“Damn, sweetheart.” I kiss her head and scoop her legs up to carry her to the bed. “I’ll have Jonah take over at the party so I can come up and be with you.”
She grabs my hand. “No, don’t do that. Just give me a second. I actually feel a little better. But, um, can you just sit with me for a second?”
Like she has to ask? I throw myself on the bed and lie down next to her, pressing her head to my chest. “When did you start feeling sick?”
“I’ve been a little off all night, but I thought it was just nerves. Then I was walking up to change, and one of the catering guys walked by with a bunch of hamburgers. The smell of the cooked meat—” She covers her mouth and burps into her hand.
“That was hot.” I chuckle and pull her in tighter. Not a damn thing this girl could do would turn me off.
I’m f**king hooked. Pussy whipped. Tied down.
And over-f**king-joyed about it.
She giggles and nuzzles into my side. “Mmm, now I’m hungry. We have chips and salsa, right?”
“Yeah, if you get there fast enough. Raven’s inhaling food like a Hoover down there.”
“Well, she’s eating for two. I remember what that was like. One minute you’re starving to death and the next you’re…” Her body tenses against mine.
“Mouse? You okay?”
She doesn’t move.
“Shit, come on, I’ll get you to the bathroom.” I scoop her up.
She wiggles out of my hold. “No, wait.” Her eyebrows pinch together, and she counts on her fingers. “Oh my gosh. That’s impossible,” she whispers.
“Layla,” I growl. “You’re freaking me out. What the hell’s going on?”
Her eyes meet mine, an expression on her face I haven’t seen before. Ever. It’s a mix of absolute joy and pure f**king fear.
I cup her face and lean down. “Shit, baby. What?”
“I thought… it must not have been me.” She shakes her head, her eyes distant. “It was him.”
“What was him? Help me out here, I’m f**king dying.”
“I’m not infertile. He is.” She sits up on her knees, practically bouncing, and her brown eyes sparkle. “That’s why he refused the testing. They wanted to test me to try to figure out why I wasn’t getting pregnant.”
“Hold up, are you saying—”
“He must’ve known what I’d find out. The tests would prove that Axelle wasn’t his.”
“Wait, so you’re—”
“It would have exposed his lie. Then I’d have had every right to leave, and he’d have to explain how I got pregnant.”
“Mouse, baby. Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?” Hope explodes in my chest like an A-bomb.
“I think I’m pregnant.”
“Yes!”
Layla covers her ears from the power of my outburst.
I jump on the bed with both feet, hooting and hollering and pounding my chest. “Fuck yeah!”
The door flies open. Jonah and Raven come rushing in. “What the hell’s going on in here? We came up to use the bathroom and heard you from the front door.” Jonah’s eyebrows are set low and concerned.
“Layla’s carrying my baby.” I pounce from the bed and onto my woman, smothering her with my arms and lips. Kissing her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, chin, and repeating until she dissolves into a fit of giggles. “I love you, I f**king love you so f**king much it makes me sick.”
“Sick? That’s not good.” She’s still giggling.
“I love you. You know that. I love you, all three of you. This is us now. We’re a family. I know we’re doing all this backwards, but f**k what anyone says. You and Axelle are my girls. And, I’d be so damn stoked if you’d let me make this shit official.” Even with our close friends as witnesses, it feels like we’re the only two people in the room, hell, in the world. “Mouse, baby. Marry me.”
Her brown eyes go wide, and her lips tremble. She’s not saying anything, but her head is shaking no. Not the answer I was hoping for. Her single sob slashes through the silence.
I look at Jonah for help, but he just stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning.
“Layla? Sweetheart, if you—”
“Ugh!” She bolts off the bed, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
This is unexpected.
She stomps her foot. “I’m sick of getting married because I’m pregnant.” Her shoulders bounce with the force of her cry. “Seriously, what is wrong with me?”
“Ha, get used to that shit, dude.” Jonah points toward Raven, who’s also a sobbing mess.
“Mouse, nothing’s wrong with you.” I hold her in my arms and kiss her head. “Take your time, but know this… sooner or later, you’re taking my last name.”
She sniffs into my shirt, and her breathing calms. Her head tilts up, and she meets my eyes with a raised brow and a sassy grin. “I thought I told you, Snake. I don’t take orders.”
“Yeah, you told me. But I thought I told you, I’m a man who’s used to getting what he wants. I won’t give up until I have you… all of you. Forever. I won’t settle for less.”
She relaxes into my arms. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
~The End~