Chapter 27 Angel
“Hey there,” she said as she looked me over. “Been a long time. You look like shit,” she added with a grin.
“You look like you’re ready to drop that elephant you’re carrying,” I said with a grin as I hurried across the room to meet her. We hugged tightly, which was awkward because she was bigger than a house. “How many are in there?” I asked her as I stepped back.
“One,” she growled as she looked past me to glare at her husband. “The last one,” she added with a scowl.
“You say that every time,” Jer grinned as he looked back at his wife. “And then you’re demanding more babies.”
“I don’t demand,” she protested, and she looked at me with an eye roll. “I don’t demand, he’s just got a big—”
“And because my ears don’t need to be assaulted anymore, Chrissy, I think that’s enough.” Onyx looked between the two of us. “We need to work here. Are you okay to go to your room?”
“Wow, such a dick,” Chrissy snapped at him.
“She isn’t a child. You aren’t sending her to her room, asshole.
” Chrissy looked to where the stairs were.
“Also, I’m not getting up those stairs and back down without offloading my kid, so if you don’t want my placenta on your billionaire carpet, I suggest we keep the pregnant people on this floor. ”
Onyx didn’t react, but Jer was grinning openly, and I had to hide my own smile behind my hand. I’d missed her; it had been too long.
“He has a corner of the room where we won’t be in the way,” I said as I took her arm. “Onyx, can you bring us water?” I asked over my shoulder.
“Of course.”
“I need snacks,” Chrissy shouted back, and I saw Onyx wince and Jer nod.
“I got you, baby,” he told her.
Leading her to the other couch far from the kitchen, I helped her down, and then I lifted her legs and put them on the couch.
“Did you fly here?” I asked as I gazed at her swollen belly.
“God no, it would have been like a scene from Aliens, baby bursting out mid-flight, screaming, fainting, and that would just be Jer.”
I was laughing hard, and as I wiped my eyes, I smiled at her fondly. “I’ve never gone through it, but I’m pretty confident that’s not how it works.”
“True.” Chrissy grinned. “It would be epic if it was though.” She thought about it. “To someone else, obviously.”
“It would be horrifying,” I corrected her.
She shrugged and then beamed as Jer carried over a tray with crackers, sliced fruit, dried fruit, and some chips. Onyx was behind him with hot water and lemon, and chilled water for us both.
“I like this,” Chrissy said as she looked at me. “You’ve domesticated him?”
“Um, no, Onyx is . . . we, um, it’s—”
“Okay,” she said as she looked between us. “I get it.”
She did? Did I?
“She needs to nap,” Jer told me as he kissed his wife’s head. “Don’t fight it,” he cautioned her.
“I’m sorry,” I told her when they left us. “I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble.”
“Puh-lease,” Chrissy drawled as she reached for an apple slice.
“I have two toddlers, and I’m growing a full-sized human.
You want to see trouble? Come to my house on a Saturday morning when Daddy’s in charge of breakfast. Then wait the twenty-three minutes before all the sugar kicks in and my entire household descends into madness. ”
“It sounds perfect,” I told her warmly.
“It sounds like we need therapy,” she corrected me. “So, you and the Devil, huh? Sounds like old times.”
“Um, no. He’s been helping me.” I reached for my hot water. “It’s a bit complicated.”
“He help you to an orgasm?”
I spat my hot water all over Onyx’s couch, and she cackled with laughter. “Jesus, Chrissy!” I grumbled as I dabbed at my mouth. “It’s not like that.”
“Okay, so you haven’t had sex with him in the last . . . week?”
I gave her a flat stare.
“Exactly, so you and him are bumping uglies.” She looked triumphant. “Now tell me about this creep who’s fucking it up.”
As I told her what had been happening, I took comfort from her being here.
We had parted ways at the end of college on lukewarm terms. Chrissy and Jer had hooked up not long after he came to our dorm to apologize to me for the bet.
They had both become newly single and met at yet another stupid party where Jer had caught Chrissy when she ran during the Devils’ Mayhem, and he kept hold of her.
I hadn’t wanted to be in the same room as him when he came over, although he was always polite. I took it personally that Chrissy was willing to forgive him for his involvement. She was supposed to be on my side, not happy to have bagged herself an elusive Devil.
They started spending more and more time at the football house, and I saw less and less of her. When I did see her, I didn’t want to hear about her boyfriend, and she didn’t want to hear about my toils with Onyx. It became stilted and awkward, and eventually we just stopped trying so hard.
