Tempt the Hookup

by Natasha Madison

  “Fuck,” he hisses out and goes to his walk-in closet and comes back out wearing black Hugo Boss boxers. He comes over and slips in on the other side of Aiden.

  “My parents are going to watch him Saturday,” I tell him as he gets comfortable.

  “How long did our longest marathon go?” he asks me, looking over, and I think back to the boat.

  “Seven hours. I think. Or could be nine the last night,” I tell him.

  “We are going for a record,” he says, shutting off the lights and leaning over to kiss Aiden. “Good night, little man,” he says and then leans across Aiden to me. “Good night, baby,” he says and gives me a soft kiss, and just like that, he wraps both Aiden and me in his arms, and I fall asleep in record time.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Luca

  “If you don’t hurry, we are going to be late,” I tell Aiden this at the same time as I pop the last bite of toast in my mouth and put my coffee cup in the sink. He puts his spoon down and slides off the stool.

  “I need my Batman,” he says, running up the stairs to his bedroom. I pick up my jacket, slipping into it the same time Eli comes down in a light pink pencil skirt and a spaghetti strap silk top that is white with designs on it. I want to lean in and bite her bare shoulders.

  “Hey,” she says, walking over to me, her sky-high red bottoms making her even taller. She kisses my lips as if she didn’t just see me upstairs. Ever since we had the sleepover at my house with Aiden, we’ve done “sleepovers” at her house. Which is fine since I have a surprise for her at my house tomorrow for our date. “You smell sexy,” she says, going over to the counter and picking up her coffee cup.

  I look at her, watching her hips swing as she walks to the fridge and takes out some fruit. “What does sexy smell like?”

  She shrugs her shoulder. “I am not really sure I can explain it.” She puts the cup to her lips and tries to hide the smile. “But it makes me all tingly, and I want to do lots of dirty, sexy things with you.” She winks at me, and my cock springs to action. It’s been four days of being cock-blocked at every single turn.

  I walk over to her, grabbing her hip in my hand and pulling her to me and her eyes go big as she feels my cock. “That mouth is going to get you into trouble.”

  She puts her cup down. “Promises, promises, Deluca.” She wraps her hands around my neck. “We should really try to be ready to go when he goes to bed,” she suggests.

  “We tried that last night. He caught us on the couch with you grinding all over me and your shirt off,” I remind her.

  “Oh, God, you think he bought that you were checking for a mosquito bite?” she asks me, and I laugh.

  “We shall see.” I kiss her and then hear Aiden come down the stairs.

  “Ready, Dad,” he says, grabbing his backpack. It’s been two days since he started at the new school, and so far, everyone is happy about it. The teacher sends progress reports daily, and Aiden has not once said anything. After the episode at the last school, we sat with him and told him how it is important to tell us everything. He is not joking around when he gives us a play-by-play of his day.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I tell him. “Come kiss Mom.” He bounces over, and his hair goes up and down.

  “Bye, Mom,” he says, looking up, and she bends down and kisses him. “Don’t scratch the bite; it makes it worse,” he says, and I try not to laugh out loud when she closes her eyes.

  “I’ll pick you up here at five, and we will go over to my parents’ house,” I tell her.

  “I need to …” she says nervously. “Do you want to maybe just bring Aiden this time?”

  I kiss her on the nose. “Nope,” I tell her. “Have a great day.” I walk out of the house with Aiden beside me. “Ready, kid?”

  “Ready, Dad,” he says, walking down the steps and over to my car. I make my way over to his new school, which has a much lighter drop-off zone monitor. They have five stopping spots, and it’s almost factory like. Five cars drive up, monitors for each car to help speed things along, and then five more come in. Like a well-oiled machine. “Bye, Dad,” Aiden says when he gets out of the car, and I bend down to hug him.

  “Have a good day,” I tell him like always, and he is already running into the school yard. His backpack is thrown in the pile of backpacks while he runs to the soccer field. I watch how kids come over to him, screaming his name, and then go back to the soccer game.

