33. Holt
Chapter 33
Holt
I ’m going to be a father. To twins. I’m going to be a father to twins with the girl I’ve fallen for and am in serious danger of losing.
I don’t care if they’re biologically mine or Wyatt’s or Old Man Jerry from next door. I mean, the dude’s pushing seventy, so unless the twins come out with a full beard and an affinity for gardening, I’m pretty sure they’re not his. But that’s not the point. Ivy’s mine. So, her babies are mine too.
“Fuck!” I yell, slamming the side of my fist against the wall. Hank is lucky. If I weren’t worried Ivy would find a way to sneak out the second my back is turned, I’d be rearranging his face after the shit he pulled.
Wyatt is next to me, looking just as panicked. He stayed here while Hank went off to sulk in his workshop. I can’t think straight. I don’t want to. All I know is I can’t lose her. I won’t.
“We’re not giving up,” Wyatt says, reading my mind. He’s calm, and I want to punch him, too, just to get him as worked up as I am.
“IVY!” I pound on the door, harder this time. “OPEN UP!”
Nothing.
I look at Wyatt, and he takes his turn, knocking more gently but with the same desperation. “Come on, City Girl. Let us in. We just want to talk.”
I press my ear to the door, hoping to hear something, anything that means she’s listening. All I hear is the muffled bassline of her playlist, some angry pop star screaming about betrayal.
“Ivy, please,” I call, my voice cracking like I’m some twelve-year-old boy. “Don’t do this. Please , baby. Please. Just open the door. We just want to talk to you. I’m not going anywhere until I see your face.”
The music stops. Silence. My heart is beating so hard I’m sure she can hear it through the door. Then, footsteps. A pause. The click of the lock.
She opens the door just wide enough for me to see her eyes, wide and whiskey-brown, rimmed with red like she’s been crying.
“Can we come in?” I ask, trying to keep the pleading out of my voice and failing miserably.
She hesitates, then pulls the door open the rest of the way. I’m relieved, but when I see the half-packed suitcase on the bed, my stomach drops.
“Seriously?” Wyatt says, stepping inside. “You were really going to just leave?”
Ivy crosses her arms defensively. “What was I supposed to do? Stick around while you all try to figure out who knocked me up? Figure out who I baby-trapped ?”
“Nobody thinks that, sweetheart.” Wyatt says.
Ivy shoots him a look that could freeze a wildfire in its tracks. He flinches just a little, but then he shrugs, looking sheepish.
“Okay, okay,” he starts, holding up both hands in mock surrender. “Hank said that, but he didn’t mean it. What he said was horrible, and I know he’s sorry.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” I say, moving closer to her. “And neither are you.”
She looks at me, then at Wyatt, her lip trembling. “You don’t have to do this. I know it’s a lot. I know I’m a lot.”
Wyatt shakes his head, his voice softening. “Don’t you get it? We want you to be a lot. We like you that way.”
Ivy sits on the edge of the bed, her shoulders slumping. She looks so small and defeated, and I hate that we’ve made her feel like this.
I kneel in front of her, taking her hands. “We’re scared, too. I’m scared shitless. But I’m more scared of losing you than I am of being a dad.”
Wyatt sits next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. “We’ll figure it out. All of it. Together. Whatever ‘it’ is, okay?”
She looks between us, her eyes glassy. “What if it’s too complicated? What if you change your minds?”
I tighten my grip on her hands. “We won’t. We’re not those kinds of guys.”
Her chin quivers, and I can see the exact moment she starts to believe us. Her shoulders relax, and she leans into Wyatt, resting her head on his shoulder.
“At least stay the night. We can talk things through in the morning. Please, baby.”
“Okay,” she whispers. “Okay.”
I take the suitcase and toss it in the corner, where it belongs. “You know you’re stuck with us, right?”
A small smile tugs at her lips.
Wyatt kisses the top of her head, and I wrap my arms around her, holding on because if I let go, she might disappear.
“Thank God,” I breathe, feeling some of the tension leave my body. I’ll never admit it, but my eyes might be a little glassy, too.
She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, and I feel like I can finally breathe again.
“Come on,” Wyatt says, standing and pulling her up with him. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long nine months ahead of us.”
Ivy laughs, and it’s the best sound in the world. I know we’re not out of the woods yet, but at least we’re headed in the right direction. Together.
Later that night, she’s wrapped in my arms, Wyatt curled up against her back, but I can feel how tense she is. It feels like she’s still ready to bolt the second we stop paying attention.
“Try to get some sleep,” I whisper, kissing her forehead.
She nods, but I can tell she’s not convinced. Neither am I, really, but I’m hoping that having us both here will help. The three of us are squished together on the too-small bed, but I don’t care. I’d sleep on a bed of nails if it meant keeping her close.
