by Jenna Reed
When the waiter walks by Asher stops him to order two whiskeys. I tip the glass back, emptying the entire contents into my throat, before slamming the heavy glass back onto the table.
“I can’t fucking believe him.” Asher breaks the silence first. “I mean, I knew he didn’t like you dating Bailey, but this… that’s a whole other level of fucked-up.”
“Tell me about it.” Fuck, I almost lost her because of this. The thought still sits heavy on my heart. Just thinking about being without her the last few days has my stomach in knots and my chest aching.
“What are you going to do?” Asher asks. I know he is asking about Dad, he wants to know what I am going to do about our father, but right now I don’t want to think about that. All I want to think about is going home, seeing Bailey. Holding her in my arms, feeling her body against mine, breathing in her scent.
“I haven’t seen Bailey in three days. I’m going to go home, and I intend to make up for lost time.” My brother’s grin is the last thing I see before leaving the pub.
The drive home only takes me a few minutes, but even those feel too damn long. I park in front of my building and almost run inside and to the elevator. When I get to my apartment and unlock the door, I only have one thought running through my mind. Please be here.
I open the door and walk inside. I don’t see her, but I know she is here. The emptiness this place held for the last three days is gone. It’s been replaced with a warmth, a light, that is only present when she is here. My Sunflower.
I drop my keys and phone on the entry table and start looking around for her. I find her in my bathroom. The shower is on, steam escaping when I open the door and step in. She turns and wipes the fogged up glass of the shower stall so she can see me better.
“Hey you, I didn’t think you would be back so soon.”
“Do you mind if I join?”
“Of course not… come in.”
I strip out of my clothes, dropping them uncaring into a pile on the floor. Sliding open the shower door, another cloud of steam hits me as I get in. I step into the water, meet Bailey’s body in the midst of the spray of hot water.
“What happened? Did she meet with you?” Bailey questions.
“Yes, everything is fine, but I don’t want to talk about that right now.” I don’t want to talk at all for that matter.
I snake my arms around her, pulling her as close as I can without crushing her. My lips find hers and I lose myself in her. I feel like we kiss for an eternity, but it’s still not enough.
When we finally break apart, we are both panting. My hard cock is pressed against her stomach like a steel rod. God, I want her. I want her so fucking much. She reaches between us and wraps her small hand around my length. I almost come then. It’s been only three days since I had her, but it feels like years have gone by. I feel like I am starving for her.
She strokes my cock a few times and I can see the lust simmering in her eyes, reflecting back my own lust like a mirror. The last shred of my restraint rips into pieces and I can’t hold on any longer.
I bend down a few inches and grab her upper thighs, lifting her up. She gasps, her arms and legs wrapping around my torso as I take two steps forward until her back is pushed up against the tiled wall.
“I need to be inside of you, Sunflower. I need to feel you,” I pant, hovering over the edge of insanity.
“Please, Elijah… fuck me…” Her words have barely left her mouth before I press into her. Burying every inch of myself into her tight cunt. Fuck, nothing else feels like this. Feels so… so fucking perfect.
She is more than wet, she is drenched with need, ready for me to pound into her, and that is exactly what I am doing. I thrust upward, fucking her as deep as I can, claiming her from the inside out. Her nails dig into my skin as she holds onto me, pulling me closer, even though I can’t possibly get any closer, there is nothing but skin between us.
Her moans echo through the small room, bouncing off the walls and vibrating through us. I keep pumping into her like a man possessed with need. I push her into the wall, using it to hold her in place so I can fuck her harder. Harder. Deeper.
I feel her climax once, her walls strangling my cock. Her head tips back against the tile and her mouth forms a perfect O.
But I can’t stop. I can’t. I keep drilling into her, even through her orgasm. I keep slamming into her over and over again until I feel her come one more time. By the time my own release hits me, I feel like I’ve climbed Mt. Everest. Every muscle in my body screams and tightens before relaxing. I’ve never come so hard in my life. The orgasm so powerful I think my whole body is going to be sore tomorrow.
I stand there, holding us up with the last of my strength. She reaches and turns off the water before we step out of the shower together. I grab two large towels and wrap us up in them. I think we are both too tired to talk right now. This sex was fucking intense. Three days of pent-up emotions release all at once. We walk into my room and both fall into bed. Her light giggle fills the room and my heart squeezes in my chest.
“I missed you so much.” I drape the blanket over us and pull her towel wrapped body into my arms. Kissing her forehead, I add, “And I love you.”
She nuzzles her face into the crook of my neck, I close my eyes and whispers softly, “I love you too.”
My eyes fly open and I feel her body stiffen slightly in my arms. She said it. Of course I already know this, but this is the first time she actually said them out loud, in this way. Because even though she has said the words many times, but never like this. I don’t know why she hasn’t said it before in this sense, but right now, I don’t care. I just relish in the fact that she did say them.
She loves me.
I didn’t get Kelly pregnant, I got Bailey back and she loves me. I fall asleep thinking that I am the luckiest man in the world. I’m so fucking happy right now, I don’t even think about my parents, about all the heartache they cost me.
