Page 75 of Pumpkin
“I don’t know about you, but I could sleep a bit more.”
Surprised at his answer, Dosia turned to look at Pumpkin. His smile was infectious, making Dosia immediately forgive him for the joke.
He crooked a finger at her. “Come here.” He went over onto his back as she lay atop him. “You know, you’ve got a lot to live up to.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Do I?”
He nodded, nibbling along her jaw. “Because if what we just did was only five percent on my part, I can’t wait to see what ninety-five percent on your part is like.”
CHAPTER 13
Pumpkin had never felt so fucking good and so godawful bad in his entire life. His ring was on Dosia’s finger. After explaining to Dosia why price didn’t matter, Dosia had chosen a moderately-priced vintage ruby ring set on a platinum band. He knew it was princess-cut and thought Colton, the owner of the antique jewelry store, had told them it was a kite-set filigree. Whatever the fuck that meant. The man could have told them that it was made of butterscotch pudding and all Pumpkin would have cared about was that it put a smile on Dosia’s face. When she saw the ruby on her finger, it waseverythingand he’d never swiped his credit card so fast.
After having sex in theirLexusoutsideColton’s Jewelers, because the back seats in the souped-up SUV laid flat and they had yet to christen the vehicle, they headed back to Dosia’s grandparents’ house. Pumpkin had asked Dosia why she went with a cheaper option. He didn’t doubt her love of her new ring, but she hadn’t even looked outside a certain case that had rings listed under two thousand dollars.
“Because I want to save that money for our family and our future, not ona ring,” had been her answer, and Pumpkin was fully on board with that.
He also told Dosia about the money he’d put aside for SJ’s and JJ’s futures. He would need to make a third trust soon. If something happened to Dosia and him, Pumpkin needed to know their kids were well taken care of.
Since Dosia’s aunt and grandma had SJ and JJ for the day, Dosia and Pumpkin went back up to Dosia’s bedroom. Where they didn’t leave until after both their stomachs started complaining about their emptiness.
If Dosia wasn’t pregnant before, there was no doubt in Pumpkin’s mind that she was now. But there was something…eerie about Calliope knowing about their engagement prior to them telling anyone.Pumpkinhadn’t even known he was going to propose when he did. Hell, he thought it would take a lot longer to get his ring on Dosia’s finger.
So if Calliope had known aboutthat, then maybe her prediction about Dosia already being pregnant wasn’t wrong either.
Pumpkin didn’t care. He’d missed JJ’s pregnancy and he’d stayed away from Cheryl as much as possible, only checking on her daily to see how SJ was doing… As much as he loved his kids, maybe the third time was the charm and he’d finally get to do thingsright.
Lucky called a meeting Monday morning.It was unorthodox, given most of them had jobs to go to, but with Steel still in jail, none of them were surprised. But now Pumpkin was standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Chapel, looking at each step with trepidation. There was aslightpossibility he’d overdone it in the sex department this weekend.
While his dick wasn’t complaining, his legs certainly were. Darrin had come by that morning to pick Pumpkin up and they’d dropped JJ off at school so Dosia had a few more minutes to get ready. She was taking SJ to work with her, which freed up Frankie. After JJ got out ofschool, Solstice was going to watch the bookstore so Pumpkin could bring his family to the clubhouse to meet everyone and then he’d bring Dosia to his house. He wanted her as comfortable as possible there so she’d move in faster.
Laughter came from Pumpkin’s right and he looked over to see Starbucks, Keys, and Bones heading out from the hallway where the club’s apartments were. To his shock, he realized just how few of them lived there now. What would become of the clubhouse apartments when all of them were paired off and married?
“Oh, come on!” Starbucks scoffed. “It’s not like I wanted to go on a date with someone like her anyway.”
Pumpkin stiffened. He knew immediately who Starbucks was talking about. And while he didn’t entirely understand the ‘witchy lifestyle’, Calliope was Dosia’s aunt, which meant she fell under his protection.
Though Keys was walking with his club brothers, he had his head down in his phone and didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation. Dosia had told Pumpkin about what had happened when Keys went up on stage. Pumpkin didn’t know anything about Keys’ finances or who he was connected to online. So therewasa possibility Frankie was correct and Keys had paid for his own date.
Pumpkin could understand wanting to get out of the embarrassment of going on a date with a stranger, but he was also sure there were cheaper ways to do so.
Then again, he’d paid a thousand dollars to go on a date with hisfiancée. He grinned to himself. He’d never get tired of hearing that, thoughwifewould certainly top it.
Distracted by his internal thoughts, he nearly missed what Bones said next as he ribbed Starbucks about his auction win. Bones had his bid won by his physical therapist. Pumpkin had no idea if that crossed any ethical lines on her part, though there was that possibility that they were already sleeping together. He’d seen both of them share knowing and secret glances during their sessions.
“Look,” Star grumbled, “if the witch?—”
“Hey!” Pumpkin shouted, getting their attention.
Keys just continued walking past, oblivious to the world outside his phone. But there was a look in his eye as he passed Pumpkin. Like the kid was—shit—arousedby whatever was on his screen. Ugh. Keys was like the club’s little brother. They all looked after him, and to an extent, sheltered him. Despite being former Navy, he was never in a fight or called upon to be muscle. He was always safe behind his computer screen.
The idea that Keys had a girlfriend was weird. Even when the Honeys had worked for the club, he generally only ever hung out with Grace. She hadn’t been as hardcore as the other women and was closer to Keys’ age. Still, the club brothers always looked after him. They made sure he had condoms that hadn’t been tampered with and gave Grace a stern talking to about treating him right.
That Keys might actually be involved with someone didn’t sit well with Pumpkin. Maybe it was the secrecy, which he was aware was hypocritical of him given his own current situation. But he didn’t like that Keys might be involved with a woman who might take advantage of him.
Bones and Starbucks stopped in front of Pumpkin at his shout, but they too noticed Keys’ distraction as the kid journeyed up the stairs. Even with his hair growing out and his new beard and glasses, Pumpkin had a hard time looking at him as anything other than the scrawny little kid who’d prospected for them four years ago. He’d barely been twenty.
Christ, if this was Pumpkin’s reaction toKeysdating, how was he going to handle JJ or SJ dating? And now he was going to have a third baby! He didn’t think his heart could take it.
