by Amelia Wilde
“I don’t?”
“You told me on Thanksgiving you wish you’d dropped out of law school, but I don’t think that’s true. I think you wish you’d done something different afterward.”
“Oh, God,” I tell him. “I have a really good job.”
“A job that exhausts you. It takes everything from you, and it leaves nothing left over. You really want that?”
“No!” I cry. “But I can’t go back on my plan. I can’t waste all my hard work.”
“You don’t have to.” Finn’s eyes are shining. “Come back here. Start a firm. If you need to take classes, specialize in something else, you can do that.”
“But the money—”
“You don’t need as much money to live here. And you don’t have to worry about money, anyway.”
“Of course I do. I have loans to pay off.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes, but you’re—”
“I have money, Em.”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“I’m not giving you my money, but when we live together, it’ll be part of the household, so you won’t have to worry.”
Finn’s face is sincere, delighted. “What secret have you been keeping, Finn?”
“Not to brag,” he says, “but I’m pretty good at investments, too. And since I’ve been pining after you for a decade, I saved a lot.” He waves a hand in the air. “That’s all stuff we can figure out later. For now, I have a gift for you.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Come see.” He leads me down the hall, past his bedroom to where there’s another room. “Prepare yourself,” he says, and pushes the door open.
The entire room is glowing with Christmas lights, a soft golden light that bathes the whole thing in hope. Against the opposite wall is a crib, its dark wood reflecting the light, gleaming.
“Finn…” I step into the room and put my hands on the smooth edge of the crib. It’s complete with a mattress, a soft sheet stretched over the top, and a blanket hanging on the edge.
“The blanket was mine, from when I was a baby.”
“How did you get that?” I’m filled with awe. “Did you have it with you all this time?”
“I got it from my dad.”
“What? You saw him?”
“I went there yesterday.”
“Did you…did you tell him the news?”
Finn smiles. “He’s thrilled. Oh, and he’s also in recovery now. Totally different guy. Second chances, all that. Turns out he didn’t mean to ruin that football game.”
“Oh, great.” A laugh escapes me then. “Could have saved us ten years.”
“Speaking of,” Finn says, stepping close, bending down for a kiss. “I’d like to make up for lost time.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Finn
Emily goes wild.
When I kiss her, she responds with such ferocity that her clothes hit the floor in my spare bedroom, right in front of the crib.
“Oh, this is bad,” I murmur into her ear. “Not here. I’ll take you on my own bed.”
She leaps up and wraps her legs around my waist, lips covering mine. “Take me like I belong to you.” She looks me in the eyes as I walk us to the bedroom.
“You’re mine,” I say into her ear, and she trembles at the words.
I lay her out on the comforter and get rid of my own clothes, then stretch out next to her.
I’m going to fucking treasure this.
I start at her face, tracing the line of her jaw, pressing the pad of my thumb against her lips, and then go lower. Her nipples are already hard when I get to them. I take this as a challenge, swirling my tongue around one, then the next. Emily gasps. “That’s intense,” she whispers.
I move my hand down over her still-flat stomach, and down lower. “You think that was intense?”
I find her clit with my fingertips.
“Just wait.”
I linger there for a moment before I dip my hand all the way between her legs, where she’s already wet and ready. I press two fingers inside of her and stroke her with my thumb, watching the pink in her cheeks deepen and spread. “More,” she says, eyes fluttering closed.
“If you want more, you’re going to have to be a very good girl.”
Her eyes fly open and she bites her lip. “I’ll be good.”
“Put your arms above your head.”
She does.
“Keep them there.”
I slide off the bed and go to my knees on the floor, tugging her along until her spread legs are at the edge of the bed, opening her wider. On the first lick, Emily gasps. On the second, she moans. I have her on the edge of an orgasm in five heartbeats, her hips rocking up and down.
“Wait,” I tell her. “Wait.”
“No, Finn, please.”
I stroke my tongue over all of her folds and zero in on her clit. She’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted, more juices flowing every second, and I could do this for the rest of my life.
“Please,” she pants, her hands still above her head. “Please…”
“Please what?” I raise my head only long enough to say the words, and then I’m back to worshipping her.
“Please let me come. Please make me come. Please…”
I give the lady what she wants.
It’s a glorious, beautiful, trembling orgasm.
Then I can’t wait any longer.
I join her on the bed, harder than steel, and Emily opens her eyes. Her gaze travels down the length of my body to my cock.
“Oh, my,” she says, and then she’s ferocious again, pushing me onto my back, straddling me, teasing me with that gorgeous pussy. Em bends down to kiss me, hard, and I run my hands over her ass.
“Be good,” I warn.
“I am good,” she says, then centers herself over me and takes me in with a little gasp that nearly pushes me over the edge.
I watch her as she rides me, swirling her hips, lifting herself up and down, up and down, breasts bouncing so tantalizingly that I can’t help but take them in my hands. I tease at her nipples and her pussy responds, tightening around my cock. “Mmm.” I do it again and she arches back. “So sensitive.”
