by L. P. Maxa
Corey stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I’m fine, Dom, and the baby seemed okay with the pizza, thank heaven.” A lot of food had been making her nauseous this week.
“Has our girl been giving you a hard time?” Keller reached out and put his hand on her stomach.
Corey snorted when she heard a deep growl come from Dom. He hated it when other people touched her. Even people she thought of as brothers. He usually held his tongue if she instigated the touching, but definitely not when it was the other way around.
Keller put his hands up in surrender. “Calm down, man, I was touching the baby, not Corey.” He looked indignant. “She’s my little niece after all.”
Dom put both his arms around Corey and rested his hands on her belly. “They’re one and the same, jackass.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m going to grab some food. Keller, you think you could keep your hands to yourself while I’m gone?”
Keller rolled his eyes. “Nope. I’m a savage animal. I will grope her the second you turn your back.” He ducked out of the way when Dom swatted at him.
Corey laughed. “Dom, you’re being a little ridiculous. People love to touch a pregnant belly. You going to give everyone a hard time?”
“Yes.” He kissed her once more before he turned and walked into the house.
Corey and Keller made their way to the edge of the patio to join Linc, Baze, and Riley. Linc took a swig out of his red Solo cup, and Corey immediately smelled alcohol. “Linc, shame on you. You aren’t supposed to drink around the team.”
Linc looked at her, eyes wide. “There is barely any vodka in here. You aren’t even a shifter.” He held his hand over the top of his drink. “Keep your sensitive pregnancy nose to yourself.”
Riley reached his hand out and touched her stomach, patting it lightly. “Now you have your own supernatural powers.”
Dom walked back up to them sporting a matching Solo cup. He lifted it up to toast with Linc. “Thanks for hiding that vodka in the fridge bro, it always takes forever for these kids to leave.”
“What the hell, man?” Keller threw his hands in the air.
Dom looked at Keller like he’d lost his mind. “What? It’s behind the milk. Go make a drink. Geeze.”
“Not that.” He pointed at Riley. “He touched Corey’s stomach right in front of you and you didn’t get mad at him.”
“He did?” Dom looked over at Riley. “Did you touch her?”
Riley glanced at Corey, a panicked expression on his adorable baby face. Clearly looking for some help or some guidance. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I won’t do it again, Coach.”
Dom turned to Keller. “Happy now?”
Keller grabbed Dom’s cup and took three long swallows. “Now I am.” He wiped his adult Kool-Aid smile and grinned.
“Keller touched Corey’s stomach again.” Baze’s intense gaze was on Corey. She huffed, staring right back at him. He was still infatuated with Riley’s connection to her unborn daughter. He didn’t care how uncomfortable it made the poor kid.
“No way, man. It pisses me off when Dom growls at me like that.” Keller took Dom’s cup, draining it this time. “Makes me feel like a scolded child.”
“Keller, come on. I want to do a little experiment, touch her.”
Corey narrowed her eyes at Baze, wondering what the hell he was up to. The whole team was at their house; they didn’t need Dom losing his temper right now.
Keller looked from Dom to Baze and back again. “Are you going to growl?”
Dom nodded, lips pursed, frowning at his empty cup. “Probably.”
Keller sighed, reached his hand out, and softly put it on her tummy. Dom growled, and much to everyone’s surprise, so did Riley. “What the actual fuck?” Keller jerked his hand back, looking between Dom and Riley.
Riley quickly put his hand over his own mouth. He looked just as shocked as everyone else. “Oh my god. I am so sorry. I have no idea where that came from.” He spoke against his palm.
“I knew that would happen. Riley is so damn connected to that baby.” Baze shook his head, clearly irritated that he still couldn’t figure out why. “Keller, touch Corey’s shoulder.” When he did, only Dom growled. “Now touch her stomach.” Both Riley and Dom reacted. “See, it’s the baby. Dom is protective over both Corey and the baby. Riley is only worried about the baby. Now, Riley, touch Corey’s stomach.” Nothing from Dom. “Now touch her shoulder.” Baze smiled when Dom growled. “See?”
