Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
When I finally sink the rest of the way in, it’s a careful and drawn-out claiming. Her body opens to me, greedy and perfect. I stay there, letting us both tremble with the sensation of our joining, before I pull back just enough to begin again. Each stroke goes deeper, becoming hungrier, more consuming than the last.
The way she clings to me, her body yielding, is everything. When she orgasms for a second time, I follow her over the edge, holding her so tight it feels like we could meld into one and never come apart.
Even after the tremors fade, I keep her pressed close, unwilling to let the moment slip away. Her body is warm and pliant against mine, her heartbeat steady and sure, thudding in time with my own.
This woman feels like home.
More than that, she feels like forever.
I press a kiss to her damp hair, my voice rough with everything I’ve tried so hard to hide. “You think this is ever going to end? Baby, this is just the beginning. You’re mine now. You always were.”
I pause, letting the silence hold the truth steady between us, wanting her to feel every bit of it.
Of me.
“I’m never letting you go,” I whisper. “Not in this life. Or any other.”
Her fingers curl into me, clutching tight, as if she finally recognizes what I’ve known all along.
Even as the vow tumbles free, I realize that understanding and believing aren’t always the same thing.
29
Rina
As soon as I step into Lakeshore Sweets, warmth rushes over me. The air is thick with the buttery scent of something fresh from the oven, mingled with coffee beans.
It’s heaven.
Or it would be if I weren’t nauseous.
Behind the counter, Callie slides a tray of golden croissants into the display case, her cheeks still pink from the heat of the kitchen. Sloane rings up a customer with her usual cut-through-the-bullshit attitude, and Lilah comes through the swinging door balancing a pan of muffins.
I lift a brow. “You work here now?”
She grins. “Just helping out for a few hours.”
With a smile, Callie gives me a little wave. “Hey. I wasn’t sure if you were stopping by this morning. Everything good?” There’s a slight pause. “You look a little pale.” Instead of waiting for an answer, she tilts her head toward our corner. “Go sit. I’ll bring you tea.”
“I’m fine.” Without saying anything more, I settle at our usual table and press my palms flat against the wooden surface, as if the solid feel will help steady my nerves.
My heart thunders so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs. I’ve been going back and forth for days, caught between wanting to hold my secret close and needing to let it out. The second I tell them what’s going on, it becomes real in a way that’s impossible to ignore.
But I can’t keep this to myself anymore. I need my girls to ground me. To hold me together when it feels like I’m seconds away from splintering apart.
As I wait, I glance toward the counter and catch the ordinary flow of their lives. The easy way they move together, the laughter that floats above the music playing in the background. Lilah has a calmness about her that feels Zen. It’s steady and sure, as if she’s already built a life that fits her. Callie glows these days, softer but stronger somehow, as if her relationship with River has reshaped her from the inside out. And Sloane? Well, she’s dynamite wrapped in eyeliner and confidence. They all seem so certain of who they are.
I used to be like that.
Now it feels like I’m standing in quicksand, unsure which way is solid ground.
After they gather around, mugs and muffins scattered between us, I don’t give myself time to reconsider my decision.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt.
A shocked silence follows, stretching just long enough to make me squirm.
A memory flashes in my head before I can stop it, of sitting on the bathroom floor, the test balanced on the edge of the sink, my hands shaking too hard to hold it steady. I remember the way I froze when those two pink lines appeared, how everything inside me went quiet and loud all at once.
Lilah blinks. “As in… pregnant-pregnant?”
“Yeah,” I croak, heat crawling up my neck. “Pregnant-pregnant.”
Sloane nearly chokes on her latte, coughing as her eyes bug out. Callie slaps a hand over her mouth to muffle a shocked squeak.
“So… who’s the baby daddy?” Sloane demands once she recovers.
“Is it someone we know?” Lilah tacks on quickly.
I swallow hard and brace myself for their reaction. “It’s Oliver.”
There’s another beat of stunned silence.
Or maybe five of them.
“Oliver freaking Van Doren is Big D?” Sloane whisper yells.
I groan. “I really hate you saw that on my phone.”
Lilah’s lips twitch before she breaks into laughter. “Wait. So the Big O is actually the Big D?”