by Steph Nuss
“I love it,” she said, wrapping her hands around my neck. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, panion,” I wrapped my arms around her waist and drew her closer to the edge of the couch as I devoured her mouth.
“We still have one more gift to open,” she mumbled against my lips. “Trey’s.”
I pulled her down into my lap on the floor, and grabbed his gift from the coffee table. It was rectangular-shaped and kind of heavy. Tessa ripped the newspaper wrapping off, and when she got down to the large package, I opened the slit at the top and grabbed the item inside. From the feel of the large frame in my hand, I guessed it was a Trey Wilder photograph.
Sliding it out of the package, I heard Tessa gasp and looked down to see what he’d captured.
It was a picture of us.
In my hospital bed, lying together.
On the black, elegant frame, Trey had a small silver plaque engraved with the title, Bulletproof Love.
“I can’t believe he took such a beautiful picture of us,” Tessa said, smiling proudly. “During such a difficult time.”
It was really beautiful. The lighting centered around us and our loving embrace, with my arm holding her tightly to my side and her blessing me with one of her easy smiles. The hospital room looked forgotten in the picture, despite us lying in one of the beds. The bandage on my shoulder was hardly noticeable. The only thing I saw when I looked at the photograph was my fiancée.
“There’s a note on the back,” Tessa stated, reaching around to the backside of the frame. She opened the envelope and smiled as she read aloud, “Tessa and Justin, may this photograph always remind you that no matter what happens, your love for one another is bulletproof; together you can withstand anything.”
I brushed a fallen tear from her eye and marveled at the photograph. Out of all his photographs we had hanging in the apartment, this one of us was officially my favorite. “Well, that explains why he wanted us to open it after you opened mine. He knew I was proposing. I actually asked him for permission.”
“You did?” she asked incredulously.
“He thought I was either getting you a cat or sex stuff for Christmas.” I smiled as I gazed back at her, memorizing the joy splashed across her face. “So, I had to clear that up.”
She laughed loudly as she grabbed my face and kissed me hard. “Where are we going to hang his picture?”
“I was thinking the bedroom. For our eyes only.”
“Good idea,” she agreed, straddling her legs over my hips. “But whose room, yours or mine?”
A thought came to mind. “What about ours?”
Her brows furrowed. “We don’t have a room here that’s ours, though we do sleep in my bed more often than yours.”
“We could get a place that’s ours,” I started, trailing my lips up her neck. “You know, one with spare bedrooms for kids and a big patio for fresh air. A master bedroom where we could hang our photograph and a large office with enough space for both our desks. You’ll need a desk for your event planning.”
“Somewhere we can make lots of memories and grow old together.”
“A place we can cherish for the rest of our lives,” I concluded, skimming my hands up and down her sides. “What do you say?”
She angled my head up to her, and right before she kissed me, she said, “Ours sounds perfect.”
Surprised By You
(Love in the City, #3.5)
Walking in to Judge’s, the excitement radiated off all of us. Newlyweds, Carter and Ellyson Jennings, couldn’t keep their hands off each other, while the rest of our gang found bar stools and ordered drinks to celebrate.
We’d just left the hospital after witnessing two of our best friends welcome their beautiful little girl into the world. Maverick Jones and Harper Jennings had started dating at the beginning of the year. The two met while Carter and Elly were planning their wedding; Carter’s older sister designed Elly’s wedding dress, and Elly introduced the two when Harper volunteered as a mentor at the health clinic in Maverick’s gym. Just three months into their relationship, Harper found out she was pregnant, and we couldn’t have been happier for them. Fatherhood looked great on Mav, and Harper had always dreamed of becoming a mom.
Now, we had Carter and Elly following in their footsteps as Carter announced earlier that he couldn’t wait to meet Baby Jones’ cousin.
