Did you see that? Josh practically drooling?
What guy didn’t want his girl to pole dance?
Yeah, I know. I didn’t have a pole in my living room (or anywhere else in my apartment), and I wasn’t Josh’s girl—but that didn’t stop me from having fun.
I pushed myself up to stand. Who knew all those years of dance would be so useful? Although I was sure Mum would have a heart attack if she found out she had spent all that money so I could striptease for my fake fiancé.
Still in erotic dancer mode, I slowly traced my fingertips up my abs and palmed my breasts. Josh licked his lips, and a subtle thrill trembled through me at the power I had over him.
I lifted my arms in the air, moving to the slow jazz song in my head. I turned around, then stuck my arse out and wiggled it for Josh’s entertainment.
He groaned.
I grinned.
But when you were pregnant and horny, there was only so much you could take before you went up in flames. I hooked my fingers under the waistband of the thong and peeled the material down my legs, still giving Josh a view of my backside.
I could practically hear him pant.
I swiveled back to him and sashayed my way over to where he was sitting. He was still on the couch, lounging back, legs spread, his cock harder than when he had sat down. The man wouldn’t be lasting much longer either.
I dropped a knee onto the couch and straddled him, settling my hands on his shoulders. I was so wet, I wouldn’t have been too surprised if I was dripping on him.
Missing the feel of his lips against mine, I planted a teasing kiss on his mouth. But instead of teasing him, I was only torturing myself. Teasing wasn’t enough. I needed him—all of him. I ran the tip of my tongue along the seam of his mouth. He parted his lips and welcomed me in.
While our tongues became reacquainted, his fingers had a mission of their own. His thumb found my happy place…and his slow, circular caresses brought me closer to the edge. One more millimeter—and I’d be hurling myself willingly over it.
The whimper? There might’ve been a small chance that was me.
His thumb brushed against my clit again.
Okay, that whimper was definitely mine.
Unable to wait a moment longer, I positioned myself against the head of his cock—then froze as I remembered something we were missing.
“Guess it’s too late to worry about me getting pregnant. I’m clean if you…if you want to go without a condom.” The condoms I’d bought at the same time as the pregnancy test were in my bedroom—which at this point might as well have been in the next state over and not on the other side of the wall. It certainly felt that way.
“I was recently tested and I’m clean too.…So yeah, I’m all for going bare.”
I practically groaned at his sensual one-sided grin. I was totally done for. “Bare it is.”
I slowly lowered myself onto his length, releasing a soft moan as his width filled me. Once he was fully seated, I arched back, barely keeping myself from diving over the edge at the sensation of him naked inside me.
I groaned as his mouth found my neck and grazed his teeth against my sensitive skin. “That feels amazing.”
He murmured his agreement, his hands moving to my hips. Getting the idea of what he wanted because I craved the same, I moved along his cock, slowly at first, then picking up the pace—faster, harder.
Then a flash fire to rival all others flared from my core, flooding my body.
I cried out Josh’s name, my soft heat clenching hard around him, and dropped my head on his shoulder. Sweat dripped from our bodies, intermingling as one. While there were lots of things I wasn’t too certain about when it came to pregnancy, there was one thing I was one-hundred-and-ten-percent certain of.
Pregnancy sex was hot.
“Wow,” Josh said, once he was finally able to find his voice.
I giggled. “Wow, indeed.”
“I was thinking we should make this a regular thing. The second trimester is when you’ll be incredibly horny—”
“As we’ve just established.”
“Yes, as we’ve just established. I don’t want you to needlessly suffer.”
I smirked. “How gallant of you.”
He smirked back. “Isn’t it? I mean unless you have someone else in mind. Because I’m not interested in sharing you, Holly.”
Did I want to risk the messiness of another friends-with-benefit relationship? Normally I would have said no—after what happened in university. But the rules changed when pregnancy-hormone-induced lust was thrown into the mix.
Besides, I was a big girl. I knew what I was doing. This time I’d do a better job keeping my emotions out of it.
“I’m not interested in sharing you either,” I said. “And no, there’s definitely no one else. Just my fake fiancé.” And thanks to my current situation, the lie my family thought was true was about to get more complicated.
Josh raised an eyebrow. “Your family still thinks you’re engaged?”
“Engaged and childless. I haven’t had a chance yet to tell them that we broke up.”
“But you’re going to?”
Let me give you some advice. Lying was stupid. There, I said it. If you were going to do it, make sure you had a strong shovel because you’d need it for the deep grave you would be digging.
And thanks to my so-called harmless lie, I’d be busy digging all the way to Australia.
Hopefully that was okay to do while I was pregnant.
Guess I could always check with my doctor first.
“Yes,” I said, “I’ll tell them we broke up. But I’m not telling them about the baby yet.” One problem at a time.
“Are you telling them that I’m the father?”
I leveled my gaze at him. Maybe it would be a better idea to climb off him first—since his cock was still inside me.
I shifted off him and began retrieving my clothes. “What do you want me to tell them?”
