We all take our seats in the living room and Piper takes Mason out of his seat to feed him. Mrs. Young goes on and on about the big dinner she’s preparing. Mr. Young walks in and looks down at all of us. “Preston, come with me, please.”
He stands up and follows him out the front door.
“I wonder what that’s about,” I say to Piper and Calvin.
Calvin leans back in his seat. “Oh, I think I have an idea.”
Piper laughs long and hard.
“What? Someone fill me in.”
Piper leans toward me. “My dad and their dad like to enjoy a good old garage smoke if you know what I mean. When Calvin and I got together, they insisted that Calvin join in since he’s no longer a single man. I’m guessing that they’re doing the same thing with Preston now that he’s married.”
“By smoke, you mean . . . ?” I’m a little confused.
“Something you can only get at the dispensary.”
I roll my eyes. “Oh my God. Seriously? I’m stuck being pregnant and he’s over there smoking a joint?”
Piper laughs and nods. “As far as I know, Preston hasn’t smoked since college. You’re going to have your hands full.” She points at Calvin. “He was hilarious. Preston kept shooting him with a water gun, and he couldn’t figure out why it was only raining on him.” She laughs harder.
I bump his arm with mine. “Why don’t you join them?”
His eyes get big. “Oh no, I’m done with that. I ate so much food, I almost threw up. Then I passed out in a pool chair for hours. My recreational smoking days are over.”
Twenty minutes later, both men walk back in with red, bloodshot eyes. Preston takes his seat next to me and stretches out. He kicks up his feet on the coffee table and wraps one arm behind me while the other stretches the length of the back of the couch. The three of us stare at him.
“What?” he asks, suddenly realizing all of us are watching him.
“Have fun?” I ask.
He shrugs. “It wasn’t bad. It gave me high school flashbacks.” He sits up and looks around Calvin and me to Piper. “Remember all those days in high school when we’d try to hide the fact that we were stoned? What was the point of that? Our dads were stoners too.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “We didn’t know that at the time, Preston.”
“Oh yeah,” he says, sitting back, but he springs forward again. “You think they knew?”
“That we were stoned?” she asks and he nods. “I’m sure they did. I mean, we’d come home from school reeking of the stuff. Then we’d go into the kitchen, make the worst food combinations, and sit in front of the TV to eat and watch cartoons, laughing our asses off the whole time. They had to know what was going on.”
I can’t help but laugh.
Mr. Young walks back through the living room and Preston says, “Hey, Dad?”
“Yeah?” he turns to study us as he pauses on his way to the kitchen.
“Back when we were in high school, did you guys know that Piper and I were stoned after school?”
He laughs. “Of course. How could we not? You fucking ate pickles dipped in nacho cheese and Slim Jims sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies! Not to mention, your pupils were huge but you kept squinting so bad you had to sit right in front of the TV, where you did nothing but cackle. Hell, we’d sit in the kitchen and watch you guys for our own entertainment.” He laughs then walks into the kitchen with Mrs. Young.
I look at Preston and Piper. “You guys are nasty. I’m pregnant and even I wouldn’t eat that shit!”
“I forgot all about the Slim Jims between the cookies. That was awesome!” Preston says, getting up. “Hey, Mom, do we have any Slim Jims and chocolate chip cookies?” he shouts as he walks into the kitchen, leaving the rest of us laughing.
“I can’t believe you guys bought the house next to ours!” Piper gushes. “I can’t wait to raise our little ones together just like we grew up,” she says, looking at Calvin.
“Yeah, but ours are related now, so there won’t be any flirting with the girl next door.” He smirks at her and I think it’s adorable.
“That’s a good point. We don’t need any more Pipers running around, kissing both brothers,” she jokes and her cheeks turn pink.
“Piper, did you talk to our work about the move? They’re going to let me work remotely.” I grab my iced tea off the table and take a sip.
