by Lori King
“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured, staring at the ring. It was beautiful. Delicately designed, so the large diamond in the center wasn’t overpowering or gaudy.
“Try it on,” he said, waving a hand at it like he’d just given her a jacket or scarf. Surely, he didn’t think this would suffice for a proposal. Besides, why in the world was he proposing?
“What is it?”
“Are you kidding me?” He looked confused. “It’s an engagement ring.”
“So, you want to marry me?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to marry me?”
Roan stared at her with a frown on his face. “Because, we’re having a child together.”
“I see,” she nodded slowly, her entire being going ice cold as her heart broke.
Nudging the box closer to her, he smiled again. “Good, then put it on. I want to see what it looks like.”
“I’m sorry, Roan. I can’t marry you,” she said simply, knowing the end of their perfect fantasy world had just come crashing down on both of them.
“I don’t understand. Why not? You love me, I love you, we’re having a baby…”
“You don’t love me like I need to be loved by the man I’m going to marry, and I won’t marry someone out of obligation. This child is not a mistake by any means, and I won’t let him grow up thinking we were forced to wed because of him. Thank you for dinner and your… generous offer, but I would like to go home now. I’m very tired.”
Roan didn’t move for what felt like an eternity, then he gestured to the waiter for the check and took back his box. The lid snapped shut, hiding the beautiful gemstones away from the world, and he shoved it in his pocket. They didn’t speak until they reached her front door.
“For what it’s worth, Roan, I am sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said in a hushed, sad voice. “Get some rest, I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
And before she could say anything else, he was gone, leaving her alone to grieve the best relationship she’d ever had in her life.
Chapter Ten
Bristol called in sick the next day. She couldn’t stomach facing the world when she’d just had her own fall apart. It was too much. She spent the day wrapped in blankets on her couch, catching up on her DVR. It was almost sunset before Roan called, and when he did, he sounded detached.
“How are you feeling today?”
She rolled her eyes at the polite question. “I’m fine. Just queasy as usual.”
“How was work?”
“I actually took the day off. I needed some extra rest.”
There was a heavy pause on the other end of the phone. “But you’re feeling okay?”
“Roan, I’m fine. The baby is fine. Is that really all you called for?”
“Yep.”
“Then we can say goodbye.”
She forced herself to hang up the phone because there was no point in drawing out the inevitable. If all he cared about was her health, then she could keep things civil. It was when feelings got in the way, everything seemed to get messed up.
Tears burned her eyes, and she had a huge lump in her throat. Deep within her, their child moved as if to comfort her.
“I know little one, but it’s for the best. Your Daddy doesn’t understand that we don’t have to be married to raise you right. If only he wanted more from me than just to be your mom.”
The baby kicked again, and she giggled, “Not that being your mom isn’t incredible.”
Reaching for her phone, she sent her sister a text.
Any chance you’re free tonight?
It only took a moment for a response to pop into her screen.
Depends who’s askin?
I need some company.
Be there in twenty.
Bristol sighed with relief. She could always count on Olive to have her back. No matter what she needed.
While she was putting away the dirty dishes from the day, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the kitchen wall, and a second later a pipe squealed and there was a strange crash. Running next door, Bristol banged on Kensie’s door, shouting, “Kensie? Are you okay?”
It took several moments before the door opened, and Kensie stood there, dripping wet, tears running down her face.
“I don’t know what happened. I just wanted to wash the dishes.”
“Okay, you’re okay. Tell me what happened,” Bristol said, reaching for the soggy woman.
Kensie led her into the apartment, pointing toward the kitchen. “I washed the dishes and the sink wouldn’t drain, so I used the garbage disposal, but it… it… exploded.”
A quick survey of the kitchen found water everywhere. It truly appeared the sink had exploded.
“Okay, why don’t we call the super, and you can come take a shower at my place while we wait, alright?” Bristol led the girl toward the bedroom. “Do you think that would be okay?”
Kensie nodded. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I know love, come on, get some clothes, and come to my place. I’ll go make the call to Ronnie.” Bristol hesitated to leave Kensie who appeared to be in some sort of shock, but the way the kitchen looked, she didn’t have a choice. Throwing paper towels down to soak up the mess from the floor, she headed off to find help.
Within twenty minutes, Kensie was showered and settled on Bristol’s couch with a mug of coffee in her hands. Olive barreled into the apartment without knocking and pulled up short when she saw the other woman.
“Oh, hey, Kensie. I thought you said you needed company. This looks like company to me,” Olive scolded Bristol.
“Kensie had a small snafu at her place, so she’s going to veg with us until we hear from maintenance,” Bristol explained. “I can use all the company I can get. I’m dealing with a broken heart today.”
“What?” Kensie and Olive spoke simultaneously, both turning to stare at her in shock.
“What happened?” Kensie asked.
“What did that asshole Storm do?” Olive let loose a string of curses, daring death to take Roan.
“Stop, it’s not like that. He actually came home on leave yesterday and surprised me at the sonogram. After that, he took me to dinner at Flemings and asked me to marry him.”
