Searching for Neverland by Monica Alexander Page A

that step of her life, even though I knew it was inevitable.
    She laughed. “No, but I don’t think we’ll wait long after the wedding before we start trying, considering I hit my baby peak two years ago.”
    I raised an eyebrow at her behind my Ray-Bans. “Two years ago?”
    She nodded. “Yeah, twenty-seven is the prime baby making age for women.”
    “I did not know that.”
    “That’s because you don’t want kids.”
    That wasn’t necessarily true, but my biological clock wasn’t exactly ticking either.
    “That’s because you’ll have so many that if I get baby fever, I can just go play with one of your rugrats,” I said, grinning at her.
    She smiled back endearingly. “Auntie Taylor. I like it.”
    Yeah, I was pretty good with that too – as long as I could give them back when I was done, I’d be fine.
    * * *
    Allison and I drove home a few hours later, and an uneasy feeling crept up on me as I saw Josh’s jeep in the driveway.
    When we walked inside, he was still lying on the couch, but I could tell he’d at least gotten up, as he’d changed into workout shorts and a t-shirt. The back blinds were closed, and the TV was on low. Remnants of Taco Bell were on the coffee table, and I could see an empty Gatorade container on the floor by his head. He looked up when we walked in.
    “Hung over much?” Allison asked.
    “Yeah, just a little bit,” Josh groaned, as he rubbed his forehead. “I sort of feel like I got run over by a truck, but it’s all good. Nothing a little cheap Mexican food can’t cure.”
    “Yeah, I can see that – and smell it.”
    While Allison was fully engaged in conversation with her brother, I hung out in the kitchen. She went to sit in the living room with him, so I grabbed a soda and stood at the counter reading the Glamour that I’d gotten in the mail the day before.
    “What are you doing, Taylor?”
    I looked up to see Josh staring at me. I wanted to look away. I suddenly had flashbacks of him kissing me and wanted to cringe. Okay, so aside from the sloppiness, it hadn’t been that bad, but it also hadn’t been invited.
    “Um, just reading a magazine,” I said, holding up the proof.
    “Standing in the kitchen? You can read it in here. We won’t bite.”
    Yeah, but you might try to kiss me.
    “Yeah, sure,” I said, taking my magazine and soda into the living room. I sat on the love seat opposite Allison. No way was I sitting next to Josh. “So, you feel like crap?”
    “Pretty much,” he said casually, stretching out a bit on the couch. His t-shirt rose up, exposing his taught stomach, and I had to look away since at the site of his ripped abs, as my stomach got a little twingy feeling that sort of freaked me out. “Thanks for driving me home last night. I really appreciate it.”
    “Yeah, no problem.”
    Okay, just keep it casual, I told myself.
    “How drunk was I?”
    “Fantastically drunk,” I said, laughing a little bit , but it was a nervous laugh .
    “Sorry,” he said, looking like he really felt bad. “I honestly hadn’t planned on getting wasted.”
    “You were a little bit of an ass, too,” Allison chimed in, not holding back.
    “I was?”
    I didn’t say anything. I hadn’t planned on going into the gritty details of fantastically drunk Josh, but if she wanted to broach the subject, she could. I didn’t want to talk about last night any longer than we had too. Allison, unfortunately, wanted to remind Josh of the finer details of his behavior.
    “Yeah. You pretended like Tay was your girlfriend when she was giving some guy her number, but even before that you were a real treat. You told her to fuck off.”
    Josh’s eyes went wide, and his face took on a regretful expression as he listened to her go on about everything he’d done.
    “Really?” he asked, looking at me.
    I nodded. “You were in pretty bad shape, my friend.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be an ass, really.”
    “It’s okay, J,” I said, knowing he did feel