by L. P. Maxa
She smiled and moved her mouth to my chest, placing a punishing bite on my pec. “Like that, kid?”
“Yeah, baby, just like that.” I hammered into her, over and over, using my hand to protect her back from the hard stone. She moved to the other side of my chest, treating it to the same happy torture. “Fuck, yes.” She let her head fall back, too consumed by her own pleasure to keep track of mine. I grinned. I loved seeing her like this, in these moments before she orgasmed.
I put my mouth next to her ear and whispered, “Milk my dick, baby.”
Chapter Six
Harlow
“Hey, where are you going? You’re not wearing anything under that robe.” Luke grabbed my hand as I walked past him toward our oversized steel front door. “The only place you need to be right now is in my lap.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“The girls are getting ready at Smith and Dill’s house, they have the largest master bathroom and we have hair and makeup coming in for the gala.” I adjusted my bag on my shoulder. “You want to come?” He was sitting on the couch, remote in hand and laptop open. Multitasking. Luke checked YouTube daily, searching for the next hidden gem.
“Not at all.” He pointed toward our massive TV with the remote. “Send Smith over here, we’ll watch the UT game and meet you guys over at Dash and Lexi’s when it’s time to leave.”
Yeah, Smith and Dill had the most spacious master bath and Luke and I had the largest TV. You could tell which band member designed their house with a family in mind and which one designed with bachelorhood in mind. Not that I was complaining, this house was a dream. The TV? An eyesore.
I dipped down and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Love you.”
He grinned. “Love you too, Pix.”
I loaded my car and drove the short distance to Dylan’s house. Usually we just took the gator when we were going between houses. But it was windy and I really wasn’t wearing anything under my robe. I parked and walked in without bothering to knock. “Hey, I’m here. Please don’t be naked.” I put my hand over my eyes. Smith and Dylan tended to get creative with their sexual locations. She told us it was because the beginning of their relationship was on a tour bus, and they had been sleeping in a bed that didn’t have a door.
“All clear.”
I giggled at Smith who was sitting on his couch, beer and remote in hand and the Texas game on TV. “I just left Luke in that same position. He told me to tell you to head to our house. He has the game on.” I kept on walking down the hallway, hanging a right into their room.
Dylan was lying in their bed, her long dark hair in giant Velcro rollers and her phone in her hands. Lexi was sitting in a chair with Halen standing in her lap and Bryan was in the bathroom, getting her hair done by a gorgeous emo-looking kid.
“Hello, ladies.” I sat my stuff down in the corner out of the way and hung my dress on the back of the door.
“Jacks and B are getting married,” Lexi shouted when she saw me, causing Halen to jerk in surprise and then stick her bottom lip out in a pout. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby, Mommy didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Lexi,” Bryan called from the bathroom. “Really?”
Lexi winced. “I’m just really excited.”
Dylan glanced over at her. “That and you can’t keep a secret to save your life.”
“I can too. I keep lots of secrets. But you don’t know that, because I don’t tell you. Because I can keep secrets.” Lexi raised one shoulder, giving Dylan an I-told-you-so look.
I walked into the bathroom and high-fived Bryan, who had quickly become my best friend out of the group. We were all super close, we were family. But B and I had more in common; we were the last ones in. “Badass, B, congrats.”
“Thanks.” She closed her eyes tight while the stylist started to back comb her hair.
I turned back around to face Lex. “Why are you so pumped for Bryan’s wedding? You hate weddings.”
Lexi stood then handed me my goddaughter. I was godmother by default because I was boning Luke. Lexi’s words, not mine. “That’s not why I’m excited. I’m excited because—”
“Oh no you don’t, you little secret teller-thunder stealer,” Bryan shouted from the bathroom. “We’re getting married because I want to adopt Landry.”
My eyes filled with tears as I kissed Halen’s cheeks. “Oh wow, B. That’s really incredible.” Landry was already Bryan’s daughter, not by birth, but by love.
