Page 190 of Small Town Firsts
“You’re the most important person in my life. If this goes sideways and I lose you—” she began.
“Not gonna happen.” Even after the past week, I didn’t have to fake the confidence in my voice. “We are solid. Always. No matter what.”
“A baby would change things. You thought you’d make it easy on me, give me the chance to walk away. But I couldn’t. Just like I can’t turn my back on you or that little girl.” Her face tipped up to mine and her pleading tone cut me to the quick. “Do you honestly think I could walk away from a child we’d made?”
“So do it with me.”
Her mouth quivered. “What?”
“Have the baby with me and we’ll raise it together. Why the hell not, right? We’re both single, and we’re friends. As close as could be before sex, and now that’s obviously a go too, so why not?” I rushed on, the idea gaining speed. I didn’t know all the logistics of what I was suggesting, but right now, I didn’t care.
This way, we could both get what we wanted. And I wouldn’t lose her. She wouldn’t walk away from town for school, or if she did, she’d come back.
She’d always come back to me. Tous.
Ally backed up and spun around, facing the stacks of boxes along the far wall. “What about Laurie?”
The question barely registered, because all I could think about was that she hadn’t said no.
Hadn’t said yes either, but she definitely hadn’t said no.
“She wants another sibling. You know that.”
“But if it’s me you have the child with, won’t it confuse her? We’ve spent years telling her we are just friends.”
“She loves you. She’d be thrilled to have you around more. As would I.” Unable to stay away a second longer, I wrapped my arms around her from behind.
She not only bristled, but she pulled her body not so subtly away from mine. Something else she was always doing lately. Now that I knew she was attracted to me too, it seemed like just one more confusion to pile onto the rest. But maybe she wasn’t comfortable being attracted to me yet. In her mind, we were still off-limits. Still strictly friend-zoned.
“Hey,” I said gently. “It’s just me. Last night doesn’t change all that came before.” She let out a broken laugh and I swallowed over the dust in my throat. “Does it?”
She laughed again, weakly. “I know you’re not a chick.”
“Not so much, no.”
“But yeah, for women, sex changes stuff. Probably not all women. I’m sure there are plenty who can do it and not overanalyze, but I’m not one of them. Not when it’s you.”
I stroked a hand over her arm. “Plus, it was your first?—”
“God, don’t.” She buried her face in her hands. “So embarrassing.”
“What is?”
“I’m almost thirty and I hadn’t done it with anyone yet. I’m a freak with super-high expectations.”
“Having super-high expectations makes you a freak? Good to know.” Carefully, I turned her to face me and skimmed mythumb down the side of her throat. The skin was more than a little pink there, and my dick stirred again. My stubble had branded her as surely as my cock had.
Mine. I would always be her first. No matter what.
“I’m glad it was me,” I said hoarsely, tightening my hold on her throat. That brief show of dominance had her glancing up warily, but she didn’t back away. “That it was us. You gave me a gift I won’t ever forget.”
“Yeah, well, ditto, Hamilton.” She took a breath and the next time she spoke, her voice was stronger. “It didn’t quite compare to your Mustang exploits for your first time, but as far as first time fucks go, it probably wasn’t too bad.”
“Probably not.” I brushed a kiss over her forehead and she softened in my arms, melting against me in a way that didn’t make me want to stop kissing her. Or touching her.
Ever.
“Now we have time to perfect the technique,” I added as lightly as possible when my vocal cords were squeezed as tight as my swollen cock in my jeans.
