by C. A. Harms
How could I argue with that? Kole was in Heaven right now and I loved watching him float around on cloud nine.
***
We stopped for lunch once we left the doctor and he called his mom to tell her about the appointment. I took the opportunity to call Kate and my father. After two rings Kyle picked up the phone. “Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”
He proceeded to tell me about his soccer practice and the goal he scored against Trevor, the team bully. “That’s awesome Kyle. You better tell Kate to start taping those practices and games for me. I don’t wanna miss one.”
He agreed before he gave the phone to my dad.
“Hey, how’d your appointment go?” I smiled because he remembered and it made me feel important.
I took a deep breath and told him about every second of it. “I’m sixteen weeks, Dad. That means by my wedding I’m gonna have a huge stomach.” The thought dawned on me and I quickly faced Kole with a horrified expression on my face.
He was so involved in his conversation with his mom that he didn’t register my expression. I finished my conversation up quickly with my father and waited impatiently for Kole to finish his call.
Once he hung up he looked at me shrugging his shoulders. “What?”
“Kole, we can’t get married in three months.” I stared at his shocked expression. “My dress won’t fit me. I mean, by our wedding, I’m gonna be what?” I quickly calculated it in my head. “Oh my god, Kole, I’m gonna be over seven months pregnant.” I shook my head, “I’m gonna be huge and my dress won’t fit me.” I began to panic. “We can’t get married on New Year’s.” I stood from the table and walked out of the restaurant toward the truck.
Once I reached the side of it, I leaned against it.
I hadn’t even heard Kole approach. “Lex, it’ll be okay. We’ll just call Trudy and tell her. I’m sure she’ll be able to make some changes to the design.”
I instantly became frustrated, “No! I don’t want to change the dress. I want to change the wedding date. We can’t get married until after the baby’s born.”
It was his turn to get frustrated. “Hell no, that’s not happening. We’re not putting off the wedding. We’ll just move it up.”
I shook my head in confusion as he turned to the truck and opened the door.
Oh my god, was he insane? “We can’t move it up. We would have to get married within the next month—two month’s tops.”
He was looking at me with an expression as if asking “what would be wrong with that?”
“My dress wouldn’t be ready. We’d have to find a place open and then change the invitations. It would be too hard and it would never work.”
He gripped my waist and held my close. “It’s okay, Lex. It’ll work. I’ll make it work. I don’t want to wait until after our baby is born. I wanna marry you now.”
Chapter 35
Kole
I spent two days on the phone with various people but I made it happen. Here we were three weeks later and the wedding was in full swing. We were four days away from the big day and I was ruthless. I refused to let anything ruin this for us.
I had become “Groomzilla”—at least that’s what Lexi and Megan have been calling me the last few weeks.
I paid extra to have Lexi’s dress finished in time, which solved the dress dilemma.
We decided to rent out the same place where we had celebrated her birthday. The memories from the last time we were here needed to be overridden. This place was too beautiful and what better way to recreate memories than to marry Lexi and celebrate our love there.
“So, jackass, are you ready for tomorrow night?” Radley bumped shoulders with me and crossed his arms over his chest. I looked over at him and his smile spread wider. He wiggled his brows up and down and laughed lightly.
“You do know that if you got a stripper, Megan’s probably gonna chop off your nuts?” I told him.
This time I laughed because his gaze shot directly across the room toward the girls. After he realized they were too far away to hear our conversation he instantly relaxed.
He took a deep breath. “Fuck, dude, don’t talk so loud.”
That’s the moment I regretted agreeing to allow Radley to plan the bachelor party. Hell, I didn’t even want one, but he and the guys insisted it was necessary.
I groaned and leaned against the doorway. “Rad, you better not be planning anything that’s gonna get us in trouble.” His grin became even wider and he chuckled as he walked away looking smug. I was debating if I should fake some flu bug and ditch the guys completely so I could stay in the safe zone.
I looked up to see Lexi approaching from across the room.
I waited until she was only a few feet away before I pushed off the wall and moved toward her. She smiled and damn if she couldn’t still make my knees feel weak. I reached toward her, wrapping my arms around her waist, softly kissing her lips, and leaning my forehead against hers. “You ready for all this?” I kept my eyes closed as she rubbed her hands up and down my arms slowly.
“Yes, I’m ready. Are you ready for your last single night out with the guys?” I could tell she was trying not to let it bother her that she had no idea what I would be doing tomorrow night.
“Lex, if I could skip it without the guys calling me ‘pussy boy’ for weeks afterward, I would.” I whispered looking down into her gorgeous eyes.
She just laughed. “Really, Kole? They already call you ‘pussy boy,’ and besides, I wouldn’t let you skip it. You should go out with the guys and have a good time.” Lexi paused for a second, “Um…not too good of a time, though.”
I chuckled lightly. “Don’t you worry about that. I’m sure it’ll be boring as hell.”
Lexi smiled and took a step back. “Sure it will.” She winked and walked back across the room to where Megan and Natalie were wrapping up little bottles of bubbles to give to our guests at the wedding.
