Chapter 43—Ruby
Iknow we’ve done this before. Hell, I play it on repeat every night and sometimes during the day. Or twice a day depending on what’s going on.
I’ve talked to people. Something Troublemaker and Mama Bear convinced me to do.
And it’s helped. I don’t think I’m “healed” or whatever you call it after therapy, but I feel…
okay with what happened. With it all. My therapist still thinks I’m holding on to some guilt and anger at myself for how non-badass I was, but hey, that’s why she gets paid the big bucks.
To sort out my head for me so I don’t have to.
And if she wants to keep the money coming in, she needs to figure out real quick that being okay with something is sometimes the best I can do in the moment.
But what can I say? Not everyone is Kooper.
My man. The one who knows me. Who gets me.
Who sees me and my self-esteem issues. The one who noticed I always felt like I was playing second fiddle to something I could never be part of.
I’m still not sure if I’m okay with him leaving the club, but this?
Him doing it and not seeming to give a fuck that I’m not okay with it?
God, I love this man.
He pulls me flush to him, and I go with ease, like a rag doll moving as he directs.
He lifts my feet off the floor, and for a second, I’m just hanging in his arms with mine around his shoulders, and we kiss as if there’s nothing else to do. Because there isn’t. It’s just him and me. And the peanut.
But even that nut can’t distract me from the feel of Kooper holding me in his arms so tight, like I’m precious. No, not like that. Like I’m his. Because I am.
He bends, and only then do I realize we moved. I thought it was just the way he kissed that had me thinking the earth was spinning. He sets me down gently, pushing me back as he scoots us both up the bed.
I hear his shoes hit the floor as he kicks them off, and I do the same.
The weather is hot outside, but it’s nothing compared to what it feels like in here.
I always thought it was a joke when I saw in movies or read in books that they ripped each other’s clothes off.
But I get it now. I want to feel him, all of him.
And I can’t do that with all this damn fabric on him.
The second his shirt is off, I’m biting his chest, kissing his abs. Anything I can get my hand and mouth on, I’m doing it. He does the same, and it’s a fight over who can kiss where. And honestly, I don’t know who’s going to win, but I’m all too happy to play the game.
The rest of our clothes go just as quickly, and then I’m straddling him as I kiss him with everything I have.
He holds me close, his hands on my back and then moving to my ass to give it a tight squeeze.
I lift, and that’s the opening he needs to move his lips off mine to my nipples, kissing, sucking, and then squeezing them as his hands continue to roam.
I’m not going to last long if he keeps this up.
Fuck it.
I don’t have to play fair. I don’t have to play by his rules. Never did before. Not really.
I wiggle my hand between us and stroke his hard cock. He groans around my breast in his mouth a second before I sink down on him. He pops off my tit with a moan as I arch my back in pleasure.
“So good. God, you feel so good.”
“It’s this slick pussy. You got it all wet for me. Next time I’ll be the one to get it wet.”
“Promises,” I murmur as I move on him, rocking back and forth like I remember. Moving to what feels good.
“Always, Peaches. I’m always going to want to eat out that sweet peach between your legs.” He grabs my ass and helps move me.
We rock together as our lips crash against each other like waves on the shore. I chase my release, and I feel him do the same as his movements get frantic. We can do slow and easy next time. Or even the time after that.
All I want now is to explode in his arms.
I cry out his name as I come, and he matches my release with his own.
I lock my lips onto his and kiss him slowly. This is not the end. This is just the beginning.
For tonight and every night after.
“Tell them to fuck off,” Kooper grumbles from behind me, but at least he releases me from his hold enough for me to reach over the edge of the bed and pull my phone out of my discarded shorts.
I read the name on the caller ID and look at Kooper as I answer. “Yes, General?”
Kooper sits up and pulls me slowly to him. I allow it, but my mind is on the call. I touch his chest to hold him at bay as I listen to what General’s saying.
“Okay, thanks. Yeah, talk soon.”
I hang up and look at my phone as if I can see the call, replaying it back like a damn TikTok video in my head.
“What did he say?” Kooper runs his hands up and down my thighs as I sit cross-legged in front of him.
“It’s yours.” I finally look up at him as I repeat myself. “You’re going to be a dad.”
“And you a mom.”
I huff out a breath as it hits me. Just like that. A mom.
As soon as General said it was Kooper’s, I knew I could never get rid of it. Hell, I knew I wasn’t going to do that at the hospital when I asked, but I wanted to give myself an out. Just in case. But we knew. We all knew it was never really someone else’s. It was Kooper. Always Kooper.
I lean up and get onto my knees, shuffling the few inches separating us and wrapping my hands around him. I play with his hair as he pulls me even closer to kiss my chest, right where my heart is, before pulling back and looking at me.
“We really doing this?” I ask, more in awe than anything else.
