Expect Me (Rivers Edge Book 3) (10 page)

“Is there anything I shouldn’t do? You know, to make sure the baby remains safe.”

“You can do all the things you normally do, Josselyn. If you exercise, then it should be fine to continue. Just remember that your body is fueling and feeding for two so make sure you get plenty of rest, eat nutritious meals, and don’t overdo it. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded from any activity, you should stop immediately. If the dizziness continues after you’ve stopped, then call our office. Anything else?” she asks as she hands Josselyn the prescription and a small Frequently Asked Questions pamphlet. Then she stands to leave the room. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She hands me a couple of images from the ultrasound. “Baby’s first pictures,” she says with a smile. “I’ll see you in four weeks.” And then she’s gone.

I stare down at the grainy images in my hand as Josselyn gets dressed back in her street clothes. When we exit the room, I stop and write the receptionist a check before we head out of the office.

Inside the cab of the truck, we both stare down at the ultrasound images. Neither of us can contain the smiles spread widely across our faces as the joy takes over. I’m elated. Ecstatic. Happy. We drive back to the apartment with goofy grins on our faces. Going to the doctor and seeing the baby on that little screen, finally makes it all real. This is actually happening, and I have so much to do to prepare for the arrival.

Later that night, after another bout of vomiting in the bathroom, Josselyn and I both relax in the living room. She found some chick-flick movie on television and I’m studying the blueprints again while making a list of this week’s to-do list.

“So, when do you think we should tell your family about the baby?” she asks, drawing my attention away from the designs in front of me.

“Probably soon. Mom obviously knows, and so does Avery,” I mumble hoping she doesn’t catch that last part.

“Avery knows? When? How?”

“Well, when you were napping on Monday, I called her and asked her a few questions about when she was pregnant. I tried to ask hypothetically, but she knew. She asked if you were pregnant, and I wasn’t able to lie to her. So, I told her.”

“That’s okay. I wouldn’t want you to lie to anyone. Now that we know everything is okay and we have a due date, you can probably tell them whenever you want.”

“Why don’t we tell them at dinner on Sunday night? Oh, wait. Half of them won’t be there this week. Maybe I should just call them all sometime this weekend.”

“However you want to do it,” she adds.

“What about you? Have you told your family yet?” I ask.

She stares at the television and I start to wonder if she heard me. I’m about to ask again when she finally says, “No, not yet. Matty and Rico obviously know. But my parents and my sister don’t. I guess I should call them this weekend, too.” Josselyn sounds sad, hesitant. I can tell she’s dreading the phone call.

“You can tell them when you are ready, Joss.”

“I know. It’s just I know what’s coming. I’ll get the ‘What the hell are you thinking? You don’t even know him. You’ve ruined any chance you had at going to college and getting your degree.’ speech. I just hate disappointing them,” she says quietly. So quietly that I almost don’t hear her.

“Joss, look at me,” I say as I drop the blueprints on the floor at my feet and reach for her hands. I gently tug her towards me and she comes willingly. As I tuck her forehead under my chin and wrap my arms around her, I inhale the scent of my shampoo in her hair. Just the scent of her mixed with my scent does things to me - or does things to certain parts of me. “It doesn’t matter what they think. You can tell them whatever you want about me, about us. Tell them we’ve been seeing each other for awhile. Tell them we’re discussing marriage or whatever. However you want to handle this and them, I’m in your corner. Okay?”

“Okay. Thank you. I don’t exactly know what I’m going to say to them but I think I’ll avoid the part about the one night stand resulting in pregnancy,” she says with a hint of laughter in her voice.

I kiss the top of her head, and because I can’t help myself, I laugh. “Yeah, you could probably leave that part out.”

Later that night, I can’t sleep. The clock on the wall reads just after one o’clock and my back is aching so fucking bad, I wonder if I’ll ever be the same. Every day this week, I wake after a long, painful night of sleep and head into work where it’s sometimes hard to grab a stack of two by fours and walk across the jobsite.

