The Marriage Pact: A Baby Romance

by Tia Siren

  I had to think that someone in this house wouldn’t have been such a damn hypocrite.

  Who gave a fuck if I was trashing the family name? Who gave a fuck if I didn’t marry Eva? She’d be a shitty mother anyway. Not that she’d raise her own children. I’d obviously be expected to hire someone to do that for her, while paying for the tummy tuck she would want so she didn’t have to deal with all those stretch marks come bikini season.

  Ash would’ve worn her stretch marks proudly. To her, it would’ve been proof that she carried our children, and she would’ve loved every inch of them.

  At least, I would’ve.

  I sighed when I heard my doorknob begin to jiggle. Jesus, wasn’t my mother going to leave it alone? Surely, she’d shouted herself hoarse, and lord knows she didn’t have the strength to muscle into my room.

  But when my door swung open, I tilted my head and saw Winston standing in the doorway.

  “Really, Mase?” he asked.

  “You’re the one who came in unannounced,” I groaned.

  “Good thing I swiped this bobby pin last night,” he said.

  “Did you really just pick my lock?”

  “Yep. Now. Get the fuck outta bed.”

  “No, thanks,” I said.

  “Dude, you’re pathetic. This is all your fault. You don’t get to pout.”

  “What the fuck is this all my fault for?” I hissed.

  I felt the covers being thrown back, and Winston jumped from the side of the bed.

  “Cover that thing up, would you?” he exclaimed.

  “Don’t pick my lock, steal my covers, and then get pissed when my dick is out.”

  “Come on,” he said. “Up you go.”

  I felt Winston grab onto my shirt and tug it until I was upright, and then his arms slid under mine. He crinkled his nose and complained about how I smelled, but when he got me to the bathroom, he flicked the light on, and it caused me to lay against the counter.

  “Jesus that’s bright,” I said.

  “Yep. Light’ll do that sometimes. Now, I’m gonna get a shower started, you’re gonna get undressed, and then I’m tossing these disgusting clothes down the stairs.”

  “Try to hit my mom on the way down, would you?” I asked.

  “There’s my Mase. Now, shower.”

  I heard the water turn on and the room began to fill up with steam. I yanked off the shirt I was wearing while Winston stripped down my bed. He threw it over the banister, and I heard a muffled yelp come from the bottom of the stairs.

  “Goal achieved,” Winston said.

  The water pouring off my body in the shower swirled down the drain a different color, and it physically made me sick. I didn’t know how long I’d laid in that bed and cried tears I’ll never admit to. I’d lost Ash, and I had nothing to look forward to but our damned skiing trip to Aspen. I was sure my mother would find a way to patch things up with Eva’s family if she promised our marriage by the end of the year.

  I raged out in the shower and punched the tile so hard I thought I’d broken my knuckles.

  “Dude. You just rolled out of bed after four days. Let’s not rush to the doctor just now, all right?” Winston called out.

  “Four days?”

  “Yeah. Four days. Get a grip.” Winston sighed.

  I saw him lean up against the bathroom counter, and I was pissed that he was hovering nearby.

  “You gonna give me some privacy?” I asked.

  “Actually, no,” Winston said. “I’m gonna tell you all the ways you fucked up.”

  “Seriously? While I’m showering.”

  “Yep. You’re gross. You’ll be in there a while, and I’ve got something to go do in an hour.”

  “All right. So, tell me how I fucked up, wise old best friend.”

  “You belittled Ash, again,” he said.

  “No, I was just trying to show her that assimilating into our world was going to be hard, but that I was willing to do it if she was,” I countered.

  “Not in her mind. See, what you meant doesn’t matter one bit. How you made her feel does.”

  “The fuck?” I said.

  “Yeah. What you meant was honorable. Got it. But how it was interpreted is what Ash is carrying with her. And Mason, you might be right, but you don’t get to say the things you’ve said to Ash and then get pissed when she starts to feel some kinda way about it. You’re not the deliverer of news and then the dictator of her feelings.”

  “I didn’t try to—”

  “It’s not about what you did! It’s how she interpreted it, Mase!”

  “Then tell me how the fuck she interpreted it,” I said.

  “She thought you were calling her lower than you,” Winston said. “She thought you were telling her she wasn’t good enough to be in your world because she didn’t come from money, but that you were willing to drop your standards to be with her. You made it seem like you were doing her a favor, because in the beginning you were.”

  Fuck. I didn’t even think of it that way.

  “In the beginning, that’s exactly what this was, Mase,” Winston said. “It was a lost bet that turned into a favor you were doing for a random woman to fulfill a bet. But somewhere along the line, you fell in love with her, didn’t you?”

  “I think the engagement ring in my pajama robe says that,” I said.

  “Engagement ring? Okay, we’ll get to that in a second. See, I get what you’re saying because I’m like you. You fell in love with a woman whom everyone around you sees as lower than you, and while you don’t see it that way, you know that if she stays with you, she will be surrounded by people that do think that way. While you were falling in love, you were also trying to show your mother that you weren’t gonna marry Eva, so you made Ash a pawn. A pawn you loved, but a pawn nonetheless.”