She is here, and she is mine. That is all that matters right now.
19
Bailey
I love you. Last night, I finally said the three words out loud. I didn’t mean to, they just kind of slipped out, but it felt right. It’s always felt right with him, I’ve loved him more than a friend for a long time, but admitting it, saying the words out loud, to the person’s face. Worry seeps into my bones. I said the words and now I’m scared. Scared that Elijah is going to pull away. If not for me admitting my love than for the other reason. The reason he doesn’t even know about yet.
“Fuck, it would have ruined my life. It would have just ruined everything that I had planned. I’m telling you right now, Sunflower, I had never been so relieved in my life…” I have yet to shut off my mind, to forget the words he said. This is how he feels about having a child. Becoming a father is his biggest nightmare and now I have to tell him that it’s happening… that he’s going to be a father and for real this time.
Is he going to hate me? Leave me? Part of me hopes that my gut feeling is wrong. Part of me hopes he tells me he loves me and wants to have this baby, because God knows I can’t do this alone. I lift my gaze from the book I’ve been pretending to read for the last twenty minutes.
“I want to discuss something with you,” Elijah says, his eyes colliding with mine which are peeking up over the top of my paperback. My hands shake as I place the book down on the counter.
“Okay, tell me. I have something that I want to tell you too.” I force the words out. The image of the positive pregnancy test appearing in my mind. The two red lines.
Grinning, Elijah says, “I think you should move in with me, officially. I mean if you don’t want to live here, we can go together and look for a new place, something to call our own. But I want you here, with me, in my bed every single night.”
Shit, he’s asking me to move in with him. He wants me to move in with him, but will he still want that when he finds out... will he still love me?
“Okay.” I nod, biting a
t my bottom lip hard enough to make it bleed.
“Your turn, what did you want to tell me?”
I swallow, a baseball-sized lump in my throat. “I’m…” I pause, dropping my gaze to the marble countertop. “Did you mean what you said the other day at my dad’s? That having a baby would have ruined your life? Ruined everything?”
Walking over to me, he twists me around on the bar stool, his hands burning into my skin where they touch. “Of course I meant it. The last thing I would want is a baby with Kelly. I can’t even put into words how much it scared me to think that my future with you was over.”
My chest starts to rise and fall rapidly. “So does that mean, you still don’t want kids, ever?”
Elijah blinks and takes a step backward. I can see the fear of it all clouding his vision.
“I don’t know. Right now, I’m kind of turned off on the idea of having a family, but I think it might change. I can’t promise you that it will though. Is that going to be a deal-breaker for you?” The horror that starts to wash over Elijah’s face is gut-wrenching. Kids wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker for me, at least not right now. I’ve wanted children since I was a little girl. I think every little girl wants to grow up, get married to her prince charming and have all the babies she can. The only problem is my prince charming wants none of that.
“I…” I steel my spine and inhale deeply. “I’m pregnant.”
Instantly Elijah’s gaze hardens, his body growing tense. “What?” He blinks, like maybe this is a dream and doing so will make him wake up from it.
“There is a baby inside of me. It’s yours, and this isn’t a lie or a ploy for me to get money.”
“What the fuck, Bailey? Like I would ever think such a thing.”
Shrugging, I try and read his emotions further. His blue eyes are stormy, harboring a fear that I understand.
“You said you were on birth control. Did you lie to me? Did you want a baby?”
I shake my head. “I was, and I didn’t want a baby, at least not right now. I missed my appointment for the depo shot. It had completely slipped my mind, it wasn’t intentional and if you don’t want me anymore, I understand. But I want you to know I didn’t lie to you. I would never do that to you. If this is too much for you, I get it. I missed my appointment, and that’s on me. You don’t owe me or the baby anything.”
Elijah takes a step back, a hand scrubbing down his face in unbridled frustration. I ready myself for the words to come, the pain, the heartache.
“What the actual fuck, Bailey?” He shakes his head furiously and then takes a step forward, his hands cupping my cheeks. The touch so tender, the tears start to fill my eyes before I can even stop them.
“You don’t want a baby, you said so yourself. You didn’t even want a relationship. I won’t make you stay with me, but I want this baby. I don’t want an abortion or to put it up for adoption.”
A smooth grin appears on his lips, his eyes lighting up and confusion flickers through me. Why is he smiling? I’m on the verge of tears and he’s smiling like he just won the damn lottery.
He shakes his head, the grin on his lips turning into a full-blown smile. “Oh Bailey, you silly girl. I hated the thought of having a baby with another woman. You really thought I would think the same about you?”
“Well… a baby is a baby…” I let my shoulders sag. “You said your life was over, everything was ruined.” I want to lean into him so badly, to press my face into his chest, but I need to hear him tell me everything is going to be okay. I need to know that he still wants me, even though I now represent a life he never wanted.
“I was scared shitless that I would lose you. I was scared my life would be over, my life with you. Because that’s the only thing that matters to me. You are my life. I was scared it would ruin us. The last thing I wanted was a baby with another woman because I knew then that my chance with you, my chance at a future with you was over.”
