“Not yet.” I wish she were already my wife.
“When did you guys get engaged?” he asks as he rocks back and forth on his heels.
“Why do you care, Braxton?” I’m getting irritated we’re having this conversation.
“What do you want from me?” He’s getting irritated as well. “I get thrown in an interrogation room this morning. They tell me before I can leave I have to talk to someone. You walk in … and then you show me pictures of Kat.” He hangs his head. “You have this life.” He lifts his head back up to meet mine. “A life I want. You have someone who loves you. Someone who was almost taken from you by a man who is ruthless and relentless.” His words surprise me. He’s always had his head shoved up our father’s ass. “If you plan on taking him down, you need to have every possible person in your corner.”
“And you’re choosing my corner?” I ask skeptically.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“I’m not really sure why in the hell you are here!” I snap. “How do I know you’re not on Dad’s side?”
He shakes his head. “I can see where it would be hard to believe me, brother, but I’m not always on Dad’s side.” He walks past me and toward his black BMW parked in the driveway.
“You’ve always been his good little boy—his errand boy—and by God, Braxton, if you help him out. If you give him any information about Kat, I will come after you after I finish with him.”
He stares at me for a few long seconds before he speaks. “Don’t you get it?”
“What’s to get?” I sigh.
“I always looked up to you. I always wanted to be you.” I snort. “Dad had your life mapped out and you had the balls to say no, I want something different. Then you go and get something different, and he tries to take it away from you,” he says referring to Kat. He sighs heavily. “I have seen firsthand what Dad can do to get his way, but I assure you those bastards are just as bad as he is. But what he did to Kat.” He swallows as he looks away. He aimlessly looks over our front lawn. “I don’t even know her, but I know no woman deserves that kind of treatment. Whether he wanted her dead or not, he deserves to pay for that.” With those words, I allow him to get into his car and drive away.
After Braxton had left, everyone else did too. Sam was tired, and Slade said something about needing to go to bed because we had an early meeting in the morning. Missy was saying something about her feet being swollen and that Tate owed her a foot rub.
I’m getting undressed and into bed when Kat walks into our bedroom. She removes her t-shirt and blue jeans shorts. I lick my lips as she bends over in her black thong, giving me a great view of that ass I love to spank so much. I reach under the covers to grab my hardening cock in my hand and start to stroke it.
She crawls into bed next to me and sighs heavily as she looks up at the ceiling. Placing her hands on her stomach, she spins her ring around her finger absentmindedly.
Releasing my cock, I reach out for her. “You okay?”
She nods but continues to look up at the ceiling. “Why did Braxton come over?”
I lick my lips. I’m surprised she waited this long to ask. “He called me today and I mentioned that we were having friends over for dinner. He acted as if he wanted to come. So I invited him.”
“Why?” She turns her head to look at me. “What made you invite him?”
Shit! “I just thought it would be nice for him to meet you.”
She stares at me with a blank look. But I can tell it in her dark eyes they scream liar! “Have you spoken to your dad?”
I blink a few times caught off guard by her question. I lie down on my back and look up at our ceiling. “You know I don’t speak to my father,” I say flatly.
“I also know that you don’t speak to your brother. So … I’m gonna ask you again. Why did you invite your brother?”
I run my hand down my face. “Can we not talk about this tonight?” I decide to ask with an exasperated sigh. “It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
“No! We’re going to talk about it now.”
“Why does it matter?” I ask rolling my eyes.
She sits up and turns to face me. “It matters because I don’t have a good feeling about your brother all of a sudden wanting to spend time with us.”
What can I use as an excuse? I sit up and place my hand on her face, thankful she doesn’t pull away. “I love you, Kat. I love you more than I knew possible. I want everyone to know what we have. I want to show the world that you belong to me. He said that he had heard I was living with a woman. He asked how serious it was. And I told him that I had asked you to marry me.”
Any other woman would ooh and ahh about how much her man loves her. But not my Kat. “Who told him that?” She digs more.
