Slowly We Trust (31 page)

“Yeah. I know. Okay, so I’m gonna need you to close your eyes and let me get everything set up.”

Will climbed over me and stretched his neck out.

“How about I go down to the truck and get your balloons while you get ready?”

I nodded.

“That sounds good. But knock before you come back so you don’t ruin the surprise.”

He saluted me.

“Will do, Sex Partner.” I kind of loved it when he called me that.

I rushed around while he was gone and set up the cake shaped like Darth Vader’s helmet, the plates and cups, and the lightsaber with the big bow on it.

I had everything done by the time he knocked on the door.

“Okay, you can come in,” I said, opening the door. I couldn’t even see Will because there were too many balloons in front of his face.

“Where are you?” I batted them aside and finally found him.

“Okay, I’m going to come in slowly and let them go.” He somehow got all the way in the room with the balloons and then let them float to the ceiling. The strings hung down and he pushed them aside to get to me.

“What did you –” He saw the lightsaber first. “Is that what I think it is?” His voice actually broke because he was so excited.

“Yes. It’s got a certificate of authenticity and everything.” I was about to say something else, but I was seized by two very strong arms, picked up and squeezed so hard I didn’t have any breath left in my body.

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” he said in my ear as he tried to hug the life out of me. This present was going to kill me.

“I can’t even believe how much I love you.”

“Will,” I croaked. He might have broken a rib with his enthusiasm.

“Oh, shit.” He set me down, but I only had a second to catch my breath before he crushed his mouth to mine and tried to kiss me senseless.

“I. Love. You.” He said between each kiss before he pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes.

“I am the luckiest asshole in the world,” he whispered.

“Yes, you are.” He laughed. “And you didn’t even see the cake.”

“There’s cake?” His attention finally left me. For cake. But really, who could blame him?

I pointed to the cake and a sound came from him that could only be described as a fanboy squee. I’d never heard Will make that noise before, and I probably wouldn’t hear it again in the near future.

“Never tell anyone I made that noise, I beg you,” he said.

“Cross my heart,” I said, biting my lip and trying not to laugh.

A few minutes later I had a plate of cake balanced on my stomach and Will and I were taking turns with our forks.

“You’re my favorite girlfriend,” he said, frosting all over his mouth. I used my thumb to wipe some of it off. He grabbed my thumb and licked the frosting off.

“So you’re completely okay with me having a daughter that I didn’t tell you about?” It seemed so hard to accept. It’s strange how we build these excuses and walls in our heads and use them to keep people out. But then they crumble so easily into nothing.

“Yeah. I am. I mean, it’s going to take some time for me to get used to it, and to think of you that way. It makes me feel a little . . .”

“A little what?”

“I don’t know. Young? Like, you had a baby, Aud. That’s so grown-up. I can barely deal with my laundry. You created a human. I’m in awe of you.” His praise made me blush.

“I’m in awe of you, so the awe is mutual. And I didn’t feel very adult at the time. I felt like I’d been handed something that I didn’t know how to deal with and never would. That’s why I gave her up. Because I knew I couldn’t grow up in time for her. Not as much as she would need.”

He nodded and stole the last bite of cake before I could stop him. There was more, but I didn’t want to have to get up and get it.

“What was that like? Giving her up?” I’d told Eddie the story, but it felt different telling Will.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I don’t want to ever do anything like that again. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you, and why I wanted to forget about it. It was just too hard to think about. But now that I’ve seen her, it’s easier. And I know that her life is good. She’s happy and she’s safe.”

Will moved the plate and then rested his head where the plate had been.

“So Eddie took it well?” I told him about how Eddie had called me in the middle of the night and how he’d freaked out and acted the opposite of how I thought he would.

“I guess I picked a good guy to knock me up.”

Will shuddered.

“Sorry. I just wish it had been me,” he said.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll knock me up someday.” I patted his shoulder.

“Baby, I will knock you up and marry the shit out of you.”

“Ooohhh, what a romantic thing to say,” I said. We both laughed, his head bouncing a little on my stomach.

“But hopefully we’ll be married before I knock you up. Because I’m sure my mother would kill me if I ‘had a child out of wedlock’.” I hated that term. My parents had used that as well.

“Or maybe not. I have no idea. My parents are weird about things,” he said, shrugging.

“Well, I’d like to be married before I get knocked up again.” Ideally. “And I’d also like to have a good job, and be out of school. And I’d like to have my own practice.”

