Page 112 of Hold the Pickle
His hands slide beneath my sweatshirt, cupping my bra. He touches me as if he’s dying, as if my skin is the only thing that stands between him and catastrophe.
Then the air changes, and a startled, “Oh!” breaks through.
I pull away.
The door has opened.
God. It’s Mom.
My mom.
“Nadia?” She glances back at the door. “I thought you got lost.”
Dalton steps back, tugging at the blue cap covering his hair.
Mom waves her hand toward the hall. “A nurse said you were in here…” she trails off.
I can’t imagine what she thinks. That I jumped a hot doctor faster than a character inGrey’s Anatomy?
I let out a long, slow breath. “This is Dalton.”
Mom flashes an uncertain smile, but there’s some relief there, too. Maybe shedidthink I jumped a random doctor. “The roommate?”
“Yes.” I jump down from the counter and straighten my sweatshirt. This is too much.
“Nice to meet you, Dalton,” Mom says. “I’m Caprice Armstrong, Nadia’s mother.”
At the wordmother, Dalton takes another step back, but then he recovers. “Mrs. Armstrong, it’s nice to meet you.” He extends a hand. “You’ve met our kittens, then. The kittens. Uh,Nadia’skittens.”
Yeah, he’s nervous.
Mom looks back and forth between us. “I take it there was more than a roommate situation happening.” She frowns. “It must have been hard, leaving, then.”
I glance over at Dalton. His mouth is a tight line.
This conversation is for another time. “Is there any news on Camryn?”
Mom shakes her head. “Still in labor.” She spots the coffee cups. “Were these ours?”
“Uh, yes.” I pass her two of the cups. “I was, uh, about to head that way.”
Now Mom bites back a smile. “Sure you were.” She turns to the door, then realizes she can’t open it with her hands full. “Dalton, do you mind?”
He leaps forward to get the door.
“I’m going back to Sherman,” she says. “You know, it might make sense for you to get some sleep. Why don’t you head out? I’ll keep you updated.”
“Okay,” I say. “I guess I can go to Camryn’s.”
Mom glances back at the two of us. “Of course.Camryn’s.” She says it like she knows dang well we’ll head to our apartment. “I’ll text you as things progress.”
Then she’s gone again.
Dalton pulls off his cap. “Well, that secret is out.”
I turn to him. “It should never have been a secret. I don’t know why I ever thought that was important.”
He stands there, watching me, then tosses the paper cap in the trash bin. “I’m off. Are we going home?”