I shrug. “He didn’t say, but I bet it was Slade’s dad. He does work for him.” It could be possible. Slade’s mother, Vivian, and Sam are both helping Kat plan the wedding, so it would make sense for Slade’s father, Mark, to bring it up.
She hangs her head and sighs heavily. “What is it?” I ask.
“I … it’s just …” She lifts her head and looks me in the eyes. “I just have a bad feeling something is going to happen to you.”
I let out a long breath and lean in closer to her. “I promise. Nothing is going to happen to me.”
CHAPTER SIX
TATE
I grab a bag of Cheetos off the grocery store shelf and rip them open before placing them in the top basket of the cart. I push the cart as I pull out my phone from my back pocket. I scroll through to the text message that Missy sent me as I turn down the next aisle.
Pickles. Check.
Doritos. Check
Hot salsa. Check.
A blood-curdling scream sounds from my right, and I jump back as I look to see what could have caused it. A little boy falls to the floor as he kicks the cart his mother is pushing. “I said I want ice cream,” he yells.
His mother reaches down and yanks him up by his arm. “I said no!”
“I said yes.” His legs go limp and he just hangs there. She tosses her phone into the cart, but it misses and crashes to the floor. It breaks into several pieces. “Shit,” she hisses. Bending down, she grabs his other arm with her now free hand and places him in the cart.
“I said no, Brandon! And no means no.”
“Why?” he cries.
“’Cause I said no. That’s why!”
I pop another Cheetos in my mouth as I take a look around. Everyone is now staring at the mother who is fighting with her kid.
“Ice cream! Ice cream. Ice cream.” He starts to yell as he kicks the inside of the cart. His arms go flying, causing a can of SpaghettiOs to roll off the shelf and onto the floor. I pop another Cheetos in.
“Well, as long as you act this way, you won’t get anything!” And with that, she bends down, picking up the broken pieces of her phone, and just throws them into her purse. She then grabs a hold of the screaming kid and pulls him out of the cart before she storms out, abandoning her cart full of groceries.
Other shoppers start to go about what they were doing before the child decided to throw a fit over ice cream. I completely get it. I love ice cream. Ever since Missy got pregnant, she eats it as if it’s going out of style.
I pop another Cheetos and then walk over to her cart and start to dig through it. I pick out a few things for Missy and myself, tossing them into mine, and then continue. Not like she’s gonna come back to get them.
Twenty minutes later, I’m pulling up to our house and walking inside with ten bags on each arm to find my pregnant wife sitting on the couch eating mint chocolate chip ice cream out of a carton. She looks up at me with those big blue eyes and a smile lights up her face.
It amazes me every day how far we have come since the day I met her. I spent so much time pushing her away that, if I could, I would literally kick my own ass.
“Hey, sweetie,” she says excitedly. Her big eyes fall to the sacks hanging from my arm
s, and she licks her lips as one hand rubs her growing belly. “Did you get me a surprise?”
I laugh but nod my head. “Of course, I did.” She’s like a little kid. A little kid who keeps me on my toes. This pregnancy has had us both on the edge of our seats and in pure bliss. The loss of our first child after our one-night stand in Vegas still haunts us. It has her calling the doctor daily and searching the internet for things she thinks her body is feeling. It has me paranoid, afraid that we will lose this one as well. I don’t think I have ever felt this helpless. I’ve always had control of what I did and where I went. But with her and the baby, there’s no control whatsoever. It’s terrifying.
I still have nightmares, just as I always have; it’s just a different kind of nightmare. They used to consist of my past, and now, they consist of the future I’m afraid may be taken from me.
“Oh, give me. Give me. Give me.” She giggles as she enters the kitchen behind me.
I dig through the sacks until I find the one I’m looking for. I pull out the Lays Biscuit and Gravy chips and hold them up for her to see.
“Oooohhh.” She grabs them greedily. “Those sound yummy!”