  “She wasn’t—”

  “Seriously, dude? Shut up.”

  “Don’t I get to talk?” I asked.

  “You talking is what got you into this mess. Just fucking listen, for once.”

  “Fine,” I groaned.

  “When you told Ash that people wouldn’t accept her beside you, did you tell her that their opinions didn’t matter to you?”

  “Well, no,” I said.

  “When you told Ash that money meant the world to the people around you, did you tell her you couldn’t give a shit about it?”

  “No,” I said.

  “When you told Ash you loved her, did you tell her all the reasons why?” Winston asked.

  “Jesus,” I said.

  “And finally, every time Eva opened her fucking face to debase Ash in the conniving way she does, did you ever once defend her?”

  I couldn’t even bring myself to answer that last question.

  “Yes, Ash is independent, but she’s still a woman. Does she want your money? No. Does she want your lifestyle? Not a chance. But does she want your support? Your defense? Yeah. She’s a fucking woman, dude. Her wanting you to defend her doesn’t make her weak. It proves yourself as the man standing next to her. She’s not the only one that has to prove that she’s worth something standing by your side. You have to prove that you’re worth something standing by hers.”

  “When the hell did you get so philosophical on women, Winston?” I asked.

  “When I started screwing a lot of them, and they started yelling at me all the things that I did wrong. That shit doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. You should be thanking your stars that Ash doesn’t yell at you every time you royally fuck up. If she did, she’d be like your mother.”

  I turned off the shower, and I saw a towel being tossed over the glass door.

  “You underestimate Ash’s strength. The likes of you won’t take her down. But you’re also underestimating your determination. If you wanna be with her, then go fucking get her and tell her that. Tell her that what people think doesn’t mean shit. Tell her what you did to Eva. Tell her that what people will say to you doesn’t matter. Tell her you love her and whatever
that means for your fortune, so fucking be it. Be a man, Mase.”

  I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped out of the shower. I felt rejuvenated and refreshed, but most of all, I felt enlightened. I finally understood why the hell I kept pissing this beautiful woman off, and it was all thanks to Winston.

  “I’d hug you,” I said. “But…”

  “Yeah. Keep that shit to yourself. Listen, if you don’t go get her, you’ll regret it forever. I know you. You’ll marry Eva, you’ll scream Ash’s name in bed every time, and you’ll die a miserable man. Go get her, stop fucking up, and tell her shit, dude.”

  “I’ve got some other things I need to take care of, but maybe I could go see her tomorrow…” I trailed off.

  “Well, word on the street, and by street, I mean Frank, says Ash’s ex was waiting for her when she got back to her apartment. Apparently, he wants her back.”

  “Excuse me?” I said flatly.

  “Wanna know the kicker? Her ex, Jason? It’s the fucking dude from the play. That bassist bitch that stood up and took a bow after the performance. Yeah. That prick.”

  That prick. The one who made Ash sign that fucking release to talk about their relationship all over some disgusting reality television show. That prick. The one who couch surfed and took all of Ash’s money then spent his gig money on booze and drugs. The one who was trying to get his hands back onto the woman I loved.

  No fucking way in hell I was letting that happen to Ash again. Even if she didn’t take me back, she fucking deserved better than that piece of shit.

  “I’ll leave you to your own decisions,” Winston said. “But remember. Stop fucking up.”

  “Yeah,” I said as I scrambled for my clothes. “Got it.”

  It made me sick, thinking that some guy was already trying to make moves on Ash. Especially the likes of that bleach-blonde mohawked idiot bassist who was only using her for his own C-list celebrity fame. Ash was the one for me, and even if she never took me back, I was never gonna get over her. She was perfect in every single way I’d been craving ever since I got bored with all the woman I let hang off my arm. She was thick, and delicious, and spunky, and witty, and creative, and just the right amount of confident and self-conscious that made me smile as she pressed her body deeply into mine in a room full of people.

  I pulled on my clothes and plugged my phone in. It rang out with unsolicited text messages and numerous voicemails of my mother blowing her vocal chords to hell trying to get me to pick up the damn phone. I ignored them all to call the two places I needed to in order to try and win Ash back.

  I called her work to talk to Luna, and I called my driver to see when he was free.

  Chapter 34

  Ash

  A few days had passed since I’d gotten back in from the “vacation” to Milan. I was happy when Jason didn’t step foot back onto the doorstep of my apartment. I had been riding the high of literally tossing him out the door that I told Frank she either needed to start helping with bills or find a place of her own. I told her I loved her, and she’d always be my best friend, but something had to give because I couldn’t float her forever.

  We agreed she’d get the groceries and help me with this month’s electricity and water. By the time this month was out, she’d be in a new place of her own. She wasn’t really happy about it, but I didn’t care. I was done with the bullshit people were throwing at me, and to hell with her if she didn’t realize what she was doing.

  It was nice, being able to stand up to people like that.

  I stretched to continue putting new yarn balls away we’d got in last week. I finally convinced Luna to have a section of the store dedicated to more expensive types of yarns and fabrics, and they were selling like hotcakes.

  Luna gave me four more shelves on the main wall to promote these luscious craft supplies. I was knee-deep in wool-and-silk balls of yarn I had to stack and arrange by color in a way that was impressive to the eye.

