But dammit, I was fuckingcravingthis shit like a damn meth addict, and I hated how quickly my heart started to race at the idea of Darren’s reaction to a dumb fucking ice cream craving!
What the hell was wrong with me?
And just like that, the tears started rolling.Uncontrollably.
Noticing my abrupt change in demeanor, Sloane moved from her hiding spot and headed over to me.“What’s the matter?”she asked.“Is something wrong with your food?”
I shook my head and rubbed the annoying tears from my eyes.“No, I just have this really stupid pregnancy craving that I don’t have the guts to ask for.And for some reason, that really upsets me,” I answered, attempting to chuckle the crying fit away and failing miserably.Because now I was upset by the fact that pregnancy hormones were making me cry over fucking ice cream!
“What are you craving?”Sloane asked, sympathetic as she crouched down, her eyes glancing upward.“I’m sure your husband will be happy to indulge you.”
I shook my head and wiped my eyes, mourning the ice cream I would likely never taste again.And that thought just blew the floodgates wide open, my shoulders shaking as I hid my shame in my hands.Camaro whined at me as she sniffed the air around me, searching for the source of my distress.
“What the fuck,” I groaned under my breath, frantically swiping at the tears running down my face.
I could see Sloane start to panic in my peripherals.“Jaden, there’s no need to be upset.It’s okay.Just tell me what it is, and we can get it for you,” she offered, her Russian accent thickening as she spoke faster.
I shook my head again, sniffing back the tears and huffing out a deep breath.
“No.Darren wouldn’t like it, and I don’t need the backlash,” I grumbled, wiping my eyes for the fiftieth time.
“What exactly wouldn’t I like?”
Jolting back in a gasped surprise, I turned around and looked up to find Darren standing behind me, a hard look of what could easily be mistaken for concern on his face.Sloane immediately stood, nodding at him as she took a few steps back.
Goddammit!Why is he so good at sneaking up on me?!
His eyes grew dark as he stared down at me.“Why are you crying?”
I turned around to hide my embarrassment, groaning dramatically over the fact that he had overheard something that would naturally draw his attention and now his overbearing concern.But I needed to answer him so he would hopefully go away without prodding, though I doubted it would be that easy.
“It’s nothing.Just a dumb pregnancy craving not worth your time,” I griped, wiping at my eyes again, but the damn tears just would not stop.
Hot mortification surged through me when Darren’s giant form crouched down beside me in his perfect dark gray suit and took my puffy face in both of his hands, turning my eyes to him.But where I expected to find something harsh and cold in his gaze, I was surprised to see something much softer looking back at me.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.I tried blinking away more tears, but when they fell, his thumbs instinctively swiped them away like he’d done hundreds of times before, never disturbed or repelled by them.
“It’s stupid and not worth pissing you off,” I replied, shaking my head as I sniffled.
“Tell me anyway.”
I sighed heavily, my eyes sinking to the ground in my pitiful state.“Only if you promise not to get mad at me,” I replied, hoping to mediate away his potential temper.
“I won’t get mad.Now, for the third time, tell me what’s wrong,” he practically ordered, clearly growing impatient.I knew he didn’t like repeating himself.
I sucked in a deep breath and voiced my humiliation.“I’m craving Superman ice cream, and I didn’t want to ask for it because it’s a Michigan thing, and I didn’t want to upset you like I did last time, so I guess my hormones told me to just cry about it instead.”I looked away from him, one final tear slipping down my face, his thumb catching it on cue.
My humiliation was intensified by his sudden soft chuckling.
“You’re right,” he murmured gently.“That is stupid.”I scoffed in frustration as I glanced at Camaro, catching her big brown eyes moving back and forth between the two of us.Here I thought he’d be furious with me, and he was just fucking laughing instead.Asshole.“But that doesn’t meanyou’restupid, princess,” he continued.“You’re just pregnant.And while you might be embarrassed by your reaction,Ihappen to find it fucking adorable.”
I cocked a brow at him in irritated confusion.He found my irrationality adorable?
“How could you findthis,” I asked, gesturing to myself sharply, “adorable when I’m being entirelyridiculous?”
Darren’s gaze warmed as a soft smile curved his lips, his honest perspective reflected in those deep, dark blues.“Because it’s the result of you carrying my child, and it shows with every pregnancy symptom you exhibit,” he answered, his voice thick with what felt like admiration.“And I love seeing it, no matter how ridiculous you think they are.”
I stared back at him in silence, bemused by his unexpected gentle demeanor and the sincerity shining in his eyes.Aside from laughing at my expense, the unfamiliar air of compassion surrounding him was a welcomed shift in the wind I would gladly embrace.