The Crash Zone (The Zone Series Book 2) Read online

  ***

  I walk into the Crawford’s home, and I hear laughter in the kitchen area.

  I turn the corner and Dane is sitting on the couch zoned out on the television with a beer in his hand. He jumps when he sees me and stands. He tries to hide his beer as he stands which is awkward.

  “Dude, I didn’t know you were coming over.” He says.

  “I texted you both. What’s going on?” Trying to get a look into the kitchen.

  “Candace is back in town. The girls are making Tacos, I’ve been forced out of my own kitchen.”

  Candace is a friend of ours who we all met through Betsy. She’s a humanitarian and basically travels the world and volunteers the majority of her time to undeveloped areas. She’s into plants, like studying them, so she finds volunteer opportunities in other countries to educate people on stuff like that, or just overall helping. She’s a humanitarian and gets bored being in one spot as developed as the States fairly quickly Dane and Sterling met up with her on their honeymoon in Costa Rica during her last trip, she was supposed to be gone for 2 years. Has it been 2 years already?

  “Maxi-pad!” I hear from the kitchen and then a blur of a girl is rushed into me. I hug her and then hold her back.

  “Maxi-pad?” I question.

  “I heard you’ve been on your period since I’ve been gone. It’s only fitting.” She deadpans.

  I look to Dane and Sterling and neither of them look surprised.

  “I’ve been not myself, but I haven’t been pissy. Have I?” I ask Dane.

  “Well, your moods do fluctuate.” He shrugs.

  “You guys are assholes.” I smile, I pull Candace with my arm towards the kitchen. “Homecoming Tacos?”

  “You betcha. Mexican-American tacos can never compare to Costa Rican tacos.” She smiles as she starts to grate the cheese as she pushes her beer bottle out of my view.

  I take notice of that as well.

  “Alright, listen up. Dane, get over here!” I holler into the direction of the living room. Dane saunters in cautiously.

  “I will not break if I see you guys drinking beer or anything alcoholic. I am not a child that you guys need to coddle and hide from. I’m your friend, I’m a big boy and I can manage. If you want a beer, by all means have a beer. I’m man enough to keep myself in check.” I look each of them in the eye. Sterling has a huge smile on her face, like she’s proud of me.

  “Sorry. This is new territory.” Dane tries to explain.

  “Might as well get this over with. So yeah, well, I’ve got more new territory for you guys.” I smile and take a very deep breath. “So this afternoon, the information that I will be a… father… has come to my attention.” I close my eyes until I hear a scream and clapping. I open my eyes and Sterling is looking like a cheerleader behind the island.

  “No shit?” Dane asks.

  “No shit.”

  “So, who is the lucky lady?” Candace asks.

  “Actually, that’s funny.” I turn to Dane. “My vacation at the hotel, I met one of Davis’s co-workers and we well, you know.”

  “Wait, the chick you introduced me to?”

  “Tatum. Yeah.”

  “Oh I remember her from Davis’s BBQ. She’s really nice.” Sterling chimes in.

  “Am I the only one who didn’t know my brother threw a party while I was at rehab?”

  “I didn’t. But I doubt that counts since I wasn’t in the country, so I wasn’t invited.” Candace jokes.

  “So, a baby, how you handling this?” Sterling asks.

  “To be honest, I’m okay. Of course, I’m scared shitless, but I think I’m better mentally now versus 6 months ago. If this was then, I would be at the bottom of many glasses.” I explain sitting on the barstool off to the side.

  “No desire to take a drink?”

  “When she first said it, honestly I did a little bit. But I remedied that with my shake. I know I’m in the early recovery stage and there are triggers. I’m focusing on the here and now and I’m, well I’m here talking about how I feel right now. I wanted to talk to you guys about it, before I went to any meeting or talked about this with Leo or my sponsor. You guys should be the first to know these things.”

  “Have you called your sponsor?” Sterling, the voice of reason asks.

