Falling for the Unexpected (Life Unexpected Book 1)

by Rachel Lyn Adams

  Chapter 14

  Kyle

  The rest of October and early November was spent trying to find a balance between work and spending time with Simone and Stella. Those two girls had quickly cemented their place in my life, and surprisingly, I was okay with that. Since our date at my house, Simone and I had only managed to be alone a couple other times. Otherwise, our dates consisted of us spending time as a trio, which required a lot of creativity and speed if we wanted to be intimate. Thank goodness Simone had overcome her discomfort at being together when Stella was in the house.

  I had to admit that I didn’t mind spending most of our time together with her daughter. Maybe that was odd, but somehow, having Stella play such a large role in our relationship made me feel even more invested. Even though our relationship was very new, there was absolutely no doubt that I had extremely strong feelings for Simone, and by extension, Stella as well.

  Tonight, I was reluctantly going out with Trent, Ian, and Erik. The three of us hadn’t gone out together since Simone’s birthday weekend and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer since I’d bailed on him a few weeks ago. Trent liked to start the fun on Friday and continue through the weekend. Erik was always game, but I was not feeling it.

  Simone had made plans with Addie. They hung out at least once a week, usually with Stella. It made me happy that my sister and my girlfriend got along so well. The phrase, “my girlfriend,” still felt strange when thinking about Simone, but I loved it at the same time. Knowing our relationship had Addie’s stamp of approval definitely made things easier.

  I also appreciated her efforts in distracting Simone. Tomorrow was Brad’s visitation day and he’d probably be a no-show again. Hence, girls’ nights on Fridays or something on Saturday morning. While expectations were quite low, visitation days still tended to be stressful for Simone as well as for Marla and Jim, and I liked that my sister was trying to help ease some of Simone’s nerves.

  According to the text from Ian, we were going to meet up at Dixie’s, a small bar that had live music. While I was looking forward to spending some time with my three best friends, I knew they would notice I wasn’t trying to flirt or hit on anyone. Truth be told, when we used to go out, we usually each went home with a woman. I wasn’t exactly proud of my casual dating history, but things had definitely changed for me.

  I put on a pair of black jeans and layered a T-shirt with a gray sweater and then headed out. The weather was getting colder at night as we approached the holidays. While we didn’t get freezing cold temperatures here, the evening breeze off the ocean could get downright chilly. I didn’t want to drive since we would probably be drinking, so I chose to walk the ten blocks to the bar. I could always Uber back home if I needed to.

  I decided to text Simone while I walked since I knew I wouldn’t be able to be on my phone all night without drawing unwanted attention.

  Me: On my way to meet the guys. Hope you have a fun night with Addie.

  Simone: We’ve decided on movie and pizza night. Enjoy your time with the boys.

  Me: I would rather be with you.

  I knew I sounded completely whipped. But it was true. I would rather be with Simone. I loved the feel of her in my arms, just being around her and doing nothing at all. She brought a sense of calmness and meaning to my life that I hadn’t experienced before. Work had always been my main source of feeling like I was contributing and doing something meaningful, but now, with my two girls, I felt like I had that in my personal life as well. And it felt amazing.

  Simone: Me too. : )

  I put my phone back in my pocket when I reached the bar. My three friends were already there, outside, watching me.

  “Why the fuck do you look so happy? You already lining up something for tonight?” Ian asked, slapping my back.

  “Shut up. I was just checking messages for work,” I lied.

  “Nothing at work ever makes me smile like that,” Trent quipped dryly. “Someone send you a naked selfie?”

  Great, now Trent had inadvertently put the idea of a naked Simone in my head. Not what I needed to be thinking about at the moment. Especially because it had been four days since we’d had sex.

  We made our way into the bar just as the band was starting their set. We had seen this group before and they did some pretty good covers of classic rock songs. The four of us headed to the bar where we each ordered a beer on tap and managed to find a table off to the side of the makeshift dance floor.