“Holy shit. I swear I’ve never growled at anyone in my entire life.” Riley turned to Dom, his hands out in front of him. “Look, Coach Hardy, I promise I’m not into Corey. And I don’t know why I’m protective over the baby. I, uh, it’s, fuck. I don’t know.” Riley took a deep breath and glanced over at Corey.
“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay.” His sad, worried expression tugged at her heart. “None of us understand how any of this works, it’s new to everyone. We’ll figure it out, okay?” Corey smiled, trying to ease his fears and uncertainty. She was relieved when she heard Jasper call to Riley from inside the house. “Jasper’s calling you. It looks like the team is heading out. Go with them, have fun. We’ll talk about this later.”
“I really am sorry, Coach Hardy, I don’t… I don’t know what to say.” Riley’s eyes were all but pleading with Dom to be cool about all this.
“No worries, we’ll figure it out. Have fun.” He patted Riley on the back. “Try to keep Jasper from getting into too much trouble, will ya?”
Corey snorted. Keep Jasper out of trouble? Not likely. That kid had the same enhanced ability with girls that Linc did. And Jasper loved to go after girls who belonged to the guys over at the public school.
“Yes, sir.” Riley turned to her. “Are you still coming with me to Ms. Molly’s tomorrow? I mean I understand if you don’t want to.”
Corey laughed. “Of course I’m coming with you, buddy. Please don’t worry about this whole new protective streak. Okay? I’m not worried, and Dom isn’t either.” She put her hands on his shoulders, turning him toward his friends. She waited ’til they rounded the corner to the front of the house before she whirled around to confront Baze. “What the hell was that? Why are you trying to freak that kid out? Don’t you think he’s been through enough recently? He could have died not two weeks ago. You can be such an inconsiderate ass sometimes.”
“Coop, come on. Obviously something weird is going on. Baze just pointed it out is all.” Keller put his hand up, trying to calm Corey down, but she was having none of it.
“Well, he didn’t need to point it out in front of Riley. He’s already freaked out that he is so connected with the baby. Now you’ve made it worse showing him that he is protective too. Damn it, Baze.” Wow, pregnancy hormones were making her an even bigger badass than she usually was. She liked this. Pregnant Corey wasn’t going to take anyone’s shit.
Baze let out an audible breath. “Look, I wasn’t trying to scare him. I just wanted everyone to be aware of what was going on here. This is uncharted territory and we need to figure out what the hell it all means.” He shrugged. “But I am sorry I went about it that way.”
“Don’t apologize to me, although you did treat me like a freaking touchstone. Apologize to Riley. Poor guy has had a really rough month. Watching Jasper get beat almost to death, then beat again, then Riley got attacked by Bull, and he had to watch me get attacked by Bull, then he figured out I was pregnant and y’all made him keep it a secret. Cut the kid some slack.” She made eye contact with everyone. “All of you.” Some of the tension left her body when they nodded in response.
Dom rubbed slow circles along Corey’s back. “Baby, maybe you should go lie down. It’s late and you’ve been going nonstop all week. This stress can’t be good for you or my little girl.”
“Wait, why is Riley going over to Molly’s?” Keller tilted his head in confusion.
“Molly and her Aunt Maggie need help hanging up some new artwork in the studio. Molly asked Ril
ey if he would do it for them when we were at lunch last week. They’re going to pay him.” Corey studied Keller, most interested in his reaction. She had her suspicions that Keller cared for Molly a lot more than he let on.
“I could have done that for them, for free. Why didn’t Molly just ask me?” He pointed at Corey. “And for the record you spend entirely too much time with Riley.”
Corey shrugged. “For the record, suck it. Riley came with us to lunch because Dom is an overprotective nutjob and he made Riley go with me into town to run errands. And Molly asked him for help because unlike some people, he hasn’t been avoiding her.” She smiled sweetly, waiting for Keller to deny it.
“I have not been avoiding her.” There it was. “I go to yoga with you at least three times a week.”
“Well, you don’t come with us to breakfast afterward anymore. As soon as she says Namaste you bolt. Coward.” Corey was really loving her attitude. No more skating around the truth. It was freeing and hella fun. “It’s obvious to everyone that you have feelings for her, and she hasn’t even tried to hide how into you she is. So either man up and start talking to her, or keep your opinions and your jealousy to your damn self.”