Wyatt is the first to drift off, his breathing deep and even. I’m exhausted, but the adrenaline from finding out she’s pregnant and thinking I’d lost her is still pumping through me, keeping me wide awake.
Ivy shifts, her head resting on my chest, and I know she’s still restless, too.
“Hey,” I murmur, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “You okay?”
She looks up at me, her eyes searching. “I’m scared, Holt. What if?—”
I cut her off with a kiss, slow and gentle. I don’t want to hear “what if”. Not tonight.
She hesitates, then kisses me back. It’s slow and deep and full of everything I can’t tell her yet. I can feel the tension melting from her body, her muscles relaxing as she presses closer.
“I’m serious,” I say against her mouth. “You’re stuck with us.”
She pulls back just enough to look at me, her brow furrowed. “Even if it’s hard?”
“Especially if it’s hard,” I tell her, my hands sliding up her sides. She shivers, and I feel her resolve start to crumble.
I take a breath, steadying myself, because this is harder than anything I’ve ever said. But I need to say it.
“I’ve never been good at serious,” I confess, my voice rough. “Never wanted more than what I could have in the moment. But with you? It’s different. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s real. All of it.” I can feel the truth of my words sitting heavy in my chest, and I realize, at this moment, how much I’ve already let her in. “I didn’t expect to care this much, but I do. I care about you, Ivy. More than I ever thought I was capable of. And I’m not walking away from this, not now. Maybe not ever. Okay?”
“You’ve got to stop being so convincing,” she says, her voice catching as I find the edge of her tank top and slip my fingers underneath.
“Not a chance,” I reply, tugging her shirt over her head.
I roll us until she’s straddling me, her hair falling around us like a curtain. I can see the moment she lets herself give in, her eyes darkening with want. I roll again, flipping her onto her back, pinning her beneath me, and she gasps, her mouth open in surprise.
“God, you’re beautiful,” I tell her, kissing my way down her neck to the swell of her breasts. She arches into me, and I slide one hand between us, finding the waistband of her shorts.
“Holt,” she breathes, her fingers tangling in my hair.
I push her shorts down, then my own, my cock hard and ready against her thigh. “Tell me you want this,” I say, needing to hear her say it.
“I do,” she whispers, her voice a mix of urgency and need. “I want you.”
I slide inside her slowly, watching her face as she takes me in. Her eyes flutter shut, and she makes this little sound that drives me crazy.
I pull back, thrusting deeper, and she wraps her legs around me, pulling me even closer. “Fuck, Ivy,” I groan, burying my face in her neck. She’s so tight, so perfect, and I’m not sure how long I’m going to last.
“Don’t stop,” she gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders. “Please, don’t stop.”
I’m not planning to. I’m going to make her feel so good she’ll forget she ever thought about leaving.
I feel the bed shift, and suddenly Wyatt is there, wide awake and grinning like he just won the lottery.
“Couldn’t wait for me, huh?” he says, his voice low and teasing.
“Shut up and kiss me,” Ivy tells him, reaching for his neck.
He obliges, pressing his lips to hers as I keep thrusting, finding a rhythm that makes her moan into his mouth. I can feel her getting close, her body tensing around me, and I slow down just to watch her squirm.
“Holt,” she whimpers, her hips bucking up to meet mine.
“Not yet,” I say, pulling out and flipping her onto her stomach. I lift her hips, sliding back into her from behind, and she cries out, clutching the sheets.
Wyatt moves in front of her, and she takes him in her mouth, her eyes rolling back as he groans her name.
“Holy shit, City Girl,” he pants, his hands in her hair. “You’re fucking amazing.”
I thrust harder, feeling her tighten around me, and she shudders, coming undone with a muffled scream. Her whole body goes limp, and I hold her steady, not letting up until she’s trembling with aftershocks.
Wyatt pulls back, and I flip her onto her back again, kissing her hard as I slide in for the third time.
“More?” she asks, breathless and dazed.
“More,” I confirm, feeling her clench around me. I’m so close, but I want her to come again first. I want her wrecked.
Wyatt’s fingers find her clit, and she gasps, her back arching off the bed. “I can’t,” she says, but I can tell she’s right there, teetering on the edge.
“Yes, you can,” I growl, thrusting deeper. “Come for us, Ivy. Come for both of us.”
That does it. She cries out, her whole body shaking as she comes again, and I let myself go, spilling into her with a groan that’s more relief than anything else.
We collapse in a heap. Ivy is between us, looking thoroughly wrecked in the best possible way.
“Wow,” she says, her voice a sleepy slur.
“Yeah,” I agree, brushing my lips over her shoulder. “Wow.”
Wyatt laughs, pulling the sheet over us. “You’re not getting rid of us that easy, sweetheart. No way in hell.”
She smiles, and it’s the last thing I see before I finally drift off, holding her tight and feeling like the luckiest man alive.