Chicks, Man

Knock. Knock.

We both freeze. “Levi? Hannah?”

Oh no! “Stacey.”

He pulls out, and my feet drop to the ground. We’re both fussing with one another to make ourselves appear decent when there’s another knock.

“One second,” Levi calls out, looking me square in the eyes. “You good?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“You sure? Because you were just about to come all over my hand. I felt it. We can leave her out there. I can finish—”

I smack his chest. “Seriously?”

“Of course.”

Oh my god, that smirk. He is serious. I shake my head, the laughter unstoppable. Pushing past him, I unlock the door and greet a curious Stacey. “Hey!” Darn it that sounded way too boisterous. “What brings you here?”

She takes notice of me, then Levi, who has his back to her, pretending to organize a pile of already organized papers on his desk. “Well…” She’s stalling. Shoot. I run my hands through my hair. Do I have lipstick smudged all over my face? Holy moly. Does Levi? “I wanted to see if you wanted to go to lunch. I have some stuff I want to run past you.”

Lunch? Boo...can’t. I already have plans to get railed by my boss. “Hmmm…”

“You can go. I’ll finish up here.”

My head whips around. He better not finish up without me. My core is still throbbing, in need of that release. “You sure?”

“Yep. Enjoy. Oh, and hi, Stacey.”

“Uh...hi, Levi,” she says, her head tilting to the side. Levi, who is still facing his desk, which is probably for the best since he would have to explain to Stacey why he has a hard-on in the middle of the day. “You okay there, Levi?”

Gah!

“Yep. All good. Busy. You two should go. I have this case to get back to.”

A few unsettling seconds pass before she thankfully brings her attention back to me. “Well…okay. Wanna try out that bistro a few blocks down?”

“Yep. Sounds great. Let’s go.” I grab her, dragging her curious eyes out of Levi’s office.

“Wow, this sandwich is delish!” I take another bite of my club to avoid confrontation. She hasn’t stopped looking at me strangely since we left the office. “What’s wrong? Don’t like yours?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just…what’s up with you? You’re acting really strange.”

Strange? Why would I be acting strange? I mean, you came ridiculously close to catching me and my brother’s best friend about to fornicate in his office under my dad’s watch. “Hmmm...not sure why you think that.” Another bite.

“Hannah, you know I love you like a sister, right?” I nod. Oh god. “Is there something going on between you and Levi?” I choke on another bite. It also doesn’t help I still have the other three in my mouth.

“What? Why would you think that?” I muffle through my unchewed food.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but it’s just…at the lake you two were different with each other. Like you were fighting. I’ve never known you two to chat much, let alone have an argument. Then poker night, I caught him scowling at you. Then just now. Why was the door locked?”

’Cause we were forni—“Levi just doesn’t like being interrupted when he gets on a roll with work. It’s no big deal.”

“Okay, but you still didn’t answer my question. Is something going on between you two?”

Yes. “No, don’t be silly.”

She eyes me as though her bullshit meter is dinging in the red zone. “Okay. I’m sorry I mentioned it. My hormones are out of control and my mind is running away with itself.”

I reach over to cup her hand. “Oh no, are you not feeling well?” I stare at her with kind, worried eyes, until hers shine with happiness. “Wait…are you?”

“Pregnant.”

I scream.

Then choke on my food. I spit it out, getting a few nasty eye-rolls from the table next to us. “Oh my god! I’m going to be an aunt! Does Kipley know?”

She laughs. “Of course. But you’re the first person we’ve told. I wanted you to hear it first.” Tears well up in my eyes. My brother is going to have a baby. I scoot my chair out and stand while she does the same. Hugging, we both fail at keeping it together and shed tears of joy.

“I’m so happy for you both. You’re going to be amazing parents. And I’m going to spoil him or her rotten.” I love my brother so much. And Stacey. They couldn’t be better for one another. And they deserve the world.

We spend the remainder of lunch chatting about baby stuff. I ask to be part of the baby shower planning, even though she has a million girlfriends to do the job. She tells me the dinner tomorrow night is to tell the whole family, and I can’t wait to see Mom and Dad’s face when they find out.

“Thanks for lunch. This was nice.” She goes in for a hug.