“You’ve got to stop calling me that.” She laughs and swats my arm. “That is such a terrible nickname.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I give her forehead a kiss. “I like it.”
After putting our things away, we go to the café, hand in hand, and I can only hope I’m not about to face a firing squad—in the form of Stella’s best friend.
9
Aiden
We’re almost at the café when some stupid biker nearly runs Stella over on the sidewalk.
“Hey! Watch it!” Yelling at the jerk only makes me feel marginally better when I pull Stella into my arms. I lean my head down close to hers, rubbing her back in soothing circles. “You okay there?”
Her head barely moves, but I can feel the nod. At least I hope it was a nod. I try to push her back a little so I can get a better look at her face, but she’s clinging to me like a little baby monkey.
So naturally, I pull her even tighter.
People have to fight their way around us, but I couldn’t give a single crap. I’ll give Stella all the time she needs to calm down, and if someone doesn’t like that, they can take it up with me.
“Stella, are you okay?” Natalie rushes out of the café, her eyes wide. “I saw it all happen. What a dickhead. People really should pay better attention when they’re out and about.” She almost pries Stella out of my arms, tucking her close to her side and leading her away. “Let’s go inside. I already ordered you a hot chocolate. That’ll make you feel better.”
Natalie seemed nice enough during class, but I can’t help and feel a little sour about the way she ripped Stella out of my embrace. I understand they’re best friends, so maybe I can’t blame her for wanting to take over.
The jury’s still out on that.
I follow the two of them inside, where we walk over to a corner booth that Natalie secured for us. The two women sit down next to each other, leaving me no choice but to take a seat on the blue bench opposite them.
Since Natalie seems to have ordered for both of them already—two gigantic mugs of hot chocolate, almost overflowing with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles—I’m the only one that orders when the waiter comes to our table a few minutes later.
Stella still seems a little shaken, and I hate that she’s too far away from me to comfort her. Her eyes meet mine across the table, and I tell myself hers are full of longing too, and that she wishes for the same. Because if there’s one thing I know for sure today, it’s that I wasn’t the only one flirting.
She was right there with me, giving back as good as she got. The thought of that alone makes me want to grab her and carry her out of here on my shoulder, all caveman style.
She suddenly squeezes her eyes closed before opening them again. “I’m so sorry, guys, that incident made me forget all about my manners.” Her hand moves back and forth between her friend and me. “Aiden, this is my best friend, Natalie. Nat, this is Aiden, my—”
“I’m the baby daddy. Nice to meet you.” I stretch out my hand to Natalie and grin.
While Stella presses her lips together, the corners of her mouth twitching, Natalie narrows her eyes at me. “I’ve heard all about you.”
I’m not sure if she’s overprotective of Stella or what’s going on, but she clearly doesn’t like me. Usually, I wouldn’t give a crap, but this is Stella’s best friend we’re talking about here, so I’m going to try and make an effort. Otherwise, things can get complicated really fast, and that’s nothing I need to add to my life right now.
Leaning back in my booth, I move around to get comfortable and sip my coffee the waiter brought. “I really enjoyed your class today. I can see why Stella likes it so much.”
“Thank you.” Her gaze softens a little bit, but she definitely remains tense.
The two women hold most of the conversation while we drink our beverages.
When Stella’s eyes land on mine, I’m already there, watching her, taking in her every facial expression. She looks at my almost empty cup. “Did you want another coffee, or are you ready to head back?”
Her face is still a little too pale for my liking, but I’m happy to see her smile is back, even if it’s small.
Finishing my drink, I shake my head. “Nope. I’m all ready to go if you are.”
“Perfect.” She gives me an apologetic look that confuses me until her next words leave her mouth. “I just have to go use the restroom quick, okay?”
Of course she does. Pregnancy has turned her into a living peeing machine.
She scoots past Natalie and mouths, “Sorry” before she all but runs to the other side of the café, her tight yoga pants giving me a prime view of her retreating butt.
Cue: Awkward moment alone with Natalie.
She looks down and picks at her nails before her eyes meet mine in what almost feels like a staredown of epic proportions. Her gaze is so intense, I’m sure some people would visibly shrink under it.
When I lean forward a fraction, she leans back.
All right. I see how this is going. She clearly wants as much space between us as possible, so I lean back again, trying hard to refrain from crossing my arms over my chest. “Listen—”
“No, you listen.” Now she’s the one leaning forward, her finger pointing at me. Her eyes are sizing me up, cold and hard. “If you so much as make her cry, I will come after you. You altered her whole life in all but a couple of seconds, and I don’t want to see Stella get hurt any more than she already has been. Do you hear me?”
Holding up my hands, I nod. “Loud and clear.”
“Good.” Some of the hardness leaves her face, and I’m hoping it’s because she can see the sincerity in mine.
By some miracle, this must have been Stella’s fastest bathroom break ever, because she’s walking up to our table again.
I don’t think twice about it and rise from my chair, leaving enough money on the table to cover our bill and the tip. “Shall we?”
“Yes.” She bends down to hug her friend, and after a half-assed goodbye between Natalie and me, we’re out the door.
