Chapter 69
SAGE
“Do I look fat in this?”
I spin around and look at Kaiden, who’s sitting on my bed, watching me get dressed for class.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” he says carefully, and I narrow my eyes in warning.
Laughing, he stands up, takes the three steps to reach me, then brushes his hand over the front of my dress, curling his palm around my stomach. “Baby, you’re pregnant.”
I growl in the back of my throat. “Yeah, but I’m still in college.”
“You aren’t the first girl in this town to forget to use birth control, I promise,” he says, grinning down at me.
Slapping his hand away from my stomach, I wave him away. “Let me get ready. Go to school, and I’ll meet you there.”
He sits back down on the bed, leaning backwards on his elbow to continue watching me, a chuckle passing through him. “If you think I’m leaving you alone, you’re insane.”
“You need to make sure Beckham and Vinny re-enrolled, please,” I snap, using the excuse that the other two men who own my heart need assistance.
Kaiden stares at me, his face neutral. “Keep giving me attitude and see what I do.”
I groan, ripping my dress over my head and throwing it back into the closet, letting it land on the pile of rejected articles of clothing I’ve tried on today.
I’m only now realizing that my stomach has swelled, as I’m trying on something that isn’t sweatpants or leggings, because none of my clothes fit right. It’s frustrating, and all I want to do is put sweats back on, crawl into bed, and scream into the pillows.
After another ten minutes of trying stuff on, I settle on a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater that hangs to my thighs. Sitting down at my vanity, I stare at my exhausted features and pale skin, trying to remember the last time I needed to get myself dolled up to go somewhere.
Everything is so different now; things that used to matter haven’t mattered for a really long time.
Kaiden sits silently on the bed while I do my hair and makeup, and once I’m done, I stand up and walk over to him.
His hands curl around the backs of my thighs, and he pulls my body closer to his so he can rest his face against my stomach. “You look beautiful.”
Threading my fingers through his hair, I exhale a long breath while we savor the feeling of each other.
After a moment, I pull away. “Let’s get this over with, then.”
He stands, following me out of the bedroom. “Everything will be fine.”
Turning, I look at him over my shoulder. “I know.”
His hands tighten around my hips as we take the stairs. “I’ll always protect you.”
“So, when Rachel and the cheer squad call me fat today, you’ll take care of them?” I grin, leading him into the kitchen to get some coffee.
“I’ll fucking kill them if you want.” He kisses my hand, then leans against the counter as I step up to the coffeemaker. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just going to make some coffee, then we can go. One minute, tops.”
He snorts, grabbing my arm. “Coffee? You know you’re pregnant, right?”
“Coffee is fine to drink while you’re pregnant, in moderation.” I roll my eyes at him, trying to shake off his grip.
Grabbing my waist with his other hand, he pulls me against his body. “We’ll just ask the doctor next week.”
I stare into his dark eyes for a breath, then I kiss his mouth softly before pulling away. “You’re being overbearing, Kaiden Thorne.”
He smiles, showing me his teeth. “Stop testing me, then.”
My gaze catches on the necklace hanging around his neck, the one I gave him for Christmas, and a small smile pulls up my lips as I reach forward and grab it. Running my thumb over the designs on the silver, I hum between my lips in satisfaction. “I love this.”
“Me, too,” Kai breathes, sliding his hands into my hair and pulling my gaze to his. His eyes are shining with gold from the reflection of the light behind me, and his teeth press into his bottom lip.
“I wish I still had the necklace you gave me.” I frown. “My uncle must have thrown it away.”
Kaiden grins, then removes his hand from my hair and goes into his back pocket.
Pulling his wallet out, he opens the billfold and slides a finger into one of the slots that’s meant for credit cards.
My heart stops when he pulls out the silver chain he got me for Christmas, the pendant with his initial still intact, only a little bent at one edge.
“Oh my god.” I press my fingers to my lips. “Where did you find that?”
Kai clicks his tongue, using a finger to signal me to turn around so he can put the necklace around my neck. “Your uncle sent it to us. One of the many gifts we got when you were in that fucking house.”
I feel sad as I think about what they must have thought when they started to get mystery packages from my uncle. We haven’t directly talked about everything the three of them went through when I was gone; I only heard their story when they were telling the police.
When the necklace is fastened around my neck, I turn back around to face Kai. “You didn’t give the necklace to the police?”
