“Fine,” I groan.
“Will you be on your best behavior?”
“And if I’m not?”
“Then I’ll be the one doing the spanking.”
Fuck me. I love this woman. “Nobody does any spanking around here except for me,” I tell her, “Now hurry up and take this pansy-ass girly shit off my face so I can see what you’ve done.”
“Alright, alright,” she laughs. “There’s no need to get your panties in a twist.”
I roll my eyes again as she reaches up and slips her fingers under the silky fabric before lifting it off my face. I gotta say, she was right. Standing out here with a ridiculous blindfold so I got the full effect was the best thing she ever made me do.
This place looks incredible. She’s put her heart and soul into it and everywhere I look, there’s the proof right before me. “Holy shit,” I tell her. “This looks almost better than you.”
Her eyes brighten as she looks up at me with hope. “You think?”
I put my arms over her shoulder and together we stand and admire the house she has built. “Yeah, babe,” I say. “It’s fucking incredible.”
She wraps her arms around me. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” I tell her. “Thank yourself. You did all the work and made this place what it is.”
“Yeah, but without you, it probably would have taken me a lot longer.”
“Huh?” I grunt as I look down at her. “I hardly did a thing.”
“You kept me motivated when I wanted to give up. This place was by far the biggest renovation I’ve ever done. When I first got here I was in over my head, but then I wanted to prove myself to my jackass neighbor.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You know, if it wasn’t for that stupid speaker of yours, I probably wouldn’t have been such a jackass.”
“I know,” she grins. “Now, go cook me dinner, wench.”
“You better watch that smart mouth of yours,” I tell her as she giggles and pulls me back to my place behind her. “Besides, no cooking will be getting done here tonight.”
“Eh?” she grunts as she stops in the middle of the road and looks back at me.
I walk into her and pull her to my side before continuing back to my place. “We’re going to Cole and Rylee’s place. Apparently, Rylee needs a little cheering up. She misses Cami too much, so, we’re partying with everyone.”
“Oh,” Lex says with her heart on her sleeve. “I was hoping she’d be feeling better by now. It’s been weeks.”
“I know,” I tell her, “But those two haven’t been apart in years. They’ve been best friends forever.”
“I know,” she sighs.
I push our way back in through the door while Lex goes to the kitchen and pours herself a drink. I walk into the living room and get Gerald out of his enclosure. I hook his long body over my neck and get myself comfortable on the couch.
As I wait for Lex to return, I can’t help but think about Cami being so far away and the thought kills me. I mean, what if that was me and Lex. I couldn’t stand it if she moved away to get space from me. I can’t even imagine what Jace must be feeling right now.
I look down at Gerald and run my fingers over his head and down his long body. “What do you say, Gerald? Should she move in with us?”
I sit and wait for him to reply as though we were having a proper conversation. “I promise,” I tell him. “I’ll make her feed you sometimes, but you got to understand, she’s shit scared of you.”
I wait again. “I agree, man. We’ll make her bathe you too.”
With that, we sit back and relax. We don’t need to leave for Cole’s place for another hour so we have plenty of time to chill.
Lex comes waltzing in with two drinks in her hands and her head down. She looks up as she gets closer. “Whoa, fuck,” she grunts as she comes to a startling standstill and spills half the drink on the floor. “What’s he doing out of his box?”
“He’s chilling with us,” I tell her.
“Can’t he chill, like…. over there?” she questions as she points to the furthest corner in the room.
“He could, but you know he likes to be close. If I put him over there, he’s just going to slither right on over.”
She cringes and accepts what it is before taking a seat on the couch beside me, though, it doesn’t go unnoticed how she sits as far as the couch will allow, just out of reach of Gerald. “It’s ok, babe,” I tell her. “He’s not going to hurt you.”
“Bullshit,” she grunts under her breath.
I ignore her comments and do my best to cover Gerald’s non-existent ears. “Don’t you listen to her,” I tell him before looking up at the goddess beside me. “You know, you’ll have to get used to him sooner or later if you’re moving in here.”
Her eyebrows furrow as she looks at me in confusion. “I’m sorry… what?”
“I said, you’ll have to get used to Gerald if-”
“Quit bullshiting,” she cuts me off. “I heard what you said. What are you talking about? Cause I don’t remember discussing moving in here.”
“Oh yeah, Gerald and I just decided. We want you here.”
“First of all,” she says as her stubbornness makes it fourth reappearance for the day, “Gerald is not capable of making those decisions. Secondly, it would have been nice to be a part of the decision-making process.”
I reach out and grab her foot before sliding her along the couch to me. “No, no, no, no, no,” she squeals in her desperation to get away from the snake.
“Calm down,” I tell her. “He will sense your fear and be on edge. You need to relax around him.”
Her face scrunches up, but she does as I say and allows me to pull her up on my lap, while I sit her facing Gerald so she can keep her eyes on him. “There’s no decision to make,” I tell her. “I want you here and I know you want to be here too, so stop being a stubborn ass and accept the way it is. This is where you belong and you know it.”
