Chapter 18 #4
“Finish your breakfast,” he growls, muttering under his breath. “Even if it is almost lunchtime.” And then he heads back into the house.
Chuckling, Octy smiles softly as she watches her husband leave, then she turns her head back to me.
“He wasn’t joking, you should eat. He takes meals insanely seriously.
I’ve eaten more since I met him than I think I did the whole year before.
If we weren’t fucking so much to burn all the calories, I’d be as big as a house. ”
Her bold honesty shocks me, but I shake it off, lifting my plate to my lap and nibbling at it. “How long have you been married?”
“A little over five months now.”
“How long have you known each other?”
“A little over five months,” she says, then bursts into laughter, making her pigtails bob up and down. “I met him briefly at a party up at Betty’s house. Then one day he showed up at the place I was staying and told me he was bringing me home. We got married the next day.”
“The next day?” I question.
“Men in Rockhead Peak move fast. But I think Knight and I hold the record now. I’m pretty sure it took Granger a couple of days to convince Alice to marry him.”
I’m not sure how my face looks, but Octy tilts her head to the side and smiles at me. “The Barnetts haven’t told you yet, have they?”
“Told me what?”
“How all seven brothers found their wives.”
“I haven’t met them all yet.”
Glancing from me to the back door, then back to me, Octy bites her bottom lip, then slowly starts to smile. “Do you have plans for dinner?”
I contemplate lying, but she and her husband really haven’t been anything but nice to me, and they’re important to Warrick. I’ve already hurt him once today, so I should try to be nice to the people he considers family. It’s the least I can do.
“No, I don’t have plans.”
“You do now. I think it’s time for a girls’ night. With Henry too, of course.” Pulling her cell from somewhere in the frothy confection of a dress she’s wearing, her fingers move over the screen at breakneck speed.
Within moments, her cell starts to buzz and then doesn’t stop while she stares down at it, her eyes scanning from side to side.
“Awesome. Everyone is in.”
“Everyone?”
“All the Barnetts, James, Tori, Etta, Parker, and Henry. Do you like Mexican food?”
I shrug. “Yeah, I guess so.” Then I start to panic. “Wait, we’re going out to dinner?”
“Yep, there’s a place in town that does these amazing tacos and margaritas.”
Knight steps back outside just as Octy says “margaritas,” and his expression morphs into a glower. “You’re not drinking margaritas, you’re pregnant.”
“So I’ll have mine virgin,” she quips back. “We’re taking Verity out for girls’ night tonight.”
“No,” Knight growls.
“Yep, it’s happening. I know you don’t like it, but you have to learn to share. But to make you feel better, you can give me and Verity a ride, then you can pace the sidewalk outside the restaurant while we eat. Afterward, you can pay before you bring us home, okay?”
“Does Warrick know about this?” Knight growls.
I shake my head. “He’s on a call-out.”
Knight’s angry glower softens. “He’s good at what he does, one of the best. He’ll be fine. But you should make sure he knows your plans, even if he can’t contact you until he’s back at base. I’ll let him know that I’m driving you both and that I’ll keep you safe.”
I think about the new bank card he gave me with my name on it.
If I want to go out to dinner tonight, I’ll have to use it.
Will he mind? He told me to use it. In fact, he told me that he expects me to use it, and that if I didn’t, he’d make me spend so much a week on stuff I didn’t need until I got used to spending money.
I still feel like I should ask permission, though.
The card might have my name on it, but the money in the account isn’t mine.
Picking my cell up, I type out a quick message.
Me: Octy and Knight have come to visit. Octy invited me out tonight.
Knight is going to drive us into town and bring us home again.
But I’ll need to use the card to pay for my meal.
Is that okay? I’m not sure if you’ll see this before I have to leave, but if it’s not okay, I’ll pay you back once I have a job. Please stay safe xo
The moment I hit send, I cringe and wish I could delete it, but really what else can I say?
I think he’ll be okay with me going for dinner with Octy and his other friends’ wives.
He was the one who gave my number to James and Cora.
But if he doesn’t get a chance to reply before I have to leave, I’ll just have the cheapest thing on the menu, and then I’ll figure out a way to pay him back.
Knight and Octy stay for thirty minutes, then Knight announces it’s almost lunchtime and ushers Octy away.
