There was half a minute, though, that his kiss was too soft to take center stage and my head spoke louder. Half a minute when doubt crept in and reason prevailed over emotional attachment. What happens if you aren’t enough forever? doubt asked. Wouldn’t he be happier with someone who wanted babies, someone who wanted to be a mom?
He’s building so much of his life around you, reason piped in. What kind of a man does that? What hole inside him is he trying to fill?
And then JC’s cock was between my legs, nudging at my entrance, and the voices were gone, every negative thought chased away with one thrust inside me. When I was open for him like this—emotionally and physically—there wasn’t room for uncertainty or confusion. He filled me too completely for that. Filled me with his cock and his affection and his promise of a future, that right or wrong, we would spend together.
Soon, my orgasm began to gather wind. With a contented sigh, I wrapped my legs around his waist and hoped I was ready for the storm.
Chapter Thirteen
We still hadn’t decided if we would tell anyone about our engagement when we arrived at Hudson and Alayna’s building for dinner. While both of us were excited about the news, we weren’t sure if the timing was appropriate. In the end, JC left it up to me.
“They’re your friends,” he said as the elevator climbed to the penthouse at The Bowery. “You’re the one who can read them best.”
It didn’t take knowing Laynie to be able to read her when we stepped into her foyer at seven forty two. I’d texted her earlier about JC coming, but she seemed taken aback when she saw him, and I was pretty sure her surprise was obvious to him as well. Her eyes darted from me to JC then back to me, and though she smiled brightly, her speech was high-pitched and rapid, almost as if she were panicked.
“Hi. Uh, welcome! I’m so glad that you both could come.” She put extra emphasis on the word both. “I’ll take your purse if you want, Gwen.”
“Didn’t you get my message?” I asked, sliding the strap of my bag off my shoulder.
“Didn’t you get mine?”
“Uh,” I rummaged through my purse for my phone. One missed call. There was a voice mail waiting too. “Guess not. Should I listen?”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine.” Her smile continued to be too bright, and I wondered whom she was trying to convince. And why.
But before I could ask, she’d turned to JC. “We didn’t officially meet, Justin. I’ve heard so very much about you. I’m Laynie.” She held her hand out toward him.
“It’s JC, actually.” He accepted her hand and rested his other palm on her elbow, making the gesture less formal. His extra effort with my best friend did funny things to my chest and less strange, but unspeakable, things to my lower parts.
“Good. Good. Glad to have you.” Laynie took my purse and stowed it in the coat closet. When she turned back, she clapped her hands together. “Well. Everyone else is here already.”
“‘Everyone else?’” We were auditioning a cook again that night, and I’d only expected it to be us, possibly my sister, if Hudson had been able to talk her into leaving work for the evening. With growing anxiety, I rounded the corner and stopped short when I saw the living room. Or rather, when I saw the small crowd gathered there. It wasn’t that I minded lots of people, or even specifically these people. It was just one of the people that caused my heart to start hammering—Chandler.
“Ah, fuck.”
JC came up next to me and took my hand. “What’s wrong?” he asked, following my line of vision. “Ah. I see.”
I turned into him and whispered, “I had no idea. I swear. Do you want to leave? We can totally leave if you want.”
His answer came instantly. “Hell, no.” He gave me a smile that I was sure he reserved for only me. “I’m not afraid if you’re not.”
Afraid? I wasn’t sure that was the right word for what I was feeling.
“Nah, I’m totally cool.” I returned his smile, but I wasn’t sure it looked any less plastered than Laynie’s had. I turned to her next. “What is this anyway? An Anders/Pierce family reunion?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “We were all together on the boat yesterday—missed you, by the way—and Mira said we should get together more often, and more often turned into tonight.”
The we that she referred to included—besides Chandler—Hudson, of course, Ben and his boyfriend Eric, Norma and Boyd, Hudson’s sister Mira and her husband Adam. Really, I would have loved the opportunity to introduce JC to all of them. It was just the youngest Pierce that was making me uncomfortable.