by Toni Aleo
Brie shook her head. “He is.”
“Then why hasn’t he hit it?”
“I have—”
“Because he knows that’s all you want.”
Wren’s lips pressed together as Brie’s eyes squeezed shut. At the same time, they both turned back to look at Vaughn, who was standing in the doorway of their kitchen with his shoulder leaning on the wall, a smug smile on his face. “I hear all since this house is empty, and let me just say, Jensen isn’t going to just fuck you to get by. He’s not that guy. He didn’t fuck anyone until he loved them in high school. He’s a do-gooder. You know that.”
Wren’s mouth went dry. “But we’re married.”
“Doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t think you have feelings for him, more than lust, then he isn’t going to touch you. He’s not a douche. Again, you know this.”
“Or he isn’t attracted to me.”
He scoffed. “Wren, really? You’re hot. You have a great ass, and he wants it. I know that.” He then looked seriously at Brie. “You’re way hotter, and I want your ass, twenty-four seven.”
Brie smiled, and Wren was jealous of her complete confidence. “I’m fully aware, babe.”
He winked at her and then looked back to Wren. “He wants you. He’s told me, but he knows how you are. You revert right back to fucking when you start to feel something, to try to protect yourself. It’s sad. Stop it.”
“Wow, please don’t sugarcoat that, Jo.”
“Oh, I won’t.” His eyes held hers. “This is why I didn’t want you to ask him to do this. Because he’s all in, and you’re not. He knows that.”
With that, Vaughn turned and left the room, leaving Wren with her heart in her throat and her lips pressed together. She didn’t want to accept what Vaughn was saying, but she knew deep down it was the truth. Jensen wasn’t that guy. The fuck ’em and leave ’em type. Was that all she wanted? Was that the vibe she was putting off?
“Well.”
Brie exhaled hard. “You know how they all are. They’re so close.”
“I know,” Wren said, shaking her head. “I just feel like it’s me. That he isn’t attracted to me. Though, according to everyone, I’m insane.”
“You are.”
“And I get that he has his morals, and I appreciate them, but sex is my thing. It works for me. It’s how I feel.”
“But it’s not how he works,” Vaughn called from the kitchen. “He doesn’t need sex to love you. He just does.”
Wren’s eyes widened as she met Brie’s gaze, but her new bestie just shrugged. “Told you.”
But it couldn’t be.
Then Vaughn was in the living room again. “And, you don’t need sex to love him. You just need to let yourself do it. Didn’t you tell me that? Didn’t you tell me to stop being caught up in all the shit I had and let myself feel for Brie? I did, and look at us. We’re happy, while you’re sitting on my couch crying that you aren’t getting any from your husband.”
She glared at Vaughn, not liking him one bit before she turned to Brie. “I hate your husband.”
“He’s a special one,” she said, looking up at him. “This is an A and B conversation, C your way out.”
He scoffed. “You just don’t like that I’m speaking the truth.”
“We don’t,” Wren announced, and he grinned.
“Sorry for ya. You hit me with the truth way back when, and now I’m doing the same. Do what I did—don’t do what you’re used to.”
As she held his gaze, they both knew what she was used to.
Running.
Hiding.
Shutting everything out.
“Because unlike everyone and anything else, when it comes to Jensen, he doesn’t back down. He won’t let you go without a fight, even if it kills him.”
Her heart dropped to her stomach as she tore her gaze away and looked at the floor. She didn’t want to give Vaughn another thought, but she knew that he was right. She knew her faults, she knew who Jensen was, and even so, she knew that, more than likely, she was going to do what everyone had said.
Hurt him.
If she didn’t get it together.
“I have a crazy idea,” Brie said, and Wren looked up, seeing that Vaughn was still standing there.
“What?”
“Come out in your sexiest outfit, drive him wild. I bet he won’t be able to resist.”
Vaughn laughed. Hard. “You don’t know Jenny. He’ll resist.”
“Bet you he won’t. She’s so hot!”
“No doubt. But when he knows what he wants, he knows what he wants, and he won’t do it.”
“Yes, he will! Bet you head.”
“Shit, bet you butt!”
Wren snorted as Brie’s eyes darkened. “Fine.”
Vaughn’s eyes lit up as he came over, holding his hand out. “Shake on it.”
She glared and then did it as Wren laughed. “No pressure, I guess!”
Brie looked over at her, her face red as she sputtered with laughter. “My ass is depending on you.”
That had all three of them laughing, but inside Wren’s head, Vaughn’s words were playing loud and clear.
He doesn’t need sex to love you. He just does.
And while she sat there as her two friends sparred back and forth, all she could do was wonder if it was true.
And if so, how the hell had she never noticed?
Leaning against his pillows, Jensen scrolled through his Facebook as he waited for Wren to come to bed. She had been at Brie’s house all afternoon, helping with the decoration of the house, and he had missed her. Though, he wasn’t sure the feeling was mutual. Which annoyed him. He tried to distract himself by working out with Dylan at the rink and going shopping with Vaughn, but his mind kept going back to her. She hadn’t even asked if he wanted to do something that day, she just left. He guessed he should be glad she had a friend, but still, he wanted to spend time with her. They could have set up the nursery or even just hung around. He wanted to be with her.
