“All right, leave them alone.” My uncle strode over to where we were all standing and put his arm around me. He’d always babied me since I had no father and didn’t seem surprised at all, so I guessed Jack told him already. I was grateful he was awesome as usual and didn’t spill the beans before I was ready.
“You knew, John? And you never told me?” He shrugged as my mother cast me a glance.
“It wasn’t my place to tell you, Tess. Maybe Paige felt you would, I don’t know, get too excited or something.” I laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
“Hey, Big John.” Evan shook Uncle John’s hand and squeezed his shoulder.
“Good to see to see you, son.” My uncle grinned as he pounded Evan on the back. Evan was the only one he let get away with the nickname.
“Oh they’re here! It’s so nice to see you both together!” Aunt Marie sprinted over and tackled us. I peeked at Evan over her bear-like embrace and shook my head. He still found this horrifying ordeal hysterical.
“Another one who kept it from me,” my mother noted to Aunt Rose over her shoulder.
“Stop, Tess! This is wonderful! I couldn’t be happier right now. I have a grandchild on the way, my son is here, and these kids make a fantastic couple” Aunt Marie grabbed both our chins and gave them a squeeze. It’s nice to have someone call you a kid when you’re past thirty.
“Hey, hello! Having a baby over here. Jesus.” Jack strode over with Ellie, who was also beaming at us. “They totally took our thunder, babe.”
“I don’t want the thunder. Please, by all means, take it back.” I held my hands up in surrender.
“Paige I expect, but why didn’t you say anything?” My mother smacked Jack’s shoulder, making him wince.
“Ow, Aunt Tess! Paige wanted to be the one to tell you. And bad enough I have to watch them suck face all the time at the office, I don’t need to keep talking about it—”
“Jack! Geez!” I hit his other shoulder. Jack huffed at me and shook his head.
“Ignored, then beaten up.” He turned to Ellie. “I have to say, not liking my first shower so far.”
Everyone went back in the kitchen as Ellie waddled into the living room, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief that the first round of interrogations were over. I suspected the “don’t screw things up” and the “are you engaged yet” talks were right around the corner.
Evan wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed the top of my head.
“So we’re outed. How does it feel?”
“Feels good. Not so good that my family likes you more than me, but . . . nice.” I rubbed the back of his hand as he tightened his embrace.
“Does the fact that I’m here today with you mean I made the cut? I’m a keeper?” I smiled and turned around.
“Oh, yes. Most definitely a keeper.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss. “You’re stuck with me, well, for as long as you want me.” I gave him a sideways glance and he pulled me closer.
“There would be nothing I’d love more than to be stuck with you.” Evan tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, then took my face in his hands. As his thumbs moved back and forth on my cheeks, the tender expression on his face melted my insides. We hadn’t actually said the words yet. Lots of “I’m crazy about yous” and “I adore yous” got tossed around, but hearing Evan say the word love in reference to me made my heart flutter.
“Oh for God’s sake. Dad, does the hose in the yard stretch inside? I think these two need to cool off.” I buried my head in Evan’s chest and groaned.
“Your cousin has a white dress on, Jack, so if you want to bring in the hose—”
I picked up my head and smacked Evan’s chest. “Don’t encourage him!”
Evan laughed as Jack grimaced at us. He motioned to the large heap of baby gifts in the corner.
“Think you could pry yourself off from my cousin to give me a hand?” Evan nodded at Jack and carried a couple of large gifts into the living room.
Jack came over to me and grabbed my hand.
“You know I’m only busting your chops right? Seeing you guys together is nice. I’ve never seen either of you this happy. It . . . eases my mind more than you know.” My stomach turned as I absorbed what he was trying to say. Knowing I was with Evan eased his mind because he could watch out for me if Jack . . . couldn’t. Instead of blowing it off like I usually did so I could deny it, I kissed his cheek and flung my arms around his neck. My eyes watered as I pulled away. Jack gave my hand a squeeze as he left to join Ellie in the living room. I sent up a silent prayer that he’d still be this healthy when the baby was born. He deserved to meet his son.
I wrapped my arms around myself and wished I could freeze time. I wanted it to always be like this: Jack teasing everyone, Evan by my side, and excitement swirling in my belly for the future we could all have, if we could just hold on to it.
I had the office all to myself this morning, and I had to admit it was a little creepy. Usually, the noise of guys coming in and out combined with Jack busting everyone’s balls filled the room. I’d stopped at a job site early and then headed to the office to catch up on the back end of business stuff that I hated with a fucking passion.
Jack said I shouldn’t let paperwork pile up because I’d kick myself later—just like I was doing now. I cranked up my Beatles playlist on Spotify to make this mind-numbingly monotonous task go quicker.
It didn’t help that my mind kept drifting to memories of Paige last night, handcuffed to my bedpost and screaming as she came in my mouth. I was hooked on the gorgeous woman I shared a bed with most nights. We spent almost every night together, at either her place or mine, yet I still couldn’t get enough of her.
I jumped when my phone dinged with a text. I swiped the screen and there was my beautiful girl, naked and spread eagle on my bed. My eyes bugged out; I didn’t know where to look first. The perfect tits still red from me sucking on them for a good part of the night; the toned legs that had wrapped around me as I rocked into her; or the sweet, wet heat between her legs that drove me to constant distraction.
Holy fucking shit. I fell back in my chair, weak from all my blood rushing to my painfully hard cock, which now strained against my zipper.
Me: Is this in real time? If it is, I’m coming home right fucking now.
Paige: LOL no. This was me before I got dressed and left. I thought it would make your day go by faster.
Me: Nope. Now I’ll just be counting the seconds until I get out of here and back inside my beautiful girlfriend.
Paige: I can’t wait for that either. Maybe I’ll stop by later.
Me: Unless you want to be pushed into the supply closet I would wait a little bit.
“Hey, Jacobs. Where’s Jack?” So much for my good mood. Sean sauntered into the office and sat in Jack’s chair. I couldn’t take the arrogant fucker. I got the impression he wanted Jack to ask him to be partner rather than me since he was always making digs here and there. He had rocks in his head if he thought that would ever happen. Jack tolerated him because he was good at what he did, but lately he’d gotten lazy and we’d had a few complaints. Jack was supposed to have him come in and set him straight, so maybe that’s why he was looking for him today.
“At a doctor’s appointment with Ellie. Need something?”
I looked up from my coffee mug, annoyed at the smirk on Sean’s face. He came up to my desk and shrugged.
“So how does this work? You’re his partner but Jack still runs things. Sweet deal you got——hey is that Paige?” Fuck. He came in so fast I forgot to close the text message. I grabbed my phone and threw it into the desk drawer. That picture was for my eyes only, and having Sean get even a glimpse of it made me want to knock his teeth down his throat even more than I already did.