Page 5 of Hogging the Hunk
Holding my hands up, I felt the compulsive need to clear the air. “I’m not pregnant.”
Greg’s eyes flicked over my head to Milo. His presence had been unfaltering, even though I’d rudely shut him up in my haste to escape Greg. I could have hugged Milo for that. Scratch that. I would rather not have an audience, especially since it made this situation all the more horrifying. My mind raced, dissecting each of the possibilities of why Milo was still here when I shook my head and focused on the current predicament—reassuring Greg that I wasn’t with child trumped what I thought of Milo.
“Then why are you reading the directions to a home pregnancy test?” Greg jutted his chin at Milo. “With him?”
“There’s no chance of pregnancy. He and I,” I swatted a finger between me and Milo, “we’re not a thing. No baby and he’s not my baby daddy. He’s not even my sugar daddy.”
It was all true, but if I was guilty of anything, I was doing a lousy job of clearing my name. Not that Greg should care. We were on a break after all, whatever that meant. Mentally, I even bitterly air quoted the idea.
“I was explaining to Beckett why pregnancy tests don’t work on animals,” Milo said.
“She ran all the way back to this aisle to ask you about home pregnancy tests for her… what?” Greg’s eyes narrowed. “Beckett doesn’t own any animals.”
“Goats,” I blurted. “My sister has a flock of goats at her place, where I’m temporarily staying. I thought it would be so much easier to try to do a pregnancy test on them instead of having Dr. Fox come out every time an animal needed to be checked for pregnancy.”
Greg sized up Milo and though I couldn’t see Milo as he continued to flank me like a sentinel set in stone, something told me he was doing the same to Greg.
Incredulously wrinkling his nose, Greg sought further clarification to admittedly the oddest situation I had ever gotten myself into. “You’re discussing the use of human pregnancy tests on goats with a car mechanic?”
Milo laughed generously. If Greg had offended him, Milo masterfully deflected it. “I don’t think you’d want me working on your car.”
“Milo’s in the medical field, too.” I turned and tapped my finger on the stethoscope still draped across his neck, noticing the way his hair at the nape of his neck curled. It was kind of cute, how boyish it made him look despite the gray growing at his temples. “See? Car mechanics don’t need a stethoscope because cars don’t have cardiovascular or pulmonary systems.”
Greg ignored my uncomfortable rambling and continued to eye Milo. “Veterinarian?”
“Yep,” Milo said gruffly.
“I’m in medicine, as well. Pediatrics, like Beckett here.” Placing his hand on my cart, I stared at his knuckles. I used to love running my thumb over them. When Greg decided we needed some time apart, I’d been holding his hand. When he drew away, a literal and symbolic separation from me, I physically missed the weight of his hand in mine. Why Greg had decided we needed a relationship breather was debatable. He listed lots of reasons, every one of which I countered. All I knew was that I was crushed and had come home to Button Blossom with my tail tucked. “It takes a special sort of person to be a veterinarian, I suppose. I don’t know if I could deal with all the unsavory stuff that comes along with animals.”
Greg scrunched his face as he spoke unsavory, like Milo held up a platter of manure under his nose. It wasn’t an attractive look for him. Though Greg might be able to read me, he wasn’t as impassable as he liked to think he was, either. Milo wasn’t swayed by Greg’s charming personality, and felt no need to give up anything he didn’t want to.
“You’re right,” Milo said with unruffled confidence. “It does take a strong stomach and equally strong back.”
Stepping aside so I could see both men, there was a glint in their eyes that I’d seen before, usually when any two of Maren’s intact males found themselves in the same space. Milo and Greg looked like they might run headlong into each other to establish dominance if I didn’t intervene. I stepped back into the line of fire and produced a dazzling smile aimed to take Greg down a notch.
“What are you doing in Button Blossom, anyway?” I said. “I thought you were in Africa helping with a vaccination clinic for children.”
“I was heading one in Ethiopia, yeah.” Greg slipped his hands into his pockets. “Just got back last Thursday.”
“And small-town Indiana was calling to you?”
“Not particularly.” Greg laughed, and it tugged on my heartstrings. I relished being able to make Greg laugh. At least, I used to. I wasn’t exactly sure what made the world go ‘round anymore. “I heard you were helping with a mobile clinic in the southern half of the state, and thought it might be time that we talked, so I applied, and when there was an opportunity to fill in as a substitute, I took it to surprise you. Of course, it turned out to be the one day you weren’t there.”
“It’s my day off.”
“So I discovered. It worked out, though.” The renewed smile Greg conjured up teased one out of me, too. “I found you.”
Still holding the pregnancy test, I forced my hands to put it back. My hands couldn’t quite let it go, though, and I poked at the box until it was exactly centered with the barcode on the shelf. “Yes, you did.”
“I hoped that we’d be able to talk.” My gaze moved to Greg. I couldn’t quite reach his eyes, and instead stared at his white, straight teeth. For lack of a better word, they were perfect. “Are you available for dinner tonight? I know there aren’t a lot of options around here, but that restaurant on Main Street looked decent.”
I knew the one. Trixie, one of Maren’s best friends, and by default, one of mine, had recently converted the longstanding diner into a chic, comfortable, delicious dining establishment. Describing it as decent was dangerously close to an insult. Trixie’s food was phenomenal. As Greg had never experienced the magic of her cooking, I gave him a pass.
The thought of sitting across the table from Greg, even with a plate of delicious food of Trixie’s creation in front of me, made my insides squirm. Anxiety pressed down on my chest. An elephant balancing on my sternum would have been less uncomfortable. I’d had this conversation with Greg in my head a thousand times, but being blindsided by him rendered me completely unprepared. What if I messed things up for good and this was truly the end of Beckett and Greg? “I’d like that, except I’m busy tonight. It’s Granny’s birthday, and I promised I’d be there for our dinner. Family only. I’m sure you understand.”
Greg was crestfallen, and I almost faltered. He wasn’t wrong—we did need to talk. I wanted to sort through everything that had made our otherwise perfect relationship crumble. That conversation felt as daunting as any exam I’d ever taken. I needed time to prepare myself so I could give a convincing argument that I was as essential to Greg as the gel that kept his hair perfectly coiffed.
“How about Saturday? I’m free the whole day.” I mirrored him and pushed my hands into my pockets to keep still.