ONLY ONE TOUCH

by Madison, Natasha

“That”—I point at her—“was your fault. You bent over beside my chair. It was either fuck you bent over or have dessert.” I wink at her, and we walk out to one of the shaded areas. “I found your thong.” I laugh, bending down and picking up her thong I ripped off her last night on our way back from having her on the beach. I put it in my pocket. “This wouldn’t happen if you’d just listen to me.”

  “About what?” she asks, smiling at the lady who nods at us and pours us two glasses of orange juice as we sit at the massive table that seats twenty-six people.

  “It’s a waste to wear panties. I told you that after day one.” I lean over and kiss her neck. We keep our hands to ourselves during breakfast, but the minute we get back into the room, I want her naked again. This time, it lasts longer. I take my time with her, making her come and beg over and over again. When I finally flip her over and grab her hips, I slide into her so hard I move the bed again. I finally come with her name on my lips.

  “When does the sex stop being good?” she asks, looking over at me when I walk back into the room. “Like it was good at the beginning, you know. We are both hot for each other. Then it was supposed to, I don’t know, simmer down, but …”

  “But all you want is more cock,” I say. She gets up, and she has my finger marks on her hips and her thighs. She also has two bite marks on each breast.

  “Let’s go sit on the beach,” she says as she slips on another bikini bottom and top.

  We walk past the pool and head for the beach. “This is so beautiful.” She grabs my hand, and we head to the water. It’s serene, and we walk in the calm waters. I grab her as she wraps her legs around my waist. “I’m going to miss this.” She wraps her arms around my shoulders. Neither of us says anything as we kiss, our kisses tasting salty. “I need you,” she says when I suck her ear. I walk out of the water with her legs wrapped around me the whole time.

  I carry her to the shower, where I give her what she asked for. She gets out of the shower before me, and when I towel-dry myself and walk out of the room, she is sitting on the bed dressed with our luggage packed beside her. I stop in my tracks. “What is going on?”

  She takes a deep breath, and I’m suddenly nervous she is going to tell me something I don’t want to hear. “We are going back home.” I just look at her as she gets up. “I know that you gave up everything for me.” She stands in front of me. “And I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. To be put first before anything and anyone.”

  “I’d do it every single day for the rest of my life,” I say. “Walking away from that for you was the easiest decision of my life.”

  “Well, I’m giving it back to you,” she says. “The plane is waiting for us and is going to bring us straight to Philly. The team has a game tomorrow, and we are going to be there.”

  “But …” I say, and I stop thinking if I should tell her my fears or not.

  “But what?” she asks.

  “But what if you hate it? What if you hate me working and not spending all my time with you?” I finally say out loud.

  “Oh, dear God.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to lie. These past couple of weeks have been amazing and simply the best time of my life, but we need a break from each other.”

  “Are you sick of me already?” I joke with her, and she shakes her head. “So we go back home and then what?”

  “And then we get back to work.” She finishes the sentence. “I don’t know how much work I am going to have, to be honest.”

  “Where are you going to live?” I ask, and she tilts her head. “If we go back, I’m not going to be without you.”

  “What are you saying?” she asks.

  “Rule number one, you move in with me,” I say. “Not really sure it’s up for discussion because if you don’t move in with me, I’m moving in with you.”

  “So I don’t get a say in this.” She puts her hands on her hips.

  “You get to decide where we live. Your place or mine,” I say.

  “Travel,” she says. “You are going to travel with the team.”

  “Not if it’s more than one day,” I say, and she rolls her eyes. “Unless you meet me there after the second day.”

  “We can check our schedules and make it work.” She gives in to that one.

  “One more thing,” I say, walking over to my carry-on bag that I dumped on the chair two weeks ago, and it hasn’t moved since. I reach inside and grab out the red box I bought before I boarded the plane. “You do it with my ring on your finger.” She gasps out when I get down on one knee and open the box.