  “I sent him a text letting him know that I was going to call them in a few hours. Leo and I have plans to attend a meeting tomorrow morning and then yeah. I’m taking all the measured steps. One foot in front of the other.”

  “I’m proud of you. And excited.” Dane says clapping me on the back.

  “So Tatum, what’s going on with her?” Candace asks.

  “Davis is good friends with her. He actually went over to her house tonight. I offered, but it’s probably weird to inject myself right now. We’re going to meet up on Saturday and then Monday morning is the first doctor’s appointment.” Sterling pushes a glass of water in front of me and I take a sip.

  I ate the homecoming tacos with my friends and then excused myself to head back home. On the way home, I called my sponsor and gave him the run-down. It was a thought provoking conversation and while I completely agree that this is a monumental life change, it might be one of the best ones I could have at this point in time.

  ***

  Tatum texted me her address to pick her up for lunch at noon. I park my car at the curb and walk up the small steps to her complex. I locate her name on the gate and press it for her to buzz me in. She lets me in within seconds and I’m strolling in. It’s a fairly small complex, but it’s run down and dirty. There’s a gentleman sitting on the 2nd floor, on his balcony smoking weed and talking loudly on his phone.

  I find her door and knock gently. She opens and steps aside to let me in.

  She’s dressed in a multi-colored skirt and a solid v-neck t-shirt. It’s San Diego, so it’s always nice weather and today couldn’t be further from the truth. She looks nervous as she steps aside to allow me in and closes the door behind me.

  “I’m almost ready, can I get you something to drink?” She asks walking further into her apartment.

  I look around at my surroundings. It’s a open space, not big and not small. I see the hallway which leads to the bedroom, I assume the only bedroom in the apartment and then the bathroom.

  “I’m fine, thank you.” My palms are sweaty, so I hide them in my pockets. “Have you lived here long?” I ask.

  “Yeah, I moved in here a few years ago.” She smiles as she puts items into her bag. She wraps her bag around her shoulder and looks up.

  “You ready?” I ask.

  “You have a car right, not just that motorcycle?” She looks nervous again.

  “Yes, I figured you wouldn’t want to ride on the bike.” I smile when she returns it back to me.

  I place my hand at the small of her back as we walk to my car and I can feel her shiver. I open the door for her and return to the driver’s side.

  “Okay, so I’ve done a little reading and I know you crave pineapples but is there anything else that you will or will not eat right now?”

  “No chicken and no bacon.” She said quietly.

  “No bacon? That’s abnormal!” I joke.

  “Tell me about it. I could eat bacon with every meal, but now the smell makes me want to puke. And just chicken, yuck. I actually haven’t come face to face with it yet, but I read in a book that it reminds the parent of a child and therefore automatically is a common no-no.” She pinches her nose and gives a stink face that is too adorable for words.

  “Pizza?” I ask.

  “Pizza is always a winner. Always.” She smiles and nods eagerly.

  “Awesome, I know just the place. It’s actually real close to here, by the grocery store off College.”

  “I love, love, love that place. That’s perfect.”

  We ride the 10 minutes to the pizza place in silence. We order and then take our seats to wait for the pizza to be ready.

  “So, we’re going to be parents.�
� I exhale.

  “We are. Weird huh?” She asks.

  “What?”

  “We were probably both thinking we wouldn’t see each other again and here we are.”

  “It’s definitely unexpected. But I was thinking of turning the tables on you once I found out you knew Davis, if we’re being honest.” I admit.

  “Turn the tables?” She asks.

  “Well, I’m known to be a dick. I’ll throw that out there. Or at least I can be. I’m working on that part. I’ve been sleeping around while I’ve been in my constant drunk faze. And you humped and dumped me, I was gonna try to, I don’t know coheres you into sleeping with me again, so I can hump and dump you.” I shrug.

  “Hump and dump. Is that what I did?” She asks shocked.

  “Pretty much. You stole my opportunity away from me, and at first when I thought there could be a potential 2nd go of it, that was my initial thoughts. Of course, I’ve grown slightly in the week and half since I thought that.”

