Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 15704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
The clubhouse smelled delicious. A mix of herbs, spices, and roasted meat hung in the air, infiltrating my nostrils and making my stomach rumble with hunger. Elliot’s stomach wasn’t doing much better. It sounded like a threatening bear.
I’d definitely worked up an appetite with Elliot earlier, and apparently, he’d worked up one, too.
“Sit down, baby,” my man ordered. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll bring your food to you. What do you want to drink?”
“Water,” I told him. It was the only thing that didn’t make me swell. Who the fuck knew I would already start swelling, and I was barely even pregnant?
He brushed his hand along my back before slipping into the kitchen. I took a seat at the table Cecily and Athena were sitting at. It looked like Seb and Adler were on dad duty, giving their wives a much-needed break.
“Hey,” Cecily greeted, a smile tilting her lips. “We were beginning to wonder if you two were going to make it after all.”
I laughed a little, my cheeks just the tiniest bit red. “We got a little…caught up.”
Athena snorted, waving me off. “Girl, we get it. I’m always getting caught up with Seb.”
“Not something I needed to know,” Elliot said as he set my plate of food in front of me with a bottle of water. I turned my head and caught his lips with mine, kissing him softly in thanks. He brushed his fingers along the back of my neck before straightening up and walking over to the table the guys were at with his own plate of food.
“I’m glad he’s settling down,” Cecily told me, a proud, motherly smile on her face. “Elliot hides a lot behind his jokes and easy-going nature, but he feels everything deeply. He needs someone like you.”
I knew he did, and the stories he’d told me had broken my heart. He’d been a young boy just looking for a family to love him. He had strived to be the best kind of kid there was. But he thought he still hadn’t been good enough all because some assholes had never adopted him.
But he was good enough for me. More than enough. And I would always do everything I could to show him how thankful I was that he had picked me up on the side of the road that night all those weeks ago.
The girls and I carried on an easy, light-hearted conversation, and by the time I was done eating, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. They were so easy to get along with, which was a miracle for me. I wasn’t good at making friends—not really. Elsie was the only person who’d truly stuck around for me. It was nice to find a place to belong here, too.
Standing from the table, I picked up my plate and my empty bottle of water and carried it to the kitchen. I knew Elliot would do it for me if I asked, but he was having a good time with the guys, and I didn’t want to disturb him.
Didn’t seem to matter anyway, I concluded once Elliot popped in behind me, his own empty plate in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. He crowded me in against the counter, his hands on either side of my hips. “With you almost being out of the first trimester, do you want to tell them today while everyone is here?”
I settled my hands on his waist, looking up at him. I knew, despite him finally coming around to the idea of being a dad, this was still very unchartered territory for him and left him feeling a little unsteady. I didn’t want to push him to do something he might not be ready for.
“You ready for that, handsome?”
He chuckled and leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose. “Yeah, baby. I’m ready. I want to shout that we’re having a baby from the fucking rooftops.”
I smiled softly up at him and cupped his cheek, stroking my thumb over his stubble. “You’re going to make such a good dad, Elliot.”
He swallowed thickly, his eyes holding so much vulnerability that it hurt my heart. “That means a lot to me, Har,” he rasped. “You have no fucking idea.”
I leaned up and softly pressed my lips to his. “You deserve the entire fucking world, Elliot. And I know you may find that hard to believe, but I will strive every day to give it to you.” I clasped his hand in mine, linking our fingers together, a smile on my lips. “Let’s go break the news to our family.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead before leading me out of the kitchen, our fingers still linked together. Elliot stopped us at the end of the bar and loudly cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. He looked down at me and lifted our joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles before his lips lifted into a smile.