He shakes his head. “Didn’t see the point. We’d already given them everything else, and I wanted you to have it back one day.”
Humming, I grin up at him as he cups my face again. We stare at each other for a moment, like everything else has suddenly frozen around us, and my stomach fills with butterflies.
“I love it when you get sweet.”
He chuckles, leaning forward to bite my lip. “Don’t get used to it.”
Surprisingly, everyone at school acts pretty normal, given the circumstances of my return.
I go the whole first half of the day without trouble, only getting some sideways looks that I guess are warranted since I came back from the dead last week.
Thankfully, Beckham and Vinny are able to re-enroll without issue. News and gossip spreads quickly in Blackmore, so even the headmistress is aware of everything that’s happened to the four of us this year.
That also means that everyone knows I’m pregnant before I can even announce it.
However, I didn’t expect the administration to be so flexible when Kaiden, Vinny, and Beckham requested that their schedules were changed so at least one of them is with me at all times.
I don’t know what kind of strings they pulled, or what threats they made, but now I spend all day feeling safe, which I’m thankful for.
When me and my three bodyguards go to the cafeteria for some lunch, I’m happy to see that there aren’t a lot of people having lunch at the same time, only a few groups spread throughout the room.
“You want salad?” Becks asks me, and I roll my eyes.
“I can get my own lunch,” I protest, and Vinny laughs.
“First day back, princess,” Vinny says, eyebrow quirked. “Might as well let us do everything for you.”
Sighing, I look at Beckham again. “Salad is fine, thanks.”
Becks and Kaiden head for the line to get all four of us food, and Vinny walks me to the table, my bag thrown over his shoulder.
When we’ve found our seats, Vinny sits sideways in his seat so he can face me. “You okay, princess?”
“Fine,” I say, finding his worried gaze. “Are you okay?”
He shuffles closer and puts his hands around my waist. “I’m perfect.”
Vinny slides one hand around my belly, then he leans into my neck to breathe in my skin. “I love you, princess. I can’t wait to worship your body tonight; we can play pretend that I’m filling you with another baby.”
My skin heats, and he chuckles as I grab his forearm. “Vinny.”
“You know the baby’s mine, right?” He speaks against the skin of my neck, his mouth warm and wet.
I smack his chest, making him pull from my neck and laugh. “It’s all of ours.”
He smiles like a shit, his hand rubbing my stomach. “Alright, princess.”
“Vinny?” A voice yanks me from the secure bubble we’ve made around us, and Vinny scoots closer when we both look to where Rachel is standing at the other side of the table. “Can we talk?”
“No,” he says without a thought.
“Vinny, just hear her out,” I say, feeling kind of bad for Rachel. Vinny looks at me like I’m crazy, but before a small laugh can rumble through me, I look up at Rachel. “What is it?”
“Vinny?” she says, ignoring me altogether. “Can we talk, just you and me, please?”
I start to get a little pissed then, because I have hormones taking over my body, and this bitch did not just ignore me when I was fucking nice to her!
“Hello?” I snap my fingers to pull her attention. “Talk or go away.”
Rachel looks at me, and even as sadness glitters in her gaze, there’s still malice behind the next set of words she spits at me. “So, who’s the dad?”
Vinny shoots up out of his seat, and I grab his hips to hold him in place. “Excuse me?!”
“Sit down, Vinny,” I say, and he looks at me as he slowly moves back down into his seat. Looking at Rachel, I sigh. “What do you want, Rachel? Because if you just came over here to be a bitch, then we aren’t interested.”
She chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment, then she clears her throat. “I just want to know if Vinny’s the dad.”
“He is,” I tell her without missing a beat. “Even if it’s not through blood. And I don’t owe you any more explanation than that. I’m sorry, but your time with Vinny is over. It’s time to move on.”
Rachel’s eyes flutter as she rolls them, and she walks away without another word. Even as my heart pounds harder, I feel satisfied that she’ll leave us alone. There’s only so much you can do when the dude you like is having a baby with someone else.
Beckham and Kaiden appear then, dropping our food down on the table. Beckham gives me a concerned look as he finds his seat. “What did she want?”
“Vinny.” I roll my eyes, and he laughs.
Kaiden hands me my salad, and I give him a smile in thanks, then we all find a comfortable silence as we dig into our food, letting the drama and trauma and pain simmer away around us as we enjoy this simple moment like normal students for once.