  “Excuse me, Mr. DiMarco, you have to move your car,” the monitor says. I nod at him, getting into my car and making my way to work.

  The day goes faster than ever, and when my phone beeps at four thirty, I pack up and head out. I’m pulling up to the house and shut my door when I see Eliahn come out of her house, and her face is without the smile she always has.

  I walk over to her, my heart pounding. “What’s the matter?” I touch her face.

  “I’m just nervous,” she says softly. “Like I know they are going to love Aiden because he is a part of them. But me, what if they—” I put my finger on her lips to stop her from talking.

  “My mother is so excited to finally meet you. My father is over the moon to have you. I promise it’s going to be okay.” She tries to say something else, and I stop her. “If at any time you don’t feel it, and want to leave, we get in the car and go home.”

  “Great,” she says, trying to smile. “Just what every parent wants to see. Their child with a diva.” I lean forward and kiss her lips. “You can’t keep doing that.”

  “Doing what?” I ask her, now pulling her to me.

  “Kissing me when we are talking.” She tries to pull away, but she just sinks more into me. Her arms now going around my shoulders.

  “Why?”

  “Because you kiss me, and then everything gets hazy,” she says softly, now playing with the collar of my shirt.

  “Do you know how many times I thought of kissing you?” I tell her, and she looks at me, and I’m lost in her just as much as she’s lost in me. “And now that I have the chance to kiss you when I want”—I lean in—“I’m going to. So get used to it.”

  “That.” She points at me. “You need to stop the sweet talk also.”

  “Dad,” Aiden says, coming to the door. “Are we leaving now?”

  “Hey, buddy.” I open one arm, and he comes over, and I pick him up. “Did you have a good day at school?”

  “I have a birthday party on Sunday,” he says with a huge smile. “Mom said I could go.”

  “That sounds like so much fun,” I tell him. “I’m going to go and change, and we can get going.” I kiss his neck and then walk over to my house. Opening the door, I walk upstairs to the spare room, checking on the surprise that I’m doing for her. I look around the room, and my heart speeds up. I close the door and walk back to my room, slipping on jeans and a shirt.

  When I walk out of the house, I see that Aiden is sitting on the stairs watching something on his iPad. “Dad’s here!” he yells over his shoulder, and I see Eli come out with two flower arrangements. They are so big she almost drops one of them, and I step up fast to catch it.

  “What is all this?” I ask her.

  “You think I’m going to show up at your parents’ house empty-handed?” She looks over the flowers in her hand and shakes her head. “I have a fruit basket and also a wine basket.”

  “She didn’t even buy cake,” Aiden says, not looking up from his game. I don’t use this time to tell him that my mother has been baking all day long for him.

  “We should get going so we aren’t late,” Eli says, walking down the step to my car and opening the trunk. She places the flower basket in the back and then runs back into her house to grab the other two baskets.

  “Aiden,” I call him, and he gets up, walking over to the car and getting in.

  We get into the car, and I make my way over to my parents’ house. My parents walk out of the house and stand on the porch. “Oh, God,” Eli says, “I think I’m going to be sick.” I am about to lean over,
and she glares. “Don’t you dare lean over and kiss me in front of your parents,” she says, and I laugh. I get out of the car and raise my hand to wave at them.

  I open Aiden’s door. “Let’s introduce Aiden and then we can take the stuff out of the car,” I tell her, and she just nods at me and opens her door. I unbuckle Aiden, and he jumps out of the car and holds my hand.

  I look over at my mother standing next to my father, who has his arm around her shoulder. Her hand covers her mouth as she cries. “Are you ready for a million kisses?” I look down at Aiden who shrugs. I wait for Eli to get out of the car and hold her hand. “Here we go,” I say, and we walk to the front of the house. My mother wipes the corner of her eyes. “Hey,” I say, walking up the four steps and smiling, “I guess I should introduce you guys.” I try to make light of the situation, but standing here on the steps of my childhood home and introducing my parents to my son makes my heart pound just a touch more. “Mom, Dad,” I say, “this is my son.” Looking down at Aiden, I’m filled with pride. “This is Aiden.” I inhale. “And this beautiful woman is Eli. Guys, these are my parents, Dominic and Gabriella.”

