“You didn’t tell me?” Selena demands, pushing off of the cupboard.
I clench my jaw. Selena has no right demanding anything from Olivia, considering she’s keeping her own secrets.
“Don’t be mad,” Olivia pleads with Selena. I tug on the belt to Olivia’s dressing gown and pull her in close, tucking her under my arm. Even over the bacon, I can smell the mint on her breath. “I only found out yesterday and Seth and I had some things to sort out first.”
“If anyone has the right to be mad, it’s Seth. Now he has to stop buying bacon,” Jackson interrupts, flipping the first crunchy piece of bacon onto a plate. I laugh, but quickly stop when Selena’s perfectly shaped eyebrows furrow. Swiftly, her angry features smooth out into worry—genuine worry for her best friend and it kind of irks me.
“Are you all right?” She steps forward and touches Olivia’s forehead, like a mother does when her child is sick. Beside me, Darryl swears under his breath. Is Selena always this dramatic?
“She’s pregnant,” I tell her, feeling a surge of pride in my chest. “Not dying.”
Selena drops her hand, cradling it to her chest. A look of sympathy crosses her features and I squeeze Olivia even tighter.
“Do you know how far?”
Olivia shrugs. “I tried working it out, but I don’t know how accurate it is… maybe ten weeks.”
She barely absorbs O’s information before asking another invasive question. “But you’re still so young… are you going to keep it?”
“Selena!” Jackson and Darryl snap at the same time. I don’t blame them—even my body stiffened at the way she said it. I get that this is going to affect her. She’s going to lose her best friend even more than she already has and that can’t be easy, but Jesus Christ, have some kind of sensitivity.
“Of course I’m going to keep it. It makes no sense to get rid of a child I’ve created with Seth. We’re married.”
Selena presses forward. “There’s nothing you want to do before children? Like travel or study?”
Olivia shakes her head and I peer down at her. She has a small curve to her lips that makes my heart pound. “You’re saying it like I can’t do those things with a child. A baby doesn’t restrict you from doing what you want.”
“But there’s so much going on in your life right now. You live in Vegas, Jackson lives at your home back in Portland, and Seth’s career is hardly the kind of caree—”
“Fuck my career.” I shrug, straightening my posture and squaring my shoulders.
The kitchen falls silent and only Selena and Olivia stare at me. How dare Selena come in here and try to pull this shit right in front of my face.
“What did you say?” Selena murmurs.
“I said fuck my career and fuck you too, Selena.” My voice comes out louder than I expected.
“Seth!” Olivia snaps, stepping away from me and closer to Selena.
“Yeah, watch it, Seth,” Jackson warns me, but I’m not afraid of him—or any one of them. I don’t dare pull my stare from Selena’s narrowed slits.
“I’m not going to sit here and let you try and push my wife towards an abortion. She’s made up her mind and she’s going to keep it. Don’t try and suck happiness from other people’s lives because you don’t have any in yours.”
Selena face contorts in offense. “I’m not trying to push her toward anything. As her best friend, I’m looking out for her, trying to help her make the right choice.”
“The right choice? What choice is there to make? It’s happened, she’s pregnant. The deed is done.”
“All right!” Darryl interrupts, rising to his feet. “This has gone far enough. Here’s how the rest of this morning is going to go; Selena, you’re going to mind your own business. Seth and Olivia have decided to keep and raise their baby in Portland, with or without your permission. Seth, you’re going to sit your ass down and relax while Jackson keeps cooking that glorious bacon. I’m hungry, which means I’m not in the mood for this. Got it?”
Keeping my eyes zeroed in on Selena, I drop onto my stool. “Got it.”
I look at Olivia, and seeing her all cute and shit in her robe makes my anger seep from my pores and then disintegrate into nothing but love. I’m just trying to defend her, to defend us. Olivia had to put up with enough abortion talk from me yesterday and I never want to hear the word again. Selena turns back to her juicer and flicks it on, ignoring the rest of the kitchen. To be honest, I really don’t mind it. I twist on my chair, inviting Olivia to come stand between my legs. She does without a word, and I don’t know if it’s because she wants to be here or she doesn’t want to make me mad. Again, I really don’t mind as long as she’s near me… where I can touch her and protect her.