Chapter 36
Lexi
I was seriously making my best attempt not to pout as I watched Kole get ready for his night out with the guys. He had already changed three times but that was his fault, though. He was the one who kept asking me how he looked and I kept lying. He looked hot as hell, but I continued to make excuses as to why he should change.
But damn, if it wasn’t seriously backfiring in my face. It seemed that each time he changed, he just got sexier. It was truly a no-win situation.
He turned around questioning his appearance once more and I forced a smile. “You look good.” Good was mild in comparison, but that was all I was offering.
His eyes questioned mine as he walked toward me, with a smirk if I wasn’t mistaken. I stood in the bathroom door wanting to just attack him and make him forget all about this night out thing.
He wore the jeans I loved; they were made with frayed holes throughout and fit his thighs and ass to perfection. The red Henley shirt was stretched out by his impressive muscles, across his chest and arms, making it even harder to hold back from touching him.
I looked up at him once he was within a foot of me and I could tell he was fighting a grin. I bit my lip between my teeth staring up into his eyes, feeling the undeniable attraction I had for him heat my neck and face almost instantly.
Kole hooked his finger into the front of my pants and pulled me to him. He gripped my hip with his other hand and I let my head rest on his chest, just breathing him in.
I felt his breath on my neck just before I felt his lips. He placed soft kisses along the path to my ear gently whispering along the way. “I love you baby.” Another kiss. “You say the word and I won’t go.” Kiss. “I’ll stay home with you and we’ll have our own little party.” I smiled at his comment.
“You’re not staying home. I trust you, okay? Completely.” I refused to be the jealous fiancée. “You’re gonna go and enjoy a night with your boys.” I took a deep breath and squeezed him a little tighter, burying my face into his chest.
“But you better not let any strip
per girl touch what’s mine. I’m pregnant and hormonal, and if that happens I can guarantee you’ll regret it big time. And so will she.”
A soft chuckle shook his chest against my cheek. “There is no way in hell any girl is getting anywhere near what’s yours. I promise.”
I wasn’t ready to let him go, but when I heard the doorbell ring I knew I’d have to. I felt his arms wrap around me just a little tighter and he kissed my forehead, leaving his lips pressed against me a few seconds longer than the kiss.
“Megan and Natalie will be here soon. I’m sure Megan’s right behind Radley. She’s been drilling him about strippers; ever since he got drunk and got a lap dance in that bar and then lied, she doesn’t like the idea of strip clubs.” He should have just fessed up from the get go then she wouldn’t doubt him.
“Enjoy yourself tonight.” He looked down into my eyes and kissed me softly, letting his lips linger against mine.
The doorbell rang once more and I stepped back. Kole groaned and pulled me along with him to answer the door.
A short time later I watched as he climbed into Radley’s Tahoe with his two groomsmen, Tucker and Mason. I knew they were up to no good by the nervous look on Radley’s face. I fought against the laughter rumbling in my chest as I thought of what Meg was gonna put him through later.
***
Our night was nothing like whatever the boys had planned. I sat in a chair with my feet stretched out in front of me. I had already been waxed and massaged. Now my feet were being rubbed and I was fighting against the comatose state I was drifting into.
“So you’re not mad?” Megan interrupted my pedicure once again. She had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown since she showed at my apartment to pick me up.
I laughed. “No, Meg. I’m not mad. You gotta trust Radley. He’s coming home to you and he loves you. They’re not gonna screw up. Just let them have fun and trust him.”
She flopped back in the chair next to me and blew out a frustrated breath. “I should have hired a male stripper. I could have found some guy dressed as a cop to arrest you or something.” Poor girl was miserable at the thought of Radley being anywhere near a half-naked girl shaking her ass at him.
On second thought, the vision of Kole in that situation kind of made me feel slightly nauseated.
Chapter 37
Kole
“So which one of you sexy ass men is the groom?” I let my head fall forward and let out a deep breath. When I looked up I found all three of my so-called friends pointing directly at me with beaming smiles.
“Assholes…” I mumbled as I shook my head at Radley and he laughed, leaning back to watch. Two fucking strippers—two. The dick couldn’t just get one.
As they got closer the blonde straddled my lap and the brunette went around the back of my chair. I held my hands up in surrender. “Really, ladies, you can dance for my friends. The one in the yellow shirt really needs some attention.”
I let my head fall to the side to find Radley flipping me off. The room was spinning and I regretted the repeated shots we did before settling in this private room.
I lifted my head and noticed the blonde was a little too close to my face. The moment I let my head fall back to gain some space I bumped into the other girl.
“What’s wrong, baby? You nervous?” The brunette whispered from behind me against my neck.
I closed my eyes and silently planned a slow agonizing death for Radley.
“We don’t bite; we just nibble,” the blonde assured me as she continued to grind on my lap.
I was just about to respond to the girl when I felt her run her tongue up the side of my neck.
It was like a cold glass of water on a hot day. My body went rigid.
