I knew Heath had an ego. He was always so confident, so sure of himself, and the last thing I ever did was feed it by giving him attention. So I felt like I failed that by gawking at him. But with Ryker not in the picture, what the hell else was I supposed to focus on?
“So how’d it go?” he asked. “Baby doing alright?”
“The check-up was good. I have an ultrasound in three weeks, and I have to pick up some pills in the meantime.”
“What kind of pills?”
I pulled out the piece of paper the doctor gave me and looked at the name of the pills. “Something called Elevit. It’s meant to give the baby all the multi-vitamins and minerals it needs.”
“Oh, right.”
And that was all the talking we could accomplish. That uncomfortable awkwardness swiftly settled in as I glanced out the window and watched the town pass by. Why couldn’t I just relax around this guy? What made Heath so unbelievably difficult to be around?
“I’ll be seeing Ryker tomorrow,” he then said.
I tensed in my seat. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Yeah, I am. Don’t worry. He’s going to be cool about this.”
I didn’t respond. I was incredibly sceptical of that, recalling the time I’d missed my period and how angry he’d been. He’d dragged me to the chemist, bought a bunch of pregnancy tests and didn’t wait until we were home to take them. Instead, he took me to a public bathroom in the shopping centre. All the while he’d been trying to reassure himself by saying that whatever the outcome was, we’d get it taken care of. That was a year ago.
Again, that bitterness from before returned. I ended up scowling out the window, nose flared, feeling resentment toward him.
“Allie,” Heath said softly, drawing me out of my thoughts, “stop worrying.”
“I’m not,” I lied.
“You should practice lying in front of a mirror more often. That way you’ll see the way your nose scrunches up and the look of denial on your face when you do it.”
I shot him a scathing look and he laughed. “Okay, so I’m worrying. Can you blame me? Ryker’s intense when he’s unhappy about something. You know him.”
“Yeah, he’s got a temper, huh?”
“And he’s not going to be afraid to show you it when it comes to this.”
“I won’t let him. So stop stressing, it’s not good for the baby.”
I looked at him. He caught my gaze as he stopped at a red light. He regarded me sincerely, curving one side of his mouth up. He was giving me a look of reassurance that said, “Don’t worry, I got this.” While my cheeks heated once more at his attention, my body sagged with ease in my seat. He was right. I shouldn’t stress, especially when I knew I wasn’t alone in this.
Thank you. I wanted to say that to Heath right then and there. I had a huge desire to just hug him tightly and cry and tell him how much his support meant to me. But I couldn’t seem to draw the words out. Especially when images of him and that girl suddenly overcame me, and all I could see was that sincere face on a body that was beyond anything I’d ever seen.
He kept staring right on back too, and whether this was going to feed that ego of his, I didn’t care. I was too sucked in by the pull of his eyes.
“You’re going to be alright,” he said to me, softly.
When a honk beeped at us from behind, he broke contact and looked forward at the green light, pressing on the gas.
On our way to the apartment, we stopped by the shopping centre and he picked up my pills and some groceries. He kept asking me what I was and wasn’t allowed to eat, making sure all the food in the cart was okay. As a result, he spent a lot of money at the check-out.
As we loaded the bags into the back of his truck, I said, “I’ll keep trying to apply for a job, even if it’s part-time. That way I can help out with the groceries and rent. It’s not fair on you to buy all this stuff for me too.”
Heath shook his head. “Afraid that’s not happening, Allie. You need to focus on school after the summer break and I’ll take care of the rest. I was serious when I said I’m in this with you. So relax and whatever you need I’ll get.”
I watched him closely as he said those words, trying to detect any hesitation in him. But he was completely at ease, believing in his words wholeheartedly. This guy was really trying, and he wasn’t even one bit entitled to. The pregnancy hormones must have been going hard because I was suddenly fighting back tears.
When we got back to the apartment, we put away the groceries and he started on dinner. I lingered around him, back against the counter with my arms crossed as he boiled potatoes and put two steaks into a heated pan. My brows shot up in surprise as he effortlessly tossed in some olive oil and herbs.
He glanced at me and smiled at my expression. “What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Liar. Out with it, Al.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t peg you for a cook. You and Ryker always have take-out.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m on a budget. Take out will be a thing of the past.”
“Because of me, right?” I fought the frown on my face, looking at him hard.
He turned his body around to face me and shot me that charming smile again. “Yeah, it is, but you know what? This is good. Do you know how hard I have to work out every night because of the junk I put in my body? There’s a positive to everything.”
“Yeah, I guess, but you still haven’t answered me about your cooking skills.”
He chuckled, grabbing the tongs to flip the steak over. The smell was absolutely divine, making my stomach grumble loudly. “Mom taught me a lot before she died,” he said reflectively. “I was interested in food. Was a chubby little bastard.” When I laughed at that, he shrugged. “Yeah, yeah, it’s funny I guess.”
“And impossible to imagine.”
“Well, because I loved food and Mom would work away some nights, I had to learn to cook my own shit.”
I bit my lip thoughtfully. “You know, Ryker told me about this. Said you made burnt mac and cheese for him while you lived it up eating hot dogs –”
“I never said anything about being a good brother,” he cut in with a cheeky grin. “We were talking about cooking, not Ryker, but on that note, the little shit deserved it.”