Dom raised his eyebrows. “Baby, maybe lay off Keller a little?”
Corey whipped around to her mate. “Excuse me? Lay off Keller? Keller is acting like a child. Baze is acting like an inconsiderate social scientist, and Linc is snickering in the corner sneaking vodka into his Hawaiian Punch like a sixteen-year-old. I am constantly surrounded by boys, and I’ve had it up to here with y’all’s antics tonight.” Whoa. Maybe slow your roll, hormones.
Dom nodded. “You are so right, sweetheart. You put up with all of us so well and I think we take it for granted. I am going to clean up, the guys are going to help me, and then they are going to leave. Why don’t you go take shower and get into bed?”
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you are placating me. Apparently our daughter is making me a little hormonal. But everything I said was the truth, so I’m not apologizing.” Corey pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a bit guilty.
“I do love you guys though. Good night.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Dominic
The guys all mumbled their good-nights to Corey, afraid to say the wrong thing and set her off again. Dom smiled to himself. It was comical that his friends, the shifters, were afraid of his pregnant mate. “All right, guys, help me get this place cleaned up.”
They all started picking up cups and plates and throwing everything in the trash. It didn’t take long to get everything in order with all four of them working. Dom could hear the shower running, and he resisted the urge to go into the bathroom to make sure she wasn’t dancing in there. Instead he liberated the bottle of vodka from the fridge and made everyone a fresh drink.
When they were on the front porch and he knew they wouldn’t bother Corey, he cleared his throat. “Baze, maybe Corey’s right and you should back off of Riley. If you want to try to figure out his connection to the baby, go ahead. But until you know for sure, don’t say anything else to him. I know he and Corey are close, and it doesn’t bother me. I’m glad she has someone else who loves her and wants to keep her safe. It’s the best thing for her, and the baby. Okay?”
“Yeah, man, you’re right. We’re lucky she has extra protection. She needs it. Being pregnant makes her even ballsier than she usually is.” Baze took a sip of the drink Dom made, grimacing.
Dom knew that Baze would keep his word and leave Riley out of his theories. But he also knew that he wasn’t going to stop looking. “As far as Corey being so, uh, hormonal… I guess you should take everything she says for the next few months with a grain of salt. I don’t know what else to say other than that.” Dom had lowered his voice considerably, he was almost whispering. He was man enough to admit he was terrified Corey would overhear him apologizing for her.
“Nah, man, don’t even worry about it. Everything she said was the truth.” Keller looked out toward town, a wistful look on his face.
“Speak for yourself, dude. I don’t always snicker in the corner.” Linc took a long gulp of his drink, seemingly wounded.
“No, but you do drink a lot.” Baze shoved Linc, and they all laughed when he lost his balance and fell on his butt.
“No, I don’t. I can’t help it if I am younger, more attractive, and more fun than the rest of you guys.” Linc righted himself. “I’m the life of the party. Just ask any lady in a ten-mile radius.”
“Any lady except for Molly, the one girl immune to your powers.” Baze turned his attention to Keller. “Speaking of Molly. Man, what the hell is going on between you two? She’s beautiful, athletic, funny, and for some reason really into you. What gives?”
Truth be told, Dom was wondering the same thing. It wasn’t like Keller to pass on something like that. They had met Molly a few weeks back and they all loved reminding Linc that she didn’t even look twice in his direction before setting her sights on Keller. Saying Linc had a way with the ladies was the understatement of the century. Molly may well be the only girl in history to ever turn Linc down.
Keller cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you guys want me to say. She’s an amazing girl. I just don’t want to hurt her, that’s all. There is no point in us dating, and I refuse to sleep with her then never call her. Her and Coop are friends, I can’t do that.”
More than anyone, Dom understood not wanting to date if the relationship was headed toward a dead end. And he was sure as fuck pleased that Keller wasn’t willing to use Molly. With Corey’s pregnancy hormones she was liable to kill him for running off her only female friend here in Colorado. But Dom had seen the way Keller looked at Molly and he had heard the jealousy in his voice earlier this evening when Corey had brought her up.