Once breakfast is served, and Olivia has thrown up three more times, we move to the dining table to eat. While everyone else loaded up on the eggs, bacon and bread, Olivia filled her plate with fresh fruits and dry toast. It was funny watching her.
“Of all the foods it had to be bacon.” She pouted, watching Darryl and Jackson eat strap after strap.
“I know the feeling,” I tell her with a smile.
The sadistic bastards cooked so much bacon, knowing well and truly that I can’t eat it. My fight is two weeks away and I have to make sure I weigh in at the right weight. One single, miserable piece was my limit and I took it all in one bite.
When breakfast was over, I sent them on their way so Olivia and I could have some alone time before my training session this afternoon. I lay propped up with cushions on the couch just watching the clouds roll by outside of my window. They blow over quickly. It must be a windy day in Vegas.
Footsteps draw my attention back into the room and my gaze focuses on two cute little feet with pink toenails. They get closer and closer and I finally lift my eyes to Olivia’s hands and watch them slowly undo the furry belt that holds her robe together. She pulls it open, revealing her pink, see-through babydoll—the one she changed into last night that provoked our second act of passion. My eyes zero in on her flat tummy and slowly rise to her perky, swollen breasts… coincidently—besides the matching underwear—it’s the only fabric that isn’t see through. A woman designed the outfit, obviously. No man would ever tease another man so horribly. They know exactly how uncomfortable it feels to be teased.
The robe falls down her arms and she flicks her long, chocolate hair over her shoulders before sliding onto me. Her body feels so fucking good against mine—so warm and perfect. I eye her cautiously, waiting for the catch. She hasn’t really spoken to me since I snapped at Selena and now she’s all over me. There’s something wrong.
“You’re happy with this now?” she asks, her voice light and hopeful as she places a hand on her tummy.
“Absolutely,” I reply, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I mean, I’m not going to be perfect and I’m probably going to mess up a bunch of times, but I’ve got you. Whatever you want, whatever you need, and whatever you crave, I’ve got you covered.”
Slowly, she leans forward and sensually kisses my chin, waking all of the cells in my body.
“I appreciate what you did for me,” she says, this time kissing my lower lip. I suddenly notice her bare thighs pressing firmly against either side of my hips and I feel my cock stir.
“With Selena?” I clarify and she nods.
“You do?”
She nods again, taking my hands in hers and placing them on her firm ass. She pulls on my wrists, forcing my hands to lift her flimsy babydoll and subtly flexes her hips into me.
“I know it came from a good place.” She kisses me again and again. “I love it when you defend me.”
O lowers her mouth to my neck, catching a small fraction of skin between her teeth. I groan, pressing her ass down and pushing her right against my arousal. Through my sweatpants, she’ll undoubtedly be feeling it. She shifts her hips, pressing her core against me, and even through the fabric I can feel her warmth radiate from between her legs. I grind my hips into her and she moans, moving against my concealed cock. If I’m not careful, I’m going to ruin my favorite pair of sweatpants. Who am I kidding? Coming to her grinding on my cock isn’t the worst way to lose a pair of pants.
“Do you like that?” I moan, pulling her forward, pressing her forehead to mine.
“Yes.” Her breath hits my face in a needy burst of air.
She closes her eyes and swallows hard, but her hips never stop moving. She grinds them into me, moving them strategically—urgently—and I know what she wants. She wants to come now. She doesn’t want the whole show. She just wants to come selfishly, by herself. I smile. I’ll give it to her. It’s the least I can do, really.