  “Are you really doing this naked?” she asks, and I laugh.

  “I was going to do this tomorrow with candles and roses and all of that, but you changed the plans on me.” I laugh. “Becca, I didn’t believe in love before you,” I say. “I didn’t know what love was, and then one day, I looked over at you, and it was like a kick in the stomach.” She laughs, wiping away tears. “You were there all along, and then when I lost you, I knew that I would never be the same without you. I knew that you were the only one for me. Will you marry me and grow old with me?”

  “I want kids,” she says, and I shake my head.

  “Only you would have a counteroffer to a marriage proposal,” I say. “We can have kids.”

  “I don’t want any nannies either,” she says.

  “Whatever you want,” I say.

  “Okay,” she says softly. “I’ll marry you.” She bends down to kiss me, holding my face in her hand. She turns around before I slip the ring on her finger.

  “Where are you going?” I ask, and she grabs her phone.

  “Changing the plans. We can leave tomorrow afternoon and make it to Philly for the game.” I just watch her. “Um, you just asked me to marry you. We have to celebrate and have all the sex.” She tosses down the phone, coming over to me.

  “Will you let me put the ring on you now?” I ask, and she holds out her shaky left hand. I take out the five-carat princess-cut diamond with round pink diamonds in the band. It fits on her hand perfectly; she doesn’t even take a second to look at it. Instead, she gets down on her knees in front of me.

  “Will you marry me?” she asks, and I laugh. “You didn’t think that you would ask me, and I don’t ask you.” She slips her shirt over her head.

  “Just remember.” I pull her to me, slipping off her pants and laying her on the floor. “I asked you first,” I say, sliding into her.

  Epilogue One

  Becca

  “Where are you taking me?” I ask as I get into his SUV. “I just want to go home.”

  “It’s just a small detour,” he says, and I look in the back at Lizzie, who just snorts. We just got back from a one-week road trip, and I have to say, I’m so over it. I tried to get out of it, but let’s just say he won that argument.

  “Are you hungry?” he asks, and I shake my head.

  “I’m tired,” I say. “I want a bath and my bed.”

  We pull up to a house as he parks in the driveway. “Where are we?” I ask, getting out of the car and looking at the house. It’s two stories, and the bright lights show me the white with black windows and doors. I look over at Nico as he walks to me and kisses my lips. He does that often. I could be talking to someone, and he will just come over to kiss me. When we got back from the island, the news of his annulment had died down, so no one really cared. Then when Laurene announced that she was married to Lizzie, that was a bigger news story than her annulment. Needless to say, she finally took over her father’s company, and it’s thriving. She travels an insane amount, but they spend at least three weeks a month together. So Lizzie is flying to her most of the time.

  He looks over at Lizzie, who just hands him a set of keys. “Thank you,” he says, and we walk up the concrete pathway to the front door. The light is on in the hallway, and we see the winding staircase, but it’s only two stories. The marble hallway looks so shiny. “Let me show you the kitchen,” he says with excitement.

  We wal
k past a dining room and then come to the open concept family room and massive kitchen with the biggest island I’ve ever seen. “Nico, whose house is this?” I ask, and he turns around.

  “It’s ours.” He shocks me, and I just look at him. “What do you think?”

  “This should be fun,” Lizzie says from behind me, coming in and grabbing a stool from under the counter.

  “I don’t understand,” I say, looking at him confused.

  “You hate my house,” he says to me.

  “I don’t hate your house,” I say. “I just …”

  “You hate his house,” Lizzie says, and I turn to glare at her. “What? Just last week, you came down the steps cursing about his house,” she reminds me.

  “I called him for ten minutes straight, and he didn’t hear me,” I argue back.

  “You were yelling at him from the west wing,” Lizzie says.

  “I could have been lying on the floor dying, and no one would have heard me.” I put my hands on my hips. “Besides, who has a house that big for one person?”

  “Um, I live there also.” She puts up her hand.

