Viewing Room

by L. P. Dover

  I never told her that I was sending out applications. I didn’t want to upset her, or make her act on our deal. The reason being, I wanted to be able to achieve a position on my own. I wanted her to be proud of me.

  And honestly, I thought that working with her day in and day out would damage our relationship if she were my boss. Now, I’ll report to Chris. Very rarely do they have clients that overlap so it’ll be odd for Kennedy and I to work together on any given day. Unless we’re at home and giving the bed, counters, sofa, desk, and whatever other surfaces we can find to fuck on a workout.

  The administration team tells us to line-up. We’re in alphabetical order and even as adults we’re saying it silently in our heads to find out who we line up after. Being an M, I’m usually smack dab in the middle and that is where I stand, answering repeatedly what my last name is. We practiced once and they expect us to nail it. Clearly their expectations that we’re overachievers are lacking. It’s taken some of us to get through grad school ten years. I, however, am not one of them. Thank you, Society X.

  Once the music begins, we start into the auditorium. Multiple classes are graduating right now, but in different locations. Each discipline has its own, with my class being approximately two hundred students. Doesn’t seem like a lot until you get us all together in one cramped room.

  Instead of looking forward, my eyes scan the crowd for my family. I’ve taken to calling Kennedy family because short of getting married, she is. I don’t see myself with anyone else. Even with the age difference, she’s the woman for me. I knew it the night in the club when I first spoke to her.

  Kennedy is easy to spot with her red hair. I stare in her direction until she looks my way. There’s something about Kennedy that I can’t get enough of. I don’t know if it’s the way she responds to my touch or the fact that she’s so expressive when we’re together. I can read her body before she even knows what’s happening to her. And watching this woman come … it’s like fucking unwrapping all your Christmas presents over and over again.

  We file into our seats and the staff members start in on their spiels. Five professors talk and all five make me yawn. It’s easy to keep eye contact with Kennedy, and if it weren’t for my grandmother sitting next to her, I’d be making some lewd gestures at her. Chris doesn’t care. In fact, he thinks it’s funny and has asked my advice when it comes to his boyfriend, Logan.

  Logan and I met sophomore year in college. We hung out a few times, hit a few frat parties, but he couldn’t afford tuition so he had to drop out. By chance I ran into him a few months ago and told him where I was interning and suggested he stop by for lunch someday. He did and took one look at Chris and asked me to hook them up. He’s the shit and has turned out to be one of my best friends. Where Chris and Kennedy are close, Logan and I are buds, often sitting on the couch drinking beer and watching the game.

  As the names start to get called, I grow nervous. Each goal in life that I have set has been met, except for one. Tonight, after my graduation party is over I plan to take Kennedy for a walk. It’s been a while since we’ve gone on a date between Jennifer’s divorce trial, our depositions for Chad’s murder trial, and studying for finals; we’re rarely free of any duties. It’s during our walk that I plan to propose. I know it’s damn early in our relationship, but I don’t want anyone else. Thing is, when you know, you know and you shouldn’t second-guess yourself. I’m scared fucking shitless, though, because she hasn’t been divorced a year yet and I can imagine she’s in no hurry to rush down the aisle again.

  My name is called and my little cheering section stands up. Because my graduating class is so small, the administrators opted for a traditional graduation instead of introducing us all at once. It’s nice and personal this way.

  Once my diploma is in my hand—well, the piece of paper saying they’ll mail me one in three to six weeks—I let out a sigh of relief. At any given time someone could’ve outed me about being a stripper, ending my academic run and ruining my career. I imagined the scenario so many times that I’ve scared myself.

  When news broke about the club bombing, my name wasn’t mentioned because I never gave the police the okay to release it. At best I could’ve played it off that I was there partaking in some extracurricular activities, but I wasn’t wearing a shirt and even my sexual exploration of the club would seem questionable to the admins. Of course, the fear was never far from my mind each time I got on stage or did a lap dance. Any one of those women could’ve been a student and I would’ve been fucked.

  After everyone has had their chance to go across the stage, music is played and we’re dismissed. In the hall, bodies linger, cameras flash, and everyone squeals in delight because school is over. Some start jobs on Monday, while others are still looking. Thankfully, I’m one of the lucky ones.

  Kennedy is by my side in a flash, kissing me full on the lips. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thank you,” I murmur against her lips.

  She lets go when my gram meanders her way to me. I hug her tight and my eyes burn. I quickly push my thumbs into my eyes to stop the tears. She doesn’t need to see me cry even though she knows what the tears are for.

  “Oh, Hunter, I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Gram.

  “Your mom and dad would be beside themselves right now.” And that’s why I’m upset. They’re not here. Not that they have been at my previous graduations, but it doesn’t make the sting any less.

  “Come, son,” she says, pulling me along. “We have a party to attend.”

  I take Kennedy by the hand and pull her behind my gram and I. Chris and Logan are waiting by the door.

  “Congrats,” they both say and I give Chris a knowing look. He shakes his head, confirming that he hasn’t told Kennedy that he’s hired me yet. I don’t know how the conversation is going to go, but I’m hoping she won’t be pissed.