  My mother is the first to step forward, and she walks to Eli and hugs her, surprising Eli who quickly drops my hand to hug my mother. “It’s so nice to meet you,” my mother says and then steps back and goes to Aiden. “You have your dad’s eyes,” she says, grabbing his face in her hands and then kissing his cheeks.

  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Eli,” my father says, going to her and taking her shoulders in his hands and kissing her on both cheeks. Then he goes over to Aiden, who is still getting kisses from my mother. “Gabriella, let the boy breathe,” he says, and my mother gets up and glares at him.

  “Don’t tell me what to do, Domenico.” She uses his full name.

  “Hi there.” My father bends down and puts out his hand to shake Aiden’s hand. “I figure you are over kisses right now,” he says, laughing.

  “Let’s go inside and get you a snack,” my mother says. She holds her hand out for Aiden, who takes it, and they walk into the house, and I look at my father, who just shakes his head.

  “She’s been baking since five a.m.,” he says while Aiden and my mother disappear into the house. “She sent me out to the supermarket five times.”

  “She shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble,” Eli says from beside me and my father, and we both laugh.

  “Wait until Christmas. It starts right after Thanksgiving,” I tell her. “I’m going to get the things in the car.”

  “I’ll help,” my father says, and the three of us walk over to the car, and I open the trunk. “Holy shit,” he says. “It smells like a flower shop.” He reaches in and grabs one of the arrangements while Eli grabs the fruit basket and the wine basket. I grab the other flower arrangement and walk behind them as we walk into the house, and it smells like a bakery and pizza place combined.

  “I like spaghetti.” I hear Aiden, and I look over at Eli to make sure she is okay, and when my mother sees us, our hands are all full.

  “What is all this?” she says, wiping her hands on the apron that is now around her waist.

  “Eli didn’t want to come empty-handed,” my father says for me, and I look over at Eli who looks at me shocked.

  “You didn’t have to do that, cara.” My mother uses the Italian name for sweetheart. “You already gave me the best present ever,” she says, walking over to Aiden and kissing his cheek again. He is too busy dunking the homemade chocolate chip cookie in the glass of milk in front of him to care about how many times she kisses him.

  “I kind of had a hand in that,” I say under my breath, and Eli looks like she is going to murder me. I put the flowers down on the table next to the other one that my father put down.

  “Aiden, we have a surprise for you,” my father says, and I look over at him. Aiden eats his cookie and then jumps off the stool walking over to my father, while he wipes the chocolate away from his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “I like surprises,” Aiden says, and I laugh. My father grabs his sticky hand that just wiped his mouth, not even caring as we walk outside, and I have to stop to take in what the fuck my parents did to their backyard.

  “Oh my God,” Eli says from beside me. “What in the world?”

  “Your father talks about me going overboard, but we’ve had construction crews here the whole week,” my mother says as I watch my father walk with my son over to the far end of the backyard where he had a play structure built from one side of the fence to the other. It is literally the whole length of the back fence. It starts at one side with ladders that go up to monkey bars, that lead to a platform that holds up a rope walk, next to a climbing rope. That is right next to a huge climbing wall, right next to a couple of steps that give you a rope swinging set. At the end of all that looks like a house. “His idea was to have a tree house,” she says, and I look at it with the front windows that you can see in.

  “Is that a TV?” Eli asks, pointing at the television hanging in the tree house.

  “With a futon, in case he needs to nap and doesn’t want to leave,” my mother says, smiling while she looks over at Aiden who is trying to work on the monkey bars with my father protecting him from falling. “There is also a fridge up there and a microwave.” I slap my forehead with my hand and look over the yard.

  “What is that?” I ask, pointing.

  “That is an in-ground trampoline,” my mother says. “So if he falls he won’t get hurt.”

  “Oh my,” Eli says.

