Marrying My Best Friend's BFF: A Friends to Lovers, Accidental Baby Romance (Love You Forever Book 2)

by Alexis Winter

  “You do know about all the scary, gross pregnancy stuff you’re going to have to deal with, right?”

  I laugh. “Not a clue. Why don’t you fill me in?”

  “Well, in addition to the weight gain, stretch marks, and morning sickness, there will also be swollen feet, leaking breasts, and an uncontrollable bladder.”

  “Leaking what?” I ask, feeling very confused.

  She giggles. “When I start producing breast milk, it’ll leak.”

  “How did I not know this? I mean, I don’t see women walking around with big, wet breasts every day.”

  She laughs. “They make pads to put in your bra so it doesn’t soak through your shirt.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. What else?”

  She laughs again and shakes her head. “How about I just give you a few things every day? If I tell you all at once, you might get overwhelmed and run off again,” she jokes.

  I roll her onto her back so I’m staring down at her. “I’m never leaving again, no matter how tough or rocky the road ahead gets. You’re mine for the rest of my life and I’m yours. Get used to it.”

  She offers a wide smile and lifts her head to press her lips to mine. The kiss is soft, slow, and sweet. It holds our past and all of our hopes, dreams, and future. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m done running from what I feel for her. It’s time to embrace it.

  Fourteen

  Riley

  CHAPTER 14—RILEY

  * * *

  “Are you sure you’re ready to tell them?” Preston asks as we both get ready to go to Piper and Calvin’s place to meet the new baby.

  I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess so. I mean, I’ve been holding off because a lot of first-time pregnancies end in miscarriage. I didn’t want to tell people and then have to explain if that had happened. But this pregnancy seems to be sticking. The doctor says the baby is growing just fine and looks to be healthy and strong.” I stand up and grab my clothes off the bed to get dressed. “Plus, the longer I wait, the harder it will be and the more Piper will bitch about being kept in the dark by her two best friends,” I point out.

  He laughs as he pulls his shirt over his head. “Well, you do have a point there.” He sits down on the edge of the bed to pull his shoes on.

  Pretty soon, the two of us are driving up to their house. Preston parks the car in the drive then turns to face me. “Just so you know, you don’t have to do this right now if you don’t want to.” He picks up my hand and presses a kiss to it.

  I offer up a smile. “I know, but I want to. I think it’s time we start talking about this little baby and celebrating. Don’t you?”

  He smiles wide. “I’d be more than happy to scream it to the entire world.”

  I return his smile and nod toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  We both climb out of the car and head toward the front door. Preston raises his hand and knocks, and only moments later, Calvin pulls the door open. He’s wearing a wide smile but his eyes look bloodshot and glassy. As happy as he is to be a father, he’s also exhausted too.

  Piper is sitting on the couch, holding a tiny little baby. The sight before me has my ovaries squeezing with excitement. I make my way over and have a seat. “Hey, guys. We thought the godmother and godfather should meet the baby we’ve sworn to protect.”

  Piper smiles as she carefully hands Mason over to me. “Lucky you, he’s just eaten.”

  “Yeah, he’s like his mommy when it comes to food,” Calvin jokes.

  I hold him close to my chest and gaze down at him. His skin is so soft and nearly pink in color. He smells like heaven, and he’s so warm and cuddly. I can’t help it when a few tears slip out. “He’s perfect,” I say, trying to hold off the waterworks.

  “Aww, you okay, Riley?” Piper asks, grabbing a tissue off the end table and passing it over to me.

  I take it and wipe at my tears as I nod.

  Preston is still standing up and looking nervous. “I’m just going to say it,” he blurts out, stealing everyone’s attention.

  “What’s up, man?” Calvin asks, suddenly looking nervous himself.

  Preston takes a deep breath, puts his hands on his hips, and says, “Riley and I are pregnant!”

  We both freeze as we wait for a round of congratulations! or a round of what do you think you’re doing?

