Reconcile

by Nicole Dykes

  “Damn, Pipes.” I wrap my arms around her but don’t tug her into the pool. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that alone. I still can’t believe they didn’t tell my parents. Two sets of snarling, angry image-obsessed parents are more convincing than one.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck as I lower her into the pool with me, her legs going around my ass instinctively. “They hated your parents, and when it was clear that I wasn’t going to marry you no matter what, they were afraid of what they would do. Couldn’t have a scandal.”

  “Yeah, I get that. Image is everything.” I think about my mother and father’s words.

  “You know Cole invited us for dinner again?”

  I kiss her neck. “I don’t want to talk about my brother or your sister right now. I want to finish what we started.”

  I can feel her smiling even if I can’t see her face. My hands move to the strings of her top, effortlessly removing it again. “I do too.”

  Her hands move to the side of my head as she pulls me up for a kiss. “I love you too.”

  Holy. Shit. I was starting to wonder if she’d ever say it. “You do?”

  She smiles and kisses the tip of my nose, then my cheek, and then my lips. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

  Greatest words ever. “I love you too. I swear I have since I met you. I was a fucking idiot.”

  “As long as you know that.”

  I grin and kiss her as she shoves my trunks off my ass, and I kick them off this time, wanting nothing between us. I push her bikini bottoms off and slide into her. “Fuck, this is where I wanna stay forever.”

  She laughs, “You always say that.”

  “It’s always true.”

  “I’m quitting my job.”

  I stop moving for a moment, staying seated deep inside her. “You are? Wow! That talk with Paisley changed a shitload.”

  She laughs, the sound going straight to my cock. “I’ve been resisting working for Viv, even though that’s what I really want. I may have to stop being so stubborn.”

  I nip along her collarbone as I start to thrust in and out of her again, relishing the feeling of being inside her. “Don’t change too much, Pipes. I happen to love you exactly like this.”

  She moves her hips with mine, clinging to my shoulders and whimpering softly near my ear, “I happen to like you like this too.”

  “Yeah?” I thrust in deep, pulling a long sexy moan from her.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  I’ll never fucking tire of this. And I’ll never be that stupid again now that I have her.

  My hands are shaking, and I feel like I’m going to puke. Everything has been going well. We had dinner at Cole’s house with Audrey and Paisley last night. Audrey loves her new school. So of course—of fucking course—this is happening.

  I stare at the pink plus sign, the third in a row, and then look back into the mirror and try to breathe.

  I’m not eighteen.

  I’m in love with Sawyer, and he’s in love with me.

  He’s an excellent father.

  We don’t live under our parents’ rule.

  I let out a shaky breath but then startle when I hear the door to Sawyer’s—now our—bedroom. I quickly throw the tests in the trash and move into the room just in time to see a confident, happy Sawyer walk through the door. “Hey, gorgeous.” His face drops. “What’s wrong?”

  Damn him for being able to read me. “Sawyer . . .” My voice cracks, and he closes the space between us, pulling me into his arms.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I look up at him. “I’m pregnant.”

  He lets out a relieved breath, and a big smile takes over his face. “Really?”

  “You look happy.”

  “I am happy.” He pulls me closer, wrapping his strong arms around me and kissing my head. “I’m so fucking happy.” He pulls me back gently to look into my eyes. “You aren’t?”

  “I . . . am . . .” I take a shaky breath. “I’m scared though. Things are going so well.”

  “They’re only going to get better, Piper. I promise. Fuck, I can’t wait to have another kid like Audrey.”

  I look into his eyes and see the joy on his face. Though, I’m unable to smile with him. “You really are excited. There’s, like, zero fear in your eyes.”

  “I really am.” He kisses my lips. “Marry me.”

  I shove him back playfully. “I didn’t marry you the first time you knocked me up.”

  He reaches into his pocket, and the smug bastard actually produces a brilliant diamond ring that takes my breath away. “I was an idiot, and you were smart enough to know I wasn’t ready. But I’m more than ready now. Marry me.”

