Snake (a Stepbrother Romance)(14)

“Do you want me to come in with you?” I asked. “I can, I mean, if that’s not weird for you.”

“It’s a little weird,” Mila said. She had been really quiet since I’d picked her up. I felt bad; I knew she was nervous about this, and I think the reality of what was happening, the sacrifice she was making, was setting in.

“You will never know how grateful Monique and I are that you agreed to do this,” I said, reaching over and squeezing her hand. Her hand was so soft and warm; I interlaced my fingers through hers and squeezed. “Truly.”

I saw her looking at our hands, and she pulled hers away.

“You can just drop me off,” she said, her voice strong again. “I’ll text you when I’m done. There’s no need for you to hang around.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t mind.” As if I were going to leave her alone at the clinic when it was on Monique’s and my behalf that she was there. But that was Mila, fiercely independent and solo. The more I’d gotten to know her over the last few weeks, the more I’d realised what a wild spirit she had.

She had moved in and taken on decorating the place to her liking. She bought all her own food and prepared all her own meals. She was far more self-reliant than I had been at her age, and I admired her for being able to take on a huge problem like her potential eviction and solve it with a little persuading from my mom and Suzanne.

Mila would make a great mother someday and a great wife to someone, I mused. She was perfect.

We pulled up outside the hospital, and Mila opened the door and got out. “I’ll text you,” she said again and tried to put a smile on her face.

“You’ll do great!” I said.

I didn’t leave the hospital parking lot.

I parked the truck and walked around, trying to keep myself busy and my mind preoccupied. But I kept wondering what part of the exam was happening, wondering if she was getting all green lights or if there was something we’d need to deal with. Monique texted asking how things were. I said I didn’t know anything yet. Wandering aimlessly, I found myself in the hospital’s cafeteria and quickly picked out a soda and a bag of chips and went through the line. With my food in hand, I was on my way back to the truck when Monique called.

“Hey, listen, I got invited to a dinner thing for work tonight. Are you cool if I go? I want to hear about Mila’s exam, but this is kind of an important event.”

“Tonight?” I asked. “Isn’t that kind of short notice?”

“Could you not hassle me?” she snapped. “I told you, I want to hear about Mila’s exam. If I could get out of this, I would.”

“Fine. No problem,” I said, sighing and shielding my eyes from the sun. I was getting used to letting go of arguments I really didn’t want to have. “She should be out any time. I’ll take her out to dinner — she’s earned a fun night out, I think.”

“Watch her diet,” Monique warned. “No alcohol, no meat, no sugar. Take her to that vegan place on 44th, it’s supposed to be really good, and she can eat whatever she wants there.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said. Whatever. “Have fun at your dinner.”

I clicked off the call, and a text from Mila immediately popped up; she was ready and waiting at the front door. I got back in the truck and drove to the circle entry. She was smiling when she got in.

“A smile is a good sign,” I said, as I grabbed her hand to help her into the truck. A spark surged its way up my arm; it was almost becoming a familiar thing I had to prepare for whenever I touched her skin.

“Everything is a go,” she said. Her voice had picked up its energy again, and she looked at me – something, I realised, she hadn’t done the entire way there. “We can do the implantation within the next week.”

“Great!” I nearly shouted. All of these obstacles we’d faced, and now things were finally happening. “We need to go celebrate!”

“You can celebrate,” Mila said, still smiling. “I’ll have a glass of ice water and a rice cracker.”

“You will do no such thing,” I said, turning on to the highway that would take us to the main stretch of restaurants in town. “You’re going to have the biggest, juiciest burger and the biggest glass of beer, and you’re going to chase it all down with a piece of chocolate cake.”

Mila laughed. “And then can I have sex, too?”

I coughed violently. The shock of her words startled me; they were fucking with my head.

“Oh, god. Are you OK?” she asked I tried to clear my throat.