“Ten bucks says she’s late,” Joey says confidently.
I cock my head and turn on my mixer, wiping my brow with the back of my hand. “Ten bucks says you’ll snuggle with her again if the moment arises.”
He narrows his eyes at me as Juls reemerges moments later.
“It went straight to voicemail. I’m sure she’s on her way.”
I start throwing the ingredients for my banana nut muffins together into my mixing bowl, feeling Juls’ eyes on me. I glance up. “What?”
She pouts and moves closer to me, placing her hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I know we agreed to wait to take a test together, but I slipped up last night and blurted out to Ian I thought I might be pregnant. As soon as I said it, he rushed out and bought me a test. There was no stopping him. I’ll still take one with you, though.”
“Umm, excuse me?” Joey asks, tapping the counter top impatiently with his fingers. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I turn the mixer off and smile at Juls, ignoring Joey’s comment. “I took one, too. I’m sorry. The same thing happened with Reese. He was dead-set on me taking one last night. Mine was negative.”
“Mine wasn’t.”
My mouth drops open as Joey squeals next to Juls. “What? You’re pregnant?” There is no hint of sadness or jealousy in my voice. Even though I was disappointed last night in my test results, the news my best friend just dropped on us fills me with the same excitement I felt at the possibility of being pregnant myself.
She nods her response, putting her hands up to her face and covering her crimson cheeks. Joey and I both engulf her in a giant hug, and she wraps an arm around each of us. “I took several just to make sure. I thought Ian was going to make some sort of public service announcement last night. He’s beyond excited.”
“Oh, my God. Juls, this is amazing,” I blink and send the tears down my face. “You’re going to be such a kick-ass mommy.”
“Helloooo,” Joey interjects, stepping between the two of us and dropping his enthusiasm. “Both of you cock whores thought you were pregnant and didn’t tell me? What the fuck? I thought we were besties.”
I shove him off with my hand. “We are. We just didn’t want you to get all excited for nothing.”
Juls turns her attention to me and grabs my hands, her smile fading and replaced with a look of concern. “I’m sorry you’re not pregnant, sweets. I know you were excited about the possibility.”
Of course Juls would think about me when she should be jumping up and down like a maniac. She always puts others before herself. And she probably thinks I’m sensitive to this topic, but I’m not. I couldn’t be happier for her.
I squeeze her hands gently and smile. “It’s okay. Reese is in full-on ‘get me pregnant’ mode, so I’m sure it’ll happen soon enough.”
“Oh, shit,” Joey mumbles, gaining mine and Juls’ attention. His eyes widen and he grabs his coffee cup off the worktop before elaborating. “Reese is going to be crazy when you get pregnant. I can’t imagine him being any more possessive over you than he already is, and you’re not carrying his baby yet. He’s nuts when it comes to you. Unreasonably nuts at times.” He pauses, glancing around the kitchen. “Mmm. Do we have any cashews back here?”
“Over on the shelf,” I scoff, dropping Juls’ hands and turning around to grab my muffin tins. “And he’s not that possessive over me.”
“Yeah, right,” Joey says at the same time as Juls’ “yeah, okay.”
Joey chuckles softly, popping a few cashews into his mouth as I place my tins onto the worktop. “Face it, cupcake. That gorgeous man is going to put you on lock-down when he knocks you up. And when that time comes, your wardrobe won’t be the only thing he dictates.”
I restart my mixer, licking the splash of batter off my finger. “I like possessive Reese. It’s hot.”