  “I . . .” I look down at the ring. “I want to say yes.”

  He smiles, kissing me softly, coaxing me with those dangerously sexy lips. “Then say yes.”

  “My kids are going to have the last name Ross?”

  “We can give them whatever last name you want. As long as we all match, I don’t give a fuck.”

  I smile at that and nod my head because it’s what I want. Not what my parents would want. Not what I’m supposed to do, but what I truly want. “Yes.”

  He slides the ring on my finger. A perfect fit. I take a seat on the edge of the bed, and a heavy sigh escapes me.

  “What’s wrong?” He sits down next to me.

  “Another baby.”

  “Pipes, what’s worrying you? Tell me.” He kisses my shoulder.

  “I just . . . The first time I did it all on my own except for the nanny when I was in school. But if I wasn’t in school, I was with Audrey. I don’t know if I want to leave this baby with a nanny.”

  “You want to quit? Viv would understand.”

  I love working with Viv, Penelope, and Lola. I truly do. “I don’t know. I really love my job. But I love the idea of raising our children myself.”

  “Look, if you want to work full-time, that’s fine with me. We’ll hire the best nanny there is. Or I’ll stay home. Whatever makes you happy. But I can see it on your face. You want to stay home with them, and that’s okay too.”

  “It feels somehow anti-feminist to quit my job to raise babies.”

  “Isn’t that what feminism is? Women making their own decisions based on what they want and not what society wants? Seems to me, if you want to stay home and raise our kids, then that’s what you should do. And you should be able to do that without any judgment. You’re a fucking fantastic mother, Piper.”

  I look at him, cocking my eyebrow. “That’s very enlightened of you.”

  “Well, I’m a feminist.” He kisses my neck with a smile. “I’m very fond of a few females.”

  I laugh and shove him back. “I want to work until I have the baby. Then, I’d like to take some time off to be a mom.”

  He grins, kissing my nose. “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too. I always have.” He places my hand on his chest over his t-shirt, right where the “P” is inked into his skin.

  “I never saw us here. I never let myself. But I’m so happy we made it.”

  “I never thought you’d give me another chance, but I’m thrilled you did. Thank you.”

  I kiss him with everything I’m feeling, letting my body move under his. Letting him cover me and relishing in him.

  I guess even the worst things can be forgiven because I am irrevocably in love with Sawyer fucking Ross.

  One year later

  “Daddy! I want to go outside!” I laugh as Audrey whines, which I still find really cute. I’m holding my son in my arms, trying to get him back to sleep so Piper can sleep a little longer, but that’s not going so well with Audrey here.

  “I promise we will soon, okay? Let’s let Mommy sleep for a little longer and try to keep Mr. Adrian quiet for a little while.”

  Audrey thinks that over, placing her little finger on her chin and then bouncing out of the room. I look down
at Adrian, his big eyes peeking up at me. He’s not crying, but he’s not sleeping either.

  Audrey walks in with a green blanket and hands it to me. “It’s his favorite.”

  I smile. She’s such a good big sister. “Thanks, kiddo.”

  “No problem.”

  There’s a quiet knock on the front door, and I scramble to answer it before they do it again and startle Adrian. The kid has a set of lungs on him.

  I laugh when I see who it is and open the door for Ash, who walks in with Baz in tow. “Hey, man.” He looks at Adrian and grins. “Hey, little man.”

  I hand him over to his Uncle Ash, giving up on the whole nap thing. Viv walks in with their baby boy, and I grin as she hands him over to me. “Where’s Piper?”

  “I’m right here.” Piper emerges from the hallway with a big grin on her pretty face, greeting our guests.

  “Good, we brought dinner,” Viv says as Pipes lays a kiss on me and heads into the kitchen with Viv. Audrey and Baz take off to play, and Ash and I take a seat on the sofa, both babies in our arms.