  “That’s . . . great?” Calvin says, but it sounds more like a question.

  “You’re pregnant?” Piper asks, looking only at me.

  I nod, tears still falling from my eyes.

  “Are you happy about this? Were the two of you planning this?” Piper asks, looking from me to Preston and back.

  I smile. “It wasn’t planned, but we’re happy. I know we haven’t really known each other for very long, but ever since you introduced us, we haven’t been able to leave each other’s sides. After that dinner where you asked me to be godmother, we started talking and hanging out. Then we finally went out on a few dates, but we were taking it slow. I mean, I knew that you were in love with Calvin, but I still didn’t know how you’d feel about me being with Preston since you’d loved him all of your life and he was your best male friend. In fact, we took things so slowly that we didn’t hook up until your wedding.”

  “You hooked up for the first time on our wedding day?” Piper asks. “This is perfect, guys!” She stands up slowly and starts giving out hugs.

  After hugs are given, we just sit around and talk about this big new change that’s coming. She wants to know everything: when I found out, why I didn’t tell her sooner, when I’m due. Then, finally, in the middle of Preston and Calvin talking, she blurts out, “We can finally buy our houses and live next door to each other!” She nearly yells, making Mason—who’s now in Calvin’s arms—jump.

  Everyone laughs. “This place is almost done being renovated. It’s the perfect time to put it on the market. We need to start looking for houses closer to home,” she gushes, slightly bumping Calvin’s shoulder.

  We end up staying and fixing Calvin and Piper dinner while they nap on the couch with Mason lying in his little bed beside them.

  “That went well, right?” I whisper to Preston as we’re in the kitchen cooking spaghetti.

  “Why are you whispering?” he whispers.

  I motion toward the living room. “I don’t want to wake them. They all seem so tired.”

  “Our cooking noises are louder than our talking voices. Can we talk normally please?”

  I laugh. I guess he’s right. “I’m glad they’re excited for us,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him toward me.

  He holds me close, squeezing me lightly. “Me too, and I think Piper is serious about all of us moving south. What do you think about that? Raising the baby in a place that’s a little more quiet and a little less busy?”

  I think about it for a split second and nod. “I think it’s a good idea. Maybe we should surprise them by looking online tonight.”

  He laughs. “Sounds like a plan.” He leans down and kisses my lips.

  Later, we’re back at my place and packing my things so I can move into Preston’s apartment since he has more room and can better handle a family of three. I’m going through my things and either pitching or packing them while he Skypes with his dad using my laptop. They’ve been talking about the possibility of us moving down there.

  “I typed in the address correctly, Dad, but I’m not seeing it,” he says. “Okay, okay, I’ve got it now.” He’s quiet for a minute. “But this is only one house. We need two together.”

  I ignore the rest of their conversation as I focus on what I’m doing. A little while later, he gets off the phone and calls me over to check out whatever he’s pulled up on the screen.

  “So, my dad turned me on to this property.”

  I look at the screen to see a nice two-story home that’s blue with black shutters. The front yard is perfectly cared for with shrubs and flower beds. There’s a walkway t
o the front porch from the driveway and garage. And there’s even a white porch swing.

  “It has four bedrooms and three baths, a full kitchen, and a dining room. Plus a home office, living room, and pantry. In the backyard, there’s an in-ground pool. What do you think?”

  I bend down to watch as he clicks through the pictures of the interior of the house. “It’s nice, but is there an empty lot next door?”

  “Well, there’s actually a house next door, but it’s currently occupied by “Old Man Sherman.” He’s pushing 100 and Dad says he’s currently in bad health, so there’s a pretty good chance it will be for sale soon.”

  I smack his arm.

  “What?”

  “It sounds like you’re wishing this guy would die so we could have his house.”

  He laughs. “Just look at it.”