She smiled. “We haven’t told her yet, we want to wait until we can do something special.” Bryan let out a deep sigh. “I’m actually kind of nervous. What if she doesn’t want me to adopt her? I’m not trying to erase Emily or take her place. I just, I don’t know, it feels right.”
I walked over and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Don’t worry about that, not for a second. Landry adores you, she’s going to be over-the-moon excited.” Halen fussed for a second and then laid her chubby cheek on my shoulder. It must be nap time. I started to hum and dance, just the way she liked.
“Wait. I don’t hate weddings.” Lexi sat up from her new spot on Dylan’s bed, her hair already gorgeous even though she hadn’t had it done yet. “Why did you say I hated weddings?”
We were all silent, all thinking the same thing. I looked over at Dylan, asking for help. She narrowed her eyes, clearly annoyed at what I’d started.
“Well, Lex. The thing is, you don’t seem to be super into planning your wedding. Or, um, anything that goes along with it.” She held her hands up before Lexi could protest. “We get that you’re busy, but there are seven other people who help run Riffraff in Austin, not to mention our actual employees who would be more than happy to help lighten your workload so that you can focus on wedding stuff.”
My thoughts exactly. Only every time someone offered, Lexi refused.
She looked around the room, at all of us. “I’m a terrible bride. I know.” She looked down at her lap. “It’s not because I hate weddings, and it’s not because I don’t want to get married.” She picked her head back up. “I love Dash, I want nothing more than to be his wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, popping out as many babies as he asks me to.” She shrugged. “But this art director job at Riffraff? This is literally my dream job. And I was lucky enough to have it fall in my lap. I want to do it well, I want to earn it. And this wedding? It doesn’t matter to me as much as everything that comes afterward does. I want to be a wife, not a bride. I want to be Diane Keaton, not Kimberly Williams-Paisley.”
Dylan, Bryan, and I all just looked at each other. Trying to figure out what the hell Lexi was talking about.
She sighed. “Really? And I’m the one who hates wedding? Diane Keaton? In Father of the Bride? I want to be the couple with twenty-five years under our belt, the couple with memories and stories. I want to dance with Dash at Halen’s wedding. That’s what matters to me.”
I sat down in the glider with Halen, who was now fast sleep. “I can appreciate that, Lex. It’s really sweet.” I think we were all on the same page when it came to our guys. We’d chosen them already, we were already set in stone. Our weddings would just be a formality, just paperwork and a party. We’d already chosen our families, chosen how we were spending the rest of our lives.
Dylan put her hand on her belly, rubbing her bump. “I have a secret.” We all looked in her direction. “I got out that portable sonogram machine that Dash never returned so he sort of accidentally bought, and I peeked. I know what we’re having.”
I patted Halen’s back when she started to stir. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to be surprised? Everything I’ve bought you is green or white.”
“Tell us. Right now. I have to know.” Lexi was on her knees now, almost salivating.
Bryan was still in the bathroom, so she had to basically shout. “Wait. Does Smith know? You can’t tell us and not Smith.”
Lexi waved her objection away. “Of course she can. Fair is fair. She peeked with Halen too, and then told Smith wh
en he won a sex bet.”
I looked into the bathroom. Bryan wrinkled her nose. “Please don’t give us details of the bet. You might be my sister, but I have to look Smith in the eye on the daily.”
“It’s a girl.” Dylan’s smile was so big, and so contagious. It wasn’t a shock that they were having a baby girl. Lexi said she told the guys a long time ago that they would all be blessed with at least one daughter. It was karma. And payback.
I told Luke that he was always a nice guy, so we’d end up with sons.
Chapter Seven
Smith
“I really don’t want to go to this event tonight, cher.”
“I know you don’t. But it’s for charity, and Daisy asked us to represent the label.” Dylan came up and straightened my skinny black tie. “So we’re going.”