Our group was expanding, giving us more reason to celebrate, even though we probably would’ve ended up here regardless of tonight’s events. Judge’s Bar was owned by another member of our group, Fletcher Haney. He’d inherited it after his grandfather passed away, and we’d made it our regular hangout for years now. Fletcher also had a number of clubs sprinkled throughout the city, which we also frequented, but for the important moments, we favored the laid-back, homey atmosphere Judge’s provided.
As usual, Cash sat at the end of the bar so that he could help fill drinks whenever the bartender got busy. He rented the apartment above the bar, so he worked here part-time whenever Fletcher ran short on staff. Next to him sat Justin and Paige, who’d been awfully quiet ever since the baby was born. Justin was an introvert and quiet in general. Paige had a fear of babies and pregnancy, so she likely wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of here. Elly and Carter sat between us, and to my right was Bayler Jennings, Carter’s younger sister, and Fletcher.
“I still can’t believe you kept Elly’s pregnancy a secret for four months!” Bayler stated, shaking her head at Carter.
He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “She made me, or else I probably would’ve called the minute the test turned positive.”
His excitement was infectious, and I couldn’t help smiling, too. Carter had made it perfectly clear after Elly’s cancer scare last winter that he wanted to have children with her someday. She’d had one of her ovaries removed after her doctor found a mass, and luckily, the results came back benign. During that time, they’d promised to live life to the fullest, no matter what.
They’d just tied the knot four months ago.
But it was still a surprise that they were able to keep such a huge secret from our group for this long, especially since I worked for Elly as her receptionist at her psych clinic. Thinking back on the last few weeks of work, I recalled her wearing looser clothes, which explained why I never noticed the adorable bump protruding from her belly now.
“I didn’t even know you guys were trying!” I said, smiling at Elly.
“Well,” she laughed, blushing slightly, “leaving my birth control pills at home was my wedding gift to Carter for the honeymoon.”
“We really didn’t expect it to happen to fast,” he added, linking his fingers through Elly’s.
“You still could’ve told us!” Bayler said, biting the straw to her cocktail.
Elly and Carter exchanged a solemn look, and then she said, “I just wanted to make sure the baby stayed healthy before telling everyone. Now, that I’m further along, I feel better about sharing the news.”
“So, when are you due?” Bayler asked.
“February 23rd.”
“Are you guys going to find out the sex?” I asked, eagerly. A fun idea for a gender reveal party here at the bar was already brewing inside my head.
“Ugh!” Bayler groaned, rolling her eyes. “I swear to God, if you guys pull a Harper and Mav, and don’t tell us the baby’s name once you decide, I’m just going to call it whatever I want!”
“Babe,” Fletcher laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist. “We all know that won’t happen.”
“Speaking of secrets …” I alluded, eyeing Bayler. “You and Fletcher spent most of this past summer keeping your sexcapades a secret from all of us!”
With that, she buried her head in Fletcher’s shoulder and laughed. After their cover was blown, Bayler’s commitment issues tore them apart, but tonight, they’d showed up at the hospital hand-in-hand, happier than I’d ever seen them.
“You Jennings are just great secret keep
ers!” I stated, causing Elly to nearly spit out her water in hysterics.
“Are you kidding me?!” Elly exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and then pointed at Carter. “Do you know how many times I had to use sex to shut him up so he wouldn’t run out and tell the world we’d made a baby?”
Laughing, I looked over at Carter, whose smile had turned into a sly smirk with his wife’s confession. “It wasn’t that bad of a deal.”
“Not for you, but when I was bloated and dealing with morning sickness, it was,” she continued, shaking her head.
Bayler held her hand up in object. “Okay, spare us the barfy details, please!”
I swiveled slightly on my stool and nudged Elly’s arm. “So, you never answered my question about the sex?”
“It was amazing!” Carter interjected in a playful manner. “A secluded beach, my beautiful, new wife completely naked under the sta—”
“My ears!” Bayler shrieked, slapping her hands over her ears and glaring at her brother. “She didn’t mean that kind of sex, you idiot!”