I lean in and give her a soft kiss on her cheek. “You need to get ready, babe. We gotta leave here in an hour,” I call out to her as she’s already waddling out of the kitchen. We had promised her parents yesterday that we would meet them for lunch today. We try to do lunch or dinner with them a few times a week.
“Ya, ya,” I hear her mumble through the chips that she has in her mouth. I chuckle as I start to put the groceries away. I make sure to save her sacks, even though she already has a hundred of those damn things. Just as I close the cabinet door, I turn around to see her standing in the entryway to the kitchen. She’s gripping the doorframe and bent over. Her sack of chips scattered on the floor.
“Missy?” I run over to her and place my hand on her back. She releases the doorframe, grabs my arm, and squeezes tightly. Her head comes up and she lets out a scream. “Missy?” I demand in panic.
“She’s coming!” she manages to get out through clenched teeth.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PARKER
I bury my head in Kat’s slick neck, and I bite down on her sensitive flesh. Her cry is muffled by my hand over her mouth. My hips pull back and then I thrust forward as her pussy grips my achingly hard cock. I let out a moan of my own as her nails scrape down my back.
Removing my hand from her mouth, I readjust myself. “Lift your legs,” I demand, and she unwraps her legs from around my hips and spreads them wide for me. I place an arm behind each one, spreading her farther. She arches her back and bites her bottom lip as I open her up wide. I wrap my fingers on either side of the long but narrow table and grip it tightly as I pull back and thrust forward into her.
“Parker.” She breathes as she licks her lips.
“Yes, baby?” I ask kissing her neck.
“Oooohhhh.” She reaches up behind her head and grabs the end of the table as I fuck her with more force. “God.” Her body tenses beneath mine. “I’m coming…”
I lower my head down to hers and kiss her. Kat isn’t a screamer, but that doesn’t mean that the people on the other side of the wall can’t hear her. And that’s one thing about her; she has made me territorial. I don’t want anyone else hearing her when I’m inside her. Which is sometimes hard considering I want to take her in public places. It’s kinda like a look but don’t touch kind of thing but only this is a look but don’t listen.
Her body tenses and her lips go slack as she comes while I fuck her in this dark room.
She pulls her lips from mine, and her head falls to the side of the table. Her hands loosen their grip on the table, but I don’t let go of the sides. It only takes a few minutes before I find my own release.
I let go of the table, and she whimpers as she lowers her legs. I pant as I lie on top of her trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart.
“You okay?” I ask pushing her wet hair from her slick forehead.
She gives me a lazy smile; her eyes are closed and her lips parted. “I’m fine.”
“Fine?” I snort. “I would say that you are more than fine.” My hands run up her ribcage and cup her big fake tits. I feel like they’ve gotten bigger since the first time I saw her naked. “I would say amazing. Beautiful. Gorgeous.” Leaning down, I pull her hard nipple into my mouth and suck on it.
“Parker …” She gasps arching her hips up into mine again.
I lightly bite it and her nails dig into my scalp, pulling on my hair. I pull away with a popping noise and make my way over to the other. Pulling it into my mouth, I suck on it before giving it the same little tug with my teeth.
Her body shakes as she hisses in a sharp breath. I pull away and jump up off the table on shaky legs. She always makes me weak in the knees. “We need to get going.” I turn away from her and walk over to the front of the softly lit room. Grabbing some tissues, I wipe off my cock and then walk back over to her. I gently wipe her wet pussy, as she lies there staring up at the ceiling. The sound of the crashing waves coming from the speakers makes me wish we were really witnessing the water and the feel of the sand under our feet.
“Best idea ever!” She sighs closing her eyes. It didn’t take much to talk her into the sex. She is always down for it. Living together and getting engaged hasn’t changed that.
“And I take full credit for that,” I say with a smile. I slap the inside of her thigh, and her eyes spring open. “Now, get up.”