  We took some time to really catch up with each other, something we hadn’t done since Ian had returned home. He told us how things were going with the contracting business he was taking over from his father. Unlike Trent and me, Ian had never planned to work in the family business. Unfortunately, his father had started to have some health problems so Ian agreed to move back home and take over.

  Erik shared with us how his business was going. He was making a name for himself in the racing circuits and his auto shop was taking off. So much so that he had to hire two additional mechanics, bringing his staff up to six.

  “So, Mom wanted me to ask all of you what you were doing for Thanksgiving. She said you’re all welcome to come over for dinner,” Trent said, addressing all of us.

  “That sounds good to me. My folks are heading back to Florida to visit my sister since my dad doesn’t need to stick around for the business,” Ian said.

  “I can probably stop by,” Erik added.

  “What about you, Kyle?” Trent asked. “We invited Brad, but once he found out Simone was also invited, he told us he had other plans. Mom called Addie and she said she was coming.”

  “I’ll be there,” I stated. There was no way I was going to miss spending the holiday with my girls. Besides, Simone and I had agreed to let people know we were together at Thanksgiving and I was more than ready to take our relationship public.

  We continued making small talk, scanning the crowd, and listening to music. A couple girls approached our table, striking up conversations with whichever guy interested them. Trent and Erik were all over that while Ian and I were mere observers. Even though I knew why I wasn’t joining in, I was a bit surprised that Ian wasn’t showing any interest. I looked over at him with a raised brow, questioning his intentions. He just shrugged his shoulders and went back to drinking his beer and avoiding further eye contact. I wasn’t going to push him if he didn’t push me.

  After a few minutes of conversation, Trent and Erik headed out to the dance floor with two of the girls, leaving their other friends with Ian and me.

  “So you guys don’t dance?” the blonde asked me, while the brunette tried to stand as close to Ian as she could without making it obvious.

  “Not really my thing,” I answered quickly. Now it was Ian’s turn to raise his eyebrow at me. I was usually the first one out on the dance floor. I gave him an answering shrug like he had given me. A knowing smirk played across his face.

  “Well then, maybe we can just hang out here,” the blonde one said, scooting her chair closer to me. I was trying to ignore her attempts to gain my attention when she placed her hand on my leg and started rubbing it up and down. Just as I was planning my exit, a text alert came through on my phone.

  “Sorry, I need to check this,” I said, jumping up quickly. Honestly, I didn’t care who it was since it provided the perfect escape plan. I wasn’t trying to be an ass, but with some women, the harder I tried to politely act uninterested, the stronger they came on to me, thinking I was playing hard to get or something.

  Once outside, I pulled up my text messages. I saw I had a couple missed ones from Simone, the most recent having just come through. The first was a picture of my girls and Addie sitting on the couch watching a movie. The next was a picture of Stella curled up next to my sister fast asleep. The last one, though, almost made me drop my phone.

  Simone: Addie left, Stella is asleep. I’m just lying in bed wishing you were here with me.

  Attached was a picture of her in a tank top and the tiniest pair
of black panties. I was instantly hard. I was having a good time hanging with the boys, but I seriously needed to cut this night short and get over to her apartment.

  I was about to turn and let the guys know I was leaving when I almost slammed into Ian. After we recovered from our near head-on collision, I quickly hit the home button on my phone to clear out of my text app. I didn’t need anybody seeing the picture of Simone.

  “Hey, I can’t believe you left me alone in there with those two. What’s so important you had to walk out here?” he asked, glaring at me.

  I looked back down at my phone when another notification came through, completely ignoring Ian.

  “Dude, seriously. What’s going on?” he continued. “It’s not like you to be so secretive and it’s especially not normal for you to pass up a chance with a couple girls that seemed like a sure thing.”

  “I didn’t see you jumping at the chance to hook up with them, either,” I said, deflecting his inquisition.

