Alessia

“How’s the frozen tundra treating you?” Ariana asked.

I laughed at the shivering sound she made when she wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold, even though it was in the sixties in Vegas while it was under zero with wind chill in Chicago. Leaning closer to the screen to make sure she didn’t miss it, I stuck my tongue out at her. “Good, as long as I don’t leave home. It’s so cold outside!”

“Pretend you’re a bear hibernating for the winter and let your white knight run all your errands for you.”

“Yeah, Alec makes sure we’re stocked up on literally everything before any of his road trips. And he’s had Tamara checking in on me when she can, but she’s going to be leaving for PyeongChang soon. She wants a month to adjust before the speed skating events start.”

Ryan’s girlfriend and I had become fast friends and spent a lot of time together since we were neighbors. I was going to miss her while she was gone, especially since it was in the middle of hockey season, but I was so excited for her to skate in the Olympics again. I’d gone with her to the rink to watch her skate several times, and she was amazing. I couldn’t wait to see how many medals she brought home this time around.

“Maybe I should come out and stay with you,” Ariana suggested.

“Really?” I squealed. “Can you? I know your lease is set to renew soon, but you haven’t said anything about what you were thinking about doing and I didn’t want to be pushy if you’re happy where you’re at.”

“Do you think it’ll be okay with Alec?” She looked away from the screen, without responding to the part about her being happy. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I had the feeling something was bothering her—and she was trying to hide from me.

I was beyond curious to know what the heck was going on, but I decided that once I got her to Chicago it would be easier to make her tell me. “Are you kidding? He’d be thrilled. He’s been worried sick about his road trips once Tamara is out of the country. He’s even tried to talk me into staying with his mom and dad!”

“Are you really surprised? He was already crazy protective of you before he knocked you up. Now that you’re in your last trimester, it’s got to be killing him that he can’t be there for you all the time.”

“It really is,” I sighed, my hands cradling my swollen belly.

“Then it’s probably for the best if I come out there, right? At least until the end of the hockey season?” she asked again.

“Yes! Please. Pack up and hop on a plane tomorrow if you can,” I encouraged. “And stay as long as you want. Heck, you can take over the apartment when we move into the house.”

“I still can’t believe he tore down a house to build you a new one in his parents’ neighborhood.”

Neither could I. “The other place was tiny. Way too small for the two of us plus the baby. And the price was too good to pass up for that lot.” Or at least that was the logic Alec used when he talked me into buying it. Not that it had taken much convincing. I adored his parents’ neighborhood, and I loved the idea of raising our children with their grandparents so close by. Especially since my mom was halfway across the country, and I wasn’t sure how involved she’d be in our baby’s life. With her calls becoming less frequent over the last month or so, I was starting to wonder if the improvements she’d made in rehab weren’t sticking.

“I’m not sure about taking over your apartment, but I’ll put most of my stuff into storage for now and I can always fly back and load up a moving truck later if I decide to make this a permanent move.”

“Great! I’ll tell Alec all about it tonight,” I promised. “He should be home in a few minutes. He would have already been here, but he decided to stop and pick up pizza for dinner since I’ve been craving it lately.”

“Do me a favor and crave it again when I get there. You’ve raved over the Chicago-style deep dish so much; I need to try it.”

“Will do!”

“Okay, I’ll let you know what day I’m coming once I get everything situated. I’ll try to swing it so I’m there before his next road trip,” she offered.

“Even better.”

We wrapped up our call and had just said our goodbyes when I heard Alec unlock and open the door. “I’m home, beautiful!” he called out.

“Perfect timing,” I replied as I shut my laptop and hefted myself off the couch. “I just got done talking to Ariana, and I’m starved.”

“How’s your sister?” he asked, after claiming my lips in a passionate kiss.

I followed behind him—and the pizza—as he walked into the kitchen. “I’m not sure. The good news is she wants to come stay with us until the baby’s here, so you won’t have to worry about me being alone when you’re on the road.”

He grabbed two plates from the cabinet and set them down next to the pizza box. “I guess it’s a good thing the spare bedroom is on the other side of the apartment from ours if she’s going to be here that long. Because when I get back from those trips—”

He let his sentence trail off and wagged his eyebrows suggestively. I chose to ignore him and dished up our pizza instead while he got us each a bottle of water.

“I’m happy she’s coming,” I told him after we brought our plates and drinks to the living and got settled next to each other on the couch. “I’m worried, though. She seemed...off when we talked about it. Like there’s something she’s not telling me.”

“Remember what I told you, beautiful. Leave the worrying to me while you focus on baking our little lentil.”

“I don’t understand why you insist on using that nickname when the baby has grown well past that size.” I gestured at my belly to prove my point. He’d been calling the baby “our little lentil” ever since the doctor had described its size that way at our first appointment.

“Because you’re adorable and sexy when you frown at me each time I do it,” he explained.

“You’re lucky I love you.”

He lifted my feet and put them in his lap before handing me my plate. “Damn straight. I didn’t need to gamble in Vegas to prove how lucky I am because I walked away with you.”

I took a bite of pizza, resting my hand on top of his over my belly and knowing that I was really the lucky one—and that I’d never be able to convince him of it.

The Bachelorette Party series also includes crossover from characters in my Blythe College series. If you haven’t read those books yet, you can start off with , the first book in that series, for free right now! (As of January 2018)

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