Page 101 of Pipe Dreams
“Mmm,” Lauren said into his mouth. “I love game night.”
It was true that they’d had some of their most energetic sex after a win. He was always too wired to go to sleep. But sex wasn’t his mission right now. “Lo,” he whispered between kisses. “Did you test yet?”
She stilled beneath him.
“Did you pee on the stick?”
Slowly, she shook her head.
“I could run out and buy one right now. It’s time, right?”
He sat up, but she grabbed his hands. “Don’t.”
“Why?”
With a groan, she sat up, too. “In the first place, if you’re buying a pregnancy test at midnight, it’s going to end up in the gossip columns.”
He threw his head back and laughed.
“But... I’m just not ready.”
His laughter died away. “Why, honey? Don’t you want to know? I’m dyin’ here.” He cupped her soft face in one hand.
“Lots of pregnancies don’t take,” she said, turning her head to the side.
“Thing is...” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “We can keep trying. As many times as it takes. With lots of practice in between. And even if it never works, I’m still so fucking happy that you’re here. It’s not just about the baby, Lo. Tell me we’re on the same page.”
Her eyes widened and then went soft. “It’s not just about the baby. I love you. I’m in this no matter what.”
In all their years together, nothing she’d ever said had made him as happy as he was right now. He pulled her into his lap and held her even closer. And when he exhaled, it came out shakily. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I think I really needed to hear that.”
“You’re welcome.” She punctuated her words with a kiss on the underside of his jaw.
“So now you’ll pee on the stick, right?”
Lauren groaned. “One track mind, much?”
“But if we know we belong together, then why wait to find out if there’ll be a baby joining this party in the winter?”
She stroked his back with a gentle hand. “Because if we get the plus sign now, then it’s something I could lose, instead of something I never had in the first place.”
“Aw, baby.” He ran a hand through her silky hair. “It’sallrisk. Every damn thing in my life is something I could lose. That’s why we have to celebrate what we’ve got. We’re here, and we’re healthy. Everyone I care about is in this building tonight. My team just won. We might be losers again in three days’ time. Any number of shitty things might happen. But tonight we celebrate the living.”
“You.” She wrapped her arms around him, her eyes glittering in the dark. “You always shake me out of my funk.”
“That’s my job, baby.” He lifted her chin and claimed her mouth. The kiss went lava-hot immediately, too. She threw a knee over his thigh and straddled him. Heaven. He let his hands skim up her body until he was cupping her heavy breasts through the thin fabric of her nightgown. Maybe he was crazy, but she felt bigger already. He broke their kiss. “Are you sure I can’t go buy a test? I’ll wear a disguise.”
She laughed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“I have a pregnancy test in my suitcase.”
“What?” he yelped, pulling her down and tackling her against the pillows. “You were holding out on me this whole time?”
“Maybe if you weren’t so pushy.”
Cupping the back of her head, he leaned forward until she tipped all the way onto her back. He spread his body out on top of hers, pinning her hands over her head. Then he kissed her again, deep and slow. “You like it when I’m pushy,” he said a couple of minutes later when they were both breathing heavily.
