Tessa Teevan - Inflame

Kale

AFTER PACING my living room for the better part of the afternoon, I decide that seven p.m. is way too late for me to see Lucy. I grab the sparkling grape juice out of my refrigerator and head on over, not caring that I’m going to be earlier than she expects. Part of me is actually hoping to catch her off guard, and I don’t want to wait until after dinner for us to have this conversation. I want it over and done with as soon as possible so we can celebrate the newest member of our family. Or what I hope will be our family.

I know I’m probably getting ahead of myself, but my excitement has grown the longer the day has gone on. Knowing that she’s finally going to let me in and be a part of the pregnancy has me feeling happier than I have in a long time. At least, I hope that’s where the discussion is going to lead. Pushing any negative thoughts out of my mind, I get to her place in record time.

I knock on the door impatiently, and when she opens it, she’s a sight for sore eyes. And let me tell you, mine are fucking sore beyond belief. She’s standing there in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and I swear, she’s never been more beautiful. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and she starts to speak, but I don’t let her. I set the juice on the table by her door and grab her by the waist as I push her back against the wall. Leaning down, my lips capture hers.

At first, she’s hesitant, not moving against me. I continue to kiss her, and my tongue darts out as I coax her lips apart and my hands slip beneath her shirt to rub small circles on her skin. She moans against my touch, and every tortuous second spent apart becomes a distant memory. Her tongue finally connects with mine, and I take in my fill, having missed this, missed her. I don’t know how she’ll respond to the words, so I take my time showing her just how much I’ve been craving her. She might not know realize it, but in her reaction, I can tell she’s doing the same thing, and a sense of relief washes over me from knowing that this time apart hasn’t made her totally withdraw from me.

Even though I don’t want to, I slowly pull away, recognizing that if I keep kissing her we’ll end up naked on the floor instead of talking. Like I told her, she can make it up to me with dessert, but there’s plenty we need to go over first.

“Well, that was certainly an interesting greeting,” she says, sounding breathless and oh so sexy as hell. “You’re also two hours early, Kale. I haven’t even had a chance to shower or start dinner.”

I shrug, feigning indifference. “I told you I missed you. I couldn’t wait another minute to see you. You don’t need a shower, and we can order takeout.” I watch as she bites her lower lip, and my cock springs to life. “Better yet, let’s go out. That way we’ll be safe in public and can get through this conversation without my wanting to rip your clothes off the entire time.”

A wicked grin spreads over her face. “Let me change and then we can go out. I wouldn’t want you having such dirty thoughts in your brain while we discuss our situation.”

“Our child, Lucy,” I respond and watch as her eyes soften and her smile turns wistful.

She nods and lets out a deep breath. “Our baby,” she confirms. “I’ll be right back.” She turns and quickly walks down the hall to her room.

Deciding to give her this little bit of space, I settle in on the couch, where I presume she was before I showed up. I smile when I see Top Chef on the TV, knowing it’s her favorite, and wonder if this is all she’s been doing since I left her here on Saturday.

“Ready to go?” she asks, and I almost do a double take when I look up at her.

She’s wearing the tightest pair of jeans that has molded to her ass and has me salivating, wishing to get my hands on her. A form-fitting white blouse shows off just a hint of cleavage, and a long necklace plunges in between her breasts, teasing me, knowing I want to be there, too. She goes to the hall closet, pulls out a pair of heels, and slips into them.

Clearing my throat, I’m up on my feet and in front of her. “You shouldn’t wear heels,” I tell her, and she looks at me, confused.

“Why the hell not?” she asks as she goes to get her purse from the kitchen counter.

I follow her and know I’m going to sound like a tool. “You could trip and fall. Wouldn’t wearing flat shoes be more comfortable anyway?”

She laughs and just shakes her head. “Kale, I’m fine. My feet won’t swell for months, and I’m not going to fall. I promise. Now are you ready to get me out in public?” she teases.

I give her a once-over and groan.

She smiles, and I know she did this on purpose. “Just because we’re in public doesn’t mean you can’t still want to rip my clothes off,” she informs me, and I know she’s right.

I follow as she walks to the door. “You’re right about that, but at least I won’t have the temptation of an empty bed to throw you on when I’m tired of talking.”

Laughing, she locks up, and I take her hand as I lead her to the car.

“We’ll see just how long you last, Montgomery,” she whispers, brushing up against me.

As if on cue, my dick gets the message and strains against my jeans. If he could talk, I’m pretty sure he’d be confirming it. Not fucking long.

ONCE We settle into the booth at the restaurant and place our orders, Lucy tries to start small talk. While I want all of our cards on the table and I’m thankful we’re in a dark corner with plenty of privacy, I realize that coming out in public may not have been the best idea. It seems too open, too exposed, to talk about this. I wait until we’re settling the check to even bring it up.

“Lucy, I’m glad you’re done avoiding me. I know this whole thing is probably a shock to you, to both of us, and I gave you the space you needed. I hope that was enough time, because I don’t plan on leaving you alone again.”

She looks up at me with a woeful look on her face. “I know, Kale. And I’m sorry I was shutting you out. I was trying to process everything, and I couldn’t think of facing you until I sorted myself out. It wasn’t fair to you. I promise it won’t happen again. You said we’re in this together, and that’s how I want it, as long as you still do, too.”

