Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4)

by Jessica Prince

  I couldn’t control the hysterical laughter that escaped me as I pictured Lizzy in torn up, dirty clothes and a brown wig. I was talking full-on, snort inducing laughter.

  “Seriously, Kenz! Who in their right damn mind gets turned on pretending to fight in a friggin’ zombie apocalypse?! He even wrote a script. A script!”

  “So he’s gonna dress up as Glenn?” I giggled.

  “No,” she sulked. “He’s Merle. That asshole’s had a sick obsession with that man since we made the mistake of introducing him to the show. He even found that stupid metal thingy to put on his hand so it looks like it’s missing.”

  “Stop…stop,” I choked, tears running down my face. “I can’t breathe.”

  “Yeah, you’re welcome, bitch,” she grumbled before going back to work. I tried desperately to control myself, but every time I pictured them in full TWD regalia, another fit of laughter started up.

  Me: Trevor tell you what he conned Lizzy into doing to agree to babysitting?

  Brett: Yes. And don’t remind me. I just got that fuckin' visual out of my head.

  Me: What’s wrong with your friend?

  Brett: So damn much. Don’t forget the thong!

  Woohoo! I couldn’t wait for date night!

  For the love of Christ. This date night was the worst date night in the history of the world! I needed a motherfuckin’ redo like nobody’s business. I’d spent countless hours putting the damn night together, and it’d been one epic screw up after another right out of the friggin’ gate.

  I had stopped at the florist’s to buy the most expensive bouquet of flowers I could find, thinking, surely every woman loved flowers.

  Yeah, not so much.

  When I walked through the door, flowers held behind my back, I was stunned speechless and semi-erect the moment I laid eyes on my girl. The little black dress she was wearing hugged her curves so well my mouth watered. From head to toe, she looked like perfection.

  “Sweet Lord, baby. You look fantastic.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled then proceeded to have a little sneezing fit.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m good. I’m good.” She stepped up to give me a kiss, but as soon as she stood in front of me, she sneezed in my mouth. “Shit! I’m so sorry. God, that was so gross. I’m so sorry, honey.”

  “It’s okay,” I soothed, wiping the back of my hand across my face. “Here, I got you these.” I pulled the flowers from behind my back with a shit-eating grin, so damn sure they were gonna get me laid. To say her reaction was a bad one would have been an understatement.

  Covering her nose and mouth with both hands, I heard a mumbled, “Oh, God,” as she took two giant steps away from me. “Are those stargazer lilies?”

  I looked down at the bundle in my hand and shrugged. “I dunno. What the hell is a stargazer lily?”

  “Shit.” Sneeze. “I can’t be…” sneeze… “around stargazer…” sneeze… “lilies. They make my…” sneeze… “allergies act up…” sneeze.

  Son of a bitch. “Beauty, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Her eyes began to water, making black shit run down her face. “It’s okay…” sneeze. “Can you just…” sneeze… “take them…” sneeze… “out of here?” sneeze.

  “Shit. Yeah,” I rushed out, heading for the backdoor. I threw it open and hurled the bouquet into the backyard like a football without a second thought. What a waste. I’d spent two hundred bucks on fuckin’ flowers that almost made my girlfriend sneeze herself to death.

  “I’b jus gonna…” she started, beginning to sound like she had toilet paper shoved up her nose. “…take an antihistamine and fix my makeub.”

  Fuck me sideways. The night was already going down the shitter and the date hadn’t even officially started yet.

  The evening only got worse from there. I’d made reservations at a fancy restaurant about thirty minutes outside of town. It was the most expensive Italian place I could find within a fifty-mile radius of Cloverleaf, and everyone on Yelp said it was the shit. I was certain the place was a winner.

  “You sure you don’t want to just go home?” It was the third time I’d asked her that since leaving the house. We’d just been seated at our table. The lighting in the restaurant was dim, the glow of the candles on the tables made everything seem more romantic. But I was still able to make out her red nose and puffy, watery eyes perfectly. She looked miserable.