  “Let’s sit down,” my mother says, pointing at the outdoor table. The same table where I told them last week I had a son. The three of us sit down and watch my father and Aiden.

  “I will go and get something to drink,” my mother says, getting up and walking inside.

  “Our son is in heaven,” Eli says with a smile on her face, and I see that she is looking relaxed. I grab her hand and kiss it. My mother comes out with a tray of lemonade and some glasses and also a bowl of I have no idea what.

  “Dominic!” my mother shouts. “Don’t forget to put some mosquito repellant on him.”

  “My mom gets lots of mosquito bites,” Aiden says, and I don’t have time to interrupt him before he says, “She gets naked on the couch and has Dad scratch her.”

  “Oh my God,” Eli says while my mother throws her head back and laughs. Aiden runs over to the trampoline and starts jumping. My father walks to my mother and carries the tray for her.

  “I wasn’t naked,” Eli says, and I look over at her.

  “Oh, dear,” my mother says. “You don’t have to explain.”

  “I want to,” Eli says and looks over at me, and I put my hand on hers. “I know how it must look. That we met and had sex right away.”

  “Why,” I lean over and whisper or hiss, I’m not sure which one, “are you doing this?”

  “I just want you guys to know I’m not the type to jump into bed with anyone.” I literally want to put my hand over her mouth to stop her from talking.

  “Cara.” My mother sits down on the side of Eli and puts her hand on hers. “Sex is a natural thing.” I now groan and look over at my father, who looks like he wants to run away. “I wore white to my wedding, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t do monkey business before that.”

  “Please stop.” I close my eyes.

  “We were very active before and after we got married,” my mother says, laughing while she grabs the jug of lemonade and pours it out. “Remember that time, Dominic, when I left my panties in your car?”

  I put my hand to my stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “Gabriella,” my father says, looking at her.

  “I just want her to feel comfortable,” my mother tells her. “Sex is a natural thing.”

  “Please, please stop,” I groan. “I am begging you to never ever say that sentence again.” And now Eli is the one who leans into me and rolls her lips.

  “I’m hungry,” Aiden
says, and at that moment, I want to run up to my son and kiss his face.

  The rest of the meal goes off without any talk about sex. When we leave, it’s with three bags of cookies and seven Tupperware containers of food as well as two lasagnas.

  “It’s just to help. I know that with working and then getting home, it’s tiring,” my mother says to us. “Let me know about next week, and if your parents can join us.” My mother kisses Eli on both cheeks. “And I’ll call you this week to check in.”

  “I will,” Eli says, smiling and then kissing my father also. “Thank you so much for having us.”

  “Daddy,” Aiden says, pulling my pants, “my legs are tired.”

  “Let me carry you,” my father says, grabbing him and picking him up. He places him in the car and shuts the door while we get in also. My parents stand on the side and wave at us as we drive away.

  “That wasn’t so bad.” I look over at Eli, who just smiles.

  “I love your parents,” she says, waving at them as we drive away.

  “They loved you guys,” I tell her and pick up her hand and kiss it.

  “I’m going to tell my parents about next week. I think both families meeting is a good idea,” she says, and I just nod. I’m not even thinking about next week; the only thing I’m thinking about is tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty

  Eliahn

  “So you are going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa tonight,” I tell Aiden as the flutters start in my stomach thinking about tonight.

  I had an appointment with the wax girl yesterday to clean everything up, and as soon as I drop Aiden off, I’m off to a little lingerie shop to pick up some things for tonight.

  “Do you want me to drop Aiden off on the way to the gym?” Luca asks, getting up from the table with his empty plate and coffee cup. He is wearing just shorts that are hanging really low on the hips and I, for one, can’t wait to get him naked. This past week has been the longest week of my life. Every single time I thought it would happen, something—mostly Aiden—would pop up and ruin the moment. There have been some steamy make-out sessions. The one attempt to get into the shower together was cut short when Aiden came in right when I was going to pull down his pants, thinking it was a party for everyone.