the tension in her shoulders loosened under my touch.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Please don’t be mad at me for saying anything. I just wanted your aunts to know I plan on taking care of you. Your reaction is totally valid. I understand that you’re worried about a chance we break up, so what if I offer to put the house completely in your name? No strings attached. I want you and our child to have a place to live that feels like a home.” I explained.

  The tight anger in Elle’s face deflated. She blinked back her tears.

  “You would really do that?” She asked.

  “Yes, I will. I can find someone to draft up paperwork on Monday if you let me do this for you.”

  “Promise?” Her voice was a husky whisper.

  “I promise.”

  Logically, I knew our relationship was still new. I hadn’t shown Elle the kind of partner I could be. We hadn’t had enough time together in a committed relationship. But emotionally it stung that the thought of me abandoning her had ever crossed her mine. Regardless her concern would only push me to do better and be better for her and Blobby. I pulled Elle to me and hugged her tight.

  “OOOOOO!” Renee and Trisha cooed in unison.

  I was starting to think everyone in our lives were actual teenagers in adult bodies.

  “I’m still kinda mad at you.” Elle murmured into my shirt.

  “I know, and you have every right to be. But I just want you to know when we get home I plan on showing you how sorry I am.” I whispered into her afro puff.

  “Perv!” she scoffed.

  “Can we try that cake you made now? Elle is always talking about how good you are at baking.” Trisha asked.

  I nodded, and she ducked into the kitchen to grab it. Trisha and Renee gushed about my cake, and I offered to bake them anything they wanted. All they had to do was ask. After a few touch and go moments, the rest of the evening went without pause. When we were leaving, Renee gave me a hug. I hoped the show of affection meant approval.

  “They really like you.” Elle commented as we pulled out of the driveway.

  “You think so?”

  “I know so. Trish doesn’t hug anybody but me and Renee, but I think you offering to buy me a house put you in her good graces. As for Renee, she's mean and she hugged you.”

  “I consider myself lucky then!” I grinned.

  Elle

  After a long night at the bar, I was exhausted. I didn’t work there but tagging along with Logan on his shifts, with pregnancy bladder, loud customers, the ponytailed twins’ antics, while under the beady eyed, cynical glare of Davis made me feel pretty beat. I dragged my ass into bed and let out a nice long sigh as my tired body settled into the cozy blankets.

  “Snug? My little bug?” Logan laughed as he changed into his pajamas.

  I nodded.

  “God, you’re so cute,” He smiled.

  Again, I nodded, too absorbed in appreciating his muscles to say anything.

  “Could you set an alarm for me? I’ve got a conference call in the morning.” Logan asked.

  I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and blinked back surprise at the notification that greeted me. It was an email from Dani.

  Hey girl!

  I just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your work on The Fury and The Flood?

  I’m really hoping those materials I sent are doing the trick and allowing you to think of the source material in a different light. I’m sure you’ll knock it out of the park!

  Hoping we could have a video call in a few weeks and discuss things. I’ve got my eye on a director and I want to share some more ideas with you. Your script is a major piece of the guidebook for the show, that being said, I definitely need & trust your feedback.

  Just heads up that I’m going to be out of the country for two weeks coming up. My new friend is taking me to Mexico! I can already hear the soothing beach waves and bottomless cocktails calling my name! LOL. I’ll be back at the start of June. Just let me know a day and time that works for you to meet up sometime around then!

  -Dani

  My eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

  Friend? I didn’t even know she had a “friend”.

  I clicked off the email and ran over to Insta. Sure enough Dani’s latest post was her and some very tall, tanned dude hugged up by a campfire.

  Only way to end a day! <3 you love, the caption read.

  I scrolled through the rest of her feed, but nothing else she had posted in the past few weeks led me to believe she was in a relationship. Just her typical posts of fancy coffee, overpriced cocktails, and lots of makeup. It was clearly something she was keeping under wraps.

  Why wouldn’t she tell me?

  Dani hadn’t been the best at communicating since I told her I was pregnant. Scratch that. Dani had never really been great at communicating with me. I’d had always noticed a pattern of her leaving my texts on read, or always being too busy to talk when she didn’t send the call straight to voicemail. Those nagging little voices that lurked in my head would get overwhelmingly loud when she ghosted on me for months at a time. But we would always reconnect and have 4-to-5-hour phone calls and my doubts would be soothed, those voices silenced. Since we first met, we had a connection, or so I thought we did. So many drunken convention nights together. So many plane trips going to see her. My stomach knotted. Dani was my best friend… But it was becoming clear I wasn’t hers.