  “I told you. I’b fine,” she mumbled, trying her best to give me a sincere smile, which couldn’t have been easy considering she had to breathe through her mouth. “Let’s just order and enjoy ourselves. This place is so nice. Look,” she said, pointing to the menu excitedly. “Eberythings in Italian.”

  I loved seeing her face light up like that, even if it was still slightly swollen.

  The waiter came over with our drinks and took our order. We spent the time waiting on our meals talking quietly about where we saw our relationship heading. It was amazing. If I’d have been asked to draw up the perfect woman for myself, I never would have come close to all that was Kenzie. It was as if she had been born just for me.

  Our food arrived and we both immediately dug in. The next minute or so was filled with nothing but moans over how fantastic everything tasted.

  Yeah, Yelp knew its shit. The restaurant was phenomenal.

  “Oh, baby,” I groaned as I took another bite. “You have to taste this. It’s so damn good.” Spearing a piece with my fork, I lifted it to her mouth for her to try.

  “Mmm, that is good,” she said around the bite. “What is that?” she asked once she finished chewing, having savored the bite for as long as she could before swallowing.

  “Lobster ravioli. Excellent, right?”

  I’d already taken another bite before I noticed her face had turned an unhealthy pale color and a weird wheezing sound was emitting from her chest.

  “Lobster?” she croaked. She started trying to suck in deep breaths, but seemed to be having trouble.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?” I rushed out when she grabbed her purse and began to dig around frantically.

  “Allergic to shellfish,” she wheezed.

  The white of her face quickly morphed into an angry purple-ish color. This was not good. Not good!

  “EpiPen,” she choked out, still digging in her purse.

  “Shit! Fuck!” I jumped from my chair so quickly it went flying into the table behind me, but I didn’t give a damn. I was on her side of the table in a flash, jerking the purse from her grasp and upending it onto the table, sending the contents scattering.

  “Found it!” I shouted triumphantly, holding the pen up in the air like a goddamned trophy.

  “In…” wheeze… “my…” wheeze… “thigh.”

  “Shit, right!”

  Popping the top off, I quickly stabbed the needle in Kenzie thigh and depressed the button, praying that she’d soon start to breathe normally again. That blue-ish color her face was turning couldn’t have been a good sign.

  After a few seconds, she relaxed back in her chair and sucked in a deep breath.

  Thank baby Jesus.

  The waiter came scurrying over in a panic. “Is everything all right?”

  “Check, please,” I grumbled dryly.

  I was officially calling it. I’d unknowingly almost killed my girlfriend twice in one night. It was safe to say that date night was a bust.

  Poor Brett. He’d tried so hard to put together a romantic evening for the two of us, but it had just ended in disaster. After my near run-in with anaphylaxis, he’d insisted that I go to the emergency room. I tried convincing him that there was no need. The EpiPen had done the trick; I didn’t need emergency care, but he wasn’t hearing it.

  We’d spent the remainder of the night at the ER, waiting to be seen by a doctor, just to be told four hours later that everything was fine. I just needed to rest and stay away from anything that could cause another allergic reaction.

  Basically,
the good old doc confirmed everything I’d already told Brett.

  He gave me some strong meds to ward off the breathing issues the flowers had caused, so by the time we were in the Jeep on the way home, I was finally able to breathe through my nose again. Looking back on the night, I wanted to laugh. I mean, come on! It was funny if you really thought about it. But judging by the white-knuckle grip Brett had on the steering wheel and the ticking in his jaw, I knew laughing would have been a huge mistake. I’d just wait a day or two for him to finally see the humor in the situation.

  But there was no doubt that I was filling the girls in on our epic date night as soon as friggin’ possible. I was positive they’d get a major kick out of it.

  “I’m so sorry,” Brett mumbled for the gazillionth time. “Shit, beauty. I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

  “Honey,” I laughed. “It’s okay. Really. Years from now, we’ll look back on this night and laugh our asses off. This is the kind of story we’ll be able to tell our kids when they’re grown up. Mommy and Daddy’s very first date led to near-death and a trip to the emergency room.”