  “Jesus, who would have thought?”

  I chuckle at that, looking into the blue eyes of my best friend’s son. He’s in a good mood. All smiles. “I know. This is pretty fucking crazy.”

  “Wouldn’t trade it for the world, though, would you, you sappy motherfucker?”

  I laugh and shake my head. “Nope.”

  “You ready for the wedding?”

  My grin takes up my entire face. “Hell, yeah.”

  I’m marrying Piper Ward tomorrow, and there’s not a nervous bone in my body.

  “Tomorrow, I’ll have everything I could ever want.”

  “Yeah well, you fuckers stay out of the pool on your honeymoon. Give your girl a break.”

  I laugh, “Mind your business, fucker.”

  The girls join us, taking their babies into their expert hands and freeing us to take Baz and Audrey outside to play. But before I walk away from Piper I lean in close, my lips brushing over hers, “What would we do, Pipes?”

  She doesn’t miss a beat, showing off a brilliant smile before saying, “Everything, Sawyer. We’re doing everything.”

  I give her a kiss before heading out with Ash, ignoring him giving me shit about being so fucking adorable, but what the hell do I care?

  Never in a million years did I think I’d be marrying Piper and have two beautiful kids with her. But here we are.

  And I can promise one thing . . .

  I’ll never fuck it up again and I will give them everything.

  The End

  Note from the Author

  Thank you so much for reading Reconcile! You guys, I love Sawyer and have since Restrictions, so this one was hard to let them all go! And I think Paisley and Spencer need their own story, but only time will tell! You know I love the broken characters the most.

  Anyway, I just want to thank you all for reading my book. It means the absolute world to me that I get to share my stories and that people actually read them!

  Thank you so much to all my friends and betas! Thanks also to Dena, Elizabeth, and Veronique for making my books pretty and putting up with my craziness!

  I hope you all are enjoying the summer of Standalones! There’s two more to go!

  Love you all!

  Peek at Regrets

  Like what you read and want some more heartbreak? Here’s a sample of Regrets that I think will give you what you want.

  Linc

  “God, you’re so sexy. I love the ink.” Please shut up.

  Her voice is fucking cringeworthy, and I can already tell that keeping my dick hard is going to be a chore. Maybe I could gag her.

  The blond currently straddling me lifts off her dress, tossing it to the side and showing me a decent pair of tits which could be worth the godawful commentary. My hands move up her sides slowly before cupping her tits in my hands and squeezing slightly.

  Her head falls back, and she moans while rubbing herself against my cock.

  There we go. That’s what I need. Just shut the fuck up.

  Her hands slide over my bare torso, her fingernails digging into my skin but not deep enough. Come on. Draw blood. “Wow, that view is absolutely incredible.”

  Fucking really?

  The house I’m renting—okay, my parents are renting—while I’m in college isn’t a typical college house near campus. It’s located on the outskirts of town on the lake. And I mean, right on the lake. My large bedroom window looks out on the sparkling lake surrounded by trees. I flip the chick over so she’s under me and pull my pants down, just wanting to get this shit over with at this point.

  I kick my jeans off all the way and reach for a condom in the table next to my bed. She lays under me in only her pink, silky panties. I briefly wonder what’s going on in her head. What makes a girl like her go home with a guy she just met at a party? She’s intelligent enough, at least she’s currently going to college. Although, book smarts certainly don’t equal street smarts.

  “Oh fuck, baby. You’re so fucking hot for me, aren’t you?”

  Goddammit, P.

  The manly growl came from one bedroom over. The girl below me sits up on her elbows, her large, doe-eyes widening even more. “What was that?”

  A loud, feminine moan floats through the thin wall. “Don’t stop. Right fucking there.”

  Then, the unmistakable sound of the headboard banging against the wall follows. “That would be my roommate getting laid.”

