She surprised me when she giggled and lifted the arm I’d slung over my eyes, bringing her face close to hover above mine. “First, there’s plenty of other stuff we could do, so stop acting like your life is over.”
“It feels like it is,” I lamented before releasing a deep breath and peering up at her curiously. “If that was first, what’s second?”
“If we’re doing this for real, committing to an exclusive, serious relationship with the aim of staying together forever, then I guess it’s time we talk about sex like the grown-ups we’re supposed to be for a second.”
“I’d rather be having it than talking about it, but sure.”
Her fingertips skated across my thighs, then hooked into the waistband of my shorts. My shirt had gone flying somewhere along the line, but we hadn’t gotten to this step yet, which was good since I wasn’t sure if I’d have been able to stop if I’d been naked.
Brittany let her hand rest where it was, taking pity or showing mercy or something by not touching me right away. “Are you clean?”
“Yeah. Sure. Why? I got tested at my last physical before I left the Air Force as part of the formalities.”
“I’m clean too,” she said quietly, biting her lips before she added, “I got tested at the staff wellness day just before break.”
“Wait a second.” My eyes stretched open as far as they could go, my cock going back to throbbing twice as hard as before. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
“Yep. If you want to.” Her gaze met mine, shining with love, trust, and honesty. “It’s still a risk, but shark week was last week for me, so timing-wise on that front, we should be okay too.”
“If I want to?” I almost didn’t let her finish her sentence before I rolled on top of her again, our hands working together to remove my shorts and underwear as fast as we could. “Of course I fucking want to. I’ve wanted to for most of my life, and if you get pregnant right here, right now, the day we find out will be one of the best days of my life. The day we met, the day we get married, and the day we get to hold each of our babies will probably hold the top spots, but still. Finding out will definitely rank up there somewhere.”
“You’re that serious?”
“I’m that serious.” I kissed her again, holding her hands on the pillow beside her head when I finally sank into her with nothing between us. It felt better than I ever could’ve imagined, and I had to grit my teeth not to lose it right there. “I love you, baby. Always have. Always will.”
“I love you too, Tristin,” she whispered against my lips, biting back a moan as I seated myself fully inside her. “Even after all this time, I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, and I never will.”
Her words got to me as much as her body, and when I finally started moving, I didn’t stop until we’d both seen the stars. Fuck, I was pretty sure I even touched one.
Holding her tight as I waited for the feeling to return to my limbs and my heart to settle back into its normal rhythm, I gazed down at her and kissed the top of her sweet-smelling hair. “Everything feels too perfect. You’re sure you’re on board, right? You’re not about to kick me out again?”
“Depends.” A lazy smile spread on her face, her fingertips dancing over the bare skin on my chest as she angled her head up to look into my eyes. “Are you sure I’m going to fit into your world? I’m never going to wear heels that high or clothes that formal. Nor am I ever going to have drivers take me around or look down my nose at anyone.”
“I’ve said this to you a few times now, but I’ll say it again.” My gaze bored into hers, my tone as serious as it had ever been. “You are my world. I want to build a life with you, a casual, driverless one if that’s what you want. I don’t care about my mother and her crowd. All that matters to me is you and Lou, and all the other babies we’re going to have together.”
Her smile grew wider as she hugged me with the arm draped over my chest. “You better be as good as your word because I won’t have any trouble taking your money and running.”
With the serious moment between us effectively broken by her words, I laughed and relaxed into her grip. “The money will be worth nothing to me if I don’t have you. You’re the only one I’ve ever really wanted to spend it on, anyway. Speaking of which, I did a thing this morning.”
“What did you do?” she asked, suspiciously but without tensing.
I took a deep breath. “In the interest of full disclosure, I should start by saying that I only signed the papers this morning. We have time before any of us could move in anyway, but even when the transaction goes through, there’s still no rush.”
She lifted her head from my chest, propping herself up on her elbow as her hair fell in a curtain around her face. “Move in?”
“I couldn’t very well make the ultimatums I did and then stay in my parents’ house, so I moved out. I’m living in a hotel at the moment, and while room service is a definite bonus, I don’t want to live there forever. So I contacted a realtor, and then I, uh, I kind of bought us a house.”
Disbelieving laughter came out of her, but when she realized I wasn’t kidding, she groaned and buried her head in my chest. “You bought us a house?”
“Yes, but if you’d rather live here for now, then I won’t put any pressure on you whatsoever. In fact, if you’d rather live here forever, then I’ll just move in with you when you’re ready.”
She let out a soft sigh, rolling over until she was on her back and then glancing around her old room. A few silent minutes later, she turned her head to face me again with a smile on her lips.
“If we’re really doing this, building a life together for ourselves, then we should start fresh,” she said. “I’m not agreeing to moving in with you today, but when the time comes, I’ll rent this place out.”
Overwhelmed by pure love and total gratitude for everything she was and ever would be, I pinned her down and kissed her again, convinced that I was feeling ecstatic for the first time in my life.
