At least they’re in a public place so emotion will be kept to the minimum.
I’m still pissed about the ‘Me, Tyler. You, Liv. You pregnant. You live with Tyler’ display this morning.
On my way
I reply to his message and head out to my car. I’m about to get in when I realize that the restaurant they’re at is only two blocks over. Since the sun is out, I lock my car again and make the walk there instead.
I feel really awkward about this conversation. I just met his sister a few days ago, and now I have to tell her that I’m carrying her niece or nephew. And I also no longer have no reason to not meet his parents.
And that’s going to be even more awkward. Oh, holy hell.
Holy hell on a plate of llama balls.
I stop outside the restaurant and take a minute to breathe. It’s okay. This is another one of life’s curveballs.
I’m not kidding anyone. Since the second Tyler walked up to me in that club, my whole life has been the curveball. It’s twisted and turned in ways I never saw coming, colliding with both my heart and my mind on its way to this moment.
Now, looking at the restaurant and knowing that my boyfriend and his sister are inside it, I wish I could be left to swing with the curveball and absorb what it’s throwing at me.
“Hiding?”
I turn and smack into Tyler’s hard chest. “Hesitating,” I correct.
He smiles and tucks some hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry, baby girl. She’s not here. I changed my mind and texted her a minute ago.”
“You changed your mind?” I raise an eyebrow.
“I thought about what you said. You’re right. Both of us need time for it to sink in before Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee start planning baby showers and all that shit.”
Tessa and Dayton. “Don’t forget decorating the nursery. You know they’ll be all over that.”
“Oh, shit. Don’t. When Tessa was thirteen and redecorated her room, it took her five different shades of pink before she found her favorite.”
“Let me guess. It was the first one she tried?”
“Of course it was.” He brushes his fingers across my cheek and holds up a paper bag. “I got us lunch. What do you want to do?”
I thread my fingers through his and lean into his arm. “Let’s go to Kerry Park and just sit.”
“Just sit?”
“Just sit,” I confirm, walking with him.
Our feet are perfectly in sync as we take the turn toward the park. Tyler releases my hand and wraps his arm around my back, curving his hand around my hip. I step into his side and inhale slowly, breathing him in, breathing us in, breathing hope in.
I can almost convince myself that we don’t have issues we need to work through. That we’re not still trembling from yesterday’s surprise, because that’s what this baby is.
A surprise.
“You’re thinking,” he murmurs. “I don’t like it when you think. You tend to fuck shit up.”
“I’m thinking good things,” I reply with a smile.
“Bloody hell. Five weeks and pregnancy is already messing with your mind.”
“It’ll mess with my libido if you don’t watch it,” I say under my breath, sitting down on the grass. It’s not warm but it’s not cold out. It’s that comfortable temperature that rarely happens without a bunch of rain.
Tyler grins, sitting opposite me. “That’s not what you were saying this morning.”
I narrow my eyes at him and take my sandwich. “I didn’t have much of a chance to say anything before I was informed about new living arrangements.”
“You were offered new living arrangements.”
My eyes narrow even further. “I’m not arguing with you.”
“That makes a change.”
“Is my vibrator lodged up your ass or something?”
“No, but if you’re into that, it could be lodged up yours.” His eyes glimmer with amusement.
I glare at him as I bite into my sandwich and shake my head. No ass fun for me, thank you very much. One-way hole.
We eat without speaking any further. The park is relatively quiet, the only sounds coming when people walk past us, deep in conversation.
I finish eating and lie back on the grass. The sun filters through the clouds, its gentle warmth spreading over my face and chest, covering me in soft light. I close my eyes and breathe the spring air in deeply, letting it fill my lungs and relax me.
For once, my mind is silent. No worries, no fears, no hesitations.
At least it’s silent until Tyler gently covers my lips with his own. Now, it fills with a buzz. A high, energetic zing of desire that coils throughout my body and sets all my nerve endings on fire. I reach up and curl my fingers around the back of his neck, holding his face down to mine, and just feel his kiss.
His lips move softly over mine, brushing, caressing, probing. I arch into it as his hand slips beneath me and flattens against the small of my back. I push further into him and my breasts rub against his chest. My nipples harden inside my bra and I gasp as an unexpected throb aches my clit.
“Don’t do that.” He kisses the corner of my mouth, his voice raspy and breathless. “You make that noise whenever I bury my cock inside you and it makes me want to do that too much.”
“I like it when you want to fuck me,” I murmur, threading my fingers through his hair.
“So do I, but that doesn’t mean I should in the middle of the park.”
“Never stopped you before.”
“I’m leaving you some dignity…”
“And?”
He laughs quietly and drops his forehead to mine. “And myself frustrated so I can fuck you harder tonight.”
“Frustrated? Sounds like a challenge.” My lips quirk at one side, and he raises his eyebrows.
Before he can ask me what I mean, I reach between us and wrap my fingers around his half-hard cock. I stroke him with my thumb, tiny, teasing movements. He grows in my hand, the change almost instantaneous, and his eyes darken as he stares at me.
“Liv.”
I squeeze. He grunts quietly. I fight my smile and push my lips against his. He attacks my mouth harshly, but the second I unbutton his pants and reach inside his boxers to hold him properly, he stills.
“What are you doing?” he rasps, jerking when I rub my thumb over the tip of him.
“Frustrating you.” I kiss his bottom lip. “You’re not the only one who can take and fulfill a challenge, Tyler Stone.”