Kensie’s mouth dropped open, and Olive’s head jerked up to stare at her, “Shut up! What did you say?”
“Well, she said she’s heartbroken, so I’m assuming she said no,” Kensie told Olive. “That’s what happened, right?”
Bristol nodded. “He doesn’t want me. He wants the baby and this idea of a perfect family he has in his head.”
“No way, not possible. I’ve seen the way Roan looks at you, B. He loves you,” Olive chided.
“When I asked him why he wanted to marry me, he said, ‘Because we’re having a baby.’ That’s not good enough. I deserve to be proposed to by someone who’s so head over heels in love with me, he can’t stand the idea of not being together forever.”
“Does that even exist?” Olive asked, laughing.
Kensie, on the other hand, nodded in understanding. “I agree, that’s what you deserve, but you also have to do what’s right for the baby.”
“So, I should marry him just because I’m pregnant? Spend forever in a loveless marriage to what? Save money? No, not going to happen,” Bristol argued. “I’m going to have my baby, and Roan will be as involved as he would like to be, but I will not settle, just because I made a mistake one drunk night.”
“What did he say when you told him that?” Kensie asked.
“Not much. He brought me home, and we haven’t really talked. It was too awkward.”
Olive paced the living room. “That damn asshole. What is he thinking? He should have declared his love right then and there and fought for what he wanted.”
“So, he should have lied to get me to the altar?” Bristol asked, rolling her eyes and scratching her belly. “Oh, yeah, that wou
ld have made a great story to tell our grandkids.”
“No, I’m telling you, Roan loves you. He’s been in love with you for years, but you couldn’t see it. Hell, I don’t even think he saw it until y’all slept together.”
“You’re wrong Liv. He would have said so if that were the case. He didn’t because I was right. There’s no good reason for us to get married.” Bristol sighed, “Can we please watch a movie now and order in takeout? I need to eat my feelings.”
“You got it,” Olive told her, reaching for her phone. “But you’re going to have to front me the money. Payday isn’t until Friday.”
Roan’s stomach was twisted into knots. He had no idea where to go from here with Bristol. In spite of their years as friends, this was a whole new situation and required more than he knew how to give. She’d said no. To his offer of marriage and his request to share her life. She’d said no. How did one get over that?
And to top it all off, now she was avoiding him. She’d been cold on the phone and hung up on him. They’d had disagreements before, but nothing like this. He couldn’t lose her friendship on top of the chance to love her. It was unthinkable.
Forcing himself out of bed, he stalked to the kitchen of the Storm family home to find food. Starving himself certainly wouldn’t help matters. To his dismay, two of his brothers were seated at the kitchen table, the morning newspaper spread between them.
“Morning, sunshine. How’s it feel to wake up stateside?” Micah asked, glancing his way over the paper.
“It would feel better if I was waking up in Bristol’s bed,” he grumbled, pulling the milk and cereal out. “Instead, she’s basically given me a fuck off.”
Micah and Cooper both put down the paper and turned his way.
“What do you mean a fuck off?” Cooper asked. “What happened?”
“I asked her to marry me, that’s what,” Roan snapped. “Apparently I’m not good enough for her.”
“That’s bullshit. What exactly happened Roan? Bristol’s loved you forever.” Micah crossed his arms over his wide chest and narrowed his gaze at him.
“I surprised her when I came home the other day, and when I took her to dinner and proposed, she asked me why I wanted to marry her. I was expecting a gushing, excited, fiancé, and instead, I got suspicion and indifference.”
“What did you say?” Cooper asked.
“To what?”
“When she asked you why? What did you say?”
“I don’t know. I think I said because we’re having a child together. Fuck, I don’t understand why that’s not a good thing. She seemed so excited about our son at the sonogram.” Roan took a seat and dug into his cereal, refusing to make eye contact with his brothers.
“You are a fucking moron,” Micah told him. “Did you even once consider that she might want your love over your obligation?”
“I do love her.”
“But you didn’t tell her that,” Cooper said. “Girls need to hear it. If you don’t say those exact words, she won’t hear it.”
“I raced back from Syria to be at the sonogram in time. I went shopping for maternity clothes and baby supplies on my first day back. I planned an extravagant meal and proposal, even bought an expensive ring. How is that not love?”
“Words, man,” Cooper said. “Girls need words.”
“Fuck words. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. I don’t think anything would be right at this point. I’m just going to follow her lead and only talk baby when we’re together. If she wants me, she’ll have to come to me.”
“Moron,” Micah grumbled, turning back to his paper. “Guess you’ll be spending the rest of your life alone.”
“Fuck you, Micah, it’s not like you have a lot of prospects. Only women I see you with lately are skanks.”
“For your information,” Micah put the paper down again and glared at him, “I haven’t been with any skanks in the last year. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve hung out with them at parties, but I’ve been celibate. I have a woman in mind who I think is worth wooing slowly, and you’d better believe, I’ll tell her with words.”
“Who is this goddess?” Cooper asked.
“Doesn’t matter. You don’t know her, and I want to keep it that way until I convince her we’re meant to be together,” Micah told him.