Wow, she kind of went all in there, well before I thought she would.

Relieved that we’re on the same page, I lean forward and take ahold of one of her hands. “I do, Luce. And I’m so glad to hear you say that. I was afraid I was going to have my work cut out for me trying to convince you. I’ve had feelings for you for a really long time, but I never thought you’d want me to make a move. I thought you were comfortable with our friendship. And yeah, maybe this happened in a little bit of a different order, but I’m so happy you want this, too. I’m ready to actually be together, done with that stupid friends-with-benefits label.”

Lucy’s eyes widen and she pulls her hand away from me. “Wait. What? Kale, I thought you meant raising the baby together. Whatever that means, but not together together. Just…together. As friends. Or whatever.”

My heart sinks at her words, and I realize I was too freaking eager for the change in our relationship. My dumb ass just assumed she naturally was in the same place as me. Closing my eyes, I take a couple of deep breaths before looking back at her.

“You want to raise the baby together as friends. Or whatever. What exactly is whatever?”

Her eyes look down at the table for a moment before she looks up at me. “Whatever is us. It’s always been us. We don’t have a definition. We never have. I love how we are and I don’t want that to change.”

“Lucy, we’re having a child together. We can’t keep being ‘whatever,’ and I don’t want to. I want you. I want our baby. I want more than ‘whatever.’” I can see the quick flash of relief in her face, but then she masks it with something else.

She leans forward, and I have to strain to hear her whisper. “I think we need to talk about this at home. Can we go please?”

Sighing heavily, I sign the tab and get up, following her out to the car, and we ride back to her place in silence. My mind is reeling, wondering how in the hell I’m going to get it through her head that this is the best thing for us. That we fit together perfectly. That it makes sense for us to be together. It’s not until we’re settled on her couch that she finally speaks up.

“Kale, what exactly is it that you want?” she asks, swallowing hard.

“You, Lucy. Do I really need to spell it out? I have feelings for you. I have for a long time and I want you to be mine. Not my friend. Not my whatever. My girlfriend. I want to be able to hold you in public. To shout from the rooftops that were dating. To tell my mom that she can finally tell her friends about you. That’s what I want, Lucy. You. All of you.”

I watch her eyes soften as my words register. “Your mom knows about me?” she asks, and I’m not surprised that’s the part she latched on to.

“My mom and my sisters. You’re important to me. You have been since the moment I met you. I’ve only told them that we’re friends, but they’ve known me my whole life and can see through the bullshit.”

“Wow,” she whispers, touching her fingers to her lips before her eyes meet mine. “Kale, I don’t want to jump into a relationship just because I’m pregnant. We can figure this out some other way.”

Groaning, I place my head in my hands, wondering how I’m going to get through to her. “I’m not declaring my feelings for you just because you’re pregnant.”

She pulls my head out of my hands and cups my cheeks. “Honestly, would you be telling me you want to be in a relationship right now if I weren’t pregnant?” She has me there, but not for the reasons she thinks.

“No, probably not, but that’s only because I didn’t think you were ready to hear it yet. I’ve felt this way for a long time, and while I’ve wanted more, I was happy to just have some form of relationship with you.”

She leans back against the couch and sighs. “Exactly. You wouldn’t be suggesting being together if I weren’t pregnant. You just admitted it.”

“But you are, and I do want it, regardless of the circumstances,” I tell her, moving closer to her and settling in between her legs so I can place my hand on her belly. “This little guy just made me speed up the process a little bit. See? Already looking out for his old man.”

“Kale,” she says softly, and I begin to panic, knowing that I need to do something to break in there. I know she cares about me, but she’s too damn scared to let anyone all the way in.

I slide my hand from her belly up to her chest, where I can feel her heart racing. She’s watching me intently, and when my hand moves down to palm her breast, she inhales sharply.

“I know this isn’t one-sided. You might not have said it out loud, but I know you care about me, too, Lucy. And I’m not leaving this apartment until you finally admit it.”

Lucy

I’M TRYING to process Kale’s words as he rubs his thumb over my nipple, but he’s too damn distracting. When I invited him over to discuss the baby, this isn’t exactly what I planned. The last thing I expected was for him to say that he wants us to be together officially, and I was caught off guard when he admitted his feelings for me. Sure, we’d glossed over it in emails while he was gone, but that was so long ago. Neither one of us ever brought the issue back up once he got home, and I thought it was just a product of his being lonely. The last thing I want is for him to be with me just because of the baby. It’s 2013 for crying out loud, and while I’d ideally be with my child’s father, I refuse to settle into a relationship just because there is a child involved.

“Stop thinking so hard, babe,” Kale says, breaking my train of thought. “It’s quite simple, really. We were both just too stubborn to realize it before now. I like you. You like me. We’re good together.”

“I know, but I’m just not sure this is the best time to be making a decision like this. My last relationship was a disaster, and I don’t want us turning out like that,” I admit, not meeting his eyes.

He lifts up off of me, and I miss his closeness, but I’m also relieved, knowing I’ll be able to think more clearly without him pressing his body against me. My relief is short-lived, however, when he picks me up in his arms and carries me back toward my room, not stopping until he places me down on my bed. I watch with hungry eyes as he slips off his t-shirt, and then he’s on the bed, lying on his side next to me. He slides a hand underneath my shirt, and I shiver as his fingers trail over my skin slowly.