Enjoying the Chase (63 page)

DJ smiled and pushed his empty bowl to the
middle of the table. “I
’
m still
hungry, Momma. Can I have more?” he asked, eyeing the box that I
’
d left on the side.

I sighed and closed my eyes before putting
on a fake smile and grabbing the box. “Sure, Baby.”

By the time we were dressed and ready,
it was after ten in the morning, so I let DJ call Paige and invite her to the
park with us. After a minute of talking to her, his expression changed and a
big grin broke out on his face.

“Hey, Nate!” he chirped.

I smiled, grabbing his jacket from the
hook, holding it out for him to put his arms in. He stood there chatting down
the phone, telling Nate about us going to the park and about me not letting him
eat candy for breakfast. DJ pouted at me when he told Nate that he wanted to
take his scooter to the park but that I
’
d said no because I didn
’
t want to carry it all the way there when he got tired of riding it.
I couldn
’
t hear Nate
’
s answers, but judging by the dissatisfied
look on DJ
’
s face, my adorable
boyfriend was backing me up. I chewed on my lip, holding my hand out for the
phone, just wanting to hear his voice a little before he went to work.

DJ pouted.
“Momma
wants you,” he grumbled, obviously not pleased about having to share the phone.
“Nate saided I could take my scooter to the park,” he said, putting the phone
in my hand.

As I put it to my ear, I could hear Nate laughing.
“Good morning. You hungover today?” I asked, grinning.

“Momma wants me, does she?” he replied, not
answering my question.

I sighed dreamily. Heck yes I did actually!
“Definitely,” I confirmed.

“
Well I
’
ll pencil you in for when I get home. If you
want, I
’
ll call you again
tonight,” he purred suggestively.

I closed my eyes at the thought. Nate
’
s pillow talk was one of the sexiest things I
’
d ever heard in my life. His words could do
things to my body that Josh had never managed to do using everything available
to him.

“
I don’
t think I could handle a call like that two nights in a row. I think
I
’
d pretty much go into meltdown,”
I confessed.

He sighed.
“Me either,
actually,” he admitted. “So, my lazy ass of a sister said that she
’
s too tired to come to the park right now. She
said she
’
ll call you later and
meet up for dinner if you want to.”

“Yeah, okay. Tell her to call me when she
gets her butt out of bed then,” I suggested. DJ was zipping up his coat, his
shoes were already on. His scooter was sitting by the door as if he was going
to somehow sneak it out without me noticing. I smiled. “Did you tell DJ that I
’
d take his scooter to the park?” I asked Nate.

“No. Why?” he replied.

I smiled and shook my head. “No reason. I
’
d better go. Have a good day at work. Stay
safe, and if you get a break then call me, okay? But not at four in the
morning.” I added the last part quickly, knowing he would call me when he
finished his shift otherwise.

“Okay, Stripes. See ya.”

I closed my phone and raised one eyebrow at
DJ. “Nate just told me I had to take your scooter to the park with us. You
’
re lucky he
’
s so great, huh?” I teased, deciding to let him get his way.

His eyes widened as he clapped excitedly.
“I love Nate!” he practically shouted.

I blinked a couple of times at his words.
He
’
d never said that before. It
sounded so sweet coming out of his mouth. I silently wondered what Nate would
say about that if he heard those words tumble out of DJ
’
s mouth. He looked like he meant it too; his lips were pulled up
into a big toothy grin as he gripped the handlebars of his scooter for dear
life.

I didn
’
t know how to answer that, so I said nothing, deciding to change the
subject quickly. “Come on then, Baby. Let
’
s get to the park before it gets too busy and you can
’
t scoot,
” I suggested,
grabbing my purse and keys and opening the door to leave.

That afternoon Anna came over with
Cameron for a visit and girlie catch up. While we had coffee, DJ was busy
sorting through his car collection, trying to find one that didn’t have any
loose pieces so that Cam could play with him. I was sitting on the sofa, just
fussing over the cutest little baby I had seen since DJ was born. Cameron was
beautiful; his big hazel eyes just seemed to take everything in as he looked at
me and smiled at the funny faces I was pulling. 

“So, Ashton
’
s still grumbling about that boys
’
golf day from weeks ago,” Anna said, shaking her head, laughing. “I
’
ll warn you now that he
’
s planning a rematch in the very near future, so tell your dad and
Nate to expect a call.”

I laughed at that statement. Apparently,
the ‘boys
’
golfing day
’
that was originally supposed to be just Nate,
my dad, and DJ turned into some sort of boys
’
fun fest. Ashton invited himself along as soon as he heard about it,
which then in turn made Seth pout until he was invited as well, and then Anna
’
s father had gotten wind of it. Before you
know it, there were twelve of them playing. Ashton, being not very good at
golf, took the hit and lost by a clear mile. Six weeks later and he still hadn
’
t lived it down. From what I understand, by
the end of the eighteen holes, the boys were calling him ‘
hole
in none
’ –
started by Nate, of
course. Ashton really was a sore loser and didn
’
t take it lightly when he wasn
’
t very good at something.

“Ashton
’
s way too funny,” I chuckled, tickling Cameron at the same time.

