Chapter 9
Hanna
I thought about what Kason had said at his house and wondered if he was serious about that internship. I had known he was going to talk with someone at his work, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon! He was even willing to make it a paid position, which would be perfect since I’d need to save up as much money as I could for when I got pregnant. I thought about being his secretary and the time we would get to spend with one another. A part of me grew wary at the idea of seeing him so much. If he did agree to what I wanted, seeing me grow with his child might make him back out. He might get attached and want some sort of influential position in my or my child’s life. I wasn’t sure I could risk that.
I shook the thought from my head and turned my sights toward the event at the country club today. Apparently there was some sort of song and dance going on in the main part of the building and everyone was expected to attend. Mom wanted to take me to get a new dress, so we went shopping that afternoon, but I honestly didn’t want to go. We tried on dress after dress, and she criticized each one I put on. All I did was roll my eyes. Either the dress was too short or the fabric was too busy or the bust fabric was too low or the dress was too tight. I tried on twenty different dresses before I put my foot down and made up the excuse that I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go lay down before the event.
“Well, go ahead and get some rest. Maybe you can wear the dress you wore to the dinner party we catered. That dress looked so cute on you, and I’m sure a boy will snag you up at this dance in no time. Oh! I can just hear the wedding bells and see the babies now!”
“Thanks, Mom,” I murmured.
I went upstairs and lay down. When I woke up, it was an hour before the event. Mom was knocking on my door, beckoning for me to get dressed, and a thought crossed my mind. If I faked being sick and somehow got word to Kason, maybe I could get him to stay behind with me.
After all, there were a few things we really needed to talk about.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” mom asked softly. She came in and sat down on the side of my bed. When I groaned and pulled the covers over me, she filled in the blanks without me having to say a word.
“Oh, my baby has a migraine. Don’t worry. Let me get you a glass of water and some medicine. Then you can just hang behind tonight. There will be more parties before you head back to school.”
I sighed. “Thanks, Mom.”
She left the room, and I made my way to the bathroom where my luck just kept getting better and better. My brother’s phone was sitting on the edge of the counter and the screen hadn’t cut off yet, so his phone was still unlocked. I picked it up and navigated to his contacts, took a screenshot of Kason’s number, sent the photo to my phone, and then deleted the message.
That was how I was going to let Kason know I was staying behind. I locked my brother’s phone and put it back.
“Hanna? You in there?” my brother asked, knocking on the door. “Mom said you’re not feeling well?”
“I’m fine,” I croaked. “Just a headache.”
“Mom said you had a migraine,” he said.
“Then could you stop shouting please?” I asked.
“Could I come in and get my phone?”
“Only if you don’t mind me being half naked on the toilet.”
“I’ll shut my eyes.”
“Just…hold on, would ya?” I groaned. I quickly made myself presentable and was washing my hands at the sink when Marcus came in. For a brief second, I hoped I had closed out of his contact list, but when he opened his phone, he didn’t seem fazed. I splashed some water on my face and did some deep breathing over the sink to really sell the sick act. When Marcus’s hand came down on my back and rubbed it gently, I knew I had convinced everyone of the ruse.
“I’ll bring you back some cheesecake,” he whispered.
“Thanks.” I smiled.
“Honey?! I got your water and medicine!” Mom shouted.
I groaned. “Lord, that woman can roar.”
“Mom,” Marcus whispered harshly. “Keep it down, would ya?”
“Sorry,” she whispered. She handed me the pills, and I threw them back before I grabbed the water and chugged. Mom led me back to bed and tucked me under the covers. After she kissed my forehead and shut my door, I reached for my phone.
Hey, Kason. It’s Hanna. Look, I’m not going to the club event today and I hope you’re not either. We sorta need to talk.
I sent him the text message and hoped he would respond, but after a few minutes went by, I figured he probably didn’t have his phone on him. My eyes fluttered shut with the comfort and warmth of my bed, but when I felt my phone vibrate under my pillow, I woke up and yanked it out.
All right. I’m hanging behind, too. I’ll come over 20 minutes after everyone leaves. We do need to talk.
I smiled at his message and saved his number in my phone. Once I heard everyone leave the house, I jumped out of bed. I tore off my clothes and dug around for a cute little number to wear for him. Once I settled on an outfit, I started digging through my underwear drawer. I didn’t own many cute pieces of clothing, but the few I did own were always well taken care of. I pulled out a burnt orange bra and panty set that let my ass cheeks hang out just a little bit. Then I pulled the tight dress over my body and hiked my boobs up so they looked nice and perky.
I took a look at myself in the mirror and decided to splash on some makeup. I lined my eyes and threw on some quick mascara. I ditched the red lipstick for some flavored lip gloss. I knew the moment he got a taste of the succulent cherry blossom that tinted my lips, he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me.
Which was exactly what I was counting on.
I mussed up my hair and let it cascade down my back. When I heard someone knock furiously on the door, I pictured his hands all over my body. Maybe he’d rip my dress in half, or maybe he’d be so eager to plant himself between my legs that he wouldn’t even take my panties off. Maybe he’d love my lip gloss so much that he’d paint a glossy train from my nipples to my navel and trace it with his tongue, marking me all the way down my stomach.
I groaned just thinking of all the ways he would touch me, but Kason’s voice ripped me from my trance.