  This house is even more beautiful than the last. It’s a big, white, two-story home with balconies, fireplaces, and twice the yard as the last place. It has a big circular driveway and a fountain in the center.

  “This place has five bedrooms and four baths, plus a kitchen, dining room, pantry, wine cellar, home office, living room, family room, and stables, even though the property hasn’t housed horses in a long time.”

  “It’s beautiful and amazing, but a place like that must cost a fortune.”

  He shrugs. “It’s not in the city, so that lowers the price considerably. Property down there isn’t anything like what it is up here. I mean, yeah, it’s going to cost a lot, but it would be like buying a small house here in the city.”

  “Really? I had no idea it could vary so much.”

  “Location, location, location,” he jokes. “But what do you think? Do you like this place or the other one?”

  “They both have some great assets. I like the pool and the quaintness of the last place, but I like the stables in the second one in case we ever want to get horses.”

  He smiles wide. “Me too. I’ll have Dad talk to Old Man Sherman’s family for us.” He closes the laptop.

  “Don’t you think you should check with Piper and Calvin to make sure they want the house next door?”

  He places his hand under my chin and lifts my head to meet his eyes. “Do you like this house?”

  “Yes, it’s beautiful.”

  “Then I’m getting you this house. It’s perfect. I can work remotely, and you can talk to your boss to see if that’s an option for you. If not, perhaps you could find a job in town. This will be our next home,” he promises, rolling me over and covering my body with his.

  I’m officially 13 weeks pregnant and out of my first trimester. I couldn’t be happier, because now I feel like this is really happening. My body still hasn’t changed much. I’ve gained some weight, but most of it has gone to my boobs and stomach. I’m already a bra size bigger and my stomach is starting to turn round instead of flat like I’m used to. If I wear a loose-fitting shirt, you can’t even tell I’m pregnant. Hell, if I wear a tight shirt, I just look like I’ve got a beer belly rather than a baby.

  I’ve officially moved in with Preston and we’re working to turn the spare bedroom into a nursery. We’re not going all out on it yet, since we plan to move at some point—hopefully sooner rather than later. Turns out, Piper had been doing her own home search and she found the same blue house that Preston’s dad had told him about. But she doesn’t know about the house next door yet. Preston and I have both encouraged them to make the jump and buy the blue house. She’s already trying to make plans to sell us part of their lot in order to build our own place on it so we can still be together. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when we tell her we have a house of our own right next door. Preston’s dad has been handling the sale for us.

  He, along with the owner’s family, made the decision to sell the house privately to us. That way, the older gentleman who is currently living there can decide where the money from the sale will go. He’s going to live with his son temporarily until they can find him a nice nursing facility. We’ve already started the paperwork for buying the house, however, these things take time and we don’t even have a closing date yet.

  “Come on, get dressed,” Preston says as he walks through the door after work.

  “Where are we going?” I ask from my spot on the couch. I look down at my gray sweatpants and baggy T-shirt, thinking about how comfortable I am.

  “I’m taking you out to dinner.”

  “What’s the occasion?”

  “We got our closing date!” He flops down on the couch at my side.

  I sit upright. “What? We do?”

  He nods.

  “When is it?”

  “In one month, we will be the proud owners of a new home!”

  “One month?” I ask to make sure I heard him correctly.

  “One month,” he confirms.

  I squeal and throw my arms around his neck, pushing him to lie down on the couch. My body covers his as he hugs me close, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

  “I can’t wait!”

  He laughs. “Me neither,” he agrees. “Now, come on. Let’s go celebrate!”

  I pull on a black dress that fits loosely around my hips and legs. But with my growing chest and belly, it’s rather snug. I look at myself in the mirror and am happy with my ensemble. It ends just under my knee. I pull on a black cardigan to cover my arms, and slide my feet into a pair of flats, not wanting to put my back through the wringer from wearing heels all night. I leave my long hair down and apply some lip gloss and mascara before grabbing my clutch and heading out into the living room where Preston’s waiting. He looks handsome standing there in the middle of the room, with his attention on the baseball game. He’s wearing a suit that fits him to perfection. The white shirt is striking in comparison to his black suit and tanned skin, and his hair is neatly combed to the side.