“Actually, Calvin and I have talked about it, and I’m going to be quitting. I just . . . I want more kids and I want to be around for every minute of it. I’ve been toying with the idea of self-publishing to keep my writing going, but I haven’t made any decisions yet. I’ve also been getting into sewing and making baby clothes. So in the back of my mind, I’m thinking about creating my own store of custom-made baby things.” She shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s still up in the air right now.”
“I love that idea! That would be so cute and it’s not something this little town has yet. You should definitely do that, and if you want to write, you can do that in your spare time!”
She moves her head from side to side like she’s considering it.
Preston comes back with a Slim-Jim-and-cookie sandwich. He bites into the cookie as he plops down on the couch next to me. We all watch him, disgusted, as he looks to be in heaven while he eats his nasty concoction. He finally feels our eyes on him and turns to look at us.
“What?” he asks, pulling his brows together like he legitimately can’t figure out why we’re staring. “Oh, you used to eat it too. Don’t act disgusted just because your friends are here,” he says to Piper.
She holds up her hands, showing us her palms. “I didn’t say a word, but on that note, I think I’m going to go say hi to Mom and Dad.” She stands with Mason in her arms. “Cal, you want to join?”
“Sure,” he says, wiping his hands down the front of his jeans as he stands up. He grabs the diaper bag and follows along behind her.
Now that it’s just Preston and me alone in the room, I look over at him. “Want to show me your childhood bedroom?”
He smirks with cookie crumbs stuck to the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, I do. We can act out some of my high school fantasies.”
Seventeen
Preston
I finish off my snack as I take Riley to my room. I open the door and allow her to walk in ahead of me. She steps into the room and looks everything over—from the full-size bed with a plaid blanket to the posters of supermodels hanging on the walls. She walks up to my shelves and looks at the framed pictures. There’s one of Calvin and me, dressed in our football gear when we were probably still in grade school. There’s one of Calvin, Piper, and myself floating in the pool in our teen years. And one of the entire football team my senior year.
She turns to face me with a smile. “You were pretty hot.”
I snort. “Pretty hot? I was hot. You should talk to some of the girls around town. They had a fan club for me,” I smirk, remembering the way I got around in high school, but I’m more than happy with how things ended up.
“Oh, God. I didn’t even think about that.”
I throw myself down on the bed. “Think of what?”
“We’re moving to your hometown. I’m going to have to face these girls . . . girls who are now women and still carrying a torch for you.” She comes to sit on the edge and I wrap my arms around her and pull her down to the bed with me.
“Don’t worry about them. I’m sure they’ve forgotten all about me by now. Plus I have you.” I press a kiss to her neck and she spins in my arms.
“You better not make me join that fan club,” she says with a smirk.
“It’s never going to happen. You and I are the only members allowed in our club.” I move in for a kiss, but she places a hand on my chest, stopping me.
“What about little Baby Young here?”
“We’ll start a different club for her. This club is a sex club and no one else is allowed in.” Finally, my lips find hers as I slide my bod
y to hover over her. With my stupid, cheesy line, she giggles and pulls away. “Does our sex club have the same rules as Fight Club?”
“Oh no. We’re talking about Sex Club. Fight Club has its own rules.” I move my mouth back to hers and this time, she doesn’t push me away. I kiss her long and hard as her hands start pushing away our clothing. It doesn’t take long before we’re both completely naked and I’m thrusting into her, right where I belong.
I roll my hips and find that spot that has her seeing stars. She lets out a loud moan and I immediately lighten my thrusts to quiet her down.
“Shh, my parents will hear us.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t be quiet. I’m almost there. Harder!” Her nails dig into my ass cheeks and I have no choice but to give her everything I can to push her over the edge so she’ll quiet down.
Within a minute of giving her all I’ve got, she shatters beneath me and her moans turn to hushed whispers. I give her a look that says what the fuck was that? but all she does is giggle with a wide smile as she shrugs.
“We’re married and about to have a baby. I highly doubt they’ll say anything,” she points out.