  “Anyway,” Nico says, tired of us going back and forth. “You hate my house, and you always say how you want a home.”

  “So you bought me a house.” I look at him. “Without talking to me about it.”

  “Let me show you the bedrooms,” he says, ignoring the last part I just said.

  “Good luck,” Lizzie says. “Actually, I’m going home.” She gets up. “See you guys tomorrow.” She walks out with her hand up to wave goodbye, grabbing the car keys on her way out.

  He grabs my hand and pulls me up the stairs and toward the end of the hall to the master bedroom. “There are only three bedrooms.”

  “We are only two people who use one bedroom,” I say, and he just looks over at me.

  “You have a whole bedroom full of clothes,” he reminds me.

  “I would move them into your room, because you have ten empty bedrooms,” I remind him. “So.” He just laughs.

  I look around the big bedroom with a king-size bed and white bench in front of it. “I can’t,” I say, walking to check out the average-size bathroom. “You bought this without even talking to me.”

  “I want you to feel at home,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets. “And if you were to faint, I could hear you in this house.”

  “I want to contribute to the house so it’s ours,” I say, and he just laughs and looks down. “I’m serious, Nico.”

  “Becca, I don’t give a shit what you have to say, you aren’t paying a penny for this house. You need to come back with another proposal.”

  “Fine,” I say. “I pick out the nursery colors.”

  “Fine,” he says, and then he stops to look at me as I blink away tears. “Wait.” He finally sees me. “What are you saying?”

  “Well,” I say. “I’m sort of late.” I finally blurt out the little secret that I’ve been holding in for a week.

  “I don’t understand,” he says, and I tilt my head.

  “Well, I was supposed to get my period last week,” I start to explain, and he rolls his eyes, “and I didn’t.”

  “But …” He points at me. “I see you take your pill.”

  “Yes,” I say, “but I was also sick last month, and I told you that the antibiotics I was taking recommended we use additional protection.”

  He pffts out. “I’m not wearing a condom with you.”

  “Well, and we are in a predicament because you didn’t want to wrap up.” I put my hands on my hips.

  “Can it happen that easily?” he asks, and I gawk at him.

  “We have sex five times a day; it’s not just a slip one day. Do you know how much sperm that is?” I say. “Trust me, I know. I googled it.”

  “Well, how do we find out?” he asks, and I look over at him, walking to my purse and taking out the pregnancy test I bought at the pharmacy right before getting on the plane with him.

  “I have to pee on the stick.” I hold up the box.

  I turn and walk to the bathroom and feel him right behind me. “Um, no, you stay out here.”

  “I’ve been in there.” He laughs, and I push him out, closing the door and locking it.

  I pee on the stick and put it down on the counter, walking out to the bedroom. I see him sitting on the bed. “Are you mad?” I ask, worried that he is in more than he wants to be. “I know that this is fast, and I know we haven’t discussed this in detail, so I want you to know that if you aren’t ready, I get it. But I’m going to have this baby regardless, and I want you to know I can do it on my own if need be.” I try not to sob out the last part. For the past five days, I’ve been so fucking emotional it’s been exhausting just trying not to cry at every fucking thing.

  “Are you insane?” he says, and he holds out his hand to me. I walk over, and he puts his hands on my hips as he looks up at me. “I want to marry you,” he says, “and have babies with you. The only thing is, if you’re pregnant, we are getting married tomorrow.”

  “What?” I ask, shocked.

  “My child is in you,” he says.

  “People have babies without being married, Nico,” I say.

  “We get married, you get the nursery choice,” he says, and I tilt my head.

  “Last name hyphenated?” I ask. I wait to see his reaction, and I laugh. “I was kidding on that one.” I look down. “I’m scared,” I finally tell him. “I’m scared that I’ll be disappointed if I’m not.”

  “So if you’re not, we continue to try until you are,” he says just like that. “Do you want me to come with you?” he asks, and I nod.

