Changeup (Double Play Series Book 4)

by Nicole Rodrigues

  “Yesss,” I hiss. “Keep goin’ baby, don't stop. You feel so good, this is so good.”

  His lips crash on mine and I put both hands on his cheek, taking from him, pulling all the desire from his body and giving him my own. Kissing him has never turned me on more than in this moment, our lips dancing along the others, our tongues reaching out then pulling back, the taste of myself on his and the taste of him on mine.

  “You're fuckin’ mine Normani.”

  “And you're mine,” I pant.

  “Damn right I am,” he says smiling.

  His dimple and smirk, his smile, his proclamation, the feeling of us connecting in this moment is my undoing. My eyes scrunch close but his hand on my cheek, on my scar, opens them.

  “Look at me. I wanna watch your face darlin’. Watch mine. Look at what you do to me.”

  I nod, my body erupting as I watch his brows furrow, his mouth open, his teeth digging into his bottom lips.

  “Ughhhh,” he groans dropping his forehead to mine.

  Our eyes are still drawn together, our connection refusing to be broken.

  “I love you Normani. Thank you for givin’ me a chance, thank you for bein’ strong for the both of us when I couldn't be.”

  His eyes close and his hand goes to my cheek.

  “Thank you for pushin’ me to claim what I deserve cowboy.”

  Chapter 22

  Devin

  I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket as we land back in Louisiana and nudge Normani.

  “It's Miguel.”

  Her smile drops and I hate it. She's been so happy this weekend, her cares and fears left here in Louisiana and I hate that it can be swiped that fast.

  I hand her my phone and she swipes the screen, putting it on speaker.

  “You okay?”

  “I'm fine. How was vacation?”

  “It was...amazin’.”

  She blushes looking over to me.

  “Good. Got some good news for you. They found Zachariah. He spilled everything. They're all gonna be spending life in prison. You did good Mani, you did really fuckin’ good.”

  “Miguel…” Normani's voice breaks and I wrap an arm around her shoulder kissing the top of her head. “Are you bein’ serious right now?”

  “Of course I am. Love you Mani, we're finally free.”

  “I love you too. I'll stop by the studio on my way home.”

  Normani starts to cry as she hands me my phone back and I pull her closer to me, hugging her as tight as I possibly can.

  “My Superwoman. I'm so proud of you, I'm so happy this is all over for you.”

  She breaks the hug, wiping her tears and laughs. Her eyes turn to the ring on her finger and she plays with it.

  “You uh...I guess we can go back to regular ole’ datin’ now,” she laughs nervously. “I mean there's no need to carry on this charade, I'm safe, it's all over.”

  She takes off her ring and I swear my heart bleeds. I feel it being ripped open and I panic.

  “Normani, put that damn ring back on your finger,” I say quickly.

  “Devin!” she snaps. “The engagement was fake. You did this to protect me and you did, so thank you.”

  “Normani, please put the ring back on.”

  “Eventually when you give it to me for real, I will Devin, but this wasn't it.”

  She places the ring in the palm of my hand, and I close my fist.

  She shakes her head and I see a tear escape down her cheek and she angrily brushes it away.

  “God, this is supposed to make me happy, why am I cryin’?“

  “Darlin’, the smartest thing I have ever done in my life was put that ring on your finger. Please, put it back on,” I plead with her lifting the ring out for her to take.

  “Devin...I love you. I love you so much, but you put that ring on my finger to protect me, not because you wanted to marry me.”

  “I'm marryin’ you darlin’.”

  “Keep it safe until you do,” she says quietly.

  “I'll take it back now, but it’s gonna end up back on your finger again, don't you worry about that.”

  “Oh, I ain't cowboy. I know you make good on your promises.”

  “How about this one...stay at the farmhouse with me, officially. Is that allowed?”

  “Are you askin’ me to move in with you?”

  “You already are just...stay, for real, as my girl, not my fake fiancé. Keep wakin’ up in the mornin’ with me to tend to the chickens, keep milkin’ those cows, pretendin’ I ain't watchin’ you. Keep brushin’ Cookie and Buttercup, singin’ those Carrie Underwood songs out of tune. Keep ridin’ on my big green tractor...” I smirk.

  “You dog,” she laughs slapping my chest. “Can Peppa sleep in our bed?” she asks looking up at me with those big green eyes.

  “I already know if I say no, she's gonna somehow end up in our bed anyway, ain't she?”

  “Look at you, jock man, catchin’ on so quick. Like I said, rude misconception. Y’all are smart and observant.”

  I pin her against the car and attack her ribs, tickling her until she's slumped on the floor, tears running down her cheeks.

  She rolls around on the ground catching her breath and she snorts.

  “Oh my God, what a sexy sound,” I laugh.

