She’s always been my everything.
“I can’t either.” She draws her finger down my nose. “You have freckles.”
“Barely.”
“They’re there, though.” She lightly draws her finger across the bridge of my nose. “They’re cute.”
I make a face. “When I was younger, they were worse.”
She leans in, dropping a kiss just below my left eye and on the side of my nose. “I wonder if our baby will have them.”
My heart floods with love for this woman and I wrap my arms around her tightly, pulling her in as close as I can get her, considering I’m on my damn knees and she’s sitting in my desk chair. “I want a blonde baby with green eyes.”
“I think that could happen,” she whispers. “Your eyes look extra green right now.”
“Ava,” I whisper, suddenly overcome.
Her eyes fill with tears. She can feel it too. The emotion welling between us.
The love.
“Come to bed with me,” I murmur, leaning in to gently press my mouth to hers. “I just want to hold you.”
I pull away from her slightly to take her hand and she stands with me, coming willingly to the bed, letting go of my hand so I can take off my sweatshirt. I toe off my shoes and so does she. She tears off her sweater too, revealing the T-shirt she wears beneath it. Then I pull back the comforter and we’re both crawling onto the mattress. I tug the covers over the both of us and pull her to me, holding her as close as I can get her. She tangles her legs with mine, her head tucked beneath my chin, her breath fanning against my neck.
Making me hard, but what else is new? She looks at me and I want her. I always want her.
But I’m not going to push. She flat out said she’s not having sex with me and I’m not going to look like some horndog who only cares about getting in her panties.
I love getting in her panties, but right now she needs something else from me.
I rub my hands up and down her back, noting how she melts into me the more I stroke her. I press my lips to her forehead, delivering tiny kisses. She soaks it up as if she’s love-starved and maybe she is. I’m sure she’s overly emotional since she found out she’s pregnant, which is just…huge.
Life-changing.
I’m going to be a dad.
“I fucked this all up before between us,” I whisper against her temple. “And I hate that I did that. I was selfish and stupid. But I promise, Princess, I will never do that again. Everything I do from now on, forever, is for you and our baby.”
No response. She’s so quiet, I start to worry.
Until I realize from the sound of her deep breathing that she’s fallen asleep.
My poor exhausted baby.
I kiss her temple. Brush her hair out of my face. Tighten my arms around her, comforted by the way she snuggles closer, even in her sleep. I meant every word I just said to her, even if she didn’t hear me. I will do whatever it takes to make it right between us. I need to get over my issues and stop trying to put them on her. She is by far the most important thing in my life.
More important than football.
Than my family.
She is my family. My life. My light.
My everything.
I wake up to a pretty girl staring at me, her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkling.
“Hi,” she murmurs.
“Hey.” I’m groggy. “How long have we been sleeping?”
“I don’t know, but I’m starving.” She leans in so close her lips move against mine as she says, “I want pizza.”
A chuckle leaves me. “You’re actually hungry?”
She nods. “Maybe you have magic powers.”
“You know I do,” I return, unable to keep the arrogance out of my voice.
“Kind of like my magical vagina?” She lifts her brows.
I place a hand over her mouth. “Such an unsexy word.”
“What? Vagina?” Her voice is muffled beneath my palm.
“Yes,” I tell her, removing my hand from her mouth so I can kiss her.
“It’ll be in full working order when I give birth, doing its job,” she says. “Are you prepared for that?”
“Of course. I will be right there front and center, nudging the doctor and nurses out of the way so I can catch our baby,” I say with authority, envisioning the moment in my brain.
“Our baby is not a football,” she says, sounding amused.
“It’ll be small like one. I’ll tell you hike, and you can just push the baby out right into my hands.” I laugh.
So does Ava.
“Can we order a pizza?” she asks. “Or go somewhere to eat?” She makes a face. “I really don’t feel like going anywhere.”
“Let’s have one delivered then.” I reach over to grab my phone from the nightstand. “What do you want on it?”
“Pepperoni and pineapple. Oh, and olives,” she says. A little crease forms between her eyebrows. “Maybe some red onion?”
“Ava.” I grimace. “That sounds disgusting.”
“I think it all sounds good. Like…really good.” Her eyes widen. “Maybe I’m having a craving?”
“If that’s your craving, it’s kind of awful.”
She rolls onto her back, her head propped on a stack of pillows as she stares up at my ceiling. “Thin crust. Light sauce. God, the pineapple sounds so delicious right now, and I don’t even like pineapple on my pizza normally. But I’m willing to try it.”
I open up my phone and go to the local pizza place’s app. “I hate pineapple on pizza.”
“But you’ll eat it for me?” She turns to look at me with the sweetest expression on her pretty face.
“For you, I will do anything.” I lean over and kiss her. “Except eat pineapple on my pizza.”
She mock frowns. “You’re no fun.”
“I’m going to order you your own, plus one for me.” I shoot Caleb a quick text, asking if he wants pizza too. “Not sure if I want to try yours.”
“What if it’s awful?” She sits up, running her fingers through her hair. “It won’t be. I just know it.”