  I heard the bell above the door ring. I straightened out my clothes and wiped the sweat from my brow.

  “Welcome to Luna’s Crafts, how may I—”

  My breath caught in my throat when my eyes focused on the person standing in the doorway. It was Mason, with his intense stare and his plump lips and his tall stature and his strong arms.

  Jesus, he looked spectacular, and I was pissed at my knees for clacking together the way they were.

  “Hello, Ash,” he said.

  For days, I had been working on my self-esteem. I told Jason off, I put my foot down with Frank, and I even told Luna she was getting a website whether she liked it or not. I told her that I cared about this store just as much as she did, and that if I wanted to work in it for the rest of my life, then it needed to get with the times.

  I got complaint after complaint from customers about us not having a website and being able to ship shit to them. I explained to her that it was possible to offer a wider array of products just online, then commission them from a warehouse and ship it right to the customer. No muss, no fuss, more money for the store, and we didn’t have to hold inventory.

  I could’ve sworn there was a ghost of a smirk on her face, even as she fought me the entire time on it.

  She told me I could take a couple weeks off from the store to get the site up and running and that she would pay me for it. I told her I was gonna outfit her store with some basic internet, and I could do it here while training her niece. Back and forth we went, and eventually, I got what I wanted.

  For the third time in a week.

  I knew I was worth fighting for, and just with Mason turning up, I could tell he’d convinced himself of that as well. But dear god, I’d given myself over to this man twice, and both times he had let me down. My heart had been ripped, shattered, and deep fried before it was thrown to the wolves in the middle of Milan, and I just didn’t know if I could do it with him again.

  “First off, I need to apologize,” he began.

  “Yep,” I said.

  “No, no. I need to really apologize. For not understanding how my words were affecting you and not taking into account how they were being interpreted.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him before I raked them up and down his body. He had an angle. I was sure of it. I just didn’t know what it was yet.

  “I was so wrong to point out our differences. Instead of telling you none of those differences meant anything to me. Which they don’t, by the way. I kept battering you over the head with them, trying to get you to somehow feel sorry for me. Instead of defending you with Eva, which I will always do from now until eternity, I kept my mouth shut because I thought you wanted to defend yourself. I thought that by defending yourself, you could show all those prim and proper assholes I grew up with that you deserved to be there just as much as them.”

  I watched him take a few steps toward me, and I couldn’t help but back myself slowly into the wall of yarn I was stacking.

  “What I didn’t stop to think about at all was the fact that maybe they all had to prove themselves to you. Maybe, instead of you proving your worth, we all needed to prove ours. I needed to prove my worth to you.”

  I felt tears rise to my eyes, and I cursed myself internally for faltering right in front of him.

  “My family,” he said. “We’ve been doing things a certain way for generations. Families are picked to merge from the time children are born. That’s just the way it's always been. I had no idea how to untangle myself from that because no one in my family’s ever done it before. I’m the first, and therefore, there is no precedent for me to follow. No one’s example for me to trace.”

  I swallowed hard to keep my tears from spilling down my face.

  “The truth is, Ash, I’ve never met anyone like you. You make me feel alive. You make me see the world for the first time through the lens of someone who isn’t as privileged as I’ve always been. And I don’t mean that to say you’re somehow lower than me. I simply mean that you appreciate things in this world that I’ve
always taken for granted. You’ve framed the world for me in a way I’ve never framed it before, and you do it with a beauty and grace I’ve never witnessed until I met you.”

  Fuck him. Fuck him and his beautiful words, and his beautiful eyes and his beautiful chin. The tears brewing in my eyes rolled down my face in globs of wetness, leaving trails of my makeup in its wake while I stared up at the most beautiful man my heart has ever screamed out for.

  “Mason,” I began.

  “Let me finish,” he said.

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  I was petrified of what he was going to say next. Everything that he was saying was nothing short of perfect. A part of me worried that it was manufactured. I had already trusted him with my heart twice, and I just wasn’t sure if I could do that again.

  Not with him.

  “No, wait,” I said, holding up my hand to stop him.

  Mason’s eyes widened, and that was when I decided to take the reins. I’d made a lot of progress over the past few days with not allowing people to walk all over me, and I wasn’t gonna let some rich boy with stunning eyes and an expensive smile throw me back to square one.

  “Mason, I don’t know if I can trust you with my heart again. I mean, you wanna talk about setting precedent? You haven’t done a very good job.”

  “I know,” he said, nodding.

  “I was in pieces when I came back from Milan,” I said sternly. “The only place I’d ever wanted to travel, and it was tainted by having my heart broken again.”

  “I’m so sorry, Ash,” he said.

  “And now you waltz back in here with your smooth words and your tailored suit and your beautiful lips, and you tell me that I’m supposed to trust you again so you can try to get this ‘new thing’ right again?”

  Before I knew it, he had wrapped me up in his arms. He gathered me close to his chest, and I caved to everything that was him. His arms rippled around my back, and his cologne was the familiar scent of everything I’d fallen in love with. I felt his lips come down on top of my head, and he said the most beautiful words into my skin.