  “Devin, do not tickle me! Don't you dare tell anyone about that snort either!”

  “I thought you snuck Peppa in our luggage for a second,” I quip.

  Normani stares daggers at me and I laugh, pulling her close to me as we walk to my truck.

  “Peppa ain't sleepin’ in our bed tonight though. I wanna spend our first night officially livin’ together between your legs,” I groan in her ear.

  “You're right, that sounds like an excellent plan. She can sleep with us tomorrow.”

  Chapter 23

  Normani

  I knock on the door of Savannah’s office. I learned the hard way that when the door is closed you do not under any circumstances open it. I got a very up close and personal view of her husband Jackson’s ass and although he is built like a Greek God, I’d really rather not have that happen again.

  “One second,” I hear Savannah say from the other side of the door.

  A couple of seconds later, Savannah summons me to open the door and Jackson is sitting on the chair opposite her desk with a big goofy smile on his face. Savannah on the other hand is flushed and frazzled and I laugh.

  “Hey Mani, what can I do for you?” she asks, smoothing out her blouse.

  “I uh...can I talk to you about something?”

  Savannah eyes Jackson and he stands, walking around to the other side of the desk and kissing her before walking towards the door.

  “Nice to see you Mani, how’s everything been goin’?”

  “It’s goin’ better, a lot better, thanks,” I say smiling.

  “Good. Just makin’ sure my wife is treatin’ you right. Let me know if she ain’t. I’ll take care of it.”

  I laugh and Savannah throws a pen at him, hitting his back.

  “We both know I run the house Jackson Turner, what are you gonna ‘take care of’?”

  “Oh princess, I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout the house, just one specific room.”

  He smirks and walks out the door and Savannah tries to hide her smile, her cheeks turning red again.

  “Sorry about him,” she laughs. “He can’t turn it off.”

  I laugh closing the door behind me and make my way to the chair in front of her desk.

  “Now I know where Lacey gets it from,” I laugh.

  Savannah does too then she sits, folding her hands on her stomach.

  “So, what’s goin’ on? Everything okay?” she asks with concern.

  My eyes start to water, and I will them to stop. Shit, not yet. I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when I did this.

  “I...I just wanted to thank you Savannah, for everything you’ve done. You...gave me a second chance, you took me away from everything, you protected me,
fought for me. Brought me into this amazin’ family and introduced me to Devin. I...there aren’t any words for me to say to show you how much I appreciate your kindness, there really aren’t.”

  I’m crying now and Savannah gets up, rushing around her desk to pull me into a hug.

  “Can I tell ya somethin’ Mani?”

  “Yeah,” I sniffle.

  “When Second Chances got word that you were back in Louisiana workin’ at the gym with no job after your outstandin’ grades, there was something that dragged me there, to find you. I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t ignore it. You may think I’m crazy, but I believe in stuff like that...that somehow maybe it was your mama, pushing me to find you, make sure you were okay. You’re a strong woman Normani, you would have been okay on your own, I believe that, but okay ain’t enough. You need to be happy, you need people in your life to share that happiness and to give you some of their own too.”

  I nod as she grabs a box of tissues, pushing it into my hands.

  “I saw that fire inside you, the love you had that you were just patiently waitin’ to give to someone worthy of it. Now I know my nephew can be a big ass sometimes, but he’s got that fire too. The passion, the protectiveness, I knew y’all would connect. He needed someone to knock his smug ass down and you needed someone to open their arms for you. I was hopin’ like hell it would work out and I’m so happy it has. I just want you to know that we’re doin’ everything we can with Second Chances to make sure no one ever slips through the cracks like that again. You didn’t deserve that life, you shouldn’t have been forced to do the things you did, but they don’t define you. You’re stronger than anything that tries to bring you down, Normani.”

  “What...what did you just say?”

  “You’re stronger than anything that tries to bring you down,” Savannah repeats.

  I close my eyes and laugh, tears streaming down my face as I reach for Savannah and hug her tightly against me.

  “My mama used to tell me that every night before bed. Thank you Savannah, thank you so much.”

  “You know if you need anything, and I mean anything, I’m always here for you.”

  “There actually is one thing I think you would be an expert on. I uh...haven’t talked to Devin yet but...I want to help with the Aftercare program y’all are doin’ there and also with events. I...I think I would like to adopt from there one day, when Devin and I are settled and...I don’t know it’s just a thought.”

  Savannah smiles and nods her head, a small tear dropping down from her eyes.

  “I think he’ll definitely be on board with that. Tucker was one of the best things to ever happen to me. You would be a great mama to any of those kids. There ain’t nothin’ that would make me happier havin’ you onboard with the program. I’ll talk to the board and we’ll set up a meetin’, okay?”