“It was amazing,” Elly said, smiling blissfully at Carter, “but let’s keep that to ourselves.”
“Whatever!” I scoffed, waving for Carter to continue. “Some of us have to live vicariously.”
“That’s my brother,” Bayler said with a cringe.
“So, you can tell us about your latest romp with Fletcher after he’s done.”
Carter groaned, wrinkling his nose. “No, thank you.”
I loved teasing them.
“Okay, fine!” I laughed. “But just tell me, do I get to throw a gender reveal party or not?”
“Ooh.” Elly perked up in her seat and the smile on her face widened. “A gender reveal party? That sounds like more fun than a baby shower.”
“Yeah, I thought we could have it right here at Judge’s. We could invite all your friends and family, and make an evening out of it. I already have the perfect idea for revealing the gender to everyone.”
“That sounds perfect!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome!” I replied, breaking away from her. “Congratulations, again! You’re going to be a great mom.”
Picking up my margarita, I lifted it up in the air for a toast and smiled at each one of my friends. “To having babies!”
“To having babies!” they cheered.
***
When last call finally came, the eight of us finished our drinks and prepared to leave. Walking outside, I twisted the belt of my coat around my waist and pulled it tight. It was a little after two o’clock in the morning, and we had just shut down Fletcher’s bar. The October air was chilly, and the wind sliced through us like a knife, making our breaths more conspicuous in the night.
Feeling tipsy and numb from the cold, I stared off into space, while Elly and Carter hailed a cab with Paige, and Fletcher and Bayler piled into his car to head back to his place. I rubbed my hands together for warmth, regretting the fact that I’d left my gloves at home.
“Tessa?” I heard, turning my head toward the sound of my name.
To my right stood my biggest crush, Justin Jameson, and he was smiling at me. He didn’t know how I felt about him, of course, because he was the most unobservant man on the planet. No matter how sexy I looked in my pink fit and flare dress that fashioned curves I didn’t have, dressing to impress him was completely useless. I could’ve been standing here naked on the sidewalk, and he probably would’ve looked away and handed me a coat to cover up.
He was a gentleman like that, and that was just one of his many traits I admired.
“Yeah?” I asked, mirroring his smile.
“Would you like to share a cab?” he asked chivalrously, gesturing to the back door of the cab idling at the curb.
Could I really trust myself to sit in a cab with him for thirty minutes and not make a stupid move?
Probably not.
“Thanks,” I said, politely waving him off. “But I think I’ll just take the train home.”
His brows furrowed, and the dimples disappeared from his face. “The train? You can’t take the train at this hour; it’s not safe.”
Even though growing up in Grand Concourse taught me how to survive a late night train ride, he was probably right. Thankfully, I didn’t live in such a neighborhood anymore.
“It’s not that late,” I insisted, rolling my eyes at him.
Scoffing at my response, he opened the back door of the cab, and then took my hand in his and pulled me toward him. “Get in the cab.”
“Okay, okay,” I teased drunkenly, plopping down into the backseat and sliding across the leather bench. “I’m in.”
“Much better.” He climbed in beside me, and proceeded to rattle off my address for the driver as he steered the car back into traffic.
“We can go to your place first,” I offered in a serious tone. “I know it’s closer.”
“I don’t care whose place is closest,” he said, shooting me his undeniably gorgeous smirk that made my insides tingle. “The lady comes first.”
If all men thought that way, the world would be a happier place.
“All right.” Relaxing back against the seat, I continued admiring him from the passenger side. Years ago, when I first became friends with Elly and everyone, I remembered meeting Justin and thinking he was the most gorgeous creature put on this planet. Now, after hanging around him numerous times at the beach, I knew underneath the leather jacket, sweater and jeans he currently wore, he looked like a man who just ran in from the ocean, carrying his surfboard under his arm, the lean muscles of his abs and the brawn of his arms and legs flexing with each step. He looked like summertime with his naturally tanned skin and his sandy hair kept long all year round, giving him the option to rock the man bun whenever he desired. Tonight, he had it down, parted neatly in the middle, allowing the strands to frame his chiseled face and further daring my idle hands to take a swim through it. His warm, hazel-blue eyes looked like a body of water some days, and glowed like a golden halo set ablaze by blue flames, but right now, the heat from them boring into mine ignited a carnal need from within that had me pressing my thighs together for relief.