I sit up next to her, pushing her hair away from her neck, so I can kiss her there. “Baby, you are sexy when you’re pregnant.”
She shoves me away, a giant smile on her face. “Shut it. You’re just saying that.”
“Nah, it’s true. But I think you’re sexy all the time so…” I kiss her neck again, dropping my phone on top of the comforter, so I can reach for her, slipping my hand under her T-shirt so I can touch her. My fingers drift from her stomach to her ribs, to her breast, tracing the lacy edge of her bra.
Ava shivers. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” I feel good. Invigorated. That nap with Ava in my arms helped, I’m sure.
“Eli…” Her voice drifts and her eyes fall closed when I kiss along her jaw.
“Hmm?”
“I’m hungry,” she whispers.
“I’ll give you what you want,” I tell her, cupping her breast fully.
“For food. Pineapple pizza.”
I pull away from her and lie back down, grabbing my phone. I notice that I have a text.
Caleb: Yeah, I’m down for pizza. Whatever you want to get.
“I’m ordering right now,” I tell her, and she starts bouncing and clapping her hands like a little kid. “Caleb and I are going to share one.”
“Can you get breadsticks too?” Her expression is hopeful. “I don’t know what happened, but it’s like my stomach opened back up and is ready for business.”
I shake my head as I add an order of breadsticks. “Done.”
“Maybe being with you made me hungry.” She leans over and kisses me, her tongue sliding in briefly between my lips. “For all the things.”
I hurriedly finish making the pizza order before I toss my phone aside and reach for her. “It’ll be here in forty-five minutes.”
She comes into my arms with a laugh, her eyes glowing, her mouth la
nding on mine greedily. I roll her over onto her back, me on top of her as we devour each other, a low moan falling from her lips when I shift to kiss and lick at her neck. I’m suddenly overwhelmed with love for this woman. I can’t get enough of her. I want to show her what she means to me. Show her how much I love her and our baby.
Within minutes, our clothes are gone. I gather her breasts in my hands and press them together, sucking one nipple, then the other, making her gasp. She watches me, her gaze never leaving me as I map her skin with my lips, lingering on her stomach. Kissing her gently. Reverently.
Ava runs her hand through my hair, her lips tipped up in a barely there smile.
I shift lower, kissing the inside of her thighs. The backs of her knees. She whimpers, wanting my mouth on her pussy and I deliver, licking her clit, licking her everywhere. Swear to God, she tastes different, and I wonder if it’s because she’s pregnant.
Chills race over me, just knowing she’s going to have my baby.
I can’t get over it.
I suck her clit in between my lips, rubbing my index finger up and down her pussy before I slowly push it inside, trying to be careful. She’s wet and slick, so fucking hot and I curl my finger inside her, aiming for that one spot I know that gets her going, increasing my rhythm on her clit.
She cries out, a jolt rippling through her as I destroy her with my mouth and finger. She’s coming, her entire body stiffening before she falls apart, her pussy clenching and releasing around my finger, her clit pulsating against my lips.
Once her trembling has calmed, I lift away from her to find her gaze on me. “That was quick,” I murmur, dropping a kiss just above her pussy.
“You make me horny,” she admits shyly.
“Welcome to my world.” I move up, so we’re face to face and kiss her, slowly sliding my tongue against hers, so she can get a good taste before I pull away. “I’m horny for you all the time.”
She slips her hands to the back of my head, pulling me back down for another kiss. It’s filthy and sexy as fuck and my cock is throbbing, I want inside her so damn bad. She spreads her thighs and it would be so easy to slip inside, but something stops me.
I break away from her seeking lips, panting as I ask, “You think this will hurt the baby?”
Her smile is knowing, and full of womanly power. There is no other way to describe it. “No. Our baby is about as big as a grain of rice right now.”
I thrust against her nice and slow, and she arches against me. “So I won’t bump his head or anything?”
“No.” She giggles. “And his head? You think it’s a boy?”
“I don’t know what it is.” I thrust my hips again, slipping just the head of my cock inside of her. “But I don’t want to hurt him. Or you.”
“You won’t,” she whispers. “I want you inside of me, Eli. Please.”
I will give my princess whatever she desires. No hesitation.
I reach in between us and guide my cock inside of her, watching her face the entire time I push into her. Her eyelids flutter. Her lips purse. A sigh leaves her and her eyes close, her mouth curved upward. “I feel like I’m home,” I tell her. “Every time I’m inside of you, Ava, it’s like I belong here. With you. Us. Together. We’re meant to be with each other.”
“Yes.” She shifts beneath me, sending me deeper, the both of us groaning. “I feel the same way. We belong together.”
“I love you,” I tell her as I start to move. It’s like a wave of calm has washed over me. Having my girl back in my life for good. Knowing she’s going to have a baby. Our baby. I think about the upcoming playoff game, and the championship game after that. If we win, we’ll play in the Las Vegas Bowl, and I just know…
I’ve got this. I’ve got everything.
“I love you too.” She winds her legs around my hips, holding on. “I love you so much.”
Ah this girl.
She will be the end of me.