I get up and stretch, trying anything to relieve the ache in my back and neck. I long for my big, comfortable bed. Hell, I long to strip off these boxers and sleep naked again. Ever since Josselyn moved in, I haven’t slept nude once for fear that I’ll scare her away, or worse, walk around aroused more than I already am.

I walk into the kitchen to grab a drink of water, and am standing at the sink with my back to the living room, stretching my neck from side to side. I can smell Josselyn before I hear her walk into the room. She smells amazing. A combination of her lotion and my shampoo that makes my dick hard and my fingers twitchy.

“Hey,” she says as she walks up behind me.

“Hey. What are you doing awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep. My leg keeps cramping,” she says as she walks up behind me. “Your back is killing you, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine,” I tell her but not very convincingly.

Before I even know what’s happening, Josselyn has her hands on my bare back and is rubbing. Her hands touching my skin is like a jolt of electricity coursing recklessly through my bloodstream. Her nimble fingers rub and dig into my back and neck as she works over the kinks and tight muscles. My back isn’t the only thing tight though. As soon as she touched me, my cock hardened so damn tight, I’m afraid it might explode.

After a few minutes of Josselyn giving me a backrub, she finally speaks again. “Why don’t you come to bed, Travis. I’m sure you won’t let me trade you, even for one night, so why don’t you join me. The bed is big enough for the both of us to sleep in.”

Josselyn and I both sleeping together in my bed? This has disaster written all over it with thick permanent marker. Actually, I’d prefer if this entire situation had
hot sex
written all over it. But, honestly, I’d kill for a good night’s sleep right now. It’s been a long, tiring week and the thought of curling up in my bed again sounds damn fabulous.

“Okay. Let’s go to bed,” I tell her as I turn around. Josselyn’s eyes drop to my bare chest and linger there for several seconds. Her lush mouth that I crave to kiss is slightly open forming that perfect little ‘o’. I smile down at her while she ogles my chest. She eventually looks up at me and the cutest blush creeps up her neck and takes over her face.

“Sorry,” she whispers.

“Don’t ever apologize for checking me out,” I say as we start to walk towards my room. “I won’t,” I add with a cocky smile.

When we get into my room, Josselyn drops down on the side of the bed that she occupied two months ago for one night. I grabbed my pillow from the floor on our way into the room and drop it down on my side of the bed. I almost moan when I lay into the soft, cool bed. I instantly feel at home.

After a few minutes of us each trying to get comfortable without actually touching, we are finally still. Josselyn moans a painful grunt as her hands dive down to her leg. That’s right – she was complaining of leg cramps.

“Which one is it?” I ask as I lift the sheet and make a grab for her legs. Josselyn is wearing another one of my t-shirts. She mentioned the other night that she’s more comfortable in my large t-shirts so she’s been wearing them to bed every night.

“My right calf,” she says as she continues to rub her leg.

I reach down and grab a hold of her leg and apply gentle pressure as I dig my thumbs into her bare, smooth calf to try to alleviate the cramp in her leg. After a few minutes, I feel Josselyn relax under my touch.

“That’s better. It stopped. Thank you,” she mumbles as sleep starts to take over her exhausted body.

“You’re welcome. Go to sleep.”

“Good night, Travis.”

“Night, Josselyn,” I say as I succumb to my own exhaustion and desire to sleep.

*****

My internal alarm clock wakes me up at five am. As I’m rousing from the best night of sleep I’ve had in forever, I’m instantly aware of the very soft, very warm body pressed tightly against me. I crack open my eyes to see brown hair splayed out on my pillow and Josselyn’s head resting on my shoulder. I can feel her t-shirt that she’s sleeping in has ridden up and is above her waist. Shit. My morning wood has morning wood.