  Ian glared at me again. “Really? That’s all you’re gonna give me?”

  I hated lying to my friends. The four of us shared everything. I had to give him something. “Well… I’m sort of seeing someone, but it’s not something I really want to talk about right now,” I said, hoping the small sliver of information would satisfy his curiosity.

  “Picked an ugly one, did ya?” he joked.

  I punched him in the arm. “Shut the fuck up. I’ll kick your ass if you keep talking shit.” It didn’t matter how old we were. We quickly slipped right back into teenage boy mode when we were together.

  He shook his head. “Fine, I’ll let you keep your little secret. Seriously, though, you know we all have your back. There’s no reason you need to hide anything from us.”

  I appreciated that, and it wasn’t so much Ian or Erik that Simone and I were both concerned about. Nonetheless, it was nice to hear. “I know that, and you all will know about this soon enough. We just need a little more time. On that note, I’m outta here. Can you tell the guys I took off?” I asked, getting antsy. Ian was keeping me from getting to Simone. Who was waiting for me… hopefully naked.

  “Sure. Be safe,” Ian said with a smile.

  He headed back inside and I wasted no time. Since I only drank one beer I was able to walk to my house and hop in my car so I could drive over to Simone’s. I’ll admit that I looked at her picture more than once during my walk-jog home. Keeping my dirty thoughts under control on the drive over to her apartment was not easy. Or sticking to the speed limit. No way was I going to be delayed by getting pulled over. But I felt on edge the whole drive to her place. It was like my body was craving its favorite meal and knew it was finally dinnertime.

  I knocked on her door, anxious to get my hands on the woman who was driving me crazy. She must have been in bed because it took a few minutes for her to answer the door.

  When the door swung open, I rushed her and crashed my lips on hers, making her lose her balance. I wrapped my arms around her back to keep her upright. When I broke away from the kiss I saw her smile.

  “You must have gotten my picture,” she said, batting her eyes at me and trying to look innocent.

  “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” I told her honestly. “I couldn’t get here fast enough.”

  My statement made her blush, and damn if that didn’t make me want her more. Channeling my inner caveman, I scooped her up and threw her over my shoulder. I gave her ass a light smack and her responding shriek made me laugh.

  When we reached her room, I tossed her onto the bed. The sex was fast-paced but still mind-blowing. I would never get tired of being with her. Once we were done, we settled in the middle of the bed and cuddled.

  “Mmm,” I heard her softly moan. “This is exactly where I want to be.”

  “Me too, babe,” I replied, kissing her lightly. Then we both feel asleep.

  After what only felt like fifteen minutes, I heard Stella start to fuss. I must have worn Simone out because she didn’t even stir. I gently pulled my arm out from under her and climbed out of bed. I grabbed my pants off the floor and headed toward Stella’s bedroom. When I walked through the door, I saw her standing in her crib, holding onto the rail with tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “Hey, beautiful. What’s wrong?” I asked, not expecting an answer from her. However, she did reach her little arms out for me to pick her up, melting my heart a little. She had been having a rough time with her molars coming in so I assumed that’s what was wrong. Never thought I would know about things like teething, but being here taking care of her felt right.

  I went over to the rocking recliner in the corner and sat with her in my arms. I rocked her while gently rubbing her back. After a little while she settled down and seemed to fall back asleep. Not wanting to risk waking her up, I quietly lifted the leg of the chair and reclined so I could close my eyes while still holding her to my chest. Before long, we were both asleep.

  At some point, I felt someone lifting Stella out of my arms and my reflexes pulled her back toward me.

  “It’s just me,” Simone said quietly. “She’s starting to wake up.”

  “Oh… Okay, what time is it?” I yawned and allowed Simone to take Stella from me.

  “Just a little after seven,” she answered, her voice soft and her expression unreadable.

  I was surprised Stella and I had managed to sleep in the recliner most of the night.

