“I am,” she promised, and the side of his mouth curved up as he let go of her face to take her by the back of her knee, opening her wider. She didn’t realize what he was doing, but he soon entered her with one thrust, taking her breath away. Wide-eyed, she looked up at him as he lifted himself off her, pushing deeper inside her, his fingers biting into her skin as he pulled out and then thrust back in. He held her gaze steadily. The motion was one they both knew well, but it still felt like the first time as he moved in and out of her body.
Reaching up, she cupped his jaw, her thumb getting lost in his beard as he turned in her hand, biting her palm. She hissed out a breath and his eyes cut to hers before he thrust into her, his lips pressing into her palm as she cried out. As he looked down at her, she honestly felt like she was flying on a cloud while the world praised how gorgeous she was.
A world made up of only Jordie.
He leaned into her hand, his eyes filling with tears as he whispered, “I love you, Kacey.”
Her heart skipped a beat like a schoolgirl’s as her mouth curved up and she ran her thumb along his bottom lip. “I love you too.”
Kissing her palm once more, he held her gaze as he slowly made love to her. All she could think was that she had it all.
A man.
A dog.
A baby on the way.
But she just prayed that she’d be able to keep it all.
“My girlfriend’s pregnant.”
Julie looked up from her pad and smiled. “Is she now?”
“Yup,” he said proudly, his grin unstoppable.
It had been like that for the last week. Ever since he saw the cupcakes that spelled out that he was going to be a daddy, he couldn’t stop smiling. Even through a training session that he was pretty sure she got from the devil, two games where they lost, and knowing his mom was going to be there that night, Jordie kept smiling.
“So this was planned then?”
He shook his head. “Nope, complete surprise.”
“Is she excited?”
Looking down, he nodded, but he knew he was sort of lying. Kacey was happy, excited even, but the fear of miscarriage weighed heavy on her heart. She had told him more than once she didn’t want to fail him, and that gutted him. She gave him a chance when no one else would even think to, so it was easy to say that she couldn’t fail him. She just couldn’t.
“She’s scared of having another miscarriage,” he answered and Julie slowly nodded, her eyes on him. “She thinks she’s gonna fail me again—her words, not mine.”
“It’s hard when that kind of thing happens, especially since she was completely alone before.”
He nodded. “She won’t be ever again, though.”
“Good, but do you feel the same? Are you worried?”
He lifted his shoulder and leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands together behind his head. “I’m not thinking about it, honestly. All I care about is her being happy and healthy. I don’t think she’ll lose this one. I feel that we are in a good place, we are happy and ready for this.”
She smiled. “That’s good, I’m glad it’s not stressing you out. You don’t need the stress.”
He couldn’t agree more, but slowly he said, “Yeah.”
“Oh my, Jordie. That was a loaded yeah.”
He smiled, leaning on his thighs. In the short time he had been coming to Julie’s practice, he found that they just clicked. She was an older lady, sweet and really listened, but she also didn’t hold back when she felt he needed to know something. Clearing his throat, he looked up and said, “My mom is in town. I’m supposed to see her tonight for dinner.”
Her eyes widened for only a second before she slowly nodded. “You don’t talk about her much.”
“Because she’s a wack-job.”
“Yes, well, I guess you aren’t looking forward to this dinner?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t want to go. She doesn’t care about me, probably doesn’t even love me.”
“Then why are you going?” she asked and he shook his head, biting his lip.
“For some pathetic reason, I want her to care, to love me.”
“Because she’s your mom.”
“Yeah, and I have no one— Well, no, I have Kacey and her family, but I really want that blood connection with someone, and I don’t have it.”