We walk back to the car in silence, but the second we’re safely inside, Stella turns to face me. “How bad was it?” Before I can get a word in, she continues. “I’m so sorry I had to leave you two alone. This stupid bladder is awful. I feel like I have to go all the time. Anyway, I hope Nat wasn’t too bad. I swear, she’s really nice, but she just broke up with her boyfriend who was a real jerk, so she’s on an ‘All men are assholes’ trip. And given the, well…”
I raise my eyebrows in question, not sure where this is going.
She points to her belly before tapping her index finger on her lips. “Well, what can we call it? Circumstances? Our situation? It’s not like she’s not happy for me. She’s just a bit upset, I guess. We’ve always talked about meeting some nice guys, going on all these fun dates together, having awesome proposals and perfect weddings before traveling the world and having our babies grow up together. The typical, perfect love story, I guess? Since that’s pretty much the opposite of what’s been happening, reality has kind of crashed down a bit on both of us.”
That’s a lot of information, and it tells me so much more about her than she probably realizes.
The explanation feels heavy, and I’m not sure how to respond, my thoughts conflicting with each other. “It sounds like I should apologize for ruining your perfect plan, but I just can’t. This wasn’t how I planned my life to go either. However, I’m incredibly grateful it happened because it brought you back into my life.”
After blinking a few times, she beckons me closer with her finger. “Come here.”
Not thinking twice about her command, I lean in and let her take the lead. I’m surprised when her lips meet mine in a hungry kiss, devouring my mouth so desperately my dick is twitching impatiently in my shorts.
“Let’s go back to your place for a shower.” She looks at me, her pupils almost black in the dimmed parking garage.
I nod, barely holding on to m
y control as my thoughts are completely overpowered by images of taking her right here, right now. The only reason I’m able to tear my gaze away from hers is so I can put the car in drive and speed out of the garage like someone’s after us.
Now I can only hope I read her correctly, and she was indeed talking about taking a shower, together.
10
Stella
By the time we get to Aiden’s apartment, I’m sweating bullets. What was I thinking when I made that insinuation to him?
Do I want to take things to the next level with him? Heck yes!
But am I ready to go all the way? I’m not sure.
Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, I want him. Badly. But I’ve never been in a situation like this before, so I’m not sure what the right thing to do is.
A lot of people have set rules about how many dates they go on before sealing the deal so to speak. We kind of already threw that whole plan out the window with our one-night stand.
Not to forget, we also made a freaking baby in the process.
So, what’s the correct protocol in a situation like this?
I could try to Google “When can I sleep with the sexy-as-hell man I’ve had a one-night stand with, got accidentally pregnant from, and kind of started to like—a lot,” but I’m not sure I’d find an answer on there either.
One thing I know for sure is that my hormones are driving me insane. Not once in my life have I craved intimacy like this. For goodness’ sake, I’ve had instances where I was close to crying because I just wanted to have sex that badly.
Pregnancy hormones really are crazy.
We’re still standing in the middle of the living room when Aiden hands me my gym bag, the corners of his lips curled up. “Use the shower in my bedroom, it’s a lot bigger. And make yourself at home, use whatever you need.”
My brain immediately goes to my fantasy of us being a real couple that lives together and shares a bed every night, therefore becoming the family I’ve always dreamed of having.
Taking my bag from him, I almost run across the living room and down the hallway to his bedroom. My thoughts race in circles, but after going back and forth over the offer I kind of made back in the garage, I finally decide to leave the door open.
After undressing—and taking several steadying breaths—I step into the shower. But before I turn it on, I call out Aiden’s name, loud enough to know he heard me.
The next few seconds feel like hours while I wait, trying to distract myself by stepping under the warm spray. The water feels good on my skin, soothing and relaxing.
My breath hitches when the glass door to the shower creaks, but I don’t turn around. I’m almost frozen in place while my heart is trying to escape my rib cage. In the end, I can’t help myself and peek over my shoulder.
Aiden swallows, the Adam’s apple in his throat taking longer than usual to move. “Did you need help with anything?”
His voice is low and husky, immediately reminding me of our first night. My body instantly reacts to the memory, as if it’s only been hours instead of months since we had sex.
A shiver runs down my back and reverberates throughout my whole body, bringing a sense of anticipation, a preview of the true satisfaction I’m about to experience, yet again.
My fingers tingle with the need to touch him, and I slowly turn around to watch him watching me. His eyes roam over my whole body, taking their time, but ultimately landing on my belly, even though there still isn’t much to see.
My bump still isn’t a real bump, but I’ve finally come to accept that. Others might think I’ve eaten too much pasta, but I know there’s a baby behind it—our baby.
With a newfound confidence, I slowly walk over to where Aiden is rooted in his spot. He must have taken off his shirt in the living room, but his basketball shorts are still in place. And from the looks of it, he’s just as excited to see me as I am to see him.
Once I reach him, I slip my fingers into the waistband of his shorts, pushing the silky material, along with his underwear, down his legs until they both hang around his ankles. I trail my hand up the side of his body as I stand back up, resting my fingers on his naked chest. “What are you waiting for?”