It was stuff like that that made him worry about their future, and he hated that.
He did, but what could he do?
“What did you do today?” she called from the bathroom, and he laid his phone in his lap, looking up to where he could see only her sweet ass from the bathroom. She was leaned into the sink, her panties basically up her ass as she did something to her face. She had so many lotions and shit. He was pretty sure she didn’t know what any of it was, though she did stay in there forever.
“Went and worked out, hung out with Vaughn. Oh. I bought your plane ticket for next week.”
“Oh, good, I forgot to ask you about that. We’ll fly right out to Colorado at the end of the week?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking up at the ceiling. “For the wedding of the summer.”
“I’m beyond excited.” The sarcasm was so strong in his wife.
“Have you not talked to Wells?”
“Nope.”
That bothered him. “Oh.”
“Yup, but whatever.”
It wasn’t whatever, though. He knew it bothered her, but he could sense she didn’t want to talk about it. “What did you do over at Brie’s?”
“Sat on the couch and then helped her pick out colors for the house. She’s so indecisive, and then Vaughn makes it worse. He’s ridiculous. He wanted to paint the living room mint because he said she looks good in mint. He’s so silly.”
Jensen smiled. That was his best friend. “Oh, well, you should have just stayed here. We could have set up the nursery.”
Once he said it, he wasn’t sure how she would take it. But before he could say something to cover up that his feelings were hurt that she left, she peeked her head out, her face covered in some goop. “I didn’t even think about that. You should have said something.”
He shrugged. “Didn’t want to mess up your plans.”
“Oh, well, I’d rather have done that.”
That made him smile. “Then we’ll do it
this week.”
She smiled. “Wednesday is my short day.”
“I’ll be here with a hammer and screwdriver.”
Her eyes darkened. “You’re good with that hammer, huh?”
When she winked before going back to the mirror, his lips curved. “You’re being suggestive again?”
“Always,” she called to him, and he laughed, the bed shaking underneath him. She was in a good mood, being herself, and he loved that. He hated the closed-up Wren. She irritated him. But playful Wren, he really enjoyed that girl. Reminded him of the girl she used to be before all those fucking dicks ruined her.
When the water started to run, he exhaled as he reached for his phone once more, scrolling through until he heard the water shut off. He looked up to see her reaching for the light to shut it off, and that’s when he promptly dropped his phone. Unlike she had been doing since they had started sharing a bed, gone was the oversized shirt, leaving her in only a very, very skimpy pair of panties and a completely see-through bra. Her nipples were crying for him, screaming at him, and yeah, he was rock hard before he let out another breath.
When she met his gaze, she had nothing but wicked intentions in those green depths. Swallowing hard, he was breathless as she said, “I’m super hot tonight.”
“I’d say so,” he muttered, and her lips curved in a sneaky grin as she walked around the room, putting away her clothes, and then getting out her outfit for the following day. His eyes were glued to her, his heart pounding in his chest as his whole body shook with want. He wanted to pin her against the wall, slide that bra down over her swollen breasts, and take them in his mouth. He wanted to spread her apart and bury his face between her thick thighs.
He wasn’t going to make it.
Forcing himself to move, he reached for his phone, his hands shaking as he begged his throbbing hard-on to just fucking relax. When she came to his side of the bed, his breath caught as he looked up at her while she bent over his thighs to reach for a shirt that was on her side. All he saw was her perky ass as she slowly stood back up in a very suggestive way, muttering, “Sorry.”
But he knew damn well she wasn’t sorry at all.
Chuckling to keep from reaching out and taking a handful of that sweet ass, he looked at his phone like it was holding all the secrets of the unknown.
Like how not to pounce on his wife and fuck her brains out.
“What’s so funny?”
“This meme,” he muttered without looking at her.
But then she was beside him, her hands on the edge of the bed, her breasts right fucking there.
Good Lord above. Take me. Please.
Closing his eyes, he turned his phone to his Facebook, showing a meme that wasn’t that funny, but she laughed nonetheless, the airy sound making his cock throb so much harder he felt it in his chest. “That’s funny.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, looking right at his phone and not at the swells of her perfectly encased breasts.
She was going to kill him.
Exhaling, she stood up and made her way around the bed. “Do you need anything?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m good.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment as he held his phone so tightly, he worried he was going to break it. “Would it bother you if I slept without a bra? I’m so hot.”
He closed his eyes as he pressed his lips together. “I can turn the air down.”
“Oh. Good idea,” she decided, and with that, he watched as she sashayed across the room to the thermostat, turning it down, but all he saw was the curve of that ass and the dimples in her thick thighs. How in the world was he supposed to make it?
“Is that okay?” she asked, turning to look at him, and he just nodded.
“Good,” he got out as she headed back to the bed, getting in very slowly, and somehow, very fucking sexily. Pushing the blankets off her, she lay beside him, completely his for the taking, and he knew he was going to die a slow death from lack of blood since it was all in his cock. As her hands slid down her thighs and then up over her belly, his breath caught.