  Together, we walk into the bathroom where the white test sits on the counter. “Here goes nothing,” I say, picking it up and seeing two lines. I look back at him. “We’re going to have a baby.”

  Epilogue Two

  Nico

  Three years later

  “Did you tell Phoenix he could come on the plane with you?” I look over at my wife as she stands there, rubbing her pregnant belly. She’s five months pregnant, and unlike Phoenix, this pregnancy is kicking her ass. She started getting morning sickness the minute she found out she was pregnant.

  “I said that I would talk to Mommy,” I say, getting up from my office chair and walking over to her. She rolls her eyes. I try not to laugh because I actually said I would talk to Mommy, but then I also told him that Mommy would say yes.

  “You can’t just take him on the plane to take him for a ride. It’s not the same as a car,” she points out, and I shrug.

  “Um, he said dada airplane, and then he smiled at me. How was I supposed to say no?” I say. “How can I say no to that?” I put my hands on her belly.

  “Easy,” she says. “No. See how I just did it. Like, Becca, do you want to have sex tonight? No.”

  I laugh because if sex with Becca was hot before, it’s on another level while she’s pregnant. She jumps on me every time I walk in the room, and I love every minute of it. “You lie,” I whisper, kissing her neck. “So if I bent you over right now,” I whisper in her ear, “raised your dress, and slipped into you”—I nip at her earlobe—“you would say no?”

  “That’s not fair. I haven’t seen you in two days.” I was in New York and then Philly. Our team is at the top of the standings, and if all goes well, I will be bringing the Cup to Dallas. The one piece I’ve been after for the past three years. It’s so close I can taste it.

  “See? Not so easy to say no, is it?” I say, and she shakes her head. Our son comes back into the room with his sippy under his arm.

  He looks like a mix of both of us. “Dada.” He holds up his arms.

  “Traitor,” my wife says to him, and he smiles and puts his head on my shoulder. “I named you.”

  “Trust me, I would never try to take that away from you,” I say.

  “It’s only fair. He was conceived in Phoenix,” she says, and I laugh.

  “I’m pretty sure that baby was conce
ived in the pool,” I say, and she laughs. “We are not naming her Whirlpool.”

  “If this baby comes out a boy, we need to have another kick-ass name,” she says.

  “Well, you know I get to name the next one,” I say. “It’s in our agreement.”

  “That can be tossed out,” she says. “I married you in a pantsuit.”

  I laugh, and Phoenix copies me. “She’s funny, isn’t she.” I kiss her. “Go get washed up. I’ll put him to bed and join you. Be naked,” I say.

  “Naked,” Phoenix says and starts to lift his shirt.

  “Not you, buddy,” I say, walking out of our bedroom and to his nursery. I sit in the rocking chair as I read to him. He falls asleep in no time, and I put him down.

  I look around at the nursery that my wife painted. She did everything. She is hands-on with our son, and to this day, we’ve had a babysitter maybe five times. But we both wanted it this way.

  The phone beeps in my pocket, and I take it out and press the green button. “Hello,” I say.

  “Nico.” I hear a man say my name. “It’s Cooper Grant.”

  “Hey,” I say to him. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. Just getting on the plane,” he says, and I smile.

  “Well,” I say, “Cooper Grant, welcome to Dallas.”

  “It’s going to be something crazy,” he says, little does he know. “I just hope that it’s not my only one regret!”

  ONLY ONE REGRET COMING OCTOBER 2021

  Cooper

  My name came with big skates to fill.

  At the top of my game, I had everything I wanted, or so I thought.

  Being traded to Dallas was not what I was expecting but neither were the divorce papers I was served.

  Now I’m a single dad in a city that isn’t my home.

  Erika

  Handed my biggest client when I was twenty-two made my dreams come true.

  Over time, our work relationship changed, and we grew closer, leaning on each other for support.

  He was my rock, my best friend.