  He didn’t say anything for a solid two minutes.

  “Our kids?” he finally asked, his tone soft and filled with awe.

  “Well…yeah. I mean, you already told me you were gonna propose one day, and that I’d be saying yes,” I joked. “And I already told you I’m cool with more kids.”

  “You love me, beauty?” he asked in a ragged voice.

  My own voice came out in a whisper. “You know I do, honey. I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

  Finally, after all the drama of the night, I finally saw his lips quirk up in a grin. “Even though I tried to kill you…twice?”

  There was my guy.

  “Yes, even though you tried to kill me,” I giggled.

  “You’re my other half, beauty. Without you, I’m not whole.”

  “You make me whole, too, Brett,” I replied past the lump of tears that had quickly formed in my throat. “I wake up every day thanking God that he put you in my life.”

  Reaching over the console, Brett took my hand and pulled it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on each knuckle. “Love you, beauty.”

  “Love you, too, honey.”

  The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, our fingers entwined. There wasn’t a need for more words. We’d already said everything that needed saying.

  I was having the best dream. Kenzie was on her knees in front of me, giving a gold medal worthy performance in oral skills. Jesus Christ, there was nothing sexier than when my beauty looked up at me with her gorgeous jade eyes as her plump lips stretched around my aching cock.

  I was pulled from my slumber by the sound of a guttural moan, the vibrations shooting straight up my dick.

  “Fuck me,” I groaned once the fog of sleep had lifted completely and I was able to see and feel what was happening perfectly.

  Kenzie pulled away from me, releasing my hard-on with a loud pop. “In just a minute, honey. I want to taste you first.

  My head fell back on a gasp as she swallowed as much of my hard length as possible. “Baby,” I managed to grind out between clenched teeth. “You gotta stop. The doc said you needed to rest.”

  “I’ve rested enough. I want you.”

  Not one to deny my woman’s wishes, I lay back, propping my hands beneath my head, the glow of the moon through the blinds giving me just enough light to make out the erotic sight of Kenzie’s head bobbing up and down between my legs. With each upward stroke, she hollowed out her cheeks, sucking me so hard the telltale tingles appeared at the base of my spine. It was by far the best blow job I’d ever had. But I didn’t want to come in her mouth. When I came, I wanted to be buried inside her, feeling her pussy squeezing me as she screamed my name.

  “Baby, stop,” I panted. “I’m gonna come.”

  She wasn’t deterred. At my words, she moved faster, her hand around the base of my cock moving up and down to meet her lips. Her wicked tongue flicked the underside of the head until I thought I was going to lose my mind.

  Fuck me, I was so close.

  “Don’t want to come in your mouth, beauty. I want you to ride me.”

  That seemed to get her attention. Finally releasing me, I watched in wonder as she slowly crawled up my body until she was straddling my erection. The heat from between her legs as her wet pussy rubbed against me made my cock jerk.

  “Ah, fuck, baby. I need to be inside you.”

  Reaching between her thighs, she grabbed hold of my shaft, lining it up with her opening. Before I could even process what was happening, she lowered herself quickly, taking every inch of me in to her body with a deep moan. It was heaven. The only words to describe what being connected to Kenzie like this felt like were pure bliss.

  “God, Brett,” she whimpered as her hips moved back and forth, up and down. The rhythm in which she fucked me was absolutely mind blowing. I was never going to get tired of this.

  “That’s right, beauty. Fuck me. I want you to make yourself come all over my cock.

  “Oh, yeah. Keep talking, honey.”

  My girl, always so turned on by my dirty talk.

  “You love my cock, don’t you, Kenzie?” I asked, knowing every word was sending her closer and closer to the edge.

  “God, yes.”

  “Your pussy’s so goddamned perfect, beauty. Never felt anything like you. So fuckin’ tight and wet.”