Was she doing this on purpose?
“Oh, he’s moving. Wanna feel?”
But before he could beg her not to touch him, she grabbed his hand, placing it on her belly. Within seconds, he felt the baby kicking with all his might. Away went his insane lust as a grin pulled at his lips while he sat up, taking her belly between both hands as the baby moved. It was mind-blowing, and he had always wanted a chance to feel this. For so long he thought he’d never get to, but as he sat there, his hands on her growing belly, he felt tears burning in his eyes.
“That’s amazing.”
“If I weren’t one hundred percent sure he was going to be a hockey player, I’d say the kid was destined for soccer.”
Jensen laughed at that. “He can do both. Wow, he’s strong.”
“He is.”
“Is the asshole big?”
When he looked up at her, her lips were pressed together. “Yeah, like you.”
“Cool,” he said, though he didn’t think it was that cool. He hated the guy. “Is he blond?”
“No, brown-haired.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah,” she said simply as his hands moved along her belly.
“Man, he is amazing in there.”
“He is,” she agreed as her hands covered his. She looked up, and their eyes met. The lust hit him like a puck in the middle of the chest. Her eyes were so dark, her lips so full, and soon she was moving toward him. “I hope he is just like you.”
His heart flip-flopped in his chest as she took his face in her hands, her lips coming to his with heated need. His eyes fell shut first, which usually didn’t happen, but everything was on fire and he couldn’t handle it. Sliding his hands up her body, over her full breasts, he wrapped his arms around her neck, holding her to him as he devoured her naughty little mouth. He was shaking, he wanted her so badly, yet, he pulled back, kissing her lips softly. When she tried to deepen the kiss, he backed away more. “I need to ask you something.”
She was breathing hard, her lips parted as she gazed up at him. “Or you can just kiss me, grab my boob or my ass. Whichever.”
He chuckled against her lips as he let her go, putting some space between them. “Or, we can talk.”
“Talking is overrated.”
“I don’t think so,” he said, sitting back in his place though his cock was basically cussing him out at this point. “Why don’t you talk to Shanna anymore?”
When he looked over at her, her face was full of annoyance and a whole lot of sexual frustration. “Really?”
“Yeah. I want to know.”
She pursed her lips and then exhaled hard. “It’s a long story.”
“And we’ve got all the time in the world.”
She glared at the ceiling, and he smiled. She wanted him, he could tell, but he didn’t feel it was more than that. Until he did, he wouldn’t be giving in. Call him an idiot, but he knew her. He knew how she worked, and he wouldn’t be another one of her mistakes.
He wanted to be her forever.
Even if it killed him and gave him the biggest case of blue balls the world had ever seen.
Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “I don’t know, Jensen. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try.”
She shrugged, chewing on her lip as she chose her words. “I dropped her because I knew if I told her about the baby, she would judge me. She always judged me for my lifestyle because, you know, she’s married, kids, the whole nine. She always told me I was too old to be sleeping around. Plus, she’d want to know who the dad is and I don’t want to tell anyone and she’d get pissed and, yeah, I just let it go.”
“An over twenty-year friendship? Just like that?”
She met his gaze. “Yeah. I knew that she wouldn’t support me, so I dropped her before she could drop me.”
He held her gaze, knowing it was more than that. “Will you ev
er tell me who the dad is?”
She shook her head, pressing her lips together. “He isn’t important. You’re the dad now. So why does he matter?”
In a way, he didn’t, Jensen guessed, but he wanted to know. “I just want to know.”
Biting on her lip, she dropped her shoulders, and he thought maybe she was going to tell him. Instead, she whispered, “He doesn’t matter. Only you matter.”
His heart soared in his chest. Reaching out, he took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips to it. “That’s my favorite thing you’ve said to me thus far, except for the day you told me, yes, you’d marry me.”
Her lips quirked as she shook her head. “I don’t deserve you.”
He scoffed. “Funny, I say that every day.”
Her eyes widened as he reached over, kissing the side of her mouth. “Goodnight, babe.”
“Goodnight?” she asked as she watched him while he turned over, plugging in his phone and cuddling into the pillows.
While his body was still screaming for hers, he knew he was doing the right thing. Because like his dad had always said, “If you want something you’ve never had, then you have to do something you’ve never done.”
For her, her default was to fuck her feelings away.
And if he wanted her for the rest of his existence, he couldn’t let her do that.
He had to love her.
For her to love herself.
And then, hopefully, him.
Gasping for breath, Jensen looked over at Vaughn who was lying on the floor, also fighting for air. “Why do you do this to me?”
Jensen’s brows rose. “We are working out.”
“I know, but I want to sit on my couch and eat. I’m supposed to be relaxing.”
Jensen laughed, though it sounded like he was choking. “We don’t want to get flabby.”
Vaughn’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong with being flabby? We can be flabby through the summer and then clean up our act before training camp.”
“Or, we can do the two workouts a week that I’ve set up to keep us good through the summer.”
“You’re ruining my life,” Vaughn decided as he rolled over to his back, struggling for breath. “I hate you.”