by K. Renee
I haven’t heard a sound from Jericho and part of me thinks she snuck out the window or something just to get away from me.
I stumble and Enver practically drags me into my room. He pushes me onto the bed and pulls my boots off, dropping them on the floor beside the bed.
“Wren?”
Her voice is like heaven. She’s still here. I can see two of her and I reach out and grab her, pulling her down on top of me.
Enver swears under his breath as he tries to get me to let her go. I refuse because I need to tell her something and I don’t care what Enver says. He told me to just let her make up her own mind, but I can’t. I need her to know that I need her, that I need Mason and her more than she’ll ever know.
“You can’t leave me.” The words come out slurred, but I think she gets it. “I fell for you hard and now I can’t give you up. Please don’t give up on me,” I beg her.
A small hand touches my cheek and then she looks up at Enver.
“How much has he had to drink?”
Enver sighs and I ignore him.
“A bottle of Jack by himself. I got everything else put together while he drank.”
“I am so sorry. You could have said something, I would have helped.”
I run my hand up and down her back like I’ve done a dozen times and she moves against me.
“Don’t worry about it. I owe him one for being a dick to you. I know shit hasn’t been easy between all of us, but I don’t blame you for anything. Trigger here made his bed and he can lie in it and I know he would for you and Mason. I didn’t want to think of him falling for a weekend fling in Vegas, but clearly you are more to him. You were all he talked about while we were on tour and I know it will literally kill him if you take off again with Mason. Please don’t hurt him like that.”
I look over at him and he gives her a sad look before slapping me in the forehead. “Don’t be an idiot.”
I can hear her giggle and I ignore him, rolling over to cuddle into Jericho’s body. I don’t care if she doesn’t want to cuddle with me; I’m not giving her an option. It might be my last chance to sleep with her in my arms.
The door closes and she finally relaxes.
“I would never just disappear with Mason, I hope you know that,” she whispers.
“I don’t want you to go anywhere. I want you both here, with me,” I murmur against her chest.
Chapter 25
Jericho
After everything, I couldn’t sleep so I spent most of the night putting Mason’s bedding together and putting all his clothes away. When I finally got everything put away, I laid in bed next to Wren who was so drunk that he was talking in his sleep.
I found it quite humorous and I wanted like hell to fuck with him, but I know what Dek said got to him. He threatened to walk away from the band and it broke my heart.
I would never ask him to quit something he loved. I would rather be on my own raising Mason than watch him destroy himself because of me. He needs music, I know that much. The last few days I’ve seen how it calms him. I listened to him strum his guitar for hours in the hospital room when he thought I was sleeping.
He sang quietly to himself a lot of the time, but he is truly talented, they all are. I’ve heard plenty of their songs since being in Cape Cod. Everyone around here loves them even if they don’t mention their real names. I’m sure it’s the best-kept secret here.
When I get tired of just staring at him, I run my fingertips along his cheekbones and down his jaw, letting his few day old beard tickle my fingers. He doesn’t have the piercing in the bridge of his nose anymore and the lip rings are gone too.
I don’t understand why he changed his look even the slightest bit, but I don’t question him on it. It’s not my place really. He looks just as hot as he did with them as he does without them. Dragging my fingers from his jaw, I move them down his neck where his tattoos are covering his skin. He’s breathtaking and I’m sure that if I told him he would say no, that I am. It wouldn’t be the first time.
He’s cocky as shit unless you tell him he’s beautiful, then he gets all shy on you.
“Why are you staring at me?”
His voice is hoarse, full of sleep, and sexy as hell. I continue to run my fingers along his skin and he finally opens his eyes when I get to the center of his throat. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
“Because I can,” I whisper.
He reaches out and tucks the hair that is covering part of my face behind my ear and now it’s his turn to stare.
“I was serious last night. Losing you and Mason is not an option. I’d rather quit music than let that happen.”
He gives me a look that tells me everything I need to know. Two nights should not make me feel this way. Seven months of longing shouldn’t make me want to say fuck it and just dive in headfirst. I now have a little boy to think about too. His life is the only one that matters to me now.
I give him a sad smile. I don’t want him to have to choose.
“I don’t want you to give up everything you’ve worked for. I’ll be here. Mason will be here. We can take it day by day. Don’t make us into the bad guys. You and Dek have been friends for a long time and I don’t want to be the reason you guys aren’t anymore.” He wraps a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me to him.
“Dek and I will figure it out. We always do. It just might come to blows before it happens.”
I shake my head against the pillow that we are currently sharing and he grins at me, that same panty-melting grin that he gave me the night we met.
“I know you didn’t get pregnant on purpose. Neither of us was thinking when we fucked. I can still hardly think straight every time we are together.”
I know exactly what he means. Reaching out, I brush his hair out of his eyes. Just like they always do, they pull me in. Pressing my lips to his, I kiss him softly. I don’t know why, but I just feel like I need to.
