Bloom

I stifle a laugh. “You brought me pizza for breakfast?”

“You know you want to eat it.” Flapping the lid open and shut, she shows me a fleeting glimpse of what looks like a fully loaded medium pizza.

“You didn’t eat any of that?”

Setting the box on the table in front of me, she narrows her eyes. “I was too excited to eat.”

If she’s pregnant, I’ll cry both happy and sad tears. I desperately need her as much as she desperately wants to have another baby.

My gaze drops to the front of the faded jeans she’s wearing. We’re twinning today in our jeans and black T-shirts.

Her hand falls to her stomach. “I am not with child.”

I laugh at the formality in her tone. “You’re not?”

“I’m with a woman who is keeping a big secret.” Her pointer finger lands on the tip of my nose.

I inch back until her hand drops. “I have a big secret?”

Sliding a piece of pizza from the box, she takes a huge bite. “Does this pizza smell familiar to you?”

I’d say that pizza is pizza, but I suspect that would offend her. Leanna is a foodie. She loves to eat and she knows where to get the best of everything in this city.

Eyeing the box, I shrug my shoulders. “It smells like good pizza?”

“It’s the best pizza in Manhattan,” she corrects me.

I’ll take her word for it. Inching forward, I steal another peek inside the box. I only ate a banana this morning before I left my apartment. My stomach has been growling with hunger ever since.

“Al picked this up on his way home last night.” She goes for another slice. “He ordered a large pepperoni and mushroom for the kids to share with him. I’m a fan of this all veggie pie.”

I don’t care what’s on it; my mouth is now officially watering.

“You ordered a large margherita.”

My hand drops right before I grab a slice. “I what?”

How does she know what kind of pizza I had last night? When Liam asked what I wanted, I went with my favorite.

“Or rather, your date ordered the large margherita.”

I swallow past the unexpected lump in my throat.

“Al didn’t want to interrupt.” She slides the box closer to me. “He said you two looked cozy.”

“We just met,” I explain. “I haven’t known him long enough to get cozy with him.”

“Longish hair, a beard, muscles in all the right places, and tattoos.” She fans herself. “Even Al said he was hot. You need to get cozy with that now.”

Laughing, I take a bite of the cold but delicious pizza. “His girlfriend dumped him not long ago.”

“His ex-girlfriend, you mean,” she corrects me. “If that mattered to him, he would have been eating pizza in bed with her last night.”

“We didn’t eat it in bed.” I chew on the crust.

“You ate it and then went to bed?” she asks hopefully. “Tell me you saw that unclothed, Athena.”

I shake my head. “No. His break up is still fresh. It’s too soon.”