  Chris and Logan drive my gram home, while Kennedy and I drive her car. I’m behind the driver's seat, with my hand between her legs. Of course, my pinky is inching closer and closer to her promise land.

  “Hunter,” she warns, making me laugh.

  “You know,” I say as we come to a stoplight, “you could easily give me a blow job right now and no one would know.” I thrust my hips even though she can’t see it much due to the black robe.

  “I know you want one.”

  “Hell yeah,” is all I can say.

  She rolls her eyes and tells me to drive, but I’m not a block away when I feel her hand brush over my dick. She palms me, causing me to hiss.

  “Kennedy.” She laughs and tries to get my zipper down with her fingers. It doesn’t quite work so I help her the first chance I can. Her hand wraps around my dick and she starts stroking. “Fuck that feels good.”

  I pull off, down a side street that I know leads to a dead end that abuts an open field. Once I have the car parked, I push my seat back and pull the robe up. My girl doesn’t fucking hesitate and wraps her luscious lips around my cock.

  “Your fucking mouth,” I tell her. Kennedy can make my dick throb in no time flat by the way she sucks and strokes me at the same time.

  I keep my hands on the steering wheel so people won’t assume anything is amiss. My eyes roll back in my head as my release gets closer.

  “Fuck, baby, I need to be inside you right now,” I tell her, reaching for her, but she’s sitting so the only thing I can do is grab her tit. “Kennedy, I’m going to come in that pretty mouth if you don’t stop.”

  She sits up and continues to jack me off instead. Within seconds I’m releasing over her hand and probably down the front of my fucking pants. At this point, I don’t even care.

  I’m panting heavily as she cleans up. She’s laughing and for the life of me I can’t figure out why.

  “What’s so funny?”

  She shakes head. “I had this big, dramatic speech planned for you and instead we’re here, who knows where, and I’m giving you a blow job.”

  “Spe
ech about what?” I don’t care that my dick is hanging out of my pants; I grab the back of her head and press my lips to hers. When she doesn’t answer, I furrow my brows. “Babe,” I run my fingers up and down her arm, trying to get her to talk, “what’s up?”

  She takes a few deep breaths and turns her head. When she finally looks at me, there are tears in her eyes. “I thought I could handle this without crying, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be possible.”

  “Are you okay?” I ask, concern etched in my voice.

  “It depends on you.” We stare at each other for a few minutes but then she rests a hand over her stomach. Time stands still as I wait for her to tell me what I already know. “I’m pregnant,” she whispers.

  Stunned into silence, my mouth opens but closes quickly. I have no clue what to say.

  “Hunter?”

  “Um … wow, this is … um.”

  “Look, I can do it by myself. You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want.”

  I can see her mouth moving, but the words make no sense. Closing my eyes, I shake the fogginess that’s starting to creep in. My emotions are running high and I have no clue what I’m supposed to do.

  “Pregnant?” I ask, making sure I heard her right. Maybe it’s all a dream?

  She nods, confirming it once and for all.

  “How?” She blanches and averts her gaze before I can continue. Grabbing her chin, I turn her toward me, refusing to let her go. “What I mean is, I thought you were on the pill.”

  “I am, but I think the prescriptions I was taking to counter any infections may have worked against the pill.”

  “Oh. And we had sex a lot.”

  She rolls her eyes. “We did it at least three times a day, Hunter, and relied only on the pill.”

  “I know because wearing a condom with you would suck.” I throw that out for good measure. “A baby, huh?”

  She nods again, wiping her tears. I pull her into my arms and kiss every part of her face that I can. “I hope it’s a monkey.”

  “What?” She sits back in her seat.

  “Fuck, Kennedy. If we have a girl, she’s never leaving the house, and a boy … what am I going to teach him? How to stroke his dick for money?” Her eyes go wide. “See, a monkey would be much better.”

  “Stop, Hunter,” she says, crawling into my lap. “You’re going to teach them how to love, how to respect, and how to be a decent human. The rest, we’ll do together, minus the stroking of dicks. You save that for me.” She winks before kissing me. We break apart and I know it's the perfect time to ask her the one question I've been dying to ask.

  "Kennedy," I whisper, trying stealthily to pull her ring out of my pocket. Her eyes widen and there's something about the expression on her face that tells me I should wait, but I can't. "I know it might seem sudden, but I've never been so sure about anything in my life." Her breath hitches and my heart is beating so hard I can barely breathe. The words are out before I can show her the ring. "Will you marry me?"

  Frozen in place, she stares at me for I don't know how long. It feels like an eternity until she finally sits back before moving over to the passenger seat.

  “Hunter,” she cries, hiding her face. When she lifts her gaze to mine, I can see her answer. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

  Hunter looks at me as if I slapped him in the face. The words were instant, on the tip of my tongue, and there’s nothing I can do to take them back. I just told him I couldn’t marry him. It breaks my heart, but there’s no other choice right now.

  “You can’t? What do you mean you can’t?” he asks, pain written all over his face.

  My eyes burn. “Just what I said, I can’t.”