“Well good luck with the wooing. I’m striking out every time I’m at bat,” Roan said, “I’m pretty sure my two weeks home will be spent alone.”
“Only if you want it that way,” Cooper told him. “By the way, I got orders on Monday. I deploy in October.”
“So, you won’t be here when the baby is born.” Roan couldn’t hide his disappointment. His child would be the first one of a whole new generation of Storms, and he’d hoped to have all of his family there for the birth.
“Nope. Eight months, but I’m headed to Korea, so contact should be okay.” Cooper explained. “Anyone seen Storm 2? He’s the last one I need to tell.”
“You already told Payton?” Roan asked in surprise. “How’d she take it?”
“Uh no, I figured she’s been busy up there, and I don’t want to upset her. We need her to get better so that she can come home,” Cooper explained.
“You’re the moron if you think P doesn’t want to know,” Roan told him, carrying his bowl to the sink. “I haven’t seen Jaden, but I’ll tell him you’re looking for him if I do.”
“Tell Bristol I said hello while you’re at it. If you muck it up with her, maybe I can convince her to go out with me,” Cooper said with a wink.
Grabbing a roll of paper towels off the counter, Roan chucked it at his brother and cursed on his way out of the kitchen. There was no way Cooper would try to hook up with Bristol, but just the idea sent waves of jealousy crashing over Roan like ice water. Bristol was his. Or she would be. He just had to make her see how logical marriage would be.
Chapter Eleven
21 weeks gestation
Every single day, Roan called her, and every day she avoided having an in-depth conversation with him. She had even canceled on the family dinner plans. It was really beginning to grate his nerves. While she might not like it, he was the father of her child, and he’d be damned if he was going to take a backseat.
Showing up at her house right before she was supposed to get off work, he sat on her front stoop and waited. If she wouldn’t talk to him by phone, then she was stuck with him in person. They needed to clear the air before he had to go back to Syria.
She pulled up and stared at him for a moment in surprise before getting out of her car. He drank in the sight of her like a man dying of thirst in the desert.
“Roan? Is everything okay?” she asked, coming his way.
“No. It’s not. My best friend refuses to talk to me, and I’m lost without her,” he told her, rising to stand in front of her. “Please don’t blow me off, B. I miss you like crazy.”
She hesitated, then nodded her head, “Come on in. I’m too tired to argue tonight.”
Following her to the door, he took her keys and opened it for her. She went inside the air-conditioned apartment and collapsed into a chair, her purse still on her shoulder.
“I’m so freaking tired,” she groaned. “Junior seems to be sucking the energy from me like a leech.”
“Maybe you’re working too hard?”
“The books say this is normal. The fatigue I mean. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I sleep, I still wake up tired.” She kicked off her shoes and stretched, arching her feet and pointing her toes.
Roan immediately went to her, dropping to the floor in front of her, taking her foot in his hands. “Just because fatigue is normal, doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it, baby. Did the day off help?”
“Yeah it did, but I can’t take more time off. I’ll need the time when Junior arrives.”
“You know, I can help. Hell, I should help. He’s my son too. Please let me help with the expenses,” Roan said, switching to the other foot. He smiled when she let out a mo
an of relief at his touch.
“Do you remember our senior year of high-school, when you were struggling with Chemistry and you needed tutoring, but you were too stubborn to take my help?” she asked, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the foot rub. “It took me almost a month to convince you it wasn’t weak to accept help.”
Roan paused his rubbing, watching her closely and hoping he was hearing her right.
“I’m going to need help,” she sighed heavily. “I don’t like it. I don’t want it, but I will need you.”
“Well, gee thanks.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she said with a laugh, her dark eyes popping open. They sparkled in the dim light of the room. “I mean, yes, you will have plenty of opportunities to help pay for your son, but not today. Today, the best thing you can do for me is keep rubbing. Damn, that feels good.”
Roan grinned at her reaction. Before they slept together, he’d tried not to think about the sounds she made when she was feeling good, but now…
Sliding his hand up to her calf, over her leggings, he manipulated the tight muscles there until she was sighing with pleasure. Switching sides, he did the same on the opposite leg, then took a big chance and moved his hands to her thighs.
“You know, I could help you relax in other ways, B.” Rising to his knees, he spread her thighs and insinuated himself between them, bracing his body on his elbows on either side of her, moving in close. “In that one book, it said that orgasms can help with getting a good night’s rest.”
Her pupils dilated, and her breathing increased, but she didn’t respond. She was like a wary rabbit, peeking out to see if the fox was around.
“Let me make you feel good, B,” he murmured, leaning in until their mouths were close enough to exchange breath.
She hesitated, then her chin tipped, just slightly up, an invitation he couldn’t have ignored even if he was a better man. Thankfully, he wasn’t a better man, because her kiss was intoxicating.
Their bodies were aligned, and he pressed into her, loving the sounds she made as she grew aroused. Her hands came up to scratch at his scalp, and he shivered under her touch. Burning for her, he cupped her face and took her mouth captive. Tempting and teasing until her tongue tangled with his. When they finally took a moment to breathe, she was panting for air, and her hips were wriggling, grinding her sweet V against his stomach.
