Chapter Seventeen
Brent
#DidYouBringAToothbrush
The movie ended far too soon or not soon enough. I wasn’t sure just which.
There was something magical about that first love, all hormones, kind of making out like teenagers. The steady fueling of our desire with the understanding there was nothing coming next. We weren’t building to a blow job or even a hand job. We were enjoying exactly what we were doing.
It was hotter than hot.
We didn’t even know the movie was over until the lights clicked on to help guide us from the theater. We were the last show of the night and they wanted us out. At least we came on a weekday so we could be alone. If we waited until the weekend, it would be new movie night and the place would be packed-ish. And by new movie, the owners meant less than three months old, but for three bucks and a night out, that was new enough.
But yay for us going on Classics Night where we could make out without the peanut gallery whistling at us. Not that I was sure we were alone. We were making out before the movie started and frankly, I had more important things to worry about than who surrounded us.
“My place?” I asked trying to remember if I had even made the bed in my tiny apartment.
“Which is closer?” Jay’s arms wrapped around me, and I almost forgot the question.
“Ummm, the hotel I think. You are making me math,” I teased.
“Says the hot math TA. The hotel it is. Do you want to stop and get anything along the way? Maybe a toothbrush?” The innuendo in his tone let me know instantly he was asking me to stay over and not implying anything about my hygiene, but I couldn’t resist razzing him a little bit.
“Are you saying I stink, or that you want me to spend the night?” I nibbled on his neck to incentivize him to answer correctly.
“I wasn’t going to say anything—”
I playfully smacked his chest, and we both giggled, yes giggled. We were quite the pair, and now that I knew he wanted to be a pair and was all-in, the guilt started to settle in. We were in Mapleville. His silly request for me to get a toothbrush was nearly impossible. He was a world traveler and gifted in his field. Staying here was giving up more than he could begin to imagine.
“We’ll have to get one from the hotel lobby. This is Mapleville. Everything closed well before the movie was over.” Not that there was much to be open in the first place.
“Hotel it is.” He grabbed my hand and all but dragged me out of there. I was down with that plan.
We were back at his suite, complimentary toothbrush in hand, within fifteen minutes. That was one of the benefits of a small town. If you lived or were doing things within the town limits, everything was super close. It was a huge part of why so many people liked it. It was also a huge part of the reason people hated it.
“I have a confession for you.” He led me to the couch, where he took off my shoes one by one, which somehow was the sexiest of things he could’ve done right then. It was far too early in my pregnancy for my feet to be swollen, but my body didn’t seem to get that memo.
“Do tell.” I snuggled into him as he sat beside me.
“I didn’t want to leave this room earlier and was a bit pissed at your cousin.”
“Me, too.” Leaving had been the absolute last thing I had on my mind. Especially when I knew Jay was in the shower all naked and wet and soapy. Nope, I’d been pissed—then. Now, not so much.
“There’s more.” He bopped my nose. I loved how comfortable we were together, as if we’d known each other for years and not nanoseconds.
“Scandalous.” I burrowed in deeper, loving the feeling of being surrounded by his warmth and strength. I had it bad.
“I’m glad we did. I feel like tonight was more.” His arm tightened around me as he kissed the top of my head. “More than a date. More than a reconnecting. More than making out like a couple of frisky teens.” He tipped my head up to meet his eyes, “I admit it. I was a little afraid I’d built up what we had up too much in my head. As if, it was amazing, but I was putting more into it somehow.”
Relief filled me, knowing I hadn’t been alone in that.
“I was, too.” I reached up to cup his cheek, loving the rough feel of his whiskers against my palm. “But now that you are here—really here, I see that I was silly to be worried.”
“My mom used to say worry is a waste of life.” He rubbed into my hand a little before encouraging me to snuggle back into his side. “I miss her. She and my dad had the perfect love story. Love at first sight, engaged on the second date, and married so fast it caused whiplash and lots of gossip. You know, surely he’d knocked her up and was doing right by her. It couldn’t be love.”
“People are idiots.”
“They are,” he agreed as he brought my legs up and onto his lap. It was nice, like that, just a ball of affection on the crappy hotel sofa. “It was, the gossips insisted, never going to last, but four years later they had me. They loved each other until the day she died. Papa still loves her, but he is dating now. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
“I would be honored.” I inhaled deeply. I rarely talked about my father, but it felt like the time to share. “My mom and dad were the same way, only with a little less velocity. They waited four whole months to get engaged.” I wasn’t giving details about what made me miss my dad so, but it still brought up the feels.
“The willpower.” Jay’s lips graced the top of my head again.
“Thanks.” I was such a lucky omega.
“For?”
“For sharing that with me. For helping me to see that as much as I was thinking this was all crazy, we both come from families who did exactly this—jumped in with both feet. Although in our case, we did start with a baby so not exactly the same.
We’re not crazy. I’m not even sure if impulsive is the word. Maybe we are just decisive?”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.” He chuckled as I inadvertently let out a yawn. I hadn’t been awake for this length of time for a couple of weeks. I’d assumed I was sick, but now that I knew pregnant, I just accepted it.
“You’re exhausted.”
“I’m kind of growing a human.” Our baby.
“Yes, you are.” He guided my feet to the floor, and I scooched back as he stood, holding his hand out for me. “Let’s get you to bed.”
I accepted his help and got to my feet.
“Not going to help the tiredness, but I’m more than game.” I raised my eyebrows up and down a couple of times for good measure.
“I meant to sleep. I want to spend the night holding you, listening to you breathe, feeling your warmth, knowing you are back with me.”
And, somehow, that sounded even better.