  “Someone can grow so much in that amount of time.” She deadpans.

  “You’d be amazed.” I nod.

  “So, you’re a slut?” She asks.

  “Getting right down to the point, I see.”

  “You opened that one up. So how many other baby mama’s do you have? Will little peanut have a sibling?”

  I laugh hard. “You’re the only one out there. At least that I’m aware of. I’ve been consistent with protection. Apparently not 100% though.”

  She nods her head. A waitress comes by and places the pizza on the table before us and I can see Tatum’s eyes watering over the pineapple I made sure was put on the pizza. She licks her lips as she places a piece on her plate, she then rubs her hands together, looks up at me and then dives into her piece. It’s comical, almost cartoon-like and quite adorable. She smiles as she’s chewing and I’m certain I heard her moan.

  “So what about you?” I ask.

  “What about me?” She wipes off some pizza sauce from her chin.

  “Well, we’ve already gone over how you humped and dumped me. Is that, a regular occurrence, will I need to contend with others?” I don’t know what I’m really asking her.

  “Remember I told you that you were the only fellow that I had slept with in the past 6 months?” She asks, almost irritated.

  “Yes.” I hang my head feeling like a complete asshole for practically asking her if she was a slut!

  “Look, Max. I normally don’t sleep with someone that I first meet. You apparently charmed the pants right off of me. I’m a red blooded woman and I’m horny as the next girl, I’m not apologizing for that. I don’t sleep around, and it’s likely that I won’t even for the next 9 or however months. We had a good time, as you put it I humped and dumped you. Sorry to take your man card away from you.” She takes a large bite out of her pizza and chews looking me dead in the eyes.

  “Sorry. I told you I can be a dick. I don’t know how to approach any of this. This is new.” I apologize.

  “It’s okay. Look, this is new for both of us. Your brother said it best the other night, we have 9 months to figure this all out.”

  “What else did my brother tell you?” I ask, hoping that he didn’t talk shit to her about me.

  “He said you could be a dick, that most of the time there’s a good reason behind it, or an underlying reason behind it. But he also said that you were a really good guy.”

  “I gave you warning about being a dick.” I smiled.

  “Oh and he doesn’t read romance novels. Those were Katrina’s.” She smiled.

  Chapter 19 - Tatum

  Since Saturday, Max has been extremely attentive. He hasn’t been overbearing but he’s been constant with making sure I was okay and that I had everything that I needed.

  After our lunch, we drove to Mission Beach and sat on a bench overlooking the sand and just talked. We discussed our childhoods, our teen years and our college years. Max mentioned his behavior in college matched his recent behavior before he went to rehab, which was troublesome at first, but he seems to be managing his sobriety fine. During our outing, his sponsor called him and while I sat beside him, Max told him about me, with my permission of course and filling him in on details every so often.

  On Sunday, he brought over bagels with jam, since he read somewhere that I couldn’t have soft cheese. He’s not how I pictured him, but of course this is all new and this could just be a faze. Only time will tell, however I hope it lasts. I haven’t really seen the “asshole” version of him, but I see someone who is willing to get to know me and put in the time.

  Max had texted me that he was on his way and I’m standing outside by the curb for him to pick me up.

  I see his silver Audi turn onto my street and start to slow as he approaches, as he looks for an empty parking space. I step out onto the street a little bit so he can see that he doesn’t have to find parking. I see his smile through the windshield, when he notices me.

  He really is good looking. Just the right amount of scruff, choppy brown hair, piercing blue eyes and perfect lips, he is undoubtedly edible. My heart is beating and I feel like a sauna has taken place between my legs. Fucking hormones!

  I slide into the seat and Max smiles at me.

  “You alright? You look flushed.” He asks, his smile falling.

  “I’m fine. Perfectly fine.” I breathe out. He smells so good. He smells like a mixture of pine trees and strawberries. I look at him; his hair is just the right amount of hair you would want to pull during some wild sex. And immediately I squeeze my thighs together and take a deep breath.

