NASH
Seriously though, it’s been fun running around town like PIs.
NASH
But it’ll be good to have you home.
ME
Can’t fucking wait to get back.
I open my photos and look at the one Liv sent me earlier this afternoon. It’s her and Duke on their daily walk to the creek. She’s in a pair of shorts and a tank, but as I zoom in, I swear I can almost see the hint of a swell in her lower belly. Her hair is back off her perfect, makeup-free, smiling face.Oh hell yes.
I think of how we got here. And of how goddamn tired I am of fighting the way I feel for her. These last couple months have been a blur—a blur of red hair and blue eyes, an addictive laugh, and plump, pouty lips that turn up into that pretty smile. My blood starts to race as I start the truck, roll down the windows, and turn up Waylon Jennings as we hit the road. It doesn’t feel real, but in less than ten hours I’ll be home.
CHAPTER 46
Olivia
“Please, they’re huge.” CeCe holds up her foot. Her ankles are so swollen at four days overdue and she looks so damn uncomfortable. “At least with my swollen feet I won’t have to cook for the next few days.” CeCe gives me a wink. If it wasn’t also possibly my fate, I would be laughing with her. To give her the best possible start, I spent the better part of my afternoon before shopping with Cassie making her a tray of freezer lasagna and shepherd’s pie that she can just heat and serve after the baby finally makes her appearance.
“It’ll all be worth it when you hold that little love muffin,” Mama Jo says.
CeCe, Ginger, Cassie, and Mama Jo are sat outside on Asher’s back deck and Ivy is at home with Billi, who is teething and miserable. We’re eating snacks and talking shit, and Cassie was right, it’s exactly what I needed. For the first time in two weeks there is life here, and I welcome it.
“You’re next.” CeCe points at me when I laugh.
“Right now I feel pretty good.” I shrug. “No more morning sickness.”
“That’s because this is the honeymoon part of your pregnancy.” She smiles at me. She’s so round and adorable right now. “You’re in the ‘my boobs are a little bigger, my ass still looks great, and all I want to do is eat and fuck’ phase.”
“Darlin’.” Jo scrunches up her face.
“Sorry, Mama, but it’s true.”
“How long does that last?” I ask as I pet Duke’s big head. He hasn’t left my side since the girls arrived. “I’ve almost resorted to sleeping with my vibrator,” I admit and they all laugh, but it’s true. Lately, I can’t get myself offenough.
All I can think about is Asher—the way he looks at me with that burning desire, and how desperate it makes me to have him. I keep picturing the way he digs his hands into my thighs and hips, and how his dark brows furrowed as he fucked into me, over and over.
“She’s thinking about it right now.” CeCe hikes her thumb over her shoulder at me and pops a chip in her mouth, snapping me from my vision. Ginger, Mama Jo, and Cassie all laugh.
“For me it was until about seven months,” CeCe continues. “After that, I was just tired and growing bigger by the day. Now I feel like a beached whale.”
“Well, you’re the prettiest beached whale I’ve ever seen.” Ginger grins.
“When’s it your turn?” Cassie turns to ask Ginger, who looks around at all of us.
“Um … well … actually,” she starts sheepishly. All our heads snap to her. “We just found out.”
Screaming ensues around the table as we stand and hug Ginger one by one.
Tears stream down my cheeks. “We’re all pregnant at the same time?”
“Cole wants our kids to be as close in age to Mabel as possible. She’s almost ten already, so …”
“Kids?” Jo asks. “How many are you two planning?”
Ginger shrugs. “I don’t know … a baseball team full?”