Her eyes leave Gerald and she finally looks at me. “You want me here all the time?” she questions. “You know I can be annoying, right? And you don’t like my music.”
“I fucking love your music because it’s a part of who you are, and as for being annoying, I worked that shit out a long time ago.”
She rolls her eyes. “Are you really sure?”
“Yeah, babe,” I tell her. “And besides, it’s not like it’s a big deal. You have like one bag of belongings in that house.”
“Shut up,” she laughs. “But for the question you didn’t actually ask, yes, I’d love to move in with you.”
“Good,” I grin, pushing her up to her feet and slapping that delectable ass of hers, “Now go and get your shit. You need to start getting ready.”
She rolls her eyes, leans down while bravely getting close to Gerald, and presses her lips to mine. “I love you too,” she tells me before smirking and skipping out the door.
Two hours later, we walk straight through the door of Cole’s place without bothering to knock. From the looks of all the trucks parked out the front, I’d say just about everyone is here, so it should be a good night.
We make our way straight out the back hand in hand and find everyone sitting around the outdoor setting, already a few drinks in. “Hey,” Cole smiles as he gets to his feet and welcomes us in.
“About time you guys showed up,” Charli says holding out a chick’s drink for Lex. “I need a drinking buddy. Rylee is being a loser and the others are already too wasted for me to play catch up.”
Lex laughs as she prances right over to Charli and scoops the drink out of her hands. “Well,” she says. “How could I possibly say no to that?”
The girls instantly fall into fits of giggles and I sit down between the boys. We get into light chatter and I can’t help but look over at Rylee. She’s laughing and having a good time with the girls, but there’s a sadness hidden in her eyes.
It doesn’t take long before the girls are begging for their dinner
and we all hover around the grill and cook up a storm.
After dinner, I sit with Lex curled up in my side and her hand firmly in mine as everybody chats around us. “How are you feeling?” Lex asks Rylee as she grabs her attention and everyone’s around us.
Rylee shrugs her shoulders. “Alright, I guess,” she says as her eyes flick across to Jace who has been watching her all night. “I just miss her, you know.” At that, Jace averts his eyes, probably feeling like shit as he blames himself for driving Cami away.
“Yeah, I know,” Lex says, leaning forward and squeezing her knee. “It will get easier,”
“No,” she says giving Lex a tight smile before looking up at Cole who sits beside her. “In this case, it won’t.”
Lex’s eyebrows draw down in confusion, but it’s Imogen who responds. “What do you mean?” she questions, picking up on some hidden meaning.
“I just… I really needed her here for the next little while.”
“Oh?” Imogen questions curiously.
“Yeah,” Rylee says, reaching across and taking Cole’s hand in hers. “I’ve been holding out to hear from her, but it’s nearly been a month, and so far, I’ve got nothing. I really wanted her to be the first to know,” she adds, flicking her eyes up to Cole then back to the group. “But if I can’t contact her then I can’t tell her that we’re going to have a baby.”
Shock rocks through me as Lexi’s hand squeezes down in mine. “Holy shit,” I grunt as gasps and cheers come from all around me. The boys get up and clap Cole on the back while the girls scream and start tearing up together.
“How far along are you?” Lex asks her.
“I’m eight weeks, so two months.”
“What?” Caden grunts at Cole. “How the hell did you keep it secret for so fucking long?”
“Believe me, man,” Cole chuckles. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Hey,” Lex says quietly beside me. I look down at her and she nods off towards their back gate. I glance over just in time to see Jace sneaking through the gate and disappearing.
I take off at a jog after him and catch him just before he climbs into his truck. “Yo,” I say, stopping him. “What the fuck?”
“Tell them congratulations for me,” he says before moving to get back in his truck.
“Why don’t you tell them yourself. Where are you going?”
He lets out a breath and swivels around on his driver’s seat to face me. “I can’t be here,” he tells me. “It’s supposed to be the happiest time of her life and she looks fucking miserable because her best friend is missing her pregnancy. Cami is supposed to be here for her, and because of me, she’s not.”
“You can’t keep blaming yourself for this shit,” I tell him. “Cami could have done a million other things to give herself space. It was her decision to pack her bags and leave. You had nothing to do with that. So, you can either be a little bitch and drive away, or you can get your stupid ass back inside that party and congratulate your friend with a fucking smile on your face. He’s just told us he’s going to have a baby, and right now, he needs his friends to tell him what a great fucking dad he’s going to make, because I’m sure the fucker is shitting himself.”
“Jesus,” he says with hands raised. “I’ll go back in, there’s no need to throw a tantrum over it.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I groan as he jumps down from his truck. “It’s like dealing with a fucking child.”
We head back into the party, and just like I had requested, the dickhead plasters a smile on his face and tells Cole that he’s going to be an incredible father.
By the time I get Lexi home, it’s well past two in the morning. The girls had stayed up, drilling Rylee on every tiny detail of her pregnancy so far. The second she started talking about sore nipples, I zoned right out and let them go.
I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on Lex though. I know her miscarriages were hard on her and I found myself wondering how she was handling the news of someone else’s pregnancy. I mean, I know she was super happy for them and the journey they’re about to take, but it still would have reminded her of everything she lost and what she struggles to have for herself.