Epilogue
BRITTANY
Three months later
Tristin, Lou, and I were back at the beach. We’d spent the last few months becoming a family, and after learning how much Lou loved the coast, we made a point of coming as often as possible.
The house Tristin had rented for us that one weekend had been wonderful, but we’d found a slightly larger but still cozy four bedroom that had become a second home to us. It was also right on the sand, decorated in a similar fashion, and wasn’t too far away from the Ramsey mansion.
I wasn’t sure I was supposed to know this, but I’d found the papers in our bedroom back in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago. Tristin had made an offer on this property, and I was pretty sure we were out here this weekend because he wanted to tell us it had been accepted.
I wanted to roll my eyes at the fact that he’d purchased a second property mere months after the first, but I couldn’t. Not knowing how much Lou loved this place. Tristin did too, and even his parents had come to accept that we were happy here.
Selena had needled us the first few times after they’d been invited over to consider renting a bigger, more modern place next time, but even she had backed off eventually. She and I were far from being best friends, and I didn’t know if we ever would be, but we were okay for now.
Luke had made a concerted effort to spend more time with his son, to get to know me, and even to build a relationship with Lou. It was weird seeing him as the doting grandfather, but it was a role he’d stepped into with as much passion and dedication as being the head of American Aviation.
A week after we’d made up, Tristin had moved into the house in Raleigh. He’d fast-tracked occupation of the place, citing that he was tired of living in a hotel. One more week after that, he’d convinced Lou and me to give moving in a trial run. Well, I’d taken significantly more convincing than Lou, but eventually, I’d agreed to a week.
Needless to say, a week turned into a month which turned into two month
s. We were at two and a half now, and with no signs of trouble, I’d put my place up for rent and had found a tenant within a day.
Our relationships with each other were rock solid, and witnessing the transformation in Lou had been nothing short of miraculous. When Luke had first shown up at our place just days after Lou and I had moved in, I’d been more than skeptical.
Every time I’d found myself alone in a room with him, I’d braced for the worst. For cutting words and threats to fall from his lips as easily as they had his wife’s. Eventually, when there’d been nothing but praise, love, and support from his end, I’d accepted that he really did want to be part of our lives.
Lou was enamored with the old man and the idea of having a grandfather, and Luke, it had quickly become apparent, felt exactly the same way. It was the craziest thing, but the two of them were kindred souls. They’d taken to each other as fast as Tristin and Lou had, and within weeks, they’d been acting as if they’d known each other all their lives and were related by blood.
I’d watched their relationship blossom from a distance, but I’d also been waiting for the other shoe to drop. There hadn’t seemed to be any way that Lou and I could be so easily accepted by the patriarch of the Ramsey family when the matriarch hated me and would hate Lou for the same reasons.
When Luke had shown up with Selena in tow one day, I’d thought the time had come. As I sat back watching Tristin, Lou, and Luke playing around the shallows now and Selena quietly reading a steamy romance novel on the beach beside me, it was difficult to imagine the dread I’d felt over what was about to happen to our little family when the Ramseys had arrived that day.
Surprisingly, Selena had been on her best behavior. She’d even apologized for everything she’d done, and then she’d spent the afternoon putting in a genuine effort to get to know both me and Lou. She was by no means a warm, cuddly grandmother, but she wasn’t cold or cruel either. She was just… Selena.
A woman who, as I got to know her, had turned out to have a sharp, wicked sense of humor and who was an ace at board games. Which it just so happened she enjoyed playing. We’d also discovered a shared love of those steamy romance novels like the one she was reading now. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to discussing some of those plots with her.
She seemed to enjoy finally having someone to talk to about them, though, so I supposed I’d have to get over the awkwardness of it all and just enjoy the little bonding time I got with her. Just like Lou enjoyed it when they played board games or when she took him on shopping sprees that were the one thing she refused to back down on.
I didn’t necessarily like her spoiling him, but I couldn’t argue with her reasoning. He’s a Ramsey now, even if not in name yet. My grandchildren will have everything my child had.
One of these days, we were going to have to sit her down and set some boundaries, but for now, if I was being honest, I freaking loved seeing the look on Lou’s face when he got things he never could’ve imagined having. We’d rein her in eventually, but since I also wanted to give him everything that life had to offer, I was just letting her and going with it.
Being a mother had become the thing I treasured most in this world, which was a good thing since I’d recently discovered I was pregnant. I hadn’t told Tristin yet, but I was waiting for the right moment to do just that.
I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when I told him. After our conversation that day we’d gotten back together, I’d gone to the doctor to get birth control pills. Tristin grumbled about it, saying we didn’t have to wait before we started trying for another child, but he’d driven me to my appointment and supported my decision nonetheless.
It seemed, however, that between starting the pill, catching a bug and having to take antibiotics for it, moving, going through the process of formally becoming the permanent foster mother, applying to adopt said child, and the stress about everything happening in my life, the pills and I hadn’t quite worked together. I was pretty sure user error was to blame, but I honestly couldn’t say for sure what had happened.