“Yeah, Peaches, we really are.”
“And this house?”
“It’s yours.”
I smile. “Ours.”
He shrugs. “I’m happy to share it with you. But it’s your birth date on the lock. Your name on the deed. I just bought it for you.”
I run my fingers through his hair and hold him still, looking deep into his eyes to see his soul. “You know I don’t need all this, right? The big house? The grand gesture? I just need you.”
“Lucky for you, you don’t have to choose. You get both. All and more.”
My smile perks up. “Oh, there’s more?”
He smirks. “Maybe you should check out the rest of the house.”
The way his eyes sparkle has mine going wide. With a squeal, I grab the sheet out from under him, wrapping it around me as I laugh at him falling off the bed before running to the other side of the house.
The first room just has a bed. The second? A crib. Nothing else, but it’s enough to get my heart beating. But the third? The third room leaves me speechless.
I feel arms wrap around me from behind as I take it all in.
“Like it?”
I just nod. How could I not? It’s every gamer’s dream console, all done up in flashing lights around a sign with my username in bold red highlights. Hell, it even has one of those super-awesome comfy chairs. And right next to it is one for him with his username: Bowser.
I knew it was him.
“Good. Because the warranty went out on it last month, and I can’t take it back.”
He chuckles as he kisses my cheek before releasing me to fiddle with a few keys to power up one of the systems.
“Warranty? How long have you had this?”
“I got it for you last year. Thought it could be a Christmas gift.”
“What?” I whisper.
“Huh?” He looks back at me and blinks. “You okay?”
Okay? This guy bought me my dream gift when I was mad at him. When I wasn’t even talking to him. He spent way more than a few grand, and he didn’t even know if we would be together.
I turn on my heel and head for the bedroom.
“Peaches?” he calls after me, but I don’t stop. I keep marching till I get to my room. I mean ours.
I grab my panties and bra, pulling them and my shorts on. But when I pick up my shirt, it’s ripped. Like seriously ripped. I guess we really were in the moment.
“Peaches?” he repeats as he comes into the room. His jeans are on, not buttoned, and he looks yummy as hell. Still, I glare.
“What now?”
I don’t say anything as I head to what I can only assume is the closet through the massive bedroom. And I was right. And like everything else, it’s huge and perfect and just about everything I could ever dream of.
I curse as I stomp over to a set of drawers and start opening them till I find one filled with his shirts. I grab the top one and put it on.
“You going to tell me what has you in a tizzy?”
“Not in a tizzy. Just pissed. Now get your shit. We’re going.”
“And where is it we’re headed?”
“The clubhouse.”
“You going to tell me why?”
“Nope. Now hurry the fuck up. I don’t got all day.”
And like the fucker he is, he does as I say without so much as a hitch. Fucking bastard.
The drive is quick because the town is small, and despite what he said, we’re close to the clubhouse in case he ever wants to go say hi.
As soon as we park, I’m out and walking through the door. Kooper yells at me the whole way to stop, but I don’t.
I’m a girl on a mission, and I’m not about to stop till I get what I want.
As soon as I see who I’m looking for, I walk right up to him and glare. “Give my old man his vest back. We both know this club needs him more than he needs you.”
I don’t give a fuck that I broke up poker night with the boys. I need Casper to give Kooper his shit so we can get going. I want food. Wings, preferably.
He gives me a side-eye, then tilts his head to the side. “Lose something, Dixon?”
I stomp my foot. “His name is Kooper, not Dixon. He’s a brother, and he deserves the respect of the name given to him.”
“That right?” Casper gives me a look of childish disbelief. “And who might you be?”
“Peaches,” Kooper says before I do. He comes up to me and pulls me back to him.
“You sure about this? I’ve got no problem living as Dixon for you,” he says into my ear before I turn in his arms.
“I want you to be happy.”
“I’m happy with you.”
Fucking asshole keeps saying sweet things, and I’m going to cry. Which I really hate doing, no matter how many times the baby forces me to.
“You can have both. All of it, whatever you want. But we both know I’m going to piss you off. You’re going to need to vent to someone. So join your little club. Talk your little talk. And come home to me each night.”
The boys around us chuckle, and I get close, blocking them out as I hold my hand to the side of his face. “I don’t need a knight to fight my dragons. I just need you. If that means I get a Hound in leather with chrome for a steed, I’ll take it.”
“Deal,” he growls a second before he kisses me soundly as the entire place erupts with cheers.
“About damn time. Bulldog, go get Kooper’s vest off my desk. And get the one that says ‘Peaches’ with it.”
I break my kiss and turn to Casper, who grins. “Welcome to the family.”
Family. I had one growing up. Thought I lost it. But then I found it again. With Kooper.
Because I became his.
As if reading my mind, he pulls me close and sings in my ear, pulling a giggle from my lips and joy from my heart.
“Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, I love you.”