She kissed me on the cheek and then walked to Dash and Lexi’s bar and poured me a drink. I didn’t like dressing up, and I didn’t like being in the spotlight. I would have much rather written a large check to whatever charity we were supporting tonight and stayed at home rubbing my pregnant girlfriend’s back. Dylan was eight months along but she’d been having back problems from the beginning. Not to mention morning sickness and horrible heartburn.
I guessed if she could rally after a long week at the studio, so could I. “Okay. But we’re not staying past nine, cher. You were up and at the office by eight yesterday morning. I want you to relax at some point this weekend.”
“Pregnancy Police.” She winked as she handed me a whiskey on the rocks. We were waiting for our limo to get here with the rest of the crew. I’d mostly forgotten about this event until she reminded me last night when we were lying in bed.
My girl was wearing a short black dress that was tight against her body, showing off her bump. I wanted to rip the damn thing off, she looked edible. She looked fucking hot. “How about we get our own driver and meet the rest of the band there?” I leaned down and placed a kiss where her shoulder met her neck. “That sound good, cher?”
She let her head fall to the side, giving me a little more room to work. I trailed my kisses over to her shoulder and then slid her zipper down a few inches. “Sorry, babe.” She wiggled out of my grasp. “You’ll just have to wait until we get home, the car should be here in ten minutes.”
I stuck my lip out like a child, like Jacks. “Fine.” Dylan had felt like crap for the first six months of her pregnancy, but lately she’d been feeling good. Like real good. If you know what I mean. “But we’re leaving at exactly nine and then you are coming home and getting straight into bed. Deal?”
“Deal.” She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine, rendering me stupid. I loved that woman more than I ever thought possible. I loved that she was pregnant with our child. I loved putting my hand on her stomach and feeling my baby’s little kicks. I loved everything about my life with Dylan.
I watched her walk away, joining the rest of the girls at the island. Lexi, B, and Lo were all sharing a bottle of champagne. No glasses. Just the bottle.
I took my drink out to the front porch where my bandmates were waiting for our ride. “You know your chicks are in there passing around a $500 bottle of champagne like it’s Boone’s Farm?” I sat down in one of their cushioned porch chairs.
Jacks smiled. “They’re celebrating.” He cleared his throat. “I asked B to marry me.”
“No way, man. That’s awesome. Congratulations.” I held my hand out, then reached over and patted him on the back. Jacks and Bryan were perfect for each other. Dash and Lexi’s wedding was weeks away, and Luke had put a giant diamond on Lo’s finger. That just left… “Shit.”
Dash cocked his head. “Congratulations, shit?”
“Dylan and I are the only ones not engaged.” I downed the rest of my whiskey, suddenly feeling uneasy. “Do you think she feels left out? Do you think it’s making her sad? I need to propose.”
“Dill knows how much you love her, bro.” Luke took the glass from my hand and sat it on the porch railing before I dropped it. “If she wanted to get married, she’d tell you.”
Jacks nodded. “You guys are perfect together, man, and she’s having your baby. You’re starting a family, I’m sure that’s all that is on her mind right now.”
They were probably right. We had so much going on between the move, the baby, and starting Riffraff in Austin. Life had been chaos. But still, it was time. I wanted to marry her, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She was an angel, a saint.
I was a hard man to love, but she did.
And she deserved it all. The perfect ring. The perfect proposal.
The perfect moment.
***
Turned out the charity we were supporting tonight was for battered women and children. Talk about a knife to the heart. Holy shit. Hearing the survivors’ stories, seeing pictures of the kids…it was gut-wrenching. Reporters on the red carpet had a field day calling out personal question after personal question.
Smith, was it your tumultuous childhood that made you support this cause?
My father was an abusive drug addict who killed my mother. It took me over six months in therapy to understand that my mother’s death wasn’t my fault. And another three months to work through my residual anger with my father.
I was glad we were donating money to this particular charity. These women and their kids needed a way out, a safe place. But there was no way I was leaving through the front entrance. No amount of therapy could prepare anyone to have their horrible violent childhood thrown in their face like that. I leaned down and spoke next into Dylan’s ear, “Will you please call tomorrow and donate an extra $50,000?”