All I knew was that I was over the moon, and I was one hundred percent convinced Tristin was going to be too. As if he’d heard my thoughts, he suddenly looked right at me as he walked out of the ocean.
Droplets of water rolled down the chiseled dips and ridges of his body, practically making me drool as I tracked him heading over to me—until he broke the spell by shaking all that water off right over my warm, sunbaked body.
He laughed when I shrieked, then lowered himself down so what was left on his cool skin dripped onto me. “Dinner tonight? I’ve got a special surprise for you guys.”
“Sure.” I sighed contentedly and bent my head back to let him nuzzle my neck like he was trying to do. I didn’t even really care that the water and his skin felt freezing compared to me. “I have a surprise for you too.”
Selena looked up from her book, an amused expression taking over her face as she watched us together. “I’m assuming these are private surprises not to be shared with parents? Speaking of which, there are certain situations a mother never wants to see her son in. This would be one of those. I’m going in the water with my grandson. Maybe I’ll be able to distract him from being scarred for life if he sees this too.”
Tristin chuckled against my neck, calling out after her once she was already standing up. “Private surprise for tonight. Your turn for the surprise is tomorrow.”
“That might’ve been a bit much,” I commented, even as I wound my arms around him and dipped my head to press my mouth to his. “She might be okay with us, but I don’t think she’s ever going to be that okay with us that she wants to see you climbing on top of me.”
“Again, I don’t really care.” He pressed soft kisses to the column of my throat before pulling back. “But she might have a point about Lou seeing this, and if we keep it up, I’m going to drag you to our bedroom, and it won’t be much of a secret what we’re doing in there.”
“Later,” I promised, then laid my head back down on my towel as he pushed himself up to his feet. “What’s this surprise you have for us?”
“You’ll see.” There was an extra bounce in his step when he headed back up to our house, but it had been there all day.
The doorbell had gone early this morning, shortly after his phone had chimed with an email alert, and he’d been super upbeat since. Hence why I thought he’d received word about this house.
Hours later, we found out he’d rented a party room at a Chuck E. Cheese–type restaurant in town. Lou squealed and ran off, having a blast playing the games. Tristin and I talked, but he insisted on waiting until Lou was finally back at the table before he pulled out the envelope I’d spied arriving earlier.
A thick stack of paperwork came out of it, and when I peeked over to see what it was, a squeal of my own escaped from me and my hands flew to my mouth. Tristin beamed at me before turning to Lou.
“These are your official adoption papers,” he explained. “We’re your legal parents now, bud.”
Lou just sat there, stunned for a moment, before he jumped up and tried to get to us so fast that he knocked his milkshake over. “I get to stay with you forever?”
“Yeah, Lou. You do.” Tristin caught him when he launched himself at us, bringing me into the group hug more gently. In the back of my mind, I knew we had to clean up the milkshake, but it could wait for now.
Tears were streaming down my face, relief mingling with joy as I sagged against the two men in my life.
But the surprises didn’t end there.
Once Lou had climbed off us and we’d managed to clean up and finish our meals, Tristin stood up before sinking to one knee and producing a ginormous ring out of thin air. He held it up to me, eyes honey gold as they locked on mine.
“I’ve been waiting a long-ass time to ask you this, Brit. Will you please just finally put me out of my damn misery and say you’ll marry me? You’re it for me, and you always have been. I know you might think it’s too
soon, but if you really think about it, it’s actually already much later than it should’ve been. I want us and our family to be forever. What do you think, will you be my wife?”
“Of course.” The words came out as a whisper, but then Tristin was pushing the monstrous golden ring with a single center diamond so big you’d be able to see it from space onto my finger, pulling me to him like he’d never let me go again.
Lou whooped and embraced us both again, sobbing right along with me. It was only once that died down and the waiter bought out our ice cream that I turned to face them both.
“So, it seems we’re all in for a bunch of surprises tonight, because I’ve also got one.” I opened my purse and pulled out the special gifts I’d gotten each of them for the big reveal.
Tristin’s was a picture of my bare feet taken in our kitchen at home, surrounded by pots and pans. Lou’s was much more obvious, a picture of him in a superhero outfit I’d taken at a dress-up birthday party several weeks ago. Underneath the picture were the words “Every superhero needs a sidekick. Mine arrives in seven more months.”
Tristin wet his lips with the tip of his tongue, his eyes almost completely round and filled with moisture when he looked at me. “Pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen?”
“You got it,” I said to him before turning to Lou. “You’re going to be a big brother.”
Both of them went totally silent for a second, and then the whooping and hugging started all over again. Lou sobbed, but they were happy tears as he started rattling off a list of things he’d always wanted to teach a younger sibling. Tristin was mostly silent, but the look in his eyes said it all.
Later, when he and I climbed into our bed, he pulled me close and planted a kiss on the tip of my nose, a silvery sheen from the moonlight shining in from outside falling just so across his face.
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