A boiling anger fills his eyes, and his jaw hardens. It’s only then I see the tears glistening. Seth looks torn, as if he were dying to put in his two cents but is afraid to get his balls chopped off in the process. And he probably should be. I’ve been nothing but a wicked witch tohim.
“You won’t do anything wrong. And if you decide to keep it, I’ll do whatever you need to help make things easier foryou.”
“Seth.” I can’t even get his name out, the sentiment is so sweet. A hiccup bounces from me, and we both laugh. I can only imagine what a brute beast I must look like with my hair frizzed out from the icy walk over, my tear-slicked face, mascara to my chin—not to mention the guest seated between us. “That’s really nice, but I couldn’t ask you to put your life on hold just because I’m having a crisis. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who rolled the dice, and nowIhave to pay the price. And you have no idea how much it pained me to say that. I’ve always had a strong dislike for both the euphemism and the people who wield it, and now I’m a wielder of sayings I hate. And, apparently, I’m a lover of people living in my belly. All I want to do is cry and eat pizza laden with greasy fish.” I hiccup as if putting an exclamation point on thesentiment.
He crimps his lips. “You’re not going through this alone, Sunday. Trust me, my life took a turn right along with yours. What you go through, I go through. We’re in thistogether.”
My heart thumps wild as I get lost in his gaze. “Do you really meanthat?”
“Hell yes.” He glances down, his hand carefully patting my sweater. “Youmind?”
“No, go right ahead. I figure everyone will want to touch it sooner or later. You should probably be the first. Devirginizing me from the event.” He winces, and I mouth the wordsorry. Seth lays his hand over my belly and takes a deep, shuddering breath as if he were facing his greatestfear.
“Hey, Little Fish.” His lips press tight as if he’s fighting hard not to lose it. “A baby.” His chest bucks with a silent laugh as he shakes his head. “This is going to be one wildadventure.”
“It already is.” I lean up, and everything in me freezes as I find myself within striking range of those full lips that have had me shaking all night. “You’re a good friend, Seth.” And there it is, my self-sabotage working overtime to ensure the fact I don’t cross any lines with him. Not that Seth is looking to score with a pregnant chick. I’m pretty sure once I turned myself into a human incubator I wiped all thoughts of myself as a sexual being right off thetable.
“A good friend.” His Adam’s apple rises and falls as he nods into the idea. That stoned look in his eyes suggests he’s either not buying it or pissed. With my shitty luck, it’s probablyboth.
Something rises up inside of me, a self-righteous indignation, that outright refuses to accept my luck as anything other than stellar—despite the fact I’ve branded myself a teenaged unwed mother, and that label will stick with me for life. But, at the moment, I’m feeling a bit pissed myself and ballsy—a dangerous combination if ever there wasone.
“Do you think we could”—I clear my throat—“youknow, share a quick kiss?” Another hiccup tries to chirp out of me, but I do my best to stifle it. “Unless, of course, you think it would be weird. Or you’re repulsed by me.” That last thought seems entirely plausible, and come to think of it, I chose a lousy time to grow a pair of balls. This is going to be really awkward when he saysno.
A hard breath expels from him, something between a laugh and a huff of anger. His lids hood low, and a drugged look comes over his face that I’ve never seen before. Seth doesn’t bother answering the question with words. Instead, he leans in close, shuts his eyes at the very last moment as he brushes his lips over mine, soft, so outrageously soft it makes me want to scream, or pant like a love-struck fool—which I am totally doing. He pulls back and offers a lazy grin, his eyes still slitted to nothing. Then just like that, he’s on me again, his mouth far more commanding as his lips press hard over mine, and everything in me is greedy to have him. It’s safe to say my newfound superpowers have accidentally launched the two of us over that line in the sand that once delineated ourfriendship.
I want so much more with Seth. I want everything withhim.
My mouth opens for him, and he’s in me swimming around with his hot tongue ever so carefully before turning on me with a marked aggression. A small groan works its way up his throat, and I drink it down, so delicious and sweet. A groan that sounded as if this very act was something that he too craved, that his body needed it the way mine did. My hand glides over his face, and I rub hard over the abrasiveness of his cheek, feel the tickle then the burn. Seth is burning me up from the inside, igniting a passion in me that I didn’t know existed. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted Seth Baker, and now I have him, right here in my arms, in my mouth, all of his attention pinned on me. I don’t want to be friends with Seth anymore. I want something for the two of us that’s so much more. I don’t care about my brothers’ needs, what they deem is or isn’t right for me. I’m a grown woman, and I think I should have a say in who I see, who I fall for. And I think that’s exactly what’s happened. Somewhere between finding him a menace and forming a close-knit friendship, I’ve done just that—fallen hard for Seth Baker. And I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with him,too.
Heck, I know Iam.
I love SethBaker.
I love him so damn much ithurts.
Seth
Friday there’s no game, not in the Mustang Dome anyway. There is plenty of game everywhere else seeing that it’s that fated day filled with red and pink hearts that greeting card companies the world over pant for all year long—Valentine’sDay.
WB doesn’t have classes, but there will be a party at every frat house and sorority all up and down The Row tonight. Not that I plan on attending. Nope. I’ll be participating in my new favorite ritual, hanging out with Sunday. Or at least I hope. She’s got her first official doctor’s appointment this afternoon, and I volunteered to go with her. I picked her up and drove us over to the medical building across from Hollow Brook General. I’m not too fond of blood and needles, but I’d brave an onslaught of both if it meant being there for Sunday and, apparently, itdoes.
The doctor’s office is cold and sterile, and the metal chairs they have peppered throughout the gargantuan waiting room don’t exactly help with the comfort level. The entire room is filled with women, most of which share a distended abdomen in common. A few of them look so painfully huge that in comparison to the rest of them it looks downright fake, like someone literally shoved a giant pillow up their shirts. It seems wholly impossible that a human body can stretch in that manner. I’ve seen plenty of girls’ midsections, and to think they all have the possibility of accommodating another human being this way seems like nothing short of amiracle.
Sunday grunts and groans next to me as she fills out the phone book’s worth of forms they’ve given her. She’s been feeling bad all morning. The only thing she’s eaten today has been a couple of crackers. I’m pretty sure that’s not considered eating for two. That’s hardly eating for one. She’s still prettysick.
It’s been one solid week, and neither one of us has brought up that kiss. Maybe that’s why. Maybe it made hersick.
That kiss. A rush of adrenaline courses through me at the thought. I have kissed my fair share of girls—though not as many as Sunday likes to believe—but that mouthwatering lip maneuver we undertook for the better part of three hours was something I have never experienced. I have never been so thoroughly aroused. Never in my life have I even thought about the act of kissing as something that might be worth exploring further. It was always a means to what came next, and what came next was usuallyme.
Sunday turns in the paperwork, and they call her name almostimmediately.
She jolts as those lemon-yellow eyes lock over mine. “Sunday Knight. That’sme.”
“You passed the first test of the day.” I pat her hand. “You’ll ace therest.”
She makes a face. “The next test is a pregnancy test, and judging by the way Little Fish has me wanting to puke up things I haven’t even put in my mouth yet, I’m pretty sure I’ll ace the next one, too. Come on.” She gives my hand a tug, and my muscles freezesolid.
“What do you meancome on? You want me to go back there withyou?”