Dom narrowed his eyes at his buddy; he wasn’t buying it. He had his own notion when it came to those two. “So there’s no point in dating? She isn’t the one for you? Are you sure that Molly wasn’t put on this earth to be yours? Only yours.” Dom finally said what he knew both he and Corey had been thinking.
“What? No, absolutely not. Like I said, Molly is breathtaking, she really is. But she isn’t mine.” Keller stood up and stretched his arms over his head. Trying for causal and relaxed when in all actually he was probably more like a ticking time bomb. “I’m going home. Linc, thanks for the vodka. Baze, Dom, good game tonight. As always, it’s been a pleasure.” With that, he headed off into the yard, turning to the direction of his house.
Dom watched his friend walk away, and as soon as Keller was out of earshot he started to laugh. “Oh man, he is so screwed. He’s lying. He’s lying to us, and he’s lying to himself.”
Linc finished his drink and tossed it into the trashcan sitting in the driveway. “You’re crazy. Why would he lie about that? He has no reason to. I think you just want someone else to become mated and join you in your misery. You know, sad people love company and all that.”
“First of all, jackass, I am neither sad nor miserable, and you better watch what you say or I’m going to tell Corey.” His smile grew when Linc’s fell. “Second of all, he said she was breathtaking. Breathtaking? Does that sound like a typical Keller thing to say? Nope. That’s a mate thing to say. I kid you not, the first time I saw Corey? She stole the air from my lungs. God’s honest truth, I don’t know why he lied. Maybe he doesn’t realize it. Maybe he is scared to admit it? Whatever it is, the longer he denies it, the worse it’s going to be for all of us.” Dom took a deep breath and got to his feet. “Now if you will excuse me, I have a beautiful naked girl waiting for me in my bed.”
Reason number six hundred and seven why being mated was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Corey
The morning after the wolf social experiment from hell, Corey picked up Riley to take him to Molly’s yoga studio. She had no idea what kind of mood he would be in when he got in the car. She was really hoping he w
ould just be his normal awesome Riley self and that she wouldn’t have to spend the whole drive trying to bring him out of a funk. He was waiting for her when she pulled up to his dorm building with a smile on his face, which was a good sign. Riley tended to wear his emotions on his sleeve. “Hey, kiddo, how was your night?”
“Uh, it was great actually. Lots of fun.” He kept his eyes on his phone.
“What did y’all do? Did you guys go into town?” She glanced over at him; he was still engrossed in his phone. “Riley, you want to join me here?”
He looked up. “Did you say something?”
She laughed. “I asked what y’all did last night. Are you texting someone? What’s so important on your phone?”
“Sorry.” He put it in his lap. “We went into town. Hit a field party, local kids.”
“Y’all have field parties in Colorado? I thought that was a Southern thing.”
“You think everything is a Southern thing. But I’m almost positive that you can have field parties anywhere there is an empty field. And we do have fields here in Colorado.” He smirked but looked down at his phone again.
“Oh okay, so you got jokes today. Good. I thought you were going to be an irritating surly teenager after what happened with Baze last night.” She turned down Main Street.
That made him put down his phone again. He leaned his head back against the passenger seat. “It did kind of freak me out. I mean, it doesn’t freak me out that I can feel her grow stronger or that I’m protective over her. Why wouldn’t I be protective over a tiny little baby that I can feel in my heart, right? It’s the fact that Coach Carter had to point it out in front of Dom and all the other coaches. It’s embarrassing, and I don’t want Dom, I mean Coach Hardy, to think I’m trying to like, take his job or something.”
“Baze was wrong for doing that in front of everyone. But Dom isn’t upset, buddy. Not at all. If anything, I think he is a little envious that you get to feel the baby growing. I’m the mom, I carry her, for sure, I’ll feel her getting bigger and stronger…. Now it turns out you get to too. I think he might feel a little left out. But Dom is in no way, shape, or form mad at you. We love you, kiddo.” Corey reached over and messed up Riley’s floppy red hair.