“All right, ladies, I think that’s enough,” I said as I stood quickly, nudging the one on my lap backwards. I reached the door and twisted the handle looking over my shoulders toward the girls. “They’re all yours, boys. I’m getting a drink.”
I heard Mason tell the strippers, “Don’t take it personally, ladies, he secretly has a vagina.”
I chuckled and kept walking toward the bar.
“What can I get ya, sweetheart?” The lady behind the counter asked me as I pulled myself up to the bar and sat in the stool.
“He’ll have two shots and a Bud. I’ll take the same.” Radley took the seat next to me and slapped a fifty down on the bar.
I smiled and turned forward, “What’s wrong, Radley? You scared Megan will castrate ya in your sleep?”
He chuckled. “Hell yeah, man. She fucking drilled my ass for hours before we left and then she’s texted me five times since we’ve been here. She said I was sleeping in my truck tonight if I even thought about letting a stripper breathe on me.”
I couldn’t hold in the laugh. “What the hell do you expect, Rad? She has a visual of your last encounter with a stripper embedded in her mind. What kind of dumbass lets his friends take pictures of a girl’s tits in his face and then doesn’t delete them? Megan got to see that shit and I’m surprised she didn’t kick your ass then.” He hung his head.
“Imagine if that was her with some guy’s junk in her face.” His face scrunched up and he shook his head as if to clear that picture from his mind.
“I get it, man. Fuck, I thought you were my friend.” He was silent for a moment before he looked over at me with an arched brow. “What the hell is wrong with us, Kole? We’re in a strip club full of half-dressed girls and we’re sitting at the bar getting loaded.” He slid his shots across the bar to me. “Well, you’re getting loaded; I gotta drive your drunken asses home tonight.”
I sunk back the first two and then grabbed for the others. “You may have to carry me in too. My lips are starting to get numb as fuck.” I heard him laugh as I threw back the next two.
Chapter 38
Lexi
After we left the spa we went to a restaurant for a late dinner, agreeing on a little Italian place downtown. We spent most of the time laughing over Megan’s sulking and being worried sick about the boys and their night out.
“Stop laughing. It’s so not funny.” Megan leaned forward and placed her face into her hands, groaning loudly. This little outburst caused a few people to turn in our direction, attempting to figure out where it came from.
I should have been embarrassed, but I was enjoying her pouting a little too much.
“Alright little Miss Grumpy Pants, let’s get you outta here before you start scaring the other guests.” I took her hand into mine and pulled her up from her chair.
She whined the entire walk to the car.
“Ah hell, I forgot my keys on the table.” Megan and I both turned to find Natalie darting back toward the restaurant in a hurry.
Megan leaned against the trunk of the car as we waited. “Do you think I’m being stupid?”
I knew Megan had reasons to worry, but that was the past. Radley loved her and she had to let the past go. “No, you just have to trust him, Meg. He loves you.”
“Well, look who’s here.”
Megan and I both turned to find Miley walking in our direction with a smug look on her face. I hadn’t seen her since before she threw herself at Kole, and I had been hoping I wouldn’t have to face her any time soon.
Before I could say or do anything Megan pushed against the car practically lunging herself forward. “Well if it isn’t the skanky slut who can’t take a hint.” Megan now had her body positioned between Miley and me, and I could tell she was fuming with irritation.
I knew a lot of it was related to her aggravation about the guys but Miley was about to suffer the moods of Megan.
When she got fired up it was easier to just walk away.
“Oh, I can take a hint, darling. I knew just how to take the hint Kole dropped when he told me Lexi was out of town.” She shifted her brows in somewhat of a suggestive manner. “I took so much more that night too. I think I took nine inches for a couple hours, because Kole was dropping hints right and left.”
>
Megan stepped toward her and I came up behind her, now feeling my own anger taking over. “Kole doesn’t want your nasty ass.”
Megan held her arms out shielding me and Miley laughed. “What—poor Lexi can’t fight her own battles?”
“I’m pregnant, you bitch.”
Miley’s smile fell just a little and I saw it a second too late. Megan swung her hand in Miley’s direction and the loud crack echoed through the parking lot. Miley instantly grabbed her cheek just as Natalie came running toward us.
Megan took another step toward her. “Stay the fuck out of Lexi and Kole’s life. Next time I won’t just slap you—I’ll break your fucking nose.”
***
After I came home and was able to calm down from the adrenaline rush of Megan drilling Miley, I took a quick shower and crawled into bed.
I woke some time later to my phone ringing and looked over to the clock on the nightstand for the time. I groaned because I hated being woken up more than anything. Crawling from the bed to get my phone from the dresser I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed Kole’s picture lit up my screen.
“Hello,” I said as I lifted the phone to my ear.
I could instantly tell he was drunk. “Hey, sexy fiancée,” he slurred. I laughed and he continued.
“Are you home, baby?” His voice lowered just enough to make it a tad huskier.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Damn, I wanna come home too. I miss you.” He laughed and covered the phone to say something to someone.
When he returned back to our phone call his mood had instantly shifted once again. “Radley says I’m a pussy…am I a pussy?”