  “…Hey. Sweetheart, are you okay?” Logan asked softly as he climbed into bed beside me.

  “No…” I mumbled, totally unable to even attempt a lie.

  My vision blurred. There was no holding back the sadness as the dam broke and tears streaked down my face as burning filled my chest. Logan wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. Without question, he smoothed his hand over my back as I wept. I blubbered against his chest as the realization weighed me down. Dani was my BFF, but I wasn’t hers. She liked me enough to help me with my career, but not to answer my phone calls. I had no idea how long Logan let me cry onto his chest. But he did so without question. Eventually, once my sobs slowed, he pulled away and climbed out of bed. I tried to steady my breathing, but a hiccup caught in my throat and tears started flowing again. I flopped back onto my pillow and resumed sobbing. My pained, cracked voice sounded foreign in my own ears.

  “Sweetheart? Here, take this.”

  I glanced up at Logan crouched down on my side of the bed. He extended a wet washcloth towards me. Still sniffling, I cleaned my sticky and wet face. Logan sat on the edge of the bed and smiled warily.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” He asked.

  “…Y-you know how Dani is my best friend?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, I’m not hers.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “She’s never come to visit me in the whole 9 years we’ve known each other. She never answers my calls or texts. And she didn’t even tell me she had a boyfriend!” I buried my head in my hands.

  “Sweetie I’m so sorry. Maybe she it just slipped her mind?” Logan offered.

  I shook my head. “No! I tell her everything. That’s what friends do. I feel so stupid.”

  “Hey! Please don’t call yourself stupid. You’re not stupid. Your feelings are valid, but you’re not stupid. You may have thought of your friendship in a different light than she did, but that doesn’t make you stupid.”

  “It doesn’t?”

  “No. And just because you’re not as close as you thought doesn’t mean you two aren’t friends. Friendship’s ebb and flow, they are always in a state of flux. She cares about you enough to have you on this show, so that enough means you mean something to her. Right?”

  I shrugged, “I guess. I feel like sometimes, I don’t understand people.”

  “I feel the same way,” Logan leaned in and kissed my forehead. His lips lingered on my temple for a moment before he kissed my cheek.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I hate to see you cry.” He whispered in between tender kisses.

  He planted a trail of kisses down my cheek and one on my chin for good measure. The tickle of his stubble made me giggle.

  “There’s my girl.” He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands.

  My breathing slowed as his thumbs inched over my cheeks and wiped away the wet streaks my tears left behind.

  “I’m sorry if this makes me sound like an asshole, but I mean this in the most caring way… Elle, you’re tired, you’re pregnant, and that messes with hormones. Your emotions might be a bit haywire right now. Let’s get some sleep and look at this in the morning. We can come back to your friendship with Dani with fresh eyes. Does that sound okay?”

  “That sounds okay.” I muttered.

  “Great.” Logan reached over and turned off the light.

  In the darkness, under the covers, Logan pulled me to him. I nestled my head on his chest and focused on his breathing as his chest rose and fell. The rhythmic steadiness of his breathing gave me something to focus on in my emotional haze. Lids heavy, I closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

  Groaning, I rolled onto my side and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. It was past 10am, and I didn’t mean to sleep in. Feeling overly emotional made me so exhausted, my brain and body just shut down. I sat up just as a knock on the door caught my attention.

  “Since when do you knock? Come in!” I shouted.

  Laughing, Logan opened the door and peeked into the bedroom. Dressed in only his skimpy workout shorts, which I had mentally dubbed his himbo panties. His himbo panties had to be my favorite piece of clothing he owned. The generous print of his generously long dick was chef’s kiss.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” He asked.

  “Meh. Not as sad. But still kinda sad.” I pushed thoughts of his dick out of my head long enough to answer.

  “Ah. Great! I don’t mean great! I mean UGH! Hold on!” Logan vanished, leaving me to blink in utter confusion at his word salad.

  A moment later, he reappeared, grinning wider than the Cheshire Cat. He carried a large, covered tray to my side of the bed.

  “What’s all this?” I asked as he set the tray over my lap.

  “I know you were having a hard time last night, so I made something for you.” He pulled the cover off the tray to reveal a large stack of steaming French toast topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I inhaled deeply, allowing the sweet smells to fill my nose.

  “Sweetheart! Thank you! You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I wanted to. I’ll bring you some coffee and we’ll do breakfast in bed today. I want you to relax. How’s that sound?”