All of it starts to sink in, and the tears I was holding back start to fall.
“Does… does this mean you still want me?”
“Want you?” He arches a brow. “I don’t just want you. I have to have you. I’m lost without you. I fucking love you.” Then he does something I never would’ve expected him to do. He drops to his knees in front of me and slips his hands beneath my shirt, shoving it up and over my belly, his lips press to my stomach. His lips against my flesh make my knees weak and I grab onto the counter to steady myself.
“I cannot promise you that I won’t fuck this up a time or three, because I barely know what the fuck I’m doing right now, but I promise you that I will do right by you and our baby in every way possible. I’ll care for you, cherish you, and love you both for as long as I live.”
The tears keep falling, the adoration in his words, his voice, it wraps around me like a blanket sheltering me from a storm of heartache. I wasn’t expecting this. Expecting him to be so open-armed about this baby.
“Does this mean? We’re not only together, but having a baby too?”
Peering up at me, his hand still on my belly, he says, “We’re doing it all, Sunflower, together. I want you and I’m not giving you up. You’re mine, that baby growing inside you is mine too, and I take care of what is mine.”
“I love you,” I manage to get out around the sobs escaping my throat.
“I love you too. More than I could’ve ever expected to. You’ve changed me, Bailey. You made me into a man worthy of love, worthy of you.”
Unable to take his words a second longer, I pull him in for a kiss, drinking him in, letting him fill me up. I’ve never been so in love, so consumed by someone. The fear, the excitement of it all. I’ve only ever dreamed of being with my best friend, of being his completely, but now we’re so much more than that.
Now we’re going to be more than a couple. We’re going to be parents.
With his thumbs he strokes my cheeks, his lips never leaving mine, his eyes bleeding into mine promising me with nothing more than a look that he will forever be mine, and I will be his in return.
20
Elijah
The little box in my pocket can’t weigh more than a few ounces, yet it feels like thirty pounds of weight dragging down my pants with every step I take. I know it’s all in my head, that I’m freaking myself out, but I can’t help it, fear and excitement has my mind scrambled and my senses
Everything is going to be fine.
She loves you. Why would she say no?
I look down at the woman that I have my arm wrapped around as we walk into the restaurant. Her breasts are fuller now and her belly is so round that she’s started waddling a little when she walks. She gives the hostess a warm smile, it’s so infectious that I feel my own lips form into a smile for no reason other than looking at hers.
Bailey’s hand skims over her swollen belly as the hostess leads us to the table. Our daughter will be born in only a few months. The thought doesn’t scare me anymore, not like it used to. When I first found out I was having a little girl, I almost had a heart attack. I asked myself if I was going to be good enough to be her dad. But now I’m over it. Now I’m so fucking excited I don’t even remember what it felt like not to want to be a dad.
The moment I heard that heartbeat through that machine at the OBGYN, I was done for. I didn’t think it was possible to love Bailey any more than I already did, but I was wrong. It seems that I love her more with every passing day. Our love seems to be endless, and I already know that I will love our child with just as much love.
I pull out the chair for Bailey before taking the seat beside her. Asher takes a seat next to us, Erin and her new fling sit on the other side of the table while Bailey’s dad and her sister and her husband sit across from us.
Tomorrow night our new club opens its doors for the first time, it’s the one Bailey designed for me which automatically makes it my favorite one. Our first big project together. Certainly not our last. She started working with me full-time. She had other job
offers here and there, but I talked her into staying with me for good, mostly because I didn’t want to share her. Call me selfish, but I want to spend every minute of the day with her and if she comes with me to the office, then I can do just that.
Tonight we are here to celebrate the club together. Or at least that is what everybody thinks. No one except Bailey’s dad knows what I’m about to do. I did the manly thing, going to him and asking him for his daughter’s hand in marriage. I was so fucking scared of asking him, imagine my surprise when he slapped me on the back telling me, it’s about time, son.
“Are you okay?” Bailey leans into me, her voice just below a whisper.
“Yes, just excited and a little nervous. You know, new ventures and all.” I smirk.
“You’ll do great,” she assures me, having no idea what I was actually talking about. God, I’m so lucky to have such a great woman in my life. I can’t believe how anxious I am about this.
Running my sweaty palms over my slacks, I swallow down the nervousness. I try to give Bailey a confident smile, but I must be failing because when I glance over to my brother, he gives me a questioning look. One of his eyebrows is raised, and he mouths me a question, but I don’t quite get the words. Shaking my head slightly, I wave him off.
I wait until the waitress brings drinks around. Once every glass has been placed on the table and the waitress has disappeared, I lick my lips and clear my throat.
“Before we order food, I was going to…ah…” All eyes are on me now and the stupid words get stuck in my throat. What the fuck? I’m usually great at public speaking, great at being the center of attention, but tonight, tonight is different. Tonight, I make the woman of my dreams the center of attention, I make her my queen.
Roger, Bailey’s dad, gives me an encouraging nod.