“I want you to tell them the truth. All of it. The baby. The fake engagement. That I’m the baby’s father.”
I cringed—because telling my mum that I had never been engaged would be worse than if things just hadn’t worked out between Josh and me.
But—what was she going to do? Go back to her original campaign of marrying me off to Drew?
That would go down well, given I was pregnant with another man’s child.
“All right,” I said, holding my clothes in front of me like a shield. “I’ll tell them the truth.”
Soon.
Eventually.
Once I’d pulled on my big-girl maternity panties.
Okay, back to the initial question at hand—did I want him to regularly service my horny hormonal needs while I was pregnant?
Pros
1. Sex with Josh was great.
2. I wouldn’t have to worry about finding someone willing to have sex with me once I began showing.
3. Sex with Josh was great.
4. I wouldn’t have to feel woefully unsatisfied because I had to rely on my fingers.
5. And I wouldn’t have to resort to buying a vibrator. Were vibrators during pregnancy considered safe? Was the topic even covered in What To Expect When You Are Expecting?6. Sex with Josh was great.
Cons
1. Josh didn’t do relationships and he wasn’t interested in complicated.
2. I could become addicted to sex with Josh, and then what would I do once he moved on to someone who wasn’t the mother of his child?
3. Sex with Josh was great. After spending numerous months having great sex with him, how would I be able to go back to less than earth-shattering sex?
“So, is the offer still on the table to fulfill my sexual needs while I’m pregnant?” I’d worry about the consequences later. Right now the baby was more important. Sexual frustration led to stress, and that wasn’t healthy for the baby. Earth-shattering sex was a great stress reliever, and that was a win for Junior.
And Ju
nior’s needs came first.
Josh nodded. “Yes, the offer’s still on the table.”
Awesome. Perfect. Great. “Then I accept your offer.” I turned my back on the know-it-all voice in my head—the one pointing out that I was making a big mistake.
15
Holly
Me to Mum: Josh and I broke up.
While I waited for her reply, I sent the same text to my brothers, then popped a french fry into my mouth. A plate of my favorite restaurant fries sat on the coffee table in front of me.
Chris: Fuck me dead. Never would have guessed. You two seemed so in love. *Snort*
Crap. That wasn’t good.
Chris: Simon now owes me $50.
I was afraid to ask. Why?
Chris: I said you’d wait 5 months before claiming that you and Josh had broken up. Simon said 6.
How did you know the engagement was fake? Never mind the part where I hadn’t been “engaged” anywhere near five months. Neither of them had won the bet.
Chris: Really? You have to ask? You would never do something as impulsive as getting engaged to someone you barely know.
Me to Chris: How do you know I haven’t known Josh for a while?
Chris: You looked ready to shag him not marry him.
God, had I been that obvious?
Mum: That doesn’t surprise me. Hockey players aren’t known to be faithful.
Me to Mum: I never said he cheated on me.
And how on earth did Mum know anything about hockey players? What did she do—Google them?
Right. Of course she did.
Although I was surprised she had found anything to indicate hockey players weren’t faithful. Maybe Buzzfeed had a list for the Top Ten Sports Known to Produce Unfaithful Significant Others.
Mum: Then what happened?
“I want you to tell them the truth. All of it. The baby. The fake engagement. That I’m the baby’s father.”
Like that would happen.
So I went with a different kind of truth. Because my career comes first and there’s always a chance he could be traded. I don’t want to put my career on hold because of it.
How was that for a brilliant excuse? Career trumped all in her books…including love.
What about Junior and the possibility of Josh being traded?
That was something I didn’t want to worry about for now. Worrying solved nothing.
Simon: Tell Chris I don’t owe him $50. You weren’t engaged for even 5 months.
Me to Simon: Neither of you won the bet, mate. You were both wrong.
Chris: You know what this means, right?
Me to Chris: No, what?
Chris: Unless you sound really broken up about the breakup, Mum will try to hook you up with Drew again.
A moment later. Who am I kidding? She’ll jump right back on that plan regardless if your heart is broken or not.
That was what I was afraid of.
Me to Chris: There’s more.
Chris: Like what?
I’m pregnant. Why was I telling my brother but not my mother? Because he would be supportive no matter what.
Simon: You’re really pregnant? I’m not sure if I should laugh or give you a lecture on safe sex. But I guess it’s too late for that.
Me to Chris: You told Simon? You know he can’t keep his mouth shut. I don’t care if you have to duct tape his mouth, you have to keep him from telling Mum and Dad.
Me to Simon: You can’t tell Mum or Dad. If you tell them, I’ll…I’ll. I was never good at revenge or threats. Just be forewarned that whatever I do to you won’t be pleasant at all.
Simon: Don’t worry, your secret is safe.
I hoped he was right—given his track record with my secrets.
Then he added, Why don’t you want them to know?
I’m not ready to deal with their reaction about me throwing away my career. Which I’m not. But that’s not how Mum will see it.
Simon: True enough.
A moment later I received another text from Chris: Don’t suppose your fake ex-fiancé is the father?