“With your briefcase and everything.” He grinned at me.

“Yes, with my briefcase. And you’ll be the athletic director at the local high school, and you’ll coach the basketball team and the baseball team and all our kid’s other sports teams. And I’ll come to the games and sit in the stands and be proud of you.”

I could see it, off in the distance.

“I like that picture.” He closed his eyes.

“I like it too.”

I’d planned to have massive amounts of insane sex on Sex Partner Appreciation Day, but I ended up falling asleep completely clothed with my head on Audrey’s stomach.

The harsh trill of her phone burst me out of my dream world where I’d been coaching baseball and Audrey had been in the stands, her hand on her growing belly and a brilliant smile on her face. It had been such a good dream.

“Shit,” Audrey said, reaching for the phone and causing my head to fall off her stomach. She answered it.

“Oh, hi. Yeah, no he told me in person. Yeah . . . I know . . . I know . . . Sure. Okay . . . Definitely . . . Talk to you later . . . Okay . . . Bye.” She hung up and rubbed her eyes.

“That was Maria. She just wanted to check in. I can’t believe we fell asleep like this.” I sat up and rested my back against the wall. We’d slept in late, but we were both exhausted. Audrey, especially.

“It’s Valentine’s Hangover today,” I said, my voice a little hoarse from so much talking yesterday.

“Right. That’s today.” She ran her hands through her hair and closed her eyes.

“Is there anything I can do for you? Any way I can help?” I was a dick for not asking sooner.

“You wanna give me a shoulder massage? I could really use one right now.”

“You’re in luck, Aud. I may or may not have just finished a unit on muscles.” I scooted until I was sitting behind her, my legs around hers. She twisted her hair and put it over her shoulder, exposing her neck. There was something so graceful about where a woman’s neck met her spine. I knew which spot I could kiss and drive her wild, but that wasn’t what she needed right now.

I started kneading her shoulders, working my fingers into her tense muscles.

“This might hurt a little, but it will feel better after. Promise.”

She moaned a little.

“No, that feels really good.” With only a few minutes of work, I could already feel her melting and relaxing against me. She moaned again when I hit a certain spot.

“Oh, that feels really good.” Against my will, I could feel myself getting hard. I couldn’t help it. Her moans did that to me. She dragged her hands up and down my legs, reaching back for me and throwing her head back against my shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said, turning her head to the side. She backed up against me and her hands travelled further up my pants leg. Was that where this was going? I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I hadn’t gotten any last night and that was sort of the point of Sex Partner Appreciation Day. Not that it was all about me. I planned on more than taking care of Aud, too. I’d recently discovered that she loved it when I –

“I want you,” she said, making me lost my train of thought.

“Now?” I wanted to be absolutely sure.

“Yes. Now. Sex.” She didn’t have to tell me twice. I leaned back on the bed and she turned and threw herself on top of me, clawing her way up my body until our lips smashed together. This time she was the one who shoved her tongue in my mouth, who groped for my zipper, who started whispering all the dirty things she wanted to do to me.

I loved it when she was like this. I loved her when she was sweet and shy and pretended she didn’t want me to do the things that she knew I knew she wanted me to. But other times she was in control and I followed her lead. This was one of those times.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” I said as she nearly ripped my shirt as she pulled it over my head.

“Yes, I want you to fuck me. With your mouth and with your cock. I want you everywhere. I don’t want there to be a part of me that you haven’t touched.” She used to be afraid to tell me these things, but she’d gotten more and more daring. I fucking loved it so much.

“Well, I guess I can do that,” I said, hooking my legs around hers and flipping us so I was on top. We usually changed positions at least twice during our sessions and I knew her enough to know that she would want to end on top, her back arched and her hair streaming down her back, my name in her mouth.

I barely got her shirt off before she pulled my cock out of my pants and was stroking it with her hand. I fumbled with one hand in the drawer next to her bed to get the lube she’d bought and surprised me with.

She grinned and squirted a little into her palm before taking me in her hand again, gliding up and down my length.

“Fuck, that feels so good, Aud.”

“I know,” she said with a smug smile before scooting down and taking me in her mouth.

I couldn’t really form actual words as she worked on me with her lips and her tongue and her hand.