His tastes like ass, but it doesn’t stop me from kissing him. He pulls me on top of him, but it doesn’t go any further than that. Sitting up on his stomach, I trail my fingers along the ink that is on his skin and he just watches me.
His hand goes to my hip and he slides his thumb up and down my skin under my borrowed shirt. After a few minutes, his fingers move to the front of my shirt and he starts to move it up. He doesn’t put it up any higher than the stitches on my stomach. He leans forward and almost knocks me off of him. Surprising me, he presses his lips gently over the spot they cut me open.
One thing I never knew about Wren was how sentimental he could be. He may seem like he only likes things a certain way, but clearly there is more than meets the eye with him. He’s amazing when he wants to be.
“You should probably shower,” I say, plugging my nose when the silence starts to drive me insane. I don’t do well with silence when I’m with someone else and he doesn’t take it badly.
He rolls me over and licks my face before pushing up on the bed and walking to the bathroom.
Wiping my face on his pillow, I can’t help but grin at his back as he shakes his ass while walking away from me.
Instead of sitting in the room waiting for him to get dressed, I go in search of something else to wear that will fit me better and I find a bag in the closet that doesn’t look like it would belong. Being the nosy woman I am, I open it and see clothes that are my size in there, a few pairs of black yoga pants, a couple of long tee shirts, a couple of band shirts, and even a pair of running shoes.
Everything is in my size. I don’t remember anyone bringing me clothes, unless… I grab the bag and make my way to the bathroom. Pulling the curtain to the side, I put a hand on my hip and give him a dirty look.
“What, you never seen clothes before?”
I think about throwing them at him in the shower, but I don’t want them to get wet, so I refrain.
“Don’t be a smart ass now after you were just being sweet,” I sneer. “Are these for me?”
“Yeah, dol
l. I got those for you for when you got out of the hospital. Things got a little hectic and I forgot about them. Wear them, they should fit.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “How would you know what size I wear?” I ask.
He just laughs. “I spent one amazing weekend memorizing your entire body and trust me, I haven’t forgotten it.”
“Baby weight,” I state before walking away.
I can hear his laughter as he closes the curtain and continues with his shower. Setting everything out on the bed, I check the tags and sure enough, they are the right sizes. I didn’t gain weight anywhere but my belly so everything should still fit.
Pulling on a pair of yoga pants, I can’t help but grin to myself. It feels so damn good to wear something that actually fits instead of his clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I like wearing his clothes because they smell like him, but having something that fits my ass and doesn’t look like I’m taking a dump in them is amazing. I pull off his shirt carefully and pull a shirt on over my head.
I hear the water shut off and I can’t help but get a giddy feeling. We get to go and get our little boy today. I can’t wait to just watch him and annoy him with a million photos and kisses.
When Wren comes out of the bathroom, he has his hair looking crazy and a pair of jeans riding low on his hips. I didn’t even know he had any clothes in there. He walks over to me and wraps an arm around me, pulling me to him.
“As much as I love seeing you in my clothes, those look way fucking better on you. I get to see this ass that I love so damn much.” He squeezes my ass a few times before slapping it and kissing the top of my head.
“You are strange,” I say, walking over to my purse.
I grab my phone and check the screen, but there are no new messages or Facebook notifications. You would think that someone cared enough about me to check in, but no. Wren seems to be the only one.
Just as I set my phone down, it starts ringing and I see Darious’ number on the screen. I silence the call and Wren is right behind me, pulling the phone out of my hand and putting it to his ear.
“Glad to know you are still calling my woman.”
I look over my shoulder at him and glare.
He mouths, ‘What, you are,’ before turning his attention back to the phone. “You wish. Stop calling her unless you want to deal with me and trust me when I say this, you will regret it.”
I roll my eyes at that and he slaps my ass. Sometimes I don’t know how he knows when I do that. I don’t even have to be looking at him for him to know.
“Naw, just stop calling my woman and we won’t have any problems.” He grins and I just shake my head. “She doesn’t want some pencil dick like you, so stop trying to act all tough buddy. I am more than enough for her, she hasn’t complained once yet. I bet she didn’t let you stick it in –” I elbow him hard in the stomach and he just grins at me before telling Darious to go fuck himself and stop calling me.
“We need to change your number,” he says, rubbing his stomach.
“You need to stop answering it.” He gives me a look, but I ignore it. I take my phone from his hand and shove it in my bag. “Now, let’s go. I want to get my baby boy.”
“Our baby boy,” he corrects me.
I grin at him, not even caring that he just corrected me. I love hearing him claim Mason. It makes my heart flutter even if it shouldn’t. He is going to be an amazing father to that little boy and I can’t wait to watch them together.
I can already see Mason following in Wren’s footsteps and playing the guitar or something musical.
Getting a perma-grin on my face, I grab everything I need and tell Wren to get the car seat so we can get our little man.
We get to bring him home for the first time and I am so excited that I can’t contain it.
Chapter 26
Jericho
The moment we picked Mason up and signed his birth certificate was the best day of my life. I never knew what love was until the day I gave birth to that little boy.