  “Sounds good.” I smiled.

  I admired Logan’s cute ass as he rushed out of the bedroom for coffee. I sighed wistfully at how thoughtful and sweet my boyfriend was. Food was the way to my heart and helped to soothe the pain that hollowed my chest. I tried to push aside my sadness and focus on the good in the moment.

  “Sweet coffee for my sweetie!” Logan proclaimed as he returned to the bedroom, a mug in each hand.

  He winked as he handed over my coffee. I hid my suddenly bashful smile as I took a sip. Logan climbed into bed beside me, wiggled his eyebrows urging me to try the French toast. I giggled and sat down my mug. It never took much to get me to eat anything sweet. I grabbed my fork and cut off a generous piece of toast, along with some fruit and whipped cream. The fluffy sweet tartness exploded on my taste buds.

  “…So?” Logan asked.

  “Amazing!” I said as I dug in for another bite.

  “Yay! I’m glad you like it.”

  “I really do! Is this a special recipe?” I asked in between bites.

  “I wish I could be all cool and say yes, but no. I’ve never made French toast before, so I found a recipe online. I’m glad you like it. I’ll save it to make again when you’re feeling down. I was thinking we could call it Elle’s Rainy-Day French Toast?”

  “But it’s not raining,” I laughed as I looked over his shoulder and out the window to a bright sunny day.

  “Can’t call them Elle’s Sunny Day French Toast, it’s a pick me up when you’re sad!”

  “We’ll workshop it.” I smiled.

  “Fine. Fine.” He huffed in mock defeat. “So, in further efforts to distract you from upsetting feelings let’s talk house stuff. Do you have anything in mind when you picture casa Elle?” Logan wiggled his eyebrow at me.

  Thankfully, he hid his smarmy grin behind his coffee mug. Steaming hot liquid saved his ass from taking a pillow to the face.

  Damn you Trisha! Damn you Renee! And damn you Logan!

  “Not really. Just something with more space for Blobby and us as a family to grow.”

  “Grow? You already want more babies?! Let’s have the one you’re pregnant with first! Gosh!” Logan exclaimed.

  Damn tray!

  Another excuse saved his ass again.

  “Anyway! I think an open floor plan on the main level would be nice. But upstairs, I think I would want Blobby’s bedroom closer to ours. One of the problems here is that the room that would be the baby’s is too far away and I’d worry too much.”

  “I never thought about it like that, but yeah, even with a monitor, I would be nervous with Blobby’s room being on the other end of the house. Sweet, sexy, and smart, my girlfriend is the whole package!” Logan mused aloud.

  I rolled my eyes and took another bite of toast. Very tasty breakfast eaten and coffee drunk, Logan pulled me close for a quick morning cuddle before he needed to get ready for work. His fingertips leisurely brushed across my spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

  “Question for you,” he asked.

  “Hmmm?” I murmured in a hazy of caffeine, sugar, serotonin, and lust.

  “So, Joe, the owner at MWA wants me to come in a day early for the staff doctors to look me over. If they give me the all clear, he’s got a storyline, he’s super excited to put me in. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

  “Tomorrow?” I leaned up on my elbows, my pout very prominent.

  “Yeah. Do you want to come? We can make a whole trip out of it. You, me, Nick, and Matt. I think it could be fun.”

  “I can come?” I blinked back surprise.

  “Yeah. You can see where I work and what’s it like behind the scenes and stuff.”

  “Yes!”

  “Awesome!” Logan smiled, his eyes shining.

  “One thing.”

  He reached up and cupped my cheek. “For you anything. All you have to do is ask.”

  Love me. All I want is for you to love me.

  My brain misfired and my heart skipped a beat. Coolness spread through my chest. I stared into Logan’s eyes. The deepest blue, a storm of a thousand thoughts, seemed to swirl behind them. There was so much about him I wanted to know. So many quirks, I wanted to figure out. I wanted to stay up all night talking, then fuck until the sun came up. We’d collapse in a sweaty heap and Logan would pull me to him. My forehead against his. Our chests heaving in tandem as we fought against passion to collect our breath. Then he would say those words. Those three little words that would overwhelm me with joy. Off his lips and into my ears. That was what I wanted. I wanted that I love you more than anything. And that was a dangerous thought. A stupid, unspoken, dangerous thought. Timing was of the essence, and it was far, far, far too soon! Blobby notwithstanding, our relationship was too new. The sheen of having a title to our relationship hadn’t worn off yet.