“Yeah, maybe they won’t say anything to you, but my dad will have a field day with it when we’re alone.”
“Sorry, not sorry. I’m your wife and I needed servicing. Deal with it.”
I shake my head and roll my eyes. So it begins . . .
“Dinner is ready!” Mom yells up from downstairs and I quickly pull out of her to grab my clothes.
“Hey, we’re not done here,” Riley tells me, pointing to the tent in my boxers. “You still have a rather large problem there.”
“It’ll go away. I’m absolutely starving. Come on.” I fasten my jeans and nod toward the door.
She shakes her head as she sits up and pulls on her clothes. “Stoner problems, huh?”
I grin and nod. I’m not a stoner. I don’t smoke every day or even every year. In fact, today was the first time I’d smoked since college, and I can honestly say I didn’t miss it. Sure, it’s legal now and I can have it as much as I want, but my body could never handle the constant munchies. I’d look more pregnant than Riley.
The two of us finish getting dressed and go downstairs to find Mom, Dad, Calvin, Piper, and both of her parents already around the table.
Piper smiles. “Having fun up there, huh?”
I hold up my middle finger as I pull out a chair for Riley. Piper just laughs as serving bowls begin to get passed around the table.
“You know you have to wait for the first one to be born before you can start on the next one, right?” Dad adds on just to tease her.
Riley blushes and tries to disappear into thin air, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Everyone laughs and lets the subject drop as we all focus on eating.
Dinner passes by quickly with all of us together—talking, hanging out, and laughing, but then bedtime passes by as slowly as possible. Mason seems to think that no one in the house wants to sleep, and he wakes everyone up every two hours with his crying. When the sun rises, I’ve already been up for two hours and have the car all packed and ready to hit the road the moment Riley wakes up. We’re both ready to get out of here and get back home to start packing for the move in a month.
We give hugs and say our goodbyes before making the drive back to the city. It’s a long trip, especially given how tired I am, but we make it in one piece. The moment we walk through the door, neither of us is worried about unpacking our things from the weekend or getting started on the apartment. We both just fall into bed and sleep the rest of the day, not waking up until 10 p.m. to have a quick snack, then we’re both back in bed, ready to get some rest so we can have a fresh start in the morning.
When we wake, we order some donuts and coffee to get sugared up for a day of sorting and packing everything that won’t be in use for the next month. We agree to start in the spare bedroom. This room is full of shit I don’t use and the few items we’ve already bought for the baby. We either throw things out, put them in a bag for donating, or pack them in a moving box. She fills the boxes and I take out the trash and stack the moving boxes by the front door for the movers. It takes us nearly the whole day, but the first room is packed and completely empty.
We pause for food breaks, bathroom breaks, and the occasional romp in bed. We take a nap and move on to the room that’s the least used: the kitchen.
“What’s staying and what’s going?” she asks, opening up all the cabinets to reveal not much of anything.
I laugh. “Anything that isn’t anchored down, throw in a box.”
She laughs and shakes her head, but we get to work on packing up whatever we won’t be using during the move. Since we eat out for most meals, that’s pretty much everything except glassware and silverware.
Our month of packing and wrapping things up at work passes quickly. The next thing I know, our time is up and we’re left staring at our empty apartment.
“This was a good first home for us,” she says, wrapping her arms around my stomach from behind me as we look over the completely-empty living room.
“Yeah, it was. But I’m ready for something new. I’m ready to get started on spending the rest of my life with you.” I spin her around and lean down to press a kiss to the top of her head. She looks up, returning the kiss by moving her mouth to mine. We savor the moment for a little longer, then I pull away. “Let’s hit the road. We have a long drive and a lot of pit stops to make.”
She laughs but follows me to the door. I allow her to walk through it first, and before I turn and walk out myself, I give the place one last look.
In this moment, I’m not just saying goodbye to the apartment—I’m saying goodbye to my old self. The guy who thought there wasn’t room for love in his life. The guy who wanted nothing but one-night stands. In this moment, I’m exactly who I want to be and there’s no going back. I couldn’t even if I tried. There’s no way I’d survive without the other half of my heart.