He is perfect in every way and I can’t wait to love on him and watch him grow up. I already know that he is going to be a little heartbreaker if he continues to look like his daddy more and more every day.
The whole way back to Wren’s, I couldn’t help but stare at Mason and watch him sleep.
“We need diapers and wipes, Wren.” I finally remember when we are a few minutes from his house.
“You want me to drop you off first or do you want to go with me? We can get you some more clothes if you need or even toothpaste and stuff.”
I just tell him ‘yeah whatever’ and let him drive because I’m just so enamored by our little boy.
“You’re not even listening to me, huh?”
“Your daddy talks too much. I liked him better when he was quiet.” Mason kicks his feet and I can’t help but grin.
“You’re going to love it when I talk later.”
Looking in the rearview mirror, I see the smirk plastered to his face. I flip him the bird and go back to staring at Mason. I just can’t get enough of him. Grabbing my phone, I snap a photo of him and send it over to Mellie. I feel terrible that I pretty much left her high and dry at work, but she promised that she understood and that I needed to heal and spend time with Mason instead of worrying about work.
Reaching into the car seat, I run my fingertips along his chubby little cheek. He is so beautiful, just like Wren. I don’t think I will ever get tired of saying that. I’m sure I’ve said it so many times already, but it is true. He is just perfect.
Wren puts the car in park and turns to look at us. “You ready, doll?”
I nod my head and he gets out. He opens my door first before walking over to the other one and opening it. Making it look super easy, he takes the car seat out and shuts the car door. As I watch him walk over to me, I can’t help but swoon at the sight. He looks hot as shit carrying that car seat with our little boy in it.
“What?” he asks when I shut my door.
He hits the button on his key fob and the car locks, but I’m still too busy staring at him.
“Jericho.” My eyes snap up to his and he gets this damn smirk on his face that makes me want to punch him. “You done drooling yet or should I give you a few more seconds and a little twirl?” I just roll my eyes as he walks over to me. Don’t worry, I check him out a little more as he moves and he grabs my hand when he reaches me.
“Come on. I better wipe that drool off your face.”
I pinch his side and he just laughs.
We walk hand in hand into Target and he sets the car seat in a cart before leading me through the place. I can’t help but look around. It’s one of my favorite stores because you can find almost everything there.
“Why do you look like a kid at Christmas?” he asks when he looks at me.
“I love this place, but never could afford it because I always went overboard.” We walk back to the women’s section and I can’t help but scan over the clothes. I see a few cute things, but I don’t veer off to look at them. Wren stops in front of me and I end up running into the back of him.
“Jericho, I told you we can get stuff for you too. If you want or need something, say so. I’ll take care of it all.” I give him a look, but it doesn’t change his answer. “Go get some outfits. You deserve it, it’s the least I can do.” I tilt my head to the side and just stare at him like he’s insane.
Reaching up, I grab the back of his head and pull his mouth down on mine. “You are amazing. Thank you.”
Brushing the strands of hair from my face he whispers, “You are more than welcome, doll. Now go get some things so we can go and get Mason some diapers and stuff he still needs.” I nod and kiss him once more before walking toward all the pretty clothes.
I pick up a few items that I love and bring them over to Wren and Mason. He is standing there watching our little man. He looks up at me as I make my way over to him and he grins at me. “Was that so hard?” I shake my head and put my things in the basket be
fore wrapping my arms around him.
He kisses my forehead before we start moving again. We stop a few more times getting a few things here and there that we need and then go way overboard on buying things for Mason.
Wren
Watching the way Jericho dotes on Mason is fucking perfect. I can write so many songs about the way I feel right now just watching the two of them together.
The whole trip to Target was a little more expensive than I was expecting, but it was totally worth it. We got everything else he needed for the next few weeks so she doesn’t have to go out a whole lot while I’m gone.
Seth already told me that he would stop by every few days to make sure she has what she and Mason needs.
I’ve been blessed with the friends I have, other than Elias. He’s still a snake and I know he’s planning something. I can feel it all the way down in my bones. There is something up his sleeve and I have a feeling that I know what it is.
Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I pull up the camera app and take a picture of Jericho and Mason. She’s got her head in my lap with Mason sleeping on her chest. The picture is perfect and I save it as my wallpaper on my phone before sending a text to my lawyer.
I want to make sure he knows what might happen in the upcoming weeks. Plus, I need to write Mason and Jericho into my will and Ethan will make sure everything is taken care of without me needing to go into much detail. He is one of the only people I trust when it comes to those types of details of my life.
His response is quick and straight to the point.
Ethan Black: I got it. I’ll get ahead of it with the paternity test. Can you guys take it before you leave?
Me: Yeah. I can get it done tomorrow. Need to update my will to include Mason and Jericho too.
Ethan Black: Got it. You want everything to Mason with Jericho as the beneficiary until his 25th birthday?
Me: You got it. Let me know when I need to sign everything.
Ethan Black: When you get back from tour probably. I’ll let you know for sure though.