  “Thank you again Savannah, for everything.”

  “You’re welcome Normani. You’re so very welcome.”

  Devin

  “To new beginnings,” Normani yells.

  The group cheers and we clink our glasses together. We're out celebrating Normani's new found freedom and our official moving in together relationship.

  Bella sits on Damon's lap in the booth sipping her water with lime, Damon's hand protectively on her growing belly.

  I look over at Lacey and Nico. He's whispering something in her ear, and she smirks but quickly wipes it off her face. She turns to whisper something to him and then pushes him away, turning back to the group, arms folded. Nico laughs and kisses the top of her head and she rolls her eyes.

  Those two.

  “So, we go to find out the sex of the twins next week. We're gonna send out the baby pool. Who do y'all think is gonna win?” Bella asks.

  “Me!” Lacey yells raising her hand. “I am the baby psychic. I’m tellin’ you, girl and boy. I knew you were pregnant before you did!”

  “I think the funnier question would be who’s next after you,” Nico says laughing.

  Everyone turns towards Normani and I and I smile kissing her cheek.

  “I have no objections to that. Wanna start tryin’ tonight darlin’?”

  “Devin John! I’m already livin’ in sin, we both know shackin’ up with you is makin’ my trip to heaven debatable. Don’t go on and knock me up before we’re married too!”

  “You sound like our mama,” Bella laughs.

  “I don’t think anyone at this table is headin’ to heaven,” Nico laughs. “Especially this one,” he growls in Lacey’s ear.

  “Hulk, you know damn well what that growl does to me. Keep it up and I’ll get on my knees right here, damn the crowd.”

  “And I’m goin’ to get us some drinks,” I laugh getting up from the table.

  “Yeah me too,” says Damon.

  Bella laughs getting up from the table too followed by Normani.

  “Come to think of it,” Lacey says getting to her feet. “I’m super thirsty too. Let’s go Hulk, I need a thirst quencher.”

  She grabs Nico by his belt and they walk briskly towards the bar entrance of the bar. We all look at each other and laugh as we sit back down in the booth.

  ----

  “Mmm I love the smell of the air, is that weird?” Normani whispers.

  We're sitting out on the patio of the farmhouse in a lounge chair, my arms wrapped around her body between my legs. Her head rests on my chest and I kiss her hair.

  “I mean who doesn't love the smell of horse shit? Those people are the weird ones.”

  “You know what I meant,” she laughs slapping my thigh.

  “You ready to run our empire darlin’? This farm better not fall apart, Daddy Dev won't be too happy.”

  “Oh my gosh, back to caveman huh? Don't worry Daddy Dev, mamas got it.”

  We hear Peppa squeal from the foot of the lounge chair and Normani leans down to grab her.

  “Wanna head in? I think my cowboy promised me a mindblowin’ night.”

  I smirk and help her off the chair as we walk inside, locking the patio door behind me.

  “I'll tuck Peppa, go meet me in bed,” I say reaching for our little pig.

  “Puttin’ the baby to bed? Daddy Dev you just got me so turned on,” Normani whispers.

  I grab her waist and pull her to me, kissing her neck and loving the sound of her squeal.

  “Naked darlin’. Ass up.”

  Normani shrieks as I slap her ass and walk down the hall to the spare bedroom.

  I lay Peppa down in her little bed, tucking her tight in her blanket as she burrows herself in further.

  “Night Peps.”

  I close the door to the room and jog down the hall, stopping short in the doorway.

  “Fuck,” I groan. “Good girl.”

  I rip my shirt off my chest in one smooth movement, Normani watching me over her shoulder. I pull my shorts and boxers down, my hard dick bobbing against my stomach as I stomp towards the bed.

  “What a fuckin’ sight.”

  “I want it hard and fast tonight cowboy. Make me scream.”

  I close my eyes as Normani's voice drips lust, reaching behind her and stroking me.

  “Lucky for you I won't be able to do gentle and slow tonight darlin’. Hands on the headboard,” I command.

  She leans forward, bracing her palms on the headboard, pushing her ass up higher in the air.

  I grab her ass cheeks, digging my fingers in that mouthwatering meat as I slam into her, her cry making me harder.

  “Yessssss,” she moans.

  I grip her tighter, pounding into her body, the sound of skin slapping against skin echoes throughout the room.

  The feel of her walls clenching and unclenching around me is testing my restraint and I swear I'm not gonna last another minute.

  There's a difference in her tonight. The burden she's been carrying around her whole life finally lifted. She's a force to be reckoned with, taking and commanding and I'm fucking entranced by her.

  “Touc
h yourself darlin’. I'm gonna come soon I...you're too good. Too fuckin’ good.”

  “I d-don't need to I'm g-gonna...fuck Devin I…”