“Pres?”
“I’m coming,” I say, finally backing out of the apartment and closing the door behind me. “Let’s go,” I say, wrapping my arm around her and leading her down the hall.
Hours later, when we make it to our new home, I park the car and rush around to her side to help her out. Calvin and Piper won’t be moving here for another month or so, after they get things settled with her house and Calvin’s office. So for the first month, it’ll be just us, and I’m more than happy for the uninterrupted alone time with my wife.
She steps out of the car and closes the door. I bend down, picking her up against me.
She squeals. “What are you doing?”
“This is the first home we purchased as a married couple. I have to carry you over the threshold.”
“Such a romantic,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck. I walk us up to the porch and into the house, stopping in the foyer.
“What do you say we give this house a show it hasn’t seen in a long time?” I ask, wagging my brows at her.
She smiles and her cheeks turn pink. “Sounds like a damn good idea to me.”
I lay her down on the hardwood floor of the foyer, put her small purse under her head, and move my mouth to hers. She wiggles against me and that’s all it takes to have me hard and ready for action.
I bury myself in her like never before, happy that this is how we’re spending our first day in our new house together. The first day of the rest of our lives. Finally, I know I’m right where I belong.
Meeting Riley that day at Piper’s place sealed my fate, and I can’t even imagine what my life would’ve looked like right now had I not crashed their dinner and met the love of my life. Right now, our future together is all that matters, and I know I’ll do everything in my power to make sure this epic love story of ours that seems to be written in the stars goes down in the record books as one of the greatest love stories of all time.
* * *
If you loved Preston and Riley�
��s story, be sure to grab Luna and Daniel’s story in Rocking His Fake World
Rocking His Fake World Sneak Peak
Chapter 1
Luna
The guitar feels as light as air as I hold it in my hands, my fingers gliding across the strings, hitting the exact notes as I sing up on this crowded bar’s stage. The room is dark and the dance floor in front of me is packed tight. It’s like a sea of faces, all of them blending together and moving like the ocean’s waves. The spotlight is hot as it shines down on me, but it’s a heat I love. One I crave. Everything in life could be going wrong, feeling like world was crumbling down on top of my head, and all I’d have to do is get up on the stage and sing my heart out. Even though the bar is loud, when I step up on this stage, I feel peace.
I belt out the last line of the lyrics and hold it just a tad longer until my voice grows raspy and thick. It only adds to the sharp edge of the song. When the band wraps up, the crowd goes wild, screaming and clapping and cheering while jumping up and down.
“I love you, Luna!” some guy in the crowd yells throughout the bar.
I laugh into my microphone. “Love you too. Good night.” The stage goes dark and I exit off to the right, handing over my guitar to the guy we hired to lug our shit around. This is just a small bar, so there isn’t a lot going on backstage. We’re not famous musicians, so there is no party, no manager to tell us how awesome we did, no group of people ready to do anything for an autograph. But one of these days, I know there will be. We just gotta pay our dues.
I go into the small dressing room and grab a towel to wipe the sweat away from my face. Of course, it smears my makeup so I sit at the light up mirror and reapply what needs done. I mean, I can’t exactly go out there looking a mess now. Some nights we show up, perform, and take off, but tonight I feel like sticking around to have a few drinks. The crowd really came to life tonight and that only amps me up more. There’s no way I’m ready to walk out of here and go back to my normal, boring life. When you’re up on a stage like that, the energy of the crowd somehow absorbs into you. I’m like a sponge up there, soaking up every last bit of excitement, love, appreciation. Mix that with the three Jack and Coke’s I’ve had already, and you get a fucked up ride that won’t spit you out until the very end of the night.
Marrying My Best Friend's BFF: A Friends to Lovers, Accidental Baby Romance (Love You Forever Book 2) Page 19