“We’ll swing by and pick you up about seven thirty p.m. Wear whatever you want, it’s a super casual place.
Text me if you need anything,” Octy says as Knight practically carries her out of the door, muttering something about it being late for her lunchtime manual stimulation.
Once I’m alone again, I go back into the yard, pick up my plate, and carry it back into the kitchen.
I could load my dirty dishes into the dishwasher, but instead I fill the sink with hot soapy water and clean my plate, silverware, and the Tupperware, carefully putting everything away before I wipe the kitchen over and head back out into the yard.
The next several hours drag. I’m antsy and nervous, and I’m not sure if it’s because Warrick still hasn’t texted or called or because I’m worried about meeting all of his friends’ wives and having to use his money to pay for my meal.
It’s after five p.m. when my cell rings. Scrambling to grab it, I sag with relief when the screen says it’s Warrick calling.
“Hi,” I exhale, bringing it to my ear.
“Amore mio.” He sounds tired, his voice weary.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It was a bad one, but we managed to get it under control. Were you worried?”
“Yes,” I admit easily. “Knight said you’d be fine, but…” I trail off because I can’t say what I want to. I can’t tell him that I was terrified he’d get hurt before I could tell him that I love him.
“Oh, amore mio. I love that you care about me, but I don’t like that you’ve been worried. Did you remember to eat?”
I nod, then realize he can’t see me. “I had the breakfast casserole and then some of the noodles.”
“Are you okay that Octy and Knight stopped by? I didn’t ask them to check up on you,” he says, sounding wary.
“I know you didn’t, and yes, I’m okay.”
“As much as I miss having my brother on my team, it makes me feel better leaving you alone, knowing that Knight is literally two minutes away. When we build our house, he’ll be even closer.”
“Build a house? Where?” I question, wondering what he means.
“When Knight decided he planned to stay in Rockhead Peak permanently, he bought a parcel of land on the other side of the Barnetts’ property.
It’s hundreds of acres, amore mio. He built his place for him and Octy, then offered chunks of land to all of the rest of us so we could continue to live together even if we’re not working together. ”
“Oh,” I breathe, not sure what else to say.
“Buck and James, Nero and Tori, and Oz and Etta are already working with Cody Barnett’s construction crew to get started on their places.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live there, but now that I have you, the idea of building a home and raising our family right next door to my brothers and their families sounds pretty damn perfect.
Once I’m off shift, I’ll reach out to the architect, but in the meantime, you need to start thinking about what you want our forever home to look like. ”
My eyes feel so wide they actually hurt. He must surmise something from my silence because he chuckles softly. “Switch to video.”
Pulling the cell from my ear, I press the screen and switch the call from audio to video, watching Warrick’s dirt-streaked face appear on the screen.
“Fuck, I miss you,” he exhales.
“I miss you too,” I admit quietly.
“Are you freaking out?” he asks.
I nod.
Smiling, he nods back. “I love you, Verity. I might have only just found you, but I’m not a stupid man.
I don’t plan to ever let you go. So I’m going to marry you, then build you the most beautiful home and spend the rest of our lives making babies and raising them surrounded by the other people I care about the most.”
I’m not sure if the whimper that falls from my lips is want or fear.
The dream he’s selling doesn’t make me want to run, but that doesn’t mean I can have it.
Not yet anyway. Maybe in a year or two, when we really know each other.
When I have a job and can show him I have more value than what’s between my legs.
He knows that I was a stripper, he knows that I used my virginity to make money, and I’ve never sensed any judgment from him.
But I can’t marry him while I’m still mooching off him.
I can’t tell him I love him until I can show him that I’m more than just the doormat he found in the woods.
I plan to tell him all of that, but instead I ask, “You want kids?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“How many do you want to give me?”
I shrug. “I’ve never really thought about kids.”
“Well, considering I’ve been filling you with my cum every chance I’ve got for the last four days, you might need to give it some thought. When was your last period?”
Horror and fear make me go numb. I’m not pregnant. No one gets pregnant the first time they have sex.
“Amore mio.”
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“If my baby is growing in you right now, I’ll be over the moon, but if it’s not, and you don’t want to start our family just yet, then we should make you an appointment and get you on some birth control once you’ve had your period. So when are you due?”
“Next week,” I admit, shell-shocked.