  “What time did you come in here?” Simone asked, holding her daughter. She’d put her hair up in a messy bun and was wearing my T-shirt from last night. She had never looked more beautiful.

  I stretched, stiff as a board. “I think around one,” I answered, standing up from the chair.

  “Thank you for taking care of her. It’s been rough going since she started teething again,” she said, putting a hand to my chest and raising herself up to give me a quick peck on the lips.

  That quick kiss had me thinking of a quickie in the shower, but Stella started to get a little fussy, which immediately put an end to my dirty thoughts. The two of them headed into the kitchen and I walked to the bathroom. Guess a solo shower would have to do. While cleaning up, I thought about how much I truly enjoyed being the person to help Simone with Stella. While I wished Stella wasn’t in pain, I was happy to be the one to provide them both with some comfort. It was at that moment that I realized I was falling in love with both of those girls—and there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be.

  Now that I knew I loved Simone, I needed to decide when to tell her. I had never said those three words to anyone in a romantic sense before. And I wasn’t sure Simone was ready to hear that type of sentiment from me yet. We had only been dating a few weeks. But we’d known each other for a while now, and if I was honest with myself, my feelings had started to develop the minute I offered to help her through her divorce.

  I got dressed in my same clothes from yesterday, sans T-shirt, swished around some mouthwash, and headed into the kitchen. Stella was in her highchair, eating some cut-up banana and a piece of toast, and Simone was pouring each of us a cup of coffee.

  I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, kissing her cheek gently.

  “How are you this morning?” I asked.

  “I was able to get some sleep, so I’m good,” she answered while turning around to kiss me again. “Thank you for your help last night.”

  “I didn’t do much. She fell back asleep right away,” I said, releasing her when the toast popped up in the toaster. She moved away and buttered them for us then we moved over to the kitchen table. “After we’re done eating,” I added, halfway through our quick breakfast, “why don’t you take a shower and I can get Stella ready to go to her grandparents.”

  “You don’t mind?” she questioned, her voice sounding wary.

  “Not at all.”

  We finished breakfast and Simone went to her room and I took Stella to hers. “We need to find something for you to wear, kiddo,” I said as I looked t
hrough her closet for an outfit to change her into. I pulled out several options, all of which Stella frowned at. We finally settled on a pair of jeans and a purple and pink sweater.

  I found her brush on top of the dresser and we sat in the middle of her room as I brushed her hair back into a ponytail. It brought back memories of me doing the same thing for Addie when we were young. For a while, our mother had decided she didn’t need any help with Addie and me and had moved us out of our grandmother’s home. Unfortunately, our mother was usually passed out when it came time for school so it often fell on me to help my sister get ready. That living arrangement was, thankfully, short-lived. I was now grateful for that skill so Simone wouldn’t think I was completely helpless.

  “Now we just need shoes,” I stated.

  She stood up and ran back to her closet. “Ky, I wanna wear these ones!” she exclaimed, grabbing the purple Converse her Uncle Trent had bought for her. I had her completely dressed and sitting on the couch watching a kids’ program when Simone made her way out to the living room.

  “Thanks for getting her ready. You’re really good at taking care of her,” she said, sounding genuinely surprised.

  “Simone, you need to stop being shocked that I enjoy helping you out with Stella. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for the two of you. And I’m happy to be the one here to help,” I said. Sure, I’d been thinking those thoughts in my head, but saying it—to Simone—added a level of intimacy to our relationship that took even me by surprise. And from her glowing smile, she understood.

  “I’ll get used to it, I promise,” she said solemnly, even though her eyes were smiling. “So, what do you have planned for the day?”

  “I have a few errands to run and a little bit of paperwork I brought home from the office. Call me as soon as you’re done there?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound too pushy.

  “Okay,” she said without hesitation. She leaned down, kissing me deeply like it was the most natural thing in the world. She then picked up Stella while I got up to grab Stella’s bag, and the three of us walked out to our cars together.