When I didn’t respond right away, Fuck. The wanker really is the father?
Mum: I agree. Your career comes first. He wasn’t the right man for you.
Me to Mum: I know. But I still love him and it will take me a long time to get over what happened.
“So don’t even think of trying anything when it comes to me and Drew,” I said to my phone, even though she couldn’t hear me.
Mum didn’t text back. I could only hope that was a good sign.
Simon: You know at some point you will have to tell Mum and Dad. Or were you just planning to show up one day with the little ankle biter in tow?
Now that did sound like a brilliant option.…
16
Josh
It was that time of the year again—the middle of September and the beginning of hockey training camp. What did that mean? New hopes. New teammates.
New head coach.
You heard me correctly. After we lost our series in the playoffs, the general manager and the higher powers decided to shake things up and sign a new coach.
And that wasn’t the only thing to change. We lost a few of our old teammates when they became free agents. And one player retired. He was only thirty-three years old.
“Hey, man,” I said to Mark Milone, one of our forwards. “You look exhausted.”
“I am. Welcome to life with a six-month-old. I swear the kid thinks he’s in college and life is nothing but an all-night party.”
“I’d love to tell you it gets easier,” Jyri Toivonen, our goalie, said. “But I’d be lying. Just be thankful you only have the one.” He had two-year-old twin boys.
Oh, Christ. There wasn’t a chance Holly was pregnant with twins, right? She only mentioned hearing one heartbeat at the doctor’s appointment.
Sean, the third member of the daddies’ club, smiled an evil grin at Mark, which was followed by an equally evil cackle.
“You okay, Josh?” Mark asked. “You look a little pale.”
“He’s right,” Sean said. “You look ready to pass out. If I didn’t know better, I would guess you’d knocked up your girlfriend.” He slapped me on the back. “But we all know the great Josh Hoffer would never settle down with a woman. Why give up his off-ice player status when he doesn’t have to?” He yanked his T-shirt over his head. “Which is a good thing too. If you did that, then who would we live vicariously through?”
“It’s not like Hamilton will ever settle down,” I said, sidestepping the discussion about me. Thank you, Travis, for being the player I was—until my sperm went rogue.
Except even before I’d known Holly was pregnant, the thrill of being a player off the ice had worn thin.
“Holy fuck,” Mark said. “Are you telling us you have a girlfriend?”
I inwardly groaned. Was I really that transparent? “She’s not exactly my girlfriend.” In the seven weeks since finding out Holly was pregnant, we had been enjoying sex—really enjoying sex—and practicing prenatal yoga.
Our future as a family? It was something we both avoided talking about.
Avoidance—our new superpower.
Based on my teammates’ expressions, you would’ve thought I had told them I was dating the Easter Bunny.
“So what is she?” Jyri asked.
She’s my pregnant fuck buddy, who wouldn’t be my fuck buddy if she weren’t pregnant with my kid. But I couldn’t tell them that.
“She’s my friend who happens to be pregnant.”
Well, that was one way to render those three speechless. At the same time.
“And who exactly is the father?” Sean asked, the first to recover. The question was merely a formality. They already knew.
I let out a heavy breath. “Yes, it’s mine.”
“This is better than those fucked up reality shows Becca likes to watch,” Mark said, a little too excitedly if you asked me. “So, are you guys involved, or are you just
there for child support?”
I grabbed my jersey from my locker and pulled it over my head. “I’m not really boyfriend material. But I do plan to be there for my child in every way possible.” I didn’t want to be a reincarnate of my father. That much I did know.
But since your father wasn’t much of a role model, the voice of reason asked, how the fuck do you plan to be a good one?
Sean exchanged looks with Mark and Jyri. “So, what do you think, guys? Should we induct him into the group?”
They both looked me over like I was a racehorse for sale. I rolled my eyes.
“Do you think he’s ready?” Jyri asked, eyeing me with skeptical amusement. For some reason, his Finnish accent was always stronger when he found something particularly funny.
“Ready for what?” I asked.
“To join HDF,” Sean said as if it were obvious.
“HDF?”
“Hockey Dads Forever.”
I threw back my head, laughing. Let me guess—one of their wives came up with the name.
Three hours later, a weary team returned to the locker room. I stripped out of my sweaty uniform and headed for the showers.
“So when’s the baby due?” Sean asked, standing under the shower head next to mine.
“February twenty-third.”
He cringed—as did Mark, who was showering on the other side of him.
“What’s so bad about that date?” I hadn’t seen anything in What To Expect When You’re Expecting to make me believe there was anything horrifying about it (or the month) when it came to pumping out babies.
“You could be out of town for a game,” Mark explained. “That’s what happened to me. Took Becca a month to get over it. Took my mother-in-law three months—and some days I think she still hasn’t gotten over it.”
Both Sean and Jyri cringed.
As it were, Holly still hadn’t told her parents about the baby. Her brothers knew. And let’s just say I wouldn’t be traveling to Australia anytime soon to hang out with them.
Decidedly With Baby Page 10