  “I’m close,” she gasped, grinding down on me. I wanted to give her what she needed, but I couldn’t lay there helpless any longer. I needed to fuck her. I needed to pound into her until she felt me in every inch of her body.

  Grabbing hold of her hips, I sat up, still buried inside her and shifted so she was on her back. She cried out at the movement as my dick pushed deeper into her.

  “Oh, God,” she whimpered as I slammed my hips into hers at a relentless pace.

  “Need you to come for me, beauty,” I panted as the tingle in my spine grew to an almost painful level. My balls drew up tightly and I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. I had zero self-control when it came to Kenzie. The desire I felt to mark every inch of her body was undeniable.

  Lowering my head, I sucked one of her pretty pink nipples into my mouth, biting down just hard enough to make her entire body tremble.

  “So close. God, Brett, I’m so close.”

  My hand snaked between our bodies to where we were connected in the most intimate way, finding that tiny bundle of nerves. Knowing just what she needed to go flying over the edge, I pinched her clit between my index and middle finger as I fucked her. Seconds later her walls clamped around me as she yelled out her release, chanting my name like a prayer over and over. The vise-grip she had on my cock was too much; I couldn’t hold back my own orgasm any longer.

  “Kenzie,” I shouted out loudly as I came so hard I thought the neighbors would be able to hear me. Three more thrusts was all it took to empty myself in her. For the love of everything holy, making love to Kenzie was no doubt going to be the death of me one day.

  Once we caught our breaths, I rolled onto my back, making sure to keep us connected as I lay with her soft body on top of mine, basking in the afterglow of world class sex. My life couldn’t have been more perfect than it was at that very moment, Kenzie’s soft curves pressed against me, still buried deep inside Heaven.

  Pure perfection.

  Her breathing had slowed to the point that I thought she’d fallen asleep. That was, until she spoke, her words muffled as she nuzzled her face into my chest.

  “I’m gonna marry you one day,” she whispered dreamily.

  “I know, beauty.”

  “One day soon.”

  “Yeah,” I answered softly as my chest expanded at her words, causing me to tighten my grip on her. I never wanted to let her go.

  “You make me whole, honey,” she told me on a yawn. “Love you.”

  “I love you, too, Kenzie.” Then I followed her into a deep
sleep with a smile on my lips and my girl wrapped in my arms.

  Past

  “Lance,” I gasped, trying my hardest to sit up in the bed. I tried doing those breathing exercises I’d seen on TV to work past the pain, but it was pointless. Lance said Lamaze classes were a waste of time and money. He claimed that he wasn’t going to throw away billable hours at the office to attend some stupid class that only reminded you how to breathe.

  Well, as another contraction shot through me, I’d have given anything to have taken those damn classes. I needed relief.

  “Lance.” Reaching over, I tried to shake him awake. We needed to get to the hospital. I wasn’t scheduled to have a C-section for another nine days, but sometime in the middle of the night my water broke. I could only figure that my little babies decided they wanted to make an early appearance. The contractions came on fast and strong, getting closer and closer together as the minutes passed.

  “Lance, honey. Wake up.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Mackenzie, will you please shut the hell up? I’m trying to sleep!”

  “I’m in labor. We need to get to the hospital. Now.”

  With an angry grumble, he finally pushed off the bed and started tugging his pants on. “Well, that’s just fucking perfect. It’s the middle of the goddamned night, and I have a deposition in the morning. How the fuck am I supposed to get through that with no sleep, huh?”

  I couldn’t concentrate on his rant, and honestly, at that very moment, I really couldn’t have cared less about his stupid deposition. I was in too much pain.

  “Well, you going to just fucking sit there or get your lazy ass up? Come on!”

  Lazy? I was in fucking labor, for Christ’s sake!

  Knowing that arguing with him would only cause an even bigger fight and delay me getting to the hospital in time, I clenched my teeth and moved off the bed, trying to breathe through the contractions.

  “All right, Ms. Webster, it’s time to move you into surgery. Are you ready to meet your little ones?”