Thirty-Three
Ava
“Eli.” We’re sitting at the tiny table in their dining room, and I’m watching him eat. I’m already stuffed full of pizza—it was so delicious—and now I’m perfectly content watching my man munch on a breadstick that he keeps dipping in ranch. He’s so attractive, even when he eats and I exhale softly, caught up in my thoughts.
The father of my future child. Crazy, isn’t it? I was so scared when I found out I was pregnant, and now I’m overwhelmed with love for this man.
“Ava.” He grabs his water bottle and takes a long swig. “What’s up, babe?”
I’m also full of doubt. My thoughts ping pong back and forth, leaving me second guessing every choice we’re making. “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”
We’re the only two in the apartment. Caleb left a while ago to go hang out with Gracie for the evening. It’s the perfect time for me to say something to Eli in the hopes he can reassure me the decisions we’re making are the right ones.
“About what?” he asks with a frown.
“About you and me, and…the baby.”
His entire expression lights up. I think he loves the idea of having a baby, and I was so scared to tell him, unsure of his reaction.
I shouldn’t have been scared over telling him.
“We’re definitely doing the right thing,” he says firmly.
“And we’re not going to get into another stupid argument and act selfish toward each other?” I sound scared, only because I kind of am.
After everything we’ve been through, I can’t help but be a little worried.
And full of doubt over everything too. All of it. My future, which I thought I knew was certain. I had a plan. One that didn’t include Eli, and I told myself I was okay with it. I could survive without him.
Until I realized I was pregnant and I knew I didn’t want to raise a child alone.
Am I wanting to be with him because I truly love him or because I didn’t want to do this alone? I don’t know.
I’m so confused.
And I hate it.
My love for Eli is real. I can’t deny that, but I also still feel really alone. And with nothing else to occupy my mind, when everyone else is busy living their lives and being productive, I’m quietly freaking out, soaking in my emotions and feeling like a failure.
God, I really need to get over myself.
“Oh, we’ll definitely get into arguments. Can’t deny that,” Eli says with a chuckle. “But I won’t be selfish with you.”
“You won’t?” My voice is so small, I sound pitiful.
He slowly shakes his head, pushing his empty plate away from him. “I love you, Ava. And I love that baby growing inside of you too. Like you said earlier, it’s not just about me anymore. It’s about us. And our future. I’m going to work my hardest to make sure I can give you and the baby whatever you need. I’m going to take care of you and our family. I promise.”
His words ignite a flicker of hope in my chest. I watch him, at a loss for what to say. He’s acting right, and saying the right things, but is that only because I put those things into his head?
And since when have I ever doubted Eli so much before? This isn’t normal for me.
Maybe I’m just hormonal.
“I’ve been thinking.” He sits up straighter, resting his forearms on top of the table, his hands clasped together. My gaze settles on those big hands of his, wishing they were touching me right now. “Maybe we should get married right away. Like before the end of the year.”
My mouth drops open. “Wh-what?”
The proposal was sweet. I know he meant every word. But get married in the next five weeks? That sounds…
Impossible.
“Something small. Maybe up in the mountains? At one of the resorts? We could have a winter themed wedding, or a Christmas one.”
“Eli…”
“And we could find our own place to live around here. Caleb will understand. Maybe he could even move in with Gracie and you could move in here with me. Wait i
t out until I know what I’m doing with the NFL or whatever.” He shrugs, seemingly brushing it off. The NFL draft was the most important thing to him, and now he acts like it’s not his number one focus. “And once we know what’s happening, we’ll move to wherever we need to go and begin our life together. As a family.”
My heart feels like it just cracked open, I’m so overwhelmed. “Is that what you want to do?”
“More like is that what you want?” He leans over the table, his expression earnest. “I just want to make you happy, baby. That’s it. I love you. And now that you’re back in my life for good, I’m going to do this right.”
“What if you don’t get into the NFL?” I ask, my voice low.
“Then I don’t.” He shrugs, seemingly unbothered. “I’ve got something even more important happening this summer, if you didn’t already know.”
Eli grins and I can’t help but smile back.
“You’ll get drafted,” I tell him, my voice brimming with confidence. “I have faith in you.”
“At least someone does.” His smile doesn’t fade. In fact, it seems to grow even bigger and I bask in the warmth of it for a bit. “I refuse to do wrong by you, Ava. I’ve made enough mistakes to last a lifetime. I won’t do it again.”
Emotion sweeps over me, making my eyes sting with tears and the next thing I know, I’m crying. Eli leaps out of his chair and comes to my side of the table, nudging me over so he can settle into my chair before pulling me into his lap.
He’s big and warm and when his arms come around me, I sink into him. My face is pressed against his neck and my eyes are closed. I breathe him in, trying to control the gentle sobs making my entire body shake.
“Baby, please don’t cry.” He sounds in agony as he runs his hand up and down my back in comfort. “Seriously, I hate seeing your tears.”
“Why?” I ask, my lips brushing against his neck.
“They make me wanna cry too. Plus, when you cry it feels like I hurt you.”
I pull away so I can look into his eyes. “I’m not crying because I’m sad. I’m happy.”
The Senior (College Years Book 4) Page 27