“What?” he asked playfully.
“You’re pretty.”
Did I just say that out loud? How drunk am I?
He laughed. “Thanks?”
I joined him in laughter, trying my best to cover up my flushed, embarrassed cheeks.
Dear driver, please go faster so I don’t use my drunkenness as an excuse to make a move on a friend. Amen.
Amen? I thought, giggling aloud.
Never attended church in my entire life, and here I was trying to pray.
To the cab driver.
“What’s so funny?” Justin pried.
“Nothing.” Resting my head against the window, I turned my attention to the buildings passing by us outside. At this time of night, it was a little easier to get around the city, but not much. Traffic still piled up downtown in the city that never slept, making it difficult to get to where we needed to go. Although, it would’ve taken longer on the train with all of its stops, which only reminded me of why I was in the cab and with whom.
With my hands sitting in my lap, I tried to mentally simmer the raw, sexual desire racing through my body, but it’d been so long since I last had sex, my hymen probably grew back together.
Is that even possible?
No, it can’t be.
“Tessa,” Justin said, interrupting my thoughts. “We’re here.”
“Really?” I asked incredulously, looking over his shoulder, as if he were lying.
Sure enough. Home sweet home.
Grabbing my purse, I started to dig around for money to pay the driver, but when Justin’s hand covered mine, I stopped. I couldn’t move with him touching me, even if it was just the simplest gesture of his hand over mine. I wanted more. I wanted to thread my fingers throug
h his and lead him up to my room.
“It’s on me,” he offered, smiling. He handed the driver a few bills, leaving him a generous tip given the late hour, and then crawled out of the cab with me. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs.”
“Wait,” I said, halting my steps. “You’re coming up?”
He looked at me like I was crazy for questioning him, and maybe I was, but if he came upstairs, there was a very good chance I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from doing something … like kissing him.
“Of course,” he said, placing his hand on my lower back. “I want to make sure you get inside safe.”
“O-okay,” I stuttered, leading us up the steps, keys in hand.
Jiggling the first key into the metal slot, I turned it and unlocked the door to my building. Habitually, I reached for the second key on my ring and headed toward the elevator.
“I’m on the fifth floor,” I stated, pressing the silver button on the wall.
Justin nodded wordlessly and dropped his hand from my back, putting some distance between us.
My building had the slowest elevator, but it was better than taking the stairs in four-inch heels. When we finally reached my floor, I stepped out in a hurry to get away from the awkward silence that had settled between us. I was the one making this awkward with my pent-up feelings. Justin looked cool as ice, sauntering along behind me without a care in the world. He had no idea how much I loved his relaxed swagger and the scent of his spicy, crisp cologne lingering around me. I could ignore my feelings for him when we were around the rest of our friends, but when I was alone with him, my body and mind became hypersensitive to him.
“This is it.” I nodded to my door with a weak smile lining my lips. “I made it here safe.”
With my back to him, I unlocked the apartment, stepped inside, and flipped on the lights. I tossed my keys back inside my purse, and then my nervous hands went to my coat and attempted to untie the sash, until I heard him clear his throat behind me.
I looked over my shoulder and found him leaning against the door jam, his hands stuffed inside the front pockets of his jeans. In the light of my apartment, his bloodshot eyes and the alcohol-induced glaze swimming in them made his intoxication more obvious. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d see Justin this drunk. He was usually more reserved when we all went out, the one who always kept himself in control and took care of those of us who didn’t. But tonight, he was standing in my doorway, and all I could think about was walking up to him and kissing him.