Page 123 of Wicked Deceit
Seger grins, pulling me from Zepp’s embrace. “Good luck, Angel. He’s been trapped in his office for like two days. Take him a peace offering or something.” He kisses my temple, waltzing out the door and doing a little happy dance.
“Good luck, Sunshine,” Chase says, pecking my cheek and getting into the shower.
Zepp takes my hand, and we walk out of the bathroom. “You think he’ll be okay with this?” My voice comes out as a whisper. I can’t take my eyes off the test sitting in my hand. Despite the positive responses from the other three, Carter feels like the biggest hurdle I have to jump over.
I’m almost positive he’ll be happy, but those nagging insecurities rush through my mind. They’re stupid—so friggin’ stupid. He’s been nothing but incredible these last four years. He’s come into himself and developed into the man he wanted to be for so long. His father’s expectations and blackmailing ways no longer hang over his head like a guillotine. The romance is alive within him, getting me flowers and planning private dinners for the two of us.
“Is that what you thought with us?” Zepp asks, squeezing my hand. His eyes examine mine as I nod. Shame fills me with the stupidity of my thoughts, but sometimes I can’t help it.
Girls chased my guys like some sort of conquest: Zepp, Chase, and Seger the most. Carter mainly kept to himself, but girls around town saw him as the bad boy type and batted their lashes at him. He’d pull me closer, purposefully make out with me, slap my ass, and tell them to fuck off.
Of course, the other three boys were oblivious to the flirting right in front of them. But I wasn’t. They never took to the girl’s advances, blowing them off and telling them straight to their faces they had a girlfriend. And that made me feel all mushy inside. It didn’t deter girls, though. Chase and Seger are stars around campus, legends among the football team. So, yeah. I had big insecurities—unfounded, but I couldn’t help myself sometimes.
“Ah, yeah, I—” I roll my lips together. “You know how it is up here,” I say with a watery smile, tapping the side of my head.
Group counseling and individual therapy have been a part of our lives since our nightmares came true at East Point. We’re fundamentally still the same people, but it changed us all. And for me, my change came with roaring insecurities, nightmares, and needing a shit ton of reassurances. I’m still me, but it has chipped my pieces a little. If it weren’t for the boys and normalcy, I would have crashed and burned a long time ago.
Zepp’s warm lips take over mine, pulling me tightly against him. “I know, Kace. But he’ll be thrilled. We are all in this together. Forever. Don’t you forget that.” He kisses me one last time, slapping me on the ass. “Now, go get him, tiger!”
I snort as he walks away from me, leaving me standing outside Carter’s closed office door.
Filling my lungs with a fresh breath, I slowly open the door to his office. When Carter said he had soundproofed the entire room so he could focus, he hadn’t lied. You’d never know there were over ten rowdy guys downstairs talking over each other while watching old football footage. Their sound cuts off as soon as I shut his door behind me.
Behind his impressive mahogany desk sits my man. My heart sputters inside my chest as he watches me. Those big brown eyes track my movements when I make my way across the room. He smirks, raising a brow, silently asking me what I’m doing.
I never disrupt his work, and sometimes he’s in here for days at a time working things out. Right now, four other board members from his company talk to him and each other on his computer. I smile, giving a little wave. His head cocks to the side, and I guess it’s now or never. I can’t hold it in any longer.
I slide the two pregnancy tests toward him, giving him a second to read them. I know the moment it registers in his brain. “Holy fuck!” he yells to the room with an excited whoop, stopping all chatter on the other end.
“Sir?” one voice asks.
“Everything alright?”
“Give me a minute,” he says, typing a few things in. He rounds his desk, pouncing on me like a damn predator. Fisting my long hair, he forces me to look at him. “This true?” he breathes with hope sparking to life in the depths of his eyes, bringing a manic grin across his lips.
“Took nine,” I whisper, running my hands up his impressively hard chest. I run my fingers over the bars of his nipple piercings, sending a shiver through him. “All say the same.”
He grins, pressing his forehead into mine. “Fuck yes,” he whispers. “Holy fucking, yes!” His mouth devours mine. His tongue glides against mine, the warm metal of his piercing sending lava throughout my body.
He pulls away, breathless, still holding me close. Our bodies mold together, melting in our embrace. “We finally locked you down for good, didn’t we? No running away now, Sweetheart.”
I snort, running my finger down his jawline repeatedly. “Who said I was ever going to leave?” I ask, raising a brow. “The moment you fuckers walked into my life, I knew you were it for me.”
“I highly doubt that,” he whispers through a grin. “I made your life pretty rough at the beginning.”
“Yeah, you did,” I hum. “Threw me in a dumpster, tried to drown me….”
He cuts me off by kissing me, letting his lips linger. “I love you,” he whispers. “To the moon and fucking back a million times. And I hope you never get tired of hearing me say it because, at this point, I’ll never stop.” I’ll never get tired of hearing those words come out of his mouth.
“I love you too, Grumpy.”
He chuckles, kissing my cheek. “So a baby, huh?” A huge grin splits his face. “I’m going to make a bet with those fuckers that it carries my fucking DNA. This thing,” he cups himself through his jeans, laughing. “It was made for making babies.”
I groan, throwing my head back to look at the ceiling. "Noooo, no bets, Grumpy!" I say through exasperation.
He snorts, turning away from me, and ignores my pleas. That’s one thing these competitive assholes have picked up over the past four years, bets. Rushing out the door without a second glance, he races toward the stairwell overlooking the living room. “A thousand says it’s mine!” He shouts from the top of the stairs into the room full of guys staring at the TV. They continue to watch, ignoring his comment, but he gets the other guys’ attention.
“Fuck you, Cunningham! I’ll raise your bet to two grand—it’s mine!” Seger shouts, slapping a few of his football buddies and getting them to chant, “Two grand it’s mine!”