Anna sighed and rested her head back on the
sofa. “Yeah, but sometimes he whines like a little girl,” she countered, grinning
fondly.

I smiled. Anna and Ashton were so in love
that it was almost sickening to see. I chewed on my lip as I wondered if I
would ever get Nate to look at me the way that Ashton looked at Anna. It had
always been plain to see that he was besotted by Anna, even when they were ‘
pretending
’
to be a couple
at college when we all first met. Even then you could see it in his eyes. But
Nate, he was just so much harder to read. I desperately wanted to ask Anna for
her opinion, but I was scared it would somehow get back to Nate and would ruin
everything. I
’
d seen Nate and
Ashton together, sometimes they gossiped like a couple of old ladies standing
at a fence.

“Everyone has to have a flaw,” I joked,
shrugging, shifting Cameron on my lap because he was chewing fistfuls of my
hair.

She nodded. “Yeah but his flaw is the
snoring! Rosie, I swear to God, last night it was so loud that he woke himself
up,” she said, laughing.

I laughed along with her, and was silently
thankful that Nate didn
’
t snore.
Not that I would probably hear him, I slept like the dead. The only thing that
woke me up in the night was DJ. It was like I had some kind of sonar when it
came to him, but everything else just didn
’
t get through.

“How do you cope with a snorer?” I asked,
looking at her in awe. That was real love; she didn
’
t seem bothered in the slightest.

She shrugged, smiling affectionately. “I
like it actually. It reminds me that he
’
s there. It makes me sleep better when he
’
s growling in my ear. Cam sleeps through it too. Ashton doesn
’
t believe me when I tell him he snores; I
swear he thinks I
’
m making it up.
When he woke himself up last night, he gave me this quizzical look, so I just
pretended that I woke him, and let him keep his dignity,” she chuckled.

“You two are hilarious. It
’
s almost six years now, right?” I asked,
squealing when Cam started biting on my finger.

Anna nodded in confirmation. “Yep,” she
replied dreamily, popping the p.

I chewed on my lip and decided to ask the
question that I
’
d been dying to
ask for months. “Anna, how do you get him to stay in love with you, even after
all that time? I dread the day when I lose Nate
’
s interest. How do I keep him wanting more like you do with Ashton?”
I asked quietly, eyeing DJ, who was still rummaging through his cars. I didn
’
t really want him to hear this conversation; I
didn
’
t want him to start worrying
about the day that Nate got bored. DJ was going to be devastated when it
happened.

Anna smiled kindly.
“Rosie, Nate
’
s crazy about you,
stop stressing about it. He
’
s not
like the other one,” she assured me, obviously not wanting to say Josh
’
s name in case DJ heard. “I
’
ve known Nate a long time and I
’
ve never once seen him look at anyone the way
he looks at you.”

I felt slightly better because of her
words. I knew I was his only proper girlfriend, and that he
’
d never been in a serious relationship before,
but that knowledge still didn
’
t
stop the freak out that I had practically every day as to whether today would
be the day that he finally realised that he could do better than a single
mother. I knew that day would come, eventually. I just wasn
’
t right for him at all, and sooner or later,
he
’
d see that. For now though, I
was happy going along for the ride, lapping up his attention and kisses,
savouring every one of them in case it was the last one I got.

Anna scooted off the sofa, settling down
next to DJ. “So, what are we playing?” she asked, rummaging through the box
along with him.

I smiled and pushed myself up off the sofa,
sitting Cam between Anna
’
s legs.
“I
’
m gonna make more coffee. You
want something, Baby?”

“Chocolate milkshake with maple syrup!” he
called.

I sighed and shook my head, smiling to
myself. That was the little gross combination that Nate had got DJ hooked on a
couple of weeks ago. The pair of them were so alike, sometimes it was like they
were really father and son. As I pulled open the fridge to get out the milk, my
intercom buzzed from downstairs. I frowned, shaking back the sleeve of Nate
’
s sweater that I was wearing, checking the
time. It was only quarter past two. Paige was obviously super early, she wasn
’
t due here until five.

I headed over to the door, pressing the
button on the speaker. “
Hello?
”

“Hey, bunny.”

I groaned when I heard Josh
’
s voice. I really didn
’
t need this today. Whenever Anna and Josh were in the same room, it
was like you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. And he wasn
’
t even supposed to be here today; he was sick
and couldn
’
t have DJ for the
weekend. I didn
’
t answer as I
pressed the button for the door downstairs, letting him into the building.

I chewed on my lip as I looked back at
Anna, who was still sitting on the floor playing with DJ and Cameron. “DJ,
Daddy
’
s here,” I called, not
really wanting to see Anna
’
s face
when I said it. She always tried so hard to keep the look of distaste off her
face when he was around or when I mentioned his name, but I knew that she
’
d secretly love to sucker punch him. 

DJ squealed and ran to my side. I opened
the door and smiled at Rick, who was waiting outside the door, guarding Anna.
“Josh is on his way up,” I told him, shrugging.

He nodded in response. He was in work mode
today, so no joking around or anything even though we were friends. There was
such a distinct difference in his personality when he was working, it was
almost comical.