“Yes,” she hisses, then grinds down on me with such force that I can’t take it anymore.
I have us both out of the bed in an instant, backing her up against the wall, still inside of her. She’s mine. She’s mine.
I hold her in my hands, bracing her, and fuck her like there’s no tomorrow.
Em presses her mouth against my shoulder, biting down, and comes again. It’s so hot, I’m worried the walls might combust and burn the entire house down. Her tightness around me, the wet, the warmth, brings me to my own climax. It’s hard and free and not the least bit reckless. She’s already pregnant.
She’s pregnant with my baby.
When we both come down from the high, and Emily’s feet are firmly back on earth, she looks up at me, eyes shining. “Shower?”
“Sounds perfect.”
We linger under the hot water, soaping each other up, talking. “What do you think we should do, Finn?” She asks me the question while she’s rinsing shampoo from her hair.
“I was serious about coming back here. Everybody loves you. You’d have a million clients.”
“You don’t think it would be giving up?”
“Giving up on what?” I bend down and kiss her again just to taste her. “You followed your plan. You became a lawyer. You got a job at an insane firm. You’re not giving up on anything if you decide to pursue your own career.”
“I still want my own career,” she says, worry flickering in her eyes.
“I still want mine. But if you’re set on the firm, I’ll start over in the city.”
Emily bites her lip. “What about…three years?”
“Three years?”
“What if we go with your plan for three years, and then reevaluate? Lakewood doesn’t have a good sushi place, and I’m really g
oing to miss that.”
I laugh out loud. “I’ll drive you to the city whenever you want some.”
She frowns. “Not for another nine months.”
Excitement rushes through me again. “I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”
“You could start now.”
I stare at her. “You are ravenous.”
“I’ve missed this. I need it. I need you.”
While we stand in the shower, I take her in my arm and use my other hand to stroke her folds and tease at her clit until she comes again.
“More?”
She nods, blushing.
“We have all the time in the world.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Emily
Finn is only half right.
We don’t have all the time in the world, because it’s Christmas Day and we have families who want to see us.
On the way to my parents’ house, he tells me how bad things got with his dad after high school. Relief is written all over his face when he describes yesterday’s lunch.
“He’s like a different guy, Em.” He glances over at me. “I hope you’ll give him a chance.”
“If you can give him a chance, I’ll give him a chance. But there’s something else we need to talk about.”
“Oh, God. Is it twins?”
“No,” I say with a laugh. “You already told him I’m expecting, right?”
“Yeah.”
“We should probably tell my parents.”
Finn takes a deep breath in and lets it out. “I guess that’d be fair.”
“Are you nervous?”
“Yeah,” he says, then laughs out loud. “You could say that I’m nervous.”
“Me, too. Let’s not drag it out too long.”
“I’ll leave you in charge of that.”
My mom greets us at the door, dressed in her traditional Christmas outfit of jeans and a red turtleneck, and she acts for all the world as if I’m showing up at the house for the first time and didn’t sneak out at the crack of dawn to visit my boyfriend. “Em! Finn!” She pulls us both in for a hug. “Are you ready for a Christmas surprise?”
My mouth drops open. Oh, God. Does she already know? Finn managed to pull off a crib last night. Is there going to be a bunch more baby stuff arrayed by the tree? “What Christmas surprise?”
“Surprise!” Relief cascades over my shoulders at the sound of my brother’s voice. He appears behind my mother with a jaunty wave. “Get into the house, you’re letting all the heat out.”
Once we’re inside, he goes in for a hug. “I thought you were in Indonesia.”
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” he says with a sly smile. Then he bends to whisper in my ear. “Mom begged. I couldn’t say no.”
I laugh out loud. “Eric, this is Finn.”
“No introduction needed,” Eric says, reaching to shake Finn’s hand. “I remember you. I’ll never forget that block against Central. Took the team to state that year. Did you play after high school?”
“I didn’t,” Finn says, and Eric ushers him easily into the living room. I’m two steps behind, with Mom.
Is it really going to be this easy?
“Are you two…?” My mom asks the question low in my ear, flicking her eyes toward Finn, as if there’s anyone else in the room who could possibly be my boyfriend in this moment.
I can’t contain my smile. “Yeah. We are. Is it okay that he’s here for Christmas?”
Mom throws an arm around my shoulders. “Took you long enough.”
“What?”
“You always had a thing for him back in school. You were never this excited about anybody in college. I can see it in your face.” She pulls me close. “Congratulations, honey.”
“I thought you guys hated him.” I pull her to a stop just inside the living room.
“We didn’t hate him,” my mother says with a sigh. “He was rough around the edges. We were worried. And Wyatt Senior was a piece of work. You can understand that, right?”