I reach out my hand, and she grabs it. I help pull her to sit up and then grab her clothes from the floor. I hand them to her, and she starts to get dressed as I look for my clothes that I threw over in the corner. “Typical man.” She sighs.
“Huh?”
“Always the first one to help a girl get undressed but then makes her dress herself.” She shakes her head with a soft smile on her face.
I chuckle but don’t say anything. Once we’re dressed, I open the door and step out into the well-lit hallway. Three women stand there staring at me with narrowed eyes. “Thank you,” I say smiling like a fool. I’m sure they heard what we were doing, and I’m pretty sure they won’t allow me and Kat to come back. Which sucks balls; our monthly couple massages have us pretty spoiled. Then we always go home and have sex like we did after the first time I ever took her to get one. But today, we didn’t make it out of the room before I was on top of her.
Kat walks past me as she tries to push her hair down, but there’s no hope for it. I had fucked it up with my hands in it, plus all the oils it had from the massage before we started fucking.
I nod to the ladies as I walk past them and hope the very large tip I left them back in the massage room helps with their anger.
We make our way out into the parking lot, and I open the door for her to jump in my truck.
I pick up my phone out of my cup holder and see that I have like fifteen missed calls. “Hmm?” I say dialing Slade’s number.
“What?” she questions as she looks at herself in the mirror trying to fix her hair.
“I had fifteen missed calls from the guys.”
She shoves the visor up and turns to look at me with a look of panic on her face. “I hope everything is okay.”
I back out of the parking spot as Slade answers the phone.
CHAPTER EIGHT
SLADE
I sit next to Angel as Micah and Holly sit across from us in the waiting room at the hospital. Tate called me in a panic only thirty minutes ago to inform me he was on his way to the hospital. Sam was doing laundry, and I was in the middle of a shower. We dropped everything and got here as soon as we could.
I look up when I hear Angel stop talking to see everyone looking toward the entrance. Parker and Kat are walking over to us hand in hand.
“Where the hell were you guys?” I ask as I look them over. They look like they just rolled out of bed, which is a very big possibility. She’s wearing a tank top and yoga pants.
And Parker is wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“We were getting massages,” Parker says with a smile.
“Is that what they call it these days?” Josh asks from beside me. He smirks as Kat tries to tame her freshly fucked hair. When she realizes it’s not gonna work, she just shrugs with a smile. “I wouldn’t know. It’s been a while for me.” He laughs, but Courtney’s elbow to his side turns it into a grunt.
Kat and Parker sit down across from us next to Micah and Holly. “How is Missy doing? Have you guys heard anything?” Kat asks no one in particular.
Angel shakes her head. “Not yet. We’ve only been here for maybe fifteen minutes.”
Parker places his arm over Kat’s shoulders as he leans back in these uncomfortable waiting chairs.
“I’m so glad they are having their baby. I’m having baby fever like crazy,” Courtney sings happily.
Parker looks over at Josh. “You had better go and get fixed, man, before she has you talked into a baseball team.” We all laugh.
Josh shakes his head. “We’re good for now. I do believe you guys are next on the list to pop out a baby.”
Kat smiles brightly, and Parker chokes as if he just swallowed his tongue. “No thanks,” he manages to say.
“What?” Angel asks placing her arms over her chest and giving him the evil look I know all too well. “Are you saying that you don’t want kids?” she demands.
“That’s not what I said. I am just in no rush to pop them out like Courtney is. I would like to wait a few years,” he finishes.
Angel’s eyes narrow on his even more and she goes to open her mouth, but Kat speaks before she can. “I meant to tell you ladies last night at dinner that I have a few places I think would be great for the wedding.” That was all it took to get Angel to smile again. For the next thirty minutes, we have to listen about how important the location is for Kat and Parker’s wedding, and to my surprise, Parker sounded just as excited as she did about their big day. I know he loves her and wants to marry her; it’s just the men usually don’t really care about the details of the big day.
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