Releasing her ass, I tug on her babydoll and pull it off over her head before tossing it to the floor. Her breasts are exposed, bouncing and jiggling right in my face, and I watch, completely mesmerized. There’s no place I’d rather be right now. This is fucking heaven. I pinch one nipple between my thumb and index finger while sucking the other between my lips. Her back arches, her eyes never leaving mine. I watch her closely—from her parted lips to her lust slits. She’s close, I can tell by the way her cheeks turn pink like a late sunset. I thrust hard once as she grinds her hips.
“Seth!” she cries in a husky, tired voice before her thighs squeeze my hips and her body moves unevenly against mine.
She comes. She comes without me putting anything inside her and without using my fingers to rub her. When she’s come down from her high, she stares at me with her breast still in my mouth and her breath hitches as she fingers the string on my pants.
“Take these off.” She orders in a harsh whisper and I let her nipple go with a smirk.
Well, shit. I think I’m going to like this pregnancy thing.
Chapter Thirteen
Olivia
I don’t know what happened. One minute Seth is mad that I’m pregnant and the next he’s bending over backwards for me. I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound done. I’m eleven weeks now and everything’s looking good. Of course, Seth asked if there’s any way he can tell if it’s a boy or a girl, but the radiologist couldn’t, obviously. When we left, Seth was more excited than I was. Then again, he wasn’t the one that had to hold their bladder while the radiologist smeared jelly on his abdomen and pushed down on it. Hard.
From there, he took me to the Fashion Show Mall on Las Vegas Boulevard to do some shopping. Thankfully, I managed to talk him out of buying a whole heap of ridiculous things like bassinettes and cots (yes, plural), baby monitors (yes, plural again) and even potties. I didn’t, however, protest when he wanted buy a book on pregnancy… and now I’m starting to regret it. He reads it constantly, and now that Darryl has stopped Seth’s training one week out from the fight to avoid incidental accidents and swelling, it’s all I hear about. In the back section of the book is a small recipe booklet filled with pregnancy safe meals. Following that, Seth threw out all of his bacon, all of the processed meats that I used to be able to eat, most of his fish, all of the cold roast chicken, the semi-soft cheeses—just to name a freaking few. He’s filled the fridge with even more fresh fruits and vegetables, which should impress his nutritionist. She hated looking in our fridge most weeks.
“O!” Seth shouts from the living room. “O! You gotta hear this!”
I roll my eyes and stroll from the bathroom, dragging my feet. I walk through our bedroom and lean against the door frame at the top of the stairs. I can’t help but smile when I see Seth lying on the couch, his nose glued to the book. He peers up at me from over the pages and sweet mother of God he looks good with his nose in a book. If I watched porn, this would be it. This image right here would be at the top of my bookmarks list.
“What can’t I do now?” I tease, folding my arms.
“You can’t sit on hard surfaces because—”
“Seth,” I exhale, cutting him off. “Can you do me a favor?”
Forgetting his tip, he nods.
“Close the book and come here.”
With a stupidly adorable and extremely suspicious kink in his eyebrow, he closes the book and drops it on the floor. I tap my fingers along my arm as he makes his way over to me, causing the bottom of my feet to vibrate as he carries his large body up the stairs. He waits, his body inches from mine. The body heat that pours from him makes my breast swell harder and my nipple squeeze against my confining bra. I step forward and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to mine.
“Do you remember what you told Selena last week?”
His body tenses slightly, like it always does when I mention Selena these days. I know they have a bit of a rocky relationship… but lately it seems like there’s no hope for them to become friends. Seth shakes his head.
“You told her that I’m pregnant, not dying.”
He visibly relaxes. “That was different. I can take care of you and I can fret over you, she can’t.”
Of course only Seth would be jealous of his wife’s best friend—not that he’ll ever admit it. He doesn’t like it when someone else takes care of me or asks me if I’m okay. As far as he’s concerned, he’s the only one capable of taking care of me and I love him for it, but there are other important people in my life, too.
“It’s not different. You’re weighing in tomorrow, so don’t worry about me. Worry about what you’ve got going on.”