“Yeah, he did. And as fucked up as it was, he did me a fuckin’ favor. Ten years ago, I might’ve thought differently, but look at us now. I’m shacked up with the woman of my dreams, and he’s in the middle of a divorce. Holdin’ on to that grudge would be like kicking a dog when he’s down. If Charlie’s taught me anything, it’s that I just need to let the past go, and with her, she makes it easy.”
Jace, Xavier, and I look at each other with amused glances at Knox’s admission. “And you call me a fuckin’ romantic pussy,” Jace jokes, causing Knox to send him a scowl.
“McAllister, you’ve had your balls twisted by the same damn girl since I’ve known you and it took you ten fuckin’ years to claim her. Me? I just have the love of a good woman waitin’ on me at the end of the day and I’m smart enough to remember that.”
I can’t help the snort that lets loose, and my nose burns when beer shoots out. “Yeah, ‘cause if you don’t, she’ll kick your ass.”
“Whatever, man.” Knox gestures towards Xavier. “What about you, Cruz? You’re hangin’ around a bunch of taken men. Does that make you feel all twitchy, or are you all good as a single man?”
Xavier lifts his beer to his lips, taking a long drink before answering. “Already got one little woman in my life, Wellington, and I can only imagine she’s going to be more of a handful as the years go by. Don’t need anyone else coming in to complicate things.”
I watch as Jace and Knox exchange looks, ones I’ve seen before. Stepping in, I decide to save Xavier from the McAllister-Wellington guarantee. “All right, Cruz. You get a pass. My goddaughter means more than you getting laid.” I pause, pointing a finger at him. “You remember that.”
He shakes his head at me. “Dude, you think Lily’s going to let me date just any woman? No freakin’ way. My girl is so damn particular. It’ll take someone special, one hell of a chick, to win over both me and Lil.”
Jace leans forward and looks at Xavier. “If I’ve learned one thing in my life, it’s that patience is key. She’ll come along one of these days, and in the end, the wait will have been more than worth it.”
“All right. Before we start getting all emotional and touchy-feely with Love Guru Jace McAllister, can we go inside and order the fuckin’ fight? I need to see dudes punching each other after this love fest. Look, I love my girl more than I can explain, but that’s just it. I’m not fuckin’ explaining it. I need some testosterone if I’m going to hang out with you guys tonight.” When Knox ends his tirade, the rest of us just stare at him.
Finally, Jace busts out laughing and stands up. “Whatever, dude. I’ll throw in the cash for the pay-per-view since Knox isn’t as in touch with his romantic side as I am. It’s clearly an insecurity for him, and I hope one day Charlie doesn’t suffer from it once she realizes she’s settled down with a Neanderthal.”
“You don’t know my woman. That’s what won her over to my side to begin with,” Knox offers, causing the rest of us to laugh.
Leaving the deck, we make our way inside to catch the fight, and although I’m missing Lucy, I realize I’m in pretty damn good company.
Chapter 25
Lucy
MY ALARM starts buzzing and I jump out of bed, more than excited to get this day started. Kale stirs and pulls a pillow over his head. I round the bed and shake him.
“Wake up, babe!” I insist, and he groans as he peeks his head out from under the pillow.
“Baby, it’s too early. Come back to bed,” he requests, patting the sheets beside him. I pull the pillow off his head and hold it up, threatening to hit him with it. He sits up and rubs his eyes, glancing at the clock. “Seriously, the sun’s not even up yet.”
Not wanting to wait any longer, I jump on him, my legs straddling his thighs as I bounce on the bed. “Get up, get up, get up! Today’s the day and I want it to start right now.”
He grins up at me. “I think I liked your pregnancy better when you were tired all the time. This high-energy crap is freaking me out.”
Leaning down, I bring my lips to his. “If you get out of bed right now, I’ll let you break out the wheel. And you know what that means. The restraints, too.”
Suddenly I’m up in Kale’s arms as he climbs out of bed. He doesn’t put me down until we’re in the bathroom and he deposits me on the sink before we quickly shower. We’re not a kinky couple by any means, but we like to play sometimes. We haven’t pulled out the box of toys since I found out I was pregnant, but now that I’m feeling all kinds of energy, I want to play. As I remember the first time I introduced Kale to the wheel, a slow smirk spreads across my face. I don’t think he had planned to be the restrained one, but the way he squirmed and writhed as the tiny pinpricks spread over his body was one of the hottest things I’d ever seen. Of course, he repaid the favor with the skill of an expert, so I know this is going to be as much of a treat for me as it is for him.
Over the past few weeks since we’ve been living together, I’ve gotten used to starting my mornings off with an intimacy I didn’t know I was missing before. It’s not always sexual. In fact, most of the time, it isn’t. It’s just become a comfortable, familiar routine of getting ready for our days in the same space. I’ve been living on my own for so long that I thought it would take some getting used to, but now that I’m here, I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
As I finish drying my hair, Kale comes into the room and hands me a rectangular box that’s wrapped in half pink and half blue wrapping paper. Clicking off the dyer, I look up at him suspiciously.
“What’s this?” I ask, and he pulls me up off the floor and leads me out to the dining room.
My stomach growls as I see that he has the table set and breakfast prepared. The smell of bacon fills my nose, and I sit down, ready to dive in, almost forgetting about the gift in my hand. He grins as he pours grape juice in my glass then sits across from me.
“Open it,” he says, gesturing to the box. His excitement is contagious, and I go for the tape, trying not to rip the paper. “Jesus, Lucy, the gift is inside. You don’t need to keep the paper. Rip it off already.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down,” I tell him and quickly tear into the paper.
When I open the box, I can’t help the wide smile that forms on my face, and I have to look up at the ceiling to keep the tears that have now formed in my eyes from falling onto my face. Blinking them back, I pull the book out of the box and start flipping through the pages, scanning some of the names. I set it on the table and place my hand on Kale’s.
“Thank you. It’s very thoughtful, and I can’t wait to start going through it.”
“Well, we haven’t talked names, and I thought today was an appropriate day to start thinking about it. After all, we’re about to find out if we’re having a little me or a little you. As much as I love the name Sprout, I’m kind of excited to decide on a name.”
Suddenly, the thought of settling on a name other than Sprout seems daunting. “Kale, how are we going to do this? We have the hardest time just deciding what we’re going to do for dinner on any given day. There’s no way we’re going to settle on a name together.”
He squeezes my hand and then gestures to the book. “Hey, we’ll figure it out.” He picks up a piece of bacon and points it at me and then at himself. “You and I have a date with that book tonight, and we’ll just start picking out some we like. Gotta start somewhere. Now eat, baby, or we’re going to be late.”
I let his reassurance wash over me, and I dive into breakfast. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this appointment forever, and it can’t come soon enough.