“Of course.” She smiled and kissed the back of my hand, the one she’d been holding since we walked in. “I’m sorry I didn’t read the press release more carefully, babe. I should have given you a heads-up about the survivor stories.”
“We both got the same email, cher. I could have read it too. There is absolutely nothing for you to apologize for.” I tipped back the rest of my whiskey, my second and final one of the night. I’d let go of all my vices, except for a good stiff drink every once in a while. “It’s eight-thirty, you know what that means?”
“You’re finally ready to dance with your girlfriend?”
“No. It means we get to leave in thirty minutes.” I winked, but led her out to the dance floor. She wanted to dance? I’d dance with her all night. One dance here, and a million more in the middle of our living room.
I took her in my arms, dancing slowly to the beat of the music. I didn’t want her to overdo it, she’d been on her feet too long today already. She looked up at me, smiling. “Thank you, babe. You really are a great…”
Her words trailed off and she put one of her hands on her stomach. I chuckled. “My baby kicking around in there? Must be ready to go to, like its daddy. I’ll round up everyone else.” I turned to head to the bar, where all my bandmates were posted up, but Dylan reached out and grabbed my hand. Squeezing it tightly. “Hey, you okay?”
She just shook her head.
“Cher, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” I felt my blood turn cold. I’m sure all the color drained from my face. The look of panic on hers was the scariest thing I’d ever seen.
“My stomach, the baby. I need to get to the hospital, now.” She kept one hand on her bump and slowly walked to the nearest chair, lowering herself down. She doubled over in pain, crying out and nearly breaking my hand. “I need for you to get the car, and then send Lexi over here. Okay?”
I was frozen. My heart was racing and I felt like I was going to throw up all over the floor. This was my biggest fear. The thing I had nightmares about, over and over. Something happening to Dylan, or something happening to the baby. For some reason, until this moment, it never even crossed my mind that I could lose them both at the same time.
“NOW, SMITH.”
When she snapped at me, I came out of my trance. I headed straight toward the doors, throwing them open. I
made a beeline for the exit and was assaulted with lights and cameras as soon as I made it over the threshold. I ignored them. I grabbed the valet by the jacket. “I need our driver here with our car, right now. There is a medical emergency.” The valet’s eyes were wide. “Move.” I let him go and he got out his walkie-talkie as he headed in the direction of the parking lot.
I turned on my heel, shoving a camera out of my face, not even caring when I heard it crash to the floor. The only thing that mattered was getting Dylan to the hospital. By the time I made it inside there was a small crowd around her. Lexi had her phone in one hand and Dylan’s hand in the other.
“I’m on the phone with Dylan’s doctor, he’s meeting us at the hospital on Thirty-eighth. It’s the closest and he has privileges there.”
The love of my life had tears streaming down her face. “Cher, baby, please tell me what’s wrong. Is there something I can do? Are you in labor?”
She just shook her head. “I don’t know. It might be labor pains, or it might mean that something is wrong with the baby. It could be in distress. I just don’t know.” She hung her head again, trying to breathe through her pain.
My heart was breaking. There was nothing I could do, for either of them.
It was the most helpless, hopeless, I’d ever felt.
And I had watched my mother die.
Chapter Eight
Dylan
“Okay. Thank you.” I watched as Smith stood from the chair he’d been molded to at my bedside and shook my obstetrician’s hand. He sat back down after the doctor left and laced his fingers with mine, bringing them to his lips. “The baby is healthy?”
I smiled. The doctor and I spoke medical, Smith didn’t. “Yes. I went into preterm labor and the baby didn’t seem to be handling it well. Its heart rate dropped lower than we like to see.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “The medicine I am on will keep that from happening again. And as long as I’m not having contractions, the baby seems happy. So I’m on bed rest for the next two weeks, until I’m technically to term. They’ll wean me off the meds and see what happens. Sometimes it’s just a fluke deal and sometimes it’s not.”