Oh, God, I can. Because my mind is racing toward the future, toward when my little baby will be all grown up, and I’ll wonder if the rough-and-tumble kid from the neighborhood is puppy love or a perfect match. “I can. But Mom.” I clutch at her arm. “Look at him now.”
“If I was twenty-five years younger…”
“Oh, my God, gross.”
The pressure is back, building in my chest, as my dad starts to sort out the opening of gifts. The rest of the family will be here soon, and I’m not making this announcement in front of everyone, so it has to happen soon. At the first opportunity, I sidle up to Finn and put my hand in his. He squeezes back.
“Food first, or gifts?” my dad says. “The sausages are ready, and the waffles can be hot in five minutes—”
“Actually,” I say, and everyone turns to look at me. Finn tenses, but he’s right here. He’s not going anywhere.
“Earth to Emily,” Eric says. “Was there more to that sentence or are you tongue-tied by the magic of Christmas?”
“That’s the thing.” I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I must be as red as one of the ornaments on three. “There’s sort of another…Christmas surprise.”
“We can all see Finn standing right there,” Eric teases. “That’s not much of a surprise.”
“That’s not—he’s not the surprise. There’s something else that I wanted to tell you, and I’m going to need you to be—”
“Tell them, Em,” Finn says, a note of impatience in his voice, and everybody laughs.
I look at my family. “I’m pregnant.”
There’s a ringing silence. They’re all frozen, looking at me, for what seems like an eternity.
“Holy shit, Em,” Eric says finally, eyes wide, a shocked grin on his face. “Congratulations. Unless you’re doing this as a joke, in which case, best joke ever.”
“It’s not a joke,” Finn says, from where he’s sitting next to my side.
“So it’s yours, then?” Eric says, and it’s so to-the-point that it makes me laugh so hard I snort.
“Yeah,” Finn says, a grin stretching across his face. “It’s mine.”
“Oh, my God!” Mom shrieks the words, descending at last to pull us into another vice-grip hug. “How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me? How could you keep this a secret? When are you due?”
“Let her breathe,” my dad says, stepping in to shake Finn’s hand and give me a hug. “We can talk over breakfast. Who wants waffles?”
No surprises—everyone’s hungry. I’m starving. And now that the weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
It’s a Christmas miracle.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Finn
“You sure you want to do this?”
“Totally sure.” Emily’s tone is serious, but then she ruins the effect with a big yawn.
“We can always go back tomorrow.”
“It’s Christmas, Finn. Let’s go see your dad.”
“There’s one thing I want to show you first.”
I drive her through Lakewood, which is, naturally, decked out in the cutsiest Christmas decor imaginable. Every other house has a full-on lights display, and most of them have some sort of scene in the front yard, ranging from the Nativity to Santa’s sleigh, complete with reindeer.
When we turn onto the road that leads to the woods north of town, Emily smiles. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” I tell her. “Be patient.”
The place we’re going to isn’t actually that far out of town. When we were seniors, it seemed isolated, but since then Lakewood has grown up and out. It might be a wooded area, but it’s not nearly as remote as we used to think it was.
“What a familiar drive,” Emily says, watching the trees go by out the window. Then she turns back to me with a grin. “But I’m not doing anything dirty with you in the cab of this truck. We’re too old for that now.”
“Don’t worry. T
hat’s not what I had in mind.”
I drive her out to the cabin, and as we pull in the two-track driveway, she reaches for my hand. “This is super romantic, Finn, but we are totally trespassing. I can’t get caught trespassing out here. This is—”
“We’re not trespassing.” I throw the truck into park. “Wait here a second.”
I climb out into the late afternoon sunshine, reaching back to grab a key ring out of one of the cup holders. Emily’s watching me with suspicion on her face.
At the chain-link fence, I find the padlock that holds it together, unlock it, and push it all the way open.
Back in the truck, Emily has questions. “Why do you have a key to this place? Did they hire you for a job?”
“I have a Christmas surprise.”
She looks from me to the cabin and back again. “Finn?”
We pull up in front of the cabin and I leave the truck running. I’m not planning to be here long, but I had to show her. “The exterior is all redone,” I say, and she swivels to look at it with me. “New windows, new shutters. The inside, I gutted to the bones. A lot of old, rotted wood in there. But then I put in new flooring—hardwood—and ripped out the whole kitchen, too. New appliances. It’s not just for the summer anymore. I even sprung for heated floors.”
“Wow. How much did they pay you for all that?”
“Nobody paid me for that.” She turns to me, questioning. “It’s my place now.”
“What?”
I laugh out loud at her obvious delight. “After my apprenticeship, I started taking on every job that I could. If you don’t have anything to spend money on it accumulates, you know? When this place came up for sale, I bought it outright. Too many good memories out there to pass it up.”
“Oh, my God, I can’t believe you.”
“I’ve spent all my spare time renovating it. I finished in the spring.”
Emily’s eyes are shining with tears. “Why’d you buy the cabin if we weren’t together?”