I lay there and just take in the feel of her body pressed against me, the smell of her hair on my pillow, and the sound of her even breath in sleep. So this is what it would have been like if she would have still been here two months ago? I could definitely get used to waking up like this. Every. Morning.

I hold still as long as I can, but my arm is starting to fall asleep from the awkward angle of being pinched between her body and mine. I try to carefully pull my arm out from underneath us, but as I do, I lift my shoulder causing her head to move. Her beautiful hazel eyes slowly open up. She looks at me for a few moments, half asleep and still heavily lidded, and then she seems to realize where we are - and how close our bodies are lying.

Josselyn’s eyes fly open widely as she pulls her body away from mine. I feel the loss of her body heat instantly and have to stop myself from grabbing her and pulling her flush against me again.

“Morning,” I mumble as I stretch my hands up over my head.

Josselyn looks down as the sheet dips lower on my hips. Her eyes widen as she sees my morning wood for the first time.

“Hi. Good morning. Sorry. Oh, God,” she says all at once, almost like one big run-on sentence as she shakes her head and throws the sheet up over her head to hide her embarrassment.

I chuckle at her mortification. It’s cute. But that’s not the Josselyn I remember. The Josselyn I remember is sexy and impulsive and takes the bull by the horns, so to speak. I’d love it if she took a hold of my horn right now.

Josselyn practically jumps up out of bed, the t-shirt falling back down to mid-thigh. Damn. “I’ll go start the coffee,” she says as she practically darts out of the bedroom.

I lay there for a few moments and just start to relax again in bed. It feels so damn good to be sleeping in my bed again. I wonder if Josselyn will let me join her again tonight.

I’m just getting ready to get up when I hear the sound of the bathroom door closing swiftly and immediately followed by the sounds of Josselyn retching in the bathroom. Here we go…

An hour later, we’re both showered, have eaten breakfast, and are ready for the day. “What are your plans today?” I ask as I gather up the blueprints.

“I’m probably going to call my mom today and tell her about the baby,” she says while keeping her eyes down on the ground.

I walk over and gently raise her chin up with my thumb and pointer finger. “I’m on your side, Joss. Whatever, however you decide to tell them, I’m in. You and me. And the baby. We’ll figure it out. Okay?”

She gives me a small smile - a beautiful smile - and nods at me. “Okay.”

“Well, I’m going to the house. The foundation was finished yesterday and the plumber has started. I’m going to do a little ground work around the walls and get my materials organized for the floor joists. Why don’t you come out around noon? We’ll grab some lunch and you can help me around the yard for a bit if you’re feeling up to it.”

“That sounds great. I’ll bring some sandwiches and chips out for lunch.”

“Sounds good. Do you remember how to get there?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Great. See you in a bit,” I say as I kiss her cheek – God do I want to kiss more than her cheek - and walk out the door.

*****

Josselyn and I spend the rest of the weekend at site of the new house. I move some dirt around and get everything ready for setting the floor beams and getting walls ready to build.

Josselyn called her mother yesterday and told her about the baby. She wouldn’t elaborate too much other than to say her mom was disappointed in her. I could see it all over her beautiful face and in the way she has carried herself. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that woman upset Josselyn anymore than she already has. So since that phone call, I do everything I can to keep her mind off of it. Together, we move dirt using a small bucket loader, get the stacked lumber ready and marked, and walk leisurely around the property. We’ve talked and gotten to know each other, and are striving to achieve the friendship we’re both after.

Last night, Josselyn let me sleep in my bed with her again. It was another great night of sleep followed by waking up with her in my arms. We don’t act on our attraction to each other. We don’t talk about it other than the occasional quip or smart-aleck comment - on my part, mostly.

I’m quickly discovering that I love spending time with Josselyn. She’s funny, passionate and a genuinely good person. She seems to enjoy hanging out with me too, even if she’s just sitting in a lawn chair reading a book or listening to music under the big oak tree at the new place while I work. The important part is we’re together. Not together, together. But together in the sense that bonds us as friends and confidants.