  As he’s lifting his green beer bottle to his lips, his eyes meet mine, and instead of drinking his beer, he drinks me in instead. His eyes start at my feet and slowly make their way up my body. My cheeks flush under his gaze and a small, shy smile tugs at my lips. “Are you ready?”

  He swallows, causing his Adam’s apple to bob in his throat. His jaw flexes as he lowers the bottle back down to his side. “Yeah, if we don’t leave now, I’m going to be tearing that dress off of you.”

  I laugh. “Oh, come on. This dress isn’t even sexy,” I say as he helps me into my coat.

  He snorts. “It’s not the dress that’s turning me on right now. It’s you,” he whispers into my ear, his breath tickling my neck and cheek.

  I spin around to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You have a thing for pregnant women?” I tease.

  He offers up his cocky smile. “I have a thing for you. Especially when you’re glowing from having my child growing inside you.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine as his hands roam my body, pushing my dress up as they go, making me giggle.

  “Who needs dinner anyway?” I ask, ready to let him rip this dress off of me.

  He pulls back. “No, we’re going to dinner. There will be plenty of time for this later.” He pulls away but offers his elbow for me to hold on to as we exit the apartment and make our way down to his car.

  As we sit in the upscale restaurant, he looks nervous. His hands are shaking when he reaches for his water glass. He looks to be sweating bullets, and every time I look at him with an arched brow—as a way of saying what’s going on?—he just offers up a half-smile and slightly shakes his head like I’m not telling . . .

  I drink my sparkling water out of a wine glass and snack on the bread that was brought over for the table. I’m trying to think of something to talk about, because whatever’s on his mind is distracting him, and I want to help push that away.

  “So, have you talked to Calvin about the house?”

  He shakes his head. “No, I figured we’d do it when we’re all together.” He pulls his eyes from mine and starts looking around the restaurant like he’s wai
ting for something.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  “What do you mean?” he asks, glancing at me and then quickly away.

  “Why do you seem so nervous?”

  “What? I’m not. I’m just . . .”

  My brows rise as I wait for him to finish that sentence. “Nervous?” I ask again.

  He wipes the sweat off his brow. “I’m just hungry. Ah, here’s our food,” he says when he notices the waiter heading in our direction.

  My order of parmesan-crusted chicken breast with mashed potatoes and four-cheese mac and cheese gets set in front of me. The smell is delicious and has my mouth watering. I waste no time in grabbing my fork and knife and cutting into the delectably-crusted-over chicken. It’s moist and juicy and makes me want to do a little dance in my seat. In fact, I do a little bounce while mumbling mmmmm to myself with my mouth closed.

  Preston laughs and it pulls me out of my food dance. “What? It’s seriously good. Want to try?” I point toward my plate with my fork.

  He laughs and shakes his head. “I wouldn’t dream of taking that away from you. You’d probably bite off my hand.”

  I shrug, more than happy to keep all my food to myself.

  By the time we finish, I can barely move. I’ve eaten my whole plate—not a piece of that chicken made it past me and my pregnancy starvation. I’m so stuffed that I feel like a turkey walking away from the oven on Thanksgiving. It’s more of a waddle than anything.

  Preston grabs my hand and instead of taking me to the car, he leads to me the sidewalk.

  I look over at him with confusion written across my face.

  He shrugs. “Figured after that much food, we could use a walk.”

  “A walk? Preston, I just wiped out my entire plate. I don’t want to walk. I want to lie down and hope this food digests soon.”

  He laughs but keeps pulling me down the sidewalk to our fountain. The water is shooting up high in the sky and the lights and music make a beautiful show. He walks me up to it and wraps an arm around me, pulling me close to his side.