She lays in bed beside me, yawning as she curls her arms around her pillow. “Are you alright?” I ask as I run my fingers up and down her body.
She lets out a sigh. “I want that so bad,” she tells me.
“I know,” I tell her. “You’ll get it, even if I have to live inside your guts to make it happen.”
“What?” she grunts as she rolls over to face me. “You want to have kids with me?”
“Yes,” I scoff as though it was a ridiculous question. “I want everything with you. I thought you knew that.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that included kids.”
“I want it all, babe,” I tell her.
“But… now?”
“I mean, I’m not quite ready to share you with anyone yet, but if it happens now that’s still cool.”
“You realize that I may not be able to give you a baby, right?”
“I know,” I say. “But you realize that it doesn’t matter to me either way. We can try for a while and if it’s not happening and it’s still something that we want, then there are other ways to go about it. Whatever happens, you’ll be a mommy to a bunch of beautiful little kids.”
Tears well up in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
I can’t help but grin. “You’ve got to stop asking me that.”
She smiles back at me with a smile that takes my breath away. “Can we start trying now?” she questions as she slips her leg in between mine.
“Babe,” I tell her. “We’ve been trying since the very first time.”
Epilogue
Lexi
4 Months Later
I stand in the living room, a safe distance away from Gerald, as the realtor takes people through my home. My nerves are going wild and if it wasn’t for Luke keeping me grounded right now, I’d probably be running around the house, annoying the shit out of the realtor while giving all the potential buyers a rundown of everything I’ve done.
“Lex,” Luke groans as he steps into the living room behind me. “Get the fuck away from the window already. You’re probably scaring them all away.”
“I can’t,” I tell him, practically bouncing on my toes. “It’s like a sick addiction.”
I swear, I can hear him rolling his eyes. “Babe,” he says in a low, warning tone. “I’m going to count to three and if your ass is not sitting right here next to me, I’m going to let Gerald have you.”
I turn around with wide eyes but don’t dare move. “You wouldn’t.”
“You want to make a bet?” he taunts with a sparkle in his eyes.
“Usually, yes,” I say turning back to the window as another car pulls up. “Right now, I’m busy.”
“Have it your way then,” he says as he gets up from the couch, walks across to Gerald’s enclosure, and starts pulling him out. “Three.”
“No, no, no,” I beg. “Please don’t. If the buyers see a big ass snake, they’ll never buy the place.”
He takes a step towards me. “Two.”
“Luke, no,” I say. “Don’t you come near me with that thing.”
Another step.
“Fuck.” I bolt out of there like my ass is on fire. He puts Gerald down to roam around the house and comes after me. I squeal as he quickly gains on me and within a second, he scoops me up into his arms. “No,” I say, beating on his chest. “Don’t feed me to your snake.”
“Then stay away from the window,” he challenges.
“I can’t,” I tell him.
“Why the hell not?”
“Take me over there,” I say. “I’ll show you.”
He lets out a huff, but nonetheless, takes me back over to the window. “What the hell is so exciting about standing here and watching people walk in and out of your house?”
“Just wait for it,” I tell him.
<
br /> He pops me back down on my feet and places his hands on my shoulders. “What am I waiting for?” he asks after the shortest, impatient wait.
“God,” I groan. “You’re so impatient.”
“You act like it’s some big secret,” he tells me.
I roll my eyes but keep my gaze trained right out the window. “Here,” I say as another car pulls up. “Watch this.”
His eyebrows furrow as he watches the man get out of the car. “What am I supposed to be seeing here?”
“Watch the woman,” I tell him. “Watch the expression on her face.”
His eyes cut across to the woman who climbs out of their family car and looks up at the house. Her eyes soften and a smile pulls at the corners of her lips. She looks at the house as though she just found her forever home and the expression on her face is the exact reason I do this. “Shit,” Luke grunts.
“Did you see that?” I ask as he squeezes my shoulders.
“Yeah, babe,” he says. “That family is going to be our new neighbors.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “They are.”
We both stand here for a moment before I feel something slithering across my foot. “Fuck,” I scream before practically jumping straight up into Luke’s arms. How the fuck could I have forgotten about that damn snake having free reign of this place? “Please,” I beg. “Put him away.”
“Fine,” he says as his hand slides down to grab my ass. “But only because he’s far too innocent to see what I’m about to do to you.”
“If you put him away, I’ll let you do whatever the hell you want to me.”
“You got yourself a deal,” he murmurs before pressing his lips to mine.
A moment later he reaches down around me and lifts Gerald over my head before walking the two of us over to his enclosure while I do my best to cling to him with all my might so I don’t go toppling to the ground. “Shit,” I grunt as a shiver flutters through me. “I’ll never get used to this.”
“Yeah, you will,” he promises me. “He hasn’t tried to eat you yet.”
Luke readjusts me so he can get a better hold of me and walks up through to the kitchen. “Now,” he grins as he sits me on the kitchen counter and slides himself between my legs. “Where was I?”
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