“Hanna?! You in there?!”
I ran down the steps and smoothed my dress out one last time before I opened the door and Kason flew through the entrance. He kicked the door shut with his foot, and his arms automatically went around my body. He hoisted me against the wall while I clamped my thighs down around his waist. His lips encapsulated mine, and my hands gripped tightly onto his hair. His strong, broad chest pinned me to the hallway wall while his rough hands palmed my tits.
He groaned. “Oh, god, Hanna.” He rolled his hips into me, and I ground down onto his body. I could feel the wet spot I was making on his clothes. My body shook against the wall as his tongue raked its way across my lips. When he tasted the sweet cherry blossom flavor, his dick pulsed against my clothed pussy.
His arms held me close, and I wrapped my hands around his neck. We slowly worked our way up the steps. I could feel his heart hammering against my skin, and my breath came in heaves into the crook of his neck. Our bodies were singing out for one another as he slowly carried me to my room. There was silence between us as he stopped to close my door. When he set me down on my feet, I slowly pushed him to sit on my bed.
I raised my hands in the air and backed away from him. My hips swayed to a beat found only in my head. His eyes devoured me with their hungry stare, the sweet, defensive hazel eyes I’d come to adore as a child now dark and stormy with desperation and need. His chest panted for me as he white-knuckled the comforter on my bed. When I turned around, I slowly peeled my arms out of my dress.
“Oh, Hanna,” he said roughly. His voice sounded like gravel and his undertones sounded like thunder. My entire being shivered at the sound of my name tumbling from the lips I wanted him to plant on every crevice of my body.
I slipped the dress down and slowly stepped out. When I kicked it off to the side, I let him see all of me. I held out my arms and turned for him, showing him the perky tits he could have his mouth on and the sweet, succulent pussy lips that could swallow his dick whole if only he agreed to the terms I had presented.
When he licked his lips, I knew I had him by the balls.
He rose and grasped my arm and pulled me into his body. When his legs parted and my feet stumbled, he held me—suspended in midair—while he devoured the rest of my lip gloss. He sucked my lips until they were plump. His tongue raked along the inside of my mouth, gulping down the very sweetness I knew he could taste. When his hands reached around to unhook my bra, I whispered the question I needed an answer to against his lips.
“Have you considered my offer?”
His hands stopped. He pulled his face back from mine. When I finally got my feet under me, I stood and gave him a heavy glare.
“Well?” I asked.
“No. No, I haven’t considered your offer, Hanna,” he said.
My stomach lurch with disappointment because I knew what I was losing out on. I was losing out on the perfect man with the perfect amount of ruggedness, bad boy, and familial values to have the perfect child with. He wanted to fuck me, and I wanted what his body would give me when he did. He wanted to continue being a playboy who dated a different model every week, and I wanted to be a single mother raising her perfect child while pursuing the job she always wanted but no one ever thought she would be able to do. It was a win-win situation.
Why the fuck was he making this so damn difficult?
“Fine,” I said. I walked over to my dress and picked it up off the ground. I heard footsteps scramble behind me before Kason had his chest pressed against my back. He slinked his hand around my stomach and slowly pulled me upward. When his lips danced along the crook of my neck, every single hair on my body stood on end.
“Come on, Hanna. Just once with a condom. It’s easier that way for new couples, and if you’d like, I’ll poke a hole in it.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked. “Do you really think I’m that much of an idiot?”
I turned around and met his gaze before I threw my dress back on. I shimmied it down my form much to Kason’s protesting, but all I could think about was that asinine compromise.
“Look, I know you still see me as the idiotic, dreamy-eyed teenage girl who drooled over you whenever you came home, and while I might still be dreamy-eyed, I’m also not a fucking idiot.”
“I know that,” he said, his voice low.
“That fucking bullshit ‘compromise’ tells me otherwise. ‘Poke a hole in it’? Really, Kason?”
“Look, Hanna—”
He reached for my arm and pulled me against his body. I planted my hands on his chest and felt the ripples of his muscles with my fingertips while his heartbeat hammered against my palm. I wished to god he would just say yes. I wanted him—every single part of his body—against me for as long as I could have him. And if we did it right, it only had to be once.
Just once.
“If we do it right, it—”
“Hanna,” Kason said. His voice was hard, commanding.
“No. Look.” I looked up into his eyes and drew in a slow breath through my nose, but part of me was craving the idea of sleeping with him without getting pregnant. He was so beautiful and so headstrong and so fucking…everything.
“I set out a deal,” I said as I stepped away. “If you accept the terms of this deal, then it’s on. But if you can’t accept the terms, then there’s no deal. You of all people should be able to understand that.”
Kason shook his head. “I can’t do that to you, Hanna.”
I sighed. “Then I can’t sleep with you, Kason.”
He shoved his hand down his pants and rearranged himself. I had to ball my fists up to keep from reaching out and shoving my own hand down his pants. He marched by me with frustration oozing from his pores, and I heard him storm down the steps before he slammed my front door shut. Tears rose to my eyes as I stood there, hoping to god he would throw the door open and come running back up the steps to me…but he never did.
No one ever ran back to me, no matter what I did or what I had to offer.
But if I had a child, they would run after me.
Time and time again.