I’d also gotten better at holding myself off and not coming too soon. It was not easy, but it made the sex so much better when we could come together. Well, at least around the same time. We’d been trying for the elusive simultaneous orgasm and had only had it a few times. Still, it gave us something to work toward. I liked having goals.

She kissed the tip of my cock and then slid back upward, taking my hands and putting them on the waistband of her pants.

“Now it’s my turn.”

I unzipped her pants and yanked them over her hips. I’d gotten better at that, too. Kissing my way down her stomach, I took my time to savor every inch of her sweet skin. I loved watching how the light created shadows over the contours of her body. I took extra time with her scar, kissing every inch of it. I loved it even more now.

“You’re so beautiful.” I’d said it hundreds of times, but that didn’t mean it was any less true than the first time I’d told her.

I settled between her legs, after kissing the inside of her thighs. Her hands wrapped in my hair, pulling just a bit. I knew she’d pull harder before this was over. I welcomed it. I welcomed the way she moaned my name and moved under me, guiding me to where she wanted me most. I welcomed how she thrust her hips against me, fucking my face.

Slow. I went slow, which she both loved and hated. It would pay off in the long run, but not before she got a little mad at me. And cursed my name and told me that she was never having sex with me again. I just grinned and kissed her clit lightly.

She wasn’t cursing me when I entered her a few moments later. Well, she was cursing, but not me. She wanted fast, I took it slow, but soon our pace was equal. I watched her face and her breaths and waited for her to tell me she wanted to be on top. I didn’t have to wait long until she was rolling us and then straddling me again. Sometimes she went reverse cowgirl, but most of the time I think she liked to watch my face. I loved to watch her as she let herself go and came undone above me.

Her climax came soon, and I let myself go right after.

She leaned down and kissed me while I started to get soft inside her.

“Thanks for the fucking,” she said.

“Anytime, baby.”

God, I loved having sex with Will. If I’d known sex with him would be so fantastic, I would have started doing it with him much sooner. And more often. I also loved the way he held me afterwards, our bodies still damp with sweat and our hearts racing.

“So we’re definitely going to make up for not having sex yesterday by having as much of it as possible in the near future, yes?” he asked after we’d cleaned up.

“I think you putting your lightsaber in my . . . Yeah, I can’t come up with anything that makes that work,” I said.

“How about my basilisk in your Chamber of Secrets?” I snorted. I loved Harry Potter sex puns.

“You can definitely put your basilisk in my Chamber of Secrets.” I kissed his cheek and realized neither of us had eaten yet and I was starving. I got up and brought the entire plate of cake over to the bed, along with two forks.

“Breakfast of champions,” I said, handing him a fork.

“You’re awesome.”

“Back atcha.”

We ate naked, which led to Will smearing frosting on one of my nipples on purpose and then proposing to lick it off. Of course I let him and that led to us abandoning the cake altogether again.

“So, are you going to tell everyone?” Will said after we’d showered and gotten dressed. I definitely had studying to do, but it was going to have to wait.

“Well, I don’t see how I can avoid telling Lottie. Because you’ll tell her without telling her. And then she’ll tell Zan and Zan will tell Stryker and Stryker will tell Trish and Katie and then Max will know and you’ll also tell Simon and he’ll tell Brady, so we might as well tell them anyway,” I said, catching my breath.

“That is exactly what I was thinking,” Will said, throwing his towel in the hamper.

“It’s like we’re twins,” I said.

“Dear God, no. I can only take one,” he said, shuddering. “And that’s bad enough.

“Just kidding.” I smacked him on the ass and then grabbed his lightsaber and turned it on. It made that cool swooshing noise as it lit up.

“Whoa, be careful with that,” Will said, reaching for it as if I was a child who had picked up a piece of priceless pottery and was threatening to smash it.

“Oh, are you afraid I’m going to break it,” I said, swirling it in a circle. I hadn’t thought about much how fun I was going to have with this particular present. The look of terror on his face was priceless.

“Just, set it down on the bed and slowly walk away. You’re not trained in the ways of the Force.” He put his hands up and approached me slowly. I just laughed at him, but figured I’d played the joke out long enough. I set the lightsaber down and backed away from it. Will dived toward the bed and picked it up in both hands, muttering the whole time.

“Are you talking to it?” I said, knowing the answer.

“Shhh,” he said, stroking the handle of the lightsaber before he laid it back in the box and slowly, oh, so slowly, put the lid back on.

This was going to be fun.