That seems to do the trick as he jumps into action, stepping out of his clothes and kicking them behind him on the bath mat. Taking a step onto the dark gray shower tiles, the door closes behind him with a soft thud.
There’s a gleam in his eyes that wasn’t there before. With his shoulders pulled back and his puffed-out chest, he gives me a prime view of the great shape he’s in. Even though I still remember his body, I want a refresher, openly roaming my eyes across every inch of him.
Eventually, my gaze snaps back up to his eyes, which are freely assessing me too.
He still hasn’t moved, his hands clenched tightly into fists by his sides, making the veins on his arms pop. “I don’t know if I can stop once we get started. You know how badly I want you. Taking things slowly has been the absolute worst, fucking torture ever.”
Realizing he’s giving me another out—showing me once again what a truly good guy he is under all that cocky exterior—I take it into my own hands to make sure he knows how much I want him as well.
Closing the space between us as much as I can, bringing my swollen belly flush against him and feeling his hard erection pressing into me, I wrap my hands around the back of his neck. Staring straight into his eyes, I make sure he can see the determination in mine.
“I can’t wait another moment for you, and I definitely don’t want you to stop either. I’ve never ached this badly before, and I can’t stop thinking about how good we are together.”
Instead of attacking me, like I expected him to do, he surprises me by gently cradling my face in his hands. My eyes automatically close at the touch, my whole body one big bundle of nerves. I’m sure I’d be vibrating if the buzzing in my body was any stronger.
His hands move down my body as he leans in, pressing a soft kiss to each of my eyelids before moving over to my ear, dragging his lips across my cheek. “I can’t wait to be inside of you again. I haven’t been able to think about much else lately.”
Pulling back so I can get a good look at him, I’m thrilled to see his pupils are dilated as they blaze with desire. “What are you waiting for then?”
As much as I love the soft, gentle side of Aiden I’ve gotten to know better over the last few weeks, I can’t help but get excited for this rougher, more dominant, side of him. That’s the side I remember the most from our first night, and just the thought of it has been enough to make me tingle on more than one occasion.
“You and your pretty little mouth. Come here.” His lips attach to mine like he never wants to let them go while he carefully walks me over to the built-in bench that’s on one side of the large glass shower.
I feel the bench pressing into the back of my knees, but we’re staying upright. Aiden explores every inch of my mouth like it’s the first time, and the pressure between my legs starts to build.
It gets stronger with every kiss, every touch of his hands as they roam around my chest, squeezing my boobs, and rubbing my nipples. My legs start to shake, and Aiden pushes me down on the bench.
“Open your legs for me, babe.” His eyes are focused on my body when the endearment slips past his lips, and I’m falling into a state of bliss so fast I can’t even react to it. He kisses his way down my body, paying as much attention to my breasts as I allow since they’ve become incredibly sensitive during this first stage of pregnancy.
Thankfully, Aiden doesn’t dwell too much on the fact that my chest has somewhat turned into a taboo zone. After giving both breasts one more kiss, he moves further down, showering my belly with little kisses before finally arriving at the place that’s practically been screaming for him this whole time.
His mouth, tongue, and fingers work like magic. I feel him everywhere, and the pressure becomes so strong, it’s almost too much. Arching my back, I let my head fall against the
wall behind me. Moans escape my throat as I try to inhale enough oxygen to survive this experience.
It’s almost exactly as I remember, but better.
More intense.
Like an out-of-body experience as the throbbing becomes almost unbearable.
Unable to hold on any longer, my orgasm hits me like a ton of bricks, threatening to drown me in a sea of sensations so strong I’m afraid I might pass out at any moment.
Aiden’s touch turns gentle before he pulls back to look at me. I missed the moment earlier when he went on his knees in front of me, and seeing him like this now does something to my chest.
A little flutter dances right alongside my heartbeat as he gazes up at me with what can only be described as a self-satisfied smirk laced with something else. Maybe wonder?
“That was...you were so...wow!” Apparently, I’ve forgotten how to talk, and Aiden chuckles.
“I thought so too. You were so responsive. It was sexy as hell.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, but this time, I don’t care. I love that he enjoys this as much as I do, something I’ve learned over the years isn’t always the case. “Let me make you feel good too.”
He helps me up and kisses me senseless. “There’s only one thing I want from you right now.” He leads me over to the glass wall. “Turn around and put your hands up.”
I do as he says, letting out a small whimper when I feel his thick erection press in between my legs from behind.
“Spread your legs wider, babe.”
I shiver involuntarily, the anticipation so high I feel like I could climax from the sheer tension of it all.
After rubbing my center a few times with his thick head, he grabs me by the hips and thrusts inside, pulling me back until my butt hits his pelvis. The force of him entering me makes me momentarily lose my grip on the wall, but Aiden is right there, moving his hands around to my front to hold me upright.
He switches between tantalizingly slow strokes and exhilarating, powerful pushes, driving both my mind and body insane.
THE BEST KIND OF SURPRISE Page 5