We’d kept in contact over the years, but I hadn’t attended her wedding, but I had sent gift baskets for the birth of her children. Jer, I’d seen several times since. He was usually at sporting events, and we had reached an amicable friendship.
But as we sat on the couch, and I told her all the things, it was as if the clock had been rewound six years and we were in our old college dorm, sitting on the ratty old sofa, gossiping about boys and classes.
When I was finished, she looked at me and sucked on her fruit. “That’s all kinds of fucked up.”
“It sounds bad when I say it out loud,” I admitted.
“He had a knife to your throat, while you were sleeping,” Chrissy said bluntly. “I don’t think it can sound better.”
“Well, yeah, that wasn’t good,” I reasoned.
“And covering your bed in his spunk?” She shook her head. “Fucking pervert.”
“I can’t remember his age. I’m sure he was still in school,” I told her. “I really didn’t pay attention to him. He could pass me in the street, and I wouldn’t notice.”
“Well, that’s terrifying.”
“He’s just a kid,” I reiterated. I looked over to where the kitchen was, and the three of their heads bent together. “They need to remember he’s a boy.”
“You need to remember this boy held a knife to your throat and sent you death threats.” When I turned back to her, she was focused on the kitchen. “When did Coop get here?” she asked me. “Yo! Coop! Get your mighty fine ass over here and give me sugar!”
Cooper turned, and even from here, I could see his wide, genuine grin.
“You like Cooper now?” I asked in disbelief.
“Hell yeah, he’s currently my youngest’s godfather, and God, you should see how competitive he and Onyx are on the girls’ birthday gifts. Ridiculous.”
“I’m the best godfather,” he said as he swooped down and hugged her tight. “You look beautiful,” he said with a chaste kiss to her cheek. “You feeling okay?”
Who the hell was this guy? I knew I was staring at him in wonder, and I knew I got caught by Chrissy for doing so. Cooper followed her look and simply did what he did best — ignored me.
“I’m okay. Why haven’t you got this shithead yet?” she demanded of him.
“Chrissy,” I protested as Cooper moved her legs to make room for himself, and then he gently picked up her feet and started rubbing her calves.
“You look like a cow,” he said playfully. “Your cankles are now just elephant’s feet.”
“I know, Coop, my evil husband doesn’t do it right,” she whined at him, and he snickered as he rubbed her feet and ankles.
“Water retention,” he told me when he saw me staring. “This helps.” He nodded to the pitcher of water. “As does water. Drink, Chrissy.”
She dutifully did as she was told, and then the two of them chatted about her pregnancy, and I just felt more and more lost.
“Anyway, Mr. Diversion Tactic,” Chrissy scolded. “Tell me about the prick who’s threatening our girl.”
Cooper glanced at me as he started on her other leg. His fingers were quick and smooth as he used skillful moves on her legs to bring her comfort.
“Was amateur to start with, flowers, slashed tires, even the lingerie.” Cooper shrugged. “Not much to go on, then he jerked off on her sheets, stood over her bed as she slept, put a knife to her throat, and now he’s messed with Onyx.”
“Ohhh.” Chrissy whistled. “That’s why he’s in Ultra Dick Mode?”
“The creep’s got a hard-on for the vampire,” Cooper told her with a wink. “And you know that Onyx doesn’t like to share.”
“The vampire is right here,” I reminded him. “And seriously, is this what we’re doing, you getting a foot rub while you talk about me as if I’m not here?”
“And there’s the ballbuster we know,” Chrissy said with a smile.
“You came in here meek and mild. Stop that right now. So, you’ve got a stalker; do you know how many Jer has?
It’s ridiculous. Panties in the mail. We had one damn girl naked on our hotel bed one night when we came back from an event.
Fucking herself with a carrot. A carrot, Angel.
Not even a fucking cucumber like a normal person, but a fucking carrot that wasn’t even thick!
It was long and skinny! Hell, Jer’s fingers are thicker!
Do you have any idea how long it takes to eat a stew after seeing that? He still won’t eat carrots.”
My fingers were pressed to my lips, trying to hold back the smile at her outrage, while Cooper’s shoulders were shaking with laughter.
“Then there’s the marriage proposals. Hello, people!
I’m his wife. His actual wife, and they don’t care.
They don’t care that he’s married, they don’t care that he’s got kids, they don’t care because they think he’s theirs.
” She rolled her eyes. “And the men? Oh, my fucking Lord, do not get me started on the men. They don’t even see the man, my man, they see only the jersey.
Ugh, we’ve had death threats when the team’s lost, and everything. ”
Cooper turned to me as she took a drink of water. “Hormones make her a little more excitable,” he told me quietly.