  The sounds grow louder, and the girl I’m with seems to be listening intently, her ear turned toward the wall. “Well, it sounds like he’s not too bad at what he does.” Her hand slides up over my stomach. “Let’s hope his roommate knows what he’s doing too.”

  I place my hand on her shoulder, urging her to lay back down, and she does. “She. And she has never fucking known what she’s doing.” I lean forward slightly. “And I don’t like to be questioned.”

  She looks puzzled. “She?”

  “Yup.” I’m really fucking tired of this chick. I’m not sure what the fuck I was thinking. She didn’t stop talking the entire drive back to my house. I should have dumped her ass before we got away from campus.

  Now, her confusion just continues to brew, and she still can’t shut the fuck up. “You live with a woman?”

  I grip the thin straps of her panties. “I don’t want to talk about my roommate.” I don’t want to talk at all.

  But apparently, she can’t give me what I want and just keeps going. “Are you sure she’s just a roommate? I’ve never heard of a guy and girl living together and not fucking.”

  “And who says we’re not?”

  The girl covers herself with her hands as she looks up at me, now looking less curious and more horrified. “What is this? Some kind of weird orgy thing?”

  Christ. I sit up and pick her dress up from the floor, handing it to her. “You should just go.”

  “What?” She sits up, clutching the dress to her chest, her face full of shock. “You want me to leave because I asked a damn question?”

  If fucking only it was one question. “Questions. You asked many questions, and I’m not here to talk. You want a boyfriend, run back to campus and find yourself a nice tech major.”

  “You’re a dick.” The girl stands up, slipping back into her dress and sandals, grabbing her purse before slamming the door behind her. I’m sure an Uber will get her back to campus where she belongs.

  I look at the wall my bed is pressed up against, listening to the constant thump, thump, thump, coming from the other side.

  Fuck this.

  I pound a quick fist to the wall, annoyed and beyond pissed-off, before I pull on a pair of black sweats and walk out to the grand living room of the lake house and take a seat on the sofa.

  Moments later, I see a shadowy figure slink out the front door and another I’m familiar with standing in front of me. Penelope is wearing only a plain, black tee, thin from years of wear. And although it’s too large
for her, when I lift my head, I see smooth, tanned thighs in front of me.

  I look up as she pulls her disheveled dark hair up into a ponytail. “What the fuck’s your problem? You almost fucked up my orgasm with that loud banging on the wall. Scared the hell out of me.”

  “Good.” I lock my cold eyes on her blue ones. “You fucked up my sure thing.”

  “And how, exactly, did I do that?” She folds her arms across her chest, pulling the tee up slightly, revealing more of her shapely legs. “Sounds more like that had to do with your sparkling personality, Linc.”

  I sit up, my hands gripping her ass as I pull her to me. “She asked too many fucking questions. And you and whoever-the-fuck were busy making the world’s cheesiest porno. It was a real boner killer, P.”

  She doesn’t pull away from me, her hands resting on my bare shoulders. “Don’t get pissed at me because you had a talker and I had a doer.”

  I lean back against the back of the couch, taking her with me, her strong thighs straddling my lap, my hands holding onto her hips as my chin tips up to look at her. “The way I see it, you owe me an orgasm.”

  Her hands move to my hair, sliding her fingers through the styled brown locks before they slide down the trimmed beard over my jaw. Her face dips down, her full, red lips hovering above my own, her blue eyes full of something sinister, something that’s been there for years, festering under the surface. “You’re right.”

  That’s odd. She never doesn’t fight back. Her voice is a soft whisper. “I’ll be right back.”

  My hands slide under her shirt, my fingers burying into the flesh of her slender hips. “I think we have everything we need right here.”

  She shakes her head, pushing my hands away as she climbs off me. “Not quite.”

  She leaves the room, leaving my heart to thunder in my chest and my mind to race. What the hell could she be getting? Sexy lingerie? Toys? Lube?

  She walks back into the room, having my curiosity ramped up until she tosses me a bottle of lotion and a box of tissues.