  “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asks genuinely concerned.

  If only he knew how incredibly turned on I was at the moment, that concerned look wouldn’t be in his eyes. But I nod my head anyways as I’m finding that my throat is dry.

  I look in the center of the console and he has a bottled water, unopened sitting there. I reach for it.

  “May I?” I ask.

  “Of course.” He smiles. “So where to?”

  We approach the doctor’s office and I check in. Within minutes, we’re whisked back and immediately separated. I’m having to pee in a cup and Max is taken into the room. Upon finishing, I hand my pee cup to the assistant and before we enter she asks questions in regards to my personal safety.

  “The only thing that’s unsafe right now are my hormone levels. I think other than that, we’re all good. He and I are all good.” I assure her as she starts to open the door.

  Max is looking down at the floor and barely looks up as I enter.

  “Are you okay?” I ask him sitting down on the chair next to him.

  “There a lot of pictures on the wall that I didn’t feel comfortable with looking at while alone, in public.” He smiles, briefly looking up at me.

  I laugh, noticing the various female anatomy diagrams along the walls. I note there is a 3D sized model on the counter that he’s avoiding as well.

  “In private though, you’ll check out the diagrams?” I tease shoving his shoulder with mine as he laughs. The contact pretty much made me squishy on the inside. I could very well be a puddle right now. Mother-loving hormones!

  A quiet knock interrupted our moment as the doctor stepped inside. We did a round of introductions and then I hopped up on the table. The doctor pulled an ultra-sound machine into the room and asked me to disrobe my pants. Max blushed and looked towards the wall, but I saw his eyes try to come back to me. The doctor had me lay down and Max came to my side. She pulled out a wand looking instrument and proceeded to have it disappear underneath the cover up I was wearing. From the looks of me, I didn’t look pregnant, but I sure was feeling all the effects of the first trimester.

  She squirted clear jelly on my belly and then Max stood by my side watching every movement of the doctor and me.

  The machine showed us blobs of unidentifiable objects until she finally settled on a hollow looking area with something that almost looked like Piranha plants from Super M
ario Bros. I heard Max’s breath hitch and I felt a tear prickle my eyes.

  “Peanut.” I whispered.

  “Peanut.” Max also whispered and the tears fell. Hearing the rough emotion in his voice was my un-doing.

  Max grabs my hand and squeezes.

  “There you go. It would appear that you are 7 weeks to the day.” The doctor says, she types something into the computer and the machine is printing something, one of the photos I assume. She does that a few more times and then pushes a button and I hear a rapid beating.

  Max squeezes my hand again as the tears are flowing.

  “Is that… the baby or is that Tatum?” He asks, his voice sounding like he just woke up.

  “That would be your baby. Tatum’s heart beat would be slower.” She explained.

  “Not right now it wouldn’t be! Omigosh, this is amazing.” I am so emotional right now, I normally would be shying away from the fact that I’m crying but with the constant squeeze of Max’s hand and this whole experience, I’m out of my normal element.

  The doctor printed up a few photos for us, and then she showed us where the baby was in each photo. I handed Max the photos and he helped me get up. The doctor gave us our pamphlets and instructed us on prenatal pills along with the can do’s and the don’ts of pregnancy. Armed with mountains of information, Max and I left the doctor’s office.

  “Do you have to go into work right away?” He asked.

  “No, I have the day off.” I should have gone back into work, but I thought ahead in case I was overly emotional, which I am.

  “Want to catch something to eat or some decaf coffee?” He asks, obviously listening to the doctor about the coffee.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  We head to a cute little coffee shop and I order a muffin and some warm milk, of which Max immediately makes fun of me for.

  “So, this is definitely cool.” He says as we sit down.

  “What is?” I ask.

  “You have a baby growing inside of you. I totally put it there.” He leans back and smiles.

  “You’re taking to this a whole lot different than I thought you would.” I admit.

  “I’m personally impressed with myself as well.” He boasts.