The College Obsession Complete Series (Includes BONUS Sequel Novella)
Page 92
She smiles. As always—she signs, the strangely wistful look in her eyes still there.
I frown slightly, then lift my hands: What’s wrong?
Dessie shakes her head—Nothing—then puts an arm around my waist and, with one hand, signs what she’s saying to Brant: “Sam and Dmitri are about to head back and wanted to know if you and Nell want to come with them, or stay longer.”
Brant pats the legs of his little one still on his shoulders, then says, “We need to get the little one to bed. We should go. I had a great time. Thanks for having us, and congrats on your show.”
I caught every word, since Brant’s lips were particularly expressive—likely because he’s having to shout over the noise in the room. Dessie signs her response again for my benefit as she speaks it: “I’m really glad you two came. It was a pleasant surprise. We need to do a lot of hanging out and catching up over the weekend while you’re in town.”
With that, Brant gives Dessie a hug, then crouches down slightly so Dessie can give her own little goodbye to Zara, who signs—Cake, fun, cake, fun—over and over, then waves bye at both of us as the pair of them disappear into the crowd seeking Nell and the others.
Over the course of another hour or two, the room slowly clears out, and soon, Dessie and I and a couple stragglers are the only ones left other than Dessie’s parents and Celia—Dessie’s sister—who are helping put away and package up the leftover desserts with the hired help. The strangers seem too drunk to function, or else they’re waiting on their cabs, if I had to guess.
Dessie tugs on my hand, then draws me off to the half-lit den, away from the main hall. A gloriously tall, ornate window that touches the floor stretches by our side, overlooking the city and the pale moonlight.
Before I can ask her what’s on her mind, she kisses me, then tucks her fingers into the pockets of my fitted jeans and pulls my hips against hers. I breathe in deeply, consumed by her vigorous kiss. She smells so inviting.
When we pull apart, my eyes meet hers, and I lift my brows, curious.
She starts moving her hands: You know how much I love you, right?
I lift a corner of my lips, amused: Most of the time, I sign back teasingly.
Dessie bites her lip: I would do anything for you, and make any sacrifice for you … just to show that I love you. To prove to you.
Now my lightness is eclipsed by a knobby branch of doubt, casting a shadow over my face. I frown and lift my hands: What’s going on?
I love you—she signs again.
Should I be worried? I lift my hands again: I love you, too. Now tell me what the fuck is going on. I swallow hard, then add: Please.
Dessie presses her lips together, then moves away from me and sits on the arm of the fancy couch that stretches half the length of the room. Her face is beautifully lit half in moonlight, half in the warm amber light from an decorative glass lamp in the corner of the room.
Then she signs to me: I saw you interacting with Brant’s daughter.
I nod, then gesture a hand, encouraging her to keep explaining.
She does: It breaks my heart to think I’m denying you the chance to have one of your own.
And now we’ve reached her point. Softer now, I move to her and sit right by her, then slip an arm around the back of her waist, pulling her against my body. After putting a kiss on her pretty head of hair, I use my voice: “Baby, you’re not denying me a thing.”
She signs with her hands barely hovered out of her lap: It doesn’t feel like I’m not. The only reason we haven’t tried is because of my career. I know you have the desire to have a family. You want little ones someday. My parents can be grandparents. Yours.
I smirk. “My messed-up parents can go right to Hell with their grams-and-gramps wishes.”
She turns slightly, looking up into my eyes. Then she moves her lips.
It’s been so long since I’ve read her lips, as we tend to only sign lately, that it catches me by surprise. I miss all her words, so hypnotized by the way her sexy mouth moves. “What?” I hum.
She smiles, then repeats herself: “I’m saying I want to have your child.”
I watch her for a long while, unable to pull my gaze from her beautiful face. Is she serious? This is truly what she wants? “You?” I murmur, lifting my eyebrows. “You want this? You want a baby?”
She nods slowly, then puts a hand on my thigh as she says, “I want to have a little Dessie or Clayton. I want us to have that.”
My whole world changes in the space of a kiss, a glance in her eyes, and a reading of her lips.
She wants a child.
I’d abandoned this very possibility for so long, caught up in our careers as we’ve been. We haven’t so much as tapped the brake pedals all these years. We’ve been so busy building a life for ourselves that the mere chance of including someone else in that life—some little someone else—never even crossed my mind.
Well, not until I got a look at that cute little Zara and watched her moving her tiny hands at me, making words, speaking to me without sound. Maybe I always thought I’d be a failure of a dad because of my own. Or because of my ears. Or because of a hundred other reasons.
A hundred reasons to say no to becoming a dad.
Maybe I just needed one reason to say yes.
“I love you, Dessie,” I tell the love of my life with my words, bringing both my arms around her slender, beautiful, supple body. “And I’ve always been fairly certain that there would never be anyone else in this world I could possibly love as much as I love you … until now.”
Dessie lifts her pretty face to mine, her lips parted. “And who’s that?”
I bring my lips to hers, tasting her deeply, then pull away to answer her: “The baby we’re about to make.”
Then with a sweep of our bodies, Dessie is in my arms, and she lets out a yelp of surprise that quickly melts into joyous laughter. I can almost truly hear the laughter as it pours from her beautiful lips, her arms clinging to my body as I carry my wife off to start ourselves a family. I often dream of what her laughter might sound like, had I the gift of hearing for just one second, for just one fleeting, perfect moment … to hear my love, Desdemona Lebeau-Watts, as she laughs so happily.
I bet it sounds like music.
The End.
I hope you enjoyed the College Obsession Romance series!
Thank you for joining me during these sexy, fun, and sometimes tumultuous years at Klangburg University. I hope through the eyes of Dessie, Clayton, Brant, Nell, Sam, Dmitri, and the rest of their friends that you felt the love and maybe discovered a thing or two along the way.
Peace and love
and happy reading always,
Daryl
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Table of Contents
Book 1: Read My Lips
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chap
ter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Book 2: Beneath The Skin
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
Book 3: With These Hands
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Bonus Novella: Through Their Eyes – Five Years Later
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6