  The car feels like it’s gotten smaller by the minute. Not to mention I’m nauseous as hell. I’m surprised I didn’t gag the entire time I went down on him. Everything makes me want to vomit these days. Guess I can blame it on all the morning sickness. Or in my case, the all-day sickness. It’s been hard as hell keeping it from him the past few weeks. I wanted to make sure I was past the risk zone before I told him.

  Grabbing my chin, he tries to turn me toward him but I move away. I feel like I’m going to be sick. Opening the door, I get out and fall to my knees. Hunter’s by my side in an instant, holding me.

  “I don’t understand. Why won’t you marry me?”

  My lips tremble. “Because I don’t want it to be because of the baby. I’ve already had one failed marriage. I can’t go through that again. I’ve seen numerous relationships fail because of this.”

  He lifts my chin in his strong grasp, refusing to let me look at anything but him. “That’s not going to happen, Kennedy. I love you and I want you to marry me.” Keeping his gaze on mine, he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, only I can’t see it. “If you’d just given me a couple extra minutes, I was going to ask you to marry me anyway. The baby has nothing to do with it.”

  I glance down at the diamond ring and gasp. “Hunter.”

  Mouth gaping, I stare at the ring, frozen. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do. I love him more than life itself, but I’m afraid. So many things are going to change in the next few months.

  He holds the ring in his palm, not even attempting to put it on my finger. “I don’t know what you’re thinking or how you feel, but know this: I’m not going to run away. I may be young and say stupid things, but I know what I want.” His lips brush mine softly. “I want you, Kennedy. For the rest of my life, I want to be the man you lean on, the man to make you happy. If you think I’m going to run when things get hard, you’re going to be in for one hell of a surprise.”

  The thought makes me smile. “I know you won’t run away when things get hard,” I tease. All I want is to get the forlorn expression off his face. I hate I put it there.

  He huffs and rolls his eyes. “I’m being serious, Kennedy. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you don’t say yes today, I’ll wait for you. All I ask is that you accept my ring. I won’t take it as a yes or a no. Hell, you don’t even have to wear it. I just want to know you’re mine for however long you give me.”

  My hand shakes but I hold it out, letting him slide it on my finger; it fits perfectly. Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m scared.”

  Taking my face in his hands, he looks straight into my eyes. “You don’t have to be,” he murmurs. “I’m going to be right beside you the whole way.”

  “Promise?”

  A small smile spreads across his face. “I promise.” He helps me to my feet and then gets on his knees, brushing his lips across my belly. “I’m gonna make you a promise, too,” he whispers, talking to our little peanut. “I may not know what I’m doing, but I promise to be the best damn dad I can be. I won’t let you down either.”

  With tears in his eyes, he kisses my belly again and gets to his feet. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him as tight as I can. I don’t ever want to let go. “I love you so much, Hunter. All I ask for is time. Our lives are about to change. There’s no telling what’ll happen.”

  He squeezes me back. “All that’s going to happen is me falling in love with you more.”

  I know exactly how he feels.

  Seven Months Later

  So much has happened over the last few months, it’s been hard to keep up. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been on my game since I’ve been pregnant. I never realized how tired it made you. You hear all the stories, but I always thought I’d be able to handle it better. All I want to do is sleep. Unfortunately, I’m overdue a week and feeling more miserable by the day.

  My phone beeps and it takes all my effort to bend over and pick it up off the coffee table. I smile when I see who it is.

  Jennifer: How ya feeling?

  Me: Tired. Ready for this baby to come out.

  Jennifer: LOL … it’ll happen. He/she’s just being stubborn like their momma.

  Don’t I know it. Ever since the trial ended and Chad was put away for life, Jennifer turned into a co
mpletely different person. She even looks like a different person after all the surgeries, but she’s still the same Jennifer I grew up with. It’s because of her I had designer maternity clothes and a room full of baby furniture. I know she feels responsible for Chad attacking me and is trying to make it up any way she can. Her being alive is enough for me.

  I text her back.

  Me: HA-HA. Hopefully, the baby will come soon.

  Jennifer: Hope so. Auntie Jen’s ready to meet him/her. I really wish I knew what you were having.

  Me: We’ll find out soon!

  And we will. I’m starting to regret not knowing what Hunter and I are having. I’m carrying high, which some say is how you are when you’re having a girl, but yet others say it’s a boy because of the slower heart rate. Who knows? We’re going to find out when I go into labor.

  “Babe, you want some ice cream?” Hunter calls out from the kitchen.

  Pursing my lips, I glare at him over my shoulder. I can barely get off the couch because my belly is so big. “Does it look like I need ice cream?”

  His smile makes everything inside of me tighten. Even though my stomach is larger than two watermelons, he’s never failed on making me feel sexy.

  Hunter grabs a bottle of water from the refrigerator and then joins me on the couch. “You’re hot when you eat ice cream,” he teases. “I love the way you lick the spoon.”

  I roll my eyes. “I swear, I think you’ve gotten even hornier with me being pregnant.”

  He waggles his brows. “The doctor did say that sex will help you along.”

  I laugh. “We’ve done it every day this week. It’s not working.” Not that I’m complaining, the sex is always amazing, but I’m ready to be done.