Chapter 17 #2
Eden rises onto her knees, grips my cock, and guides me inside her.
I groan at the feel of her silky heat wrapping around me.
It feels different than before, and that’s when it hits me.
I’m inside her bare. Nothing between us.
I’ve never felt a woman bare, and damn, if I’m not glad it’s her.
However, I still need to remind her. I don’t want us getting lost in the moment, and her having regrets after.
“Condom.” I manage to force the word past my lips. It pains me to say it, because this feeling of her soft warmth wrapped around me is one I’ve already become addicted to, and it’s been mere seconds since my initiation.
“I’m on the pill. We’ve already talked about our history.”
I nod. We have, and I knew she was on the pill. “You sure?” I ask, cursing myself for questioning her when I should just be enjoying the moment.
“I’m sure. You feel… different, better,” she says, rising and sliding back down on my cock.
“Accidents can still happen,” I remind her.
“I know. Even if you were wearing one, accidents can still happen. I never would have slept with you in the first place if I wasn’t willing to take that risk, Foster.” Her words are soft, and her eyes are filled with so much emotion that I can see everything I’m feeling, staring back at me.
She accepts all of me for who I am. My past, my present, and God willing, my future.
She’s all in, and my cock throbs at the thought.
I’m in love with her. This love is different than what I previously felt.
It’s deep, tender, and all-consuming. It’s as if everything I am, everything I thought I knew, has shifted and morphed into something more. Something better with her at my side.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Never.” My fists tighten around the sheets, because fuck me, between my thoughts and the feel of her bare, I’m ready to lose my mind. I need to focus. I don’t come until she does. That’s the rule.
My words spur her into action. She takes control.
Every move is purposeful, assertive, and intended to drive me insane.
It’s working. Nothing else in the world exists but her.
With each rise and fall of her pussy over my cock, the tension builds not just for me, but for her, too.
She’s tighter with every roll of her hips, and I can’t hold on.
Letting go of the sheet, I find her clit.
It takes mere seconds before her pussy clutches my cock with not only the strength of her orgasm, but with pleasure—hers and mine.
I can’t hold out, and I lift, wrapping my arms around her, calling out her name while we erupt in pure bliss, wrapped up in one another. My orgasm seems to go on forever, as does hers. When we finally relax into one another, we’re both breathing heavily, covered in sweat, happy, and sated.
“Best birthday ever,” I say, kissing her neck and making her laugh.
With my cock still buried inside her, and her arms wrapped around me, I say, “Legs around my waist.” She doesn’t question me, just moves to do as I ask.
Then I’m in motion, scooting to the edge of the bed, and standing with her in my arms. My cock’s nestled inside her where it belongs as I carry her to the shower.
Eden knocks on the front door of Carrie’s house, and excited yells can be heard through the door. A female voice follows, telling the kids not to open the door without her. A few moments later, Carrie, I’m assuming, opens the door with a smile.
“Why are you knocking?” she asks Eden.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess because it’s not just me,” Eden explains.
“If he’s with you, he’s family. Come on in.” Carrie steps back to let us enter the house, and two little girls come rushing over.
“Aunt Eden, is he your boyfriend?” one of them asks. She appears to be the oldest of the two, so it must be Summer.
I bend down and offer her my hand. “You must be Summer. I’m Foster. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You’re pretty.” She giggles, and I can’t hide my own laughter.
“Thank you.” I smile at her as she takes my hand, and her mom gasps.
“Summer,” Carrie scolds.
She turns to look up at her mom. “What? We’re not supposed to lie, right?”
“I’m sorry. She’s seven going on seventeen,” Carrie says nervously.
“No apologies needed.” I turn to the other little girl. “Hi, Daisy, I’m Foster.”
“How do you know my name?” she asks.
“Your aunt Eden talks about you all the time.”
Daisy’s eyes grow wide. “She does?”
I nod. “She does. You and your sister.”
“We love our aunt Eden,” Daisy tells me.
Me too, kid, me too.
I stand and offer Carrie my hand, as well. “Foster Vaughn, nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Carrie smiles. “Happy birthday. Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s no trouble,” I assure her, stepping back and sliding my arm around Eden’s waist. “We didn’t have any plans.” Well, no plans that involved clothes, so technically we were free.
“I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours, tops.”
“No rush at all,” Eden tells her. “Anything we need to know?”
“They just had lunch but will probably beg for snacks. They can have whatever. Screen time is okay while I’m gone, too.” The girls cheer at that. “You two be good for Aunt Eden and Mr. Vaughn,” she tells them.
“Foster is fine,” I assure them.
“Nick might make it home before me, but I’m not sure. You never know what you’re getting into with repairs on HVAC units,” she says.
“Go.” Eden waves off her concern. “We’re good here. I promise we’ll keep them alive, although I can’t promise they won’t be hyped up on sugar,” she teases.
“I’ll take what I can get.” Carrie laughs. “Thank you,” she says, grabbing her purse, kissing her daughters, and rushing out the door.
Summer takes my hand, and Daisy grasps Eden’s as they pull us toward the living room. Eden and I take a seat on the couch, while the girls climb up beside us.
“Is it really your birthday?” Summer asks me.
“It is.” I nod.
She looks up at Eden. “Aunt Eden, can we make cupcakes for his birthday?”
Eden smiles, pushing Summer’s hair out of her eyes. “If you have what we need, of course, we can.”
An image of her being this soft and loving toward her own kids.
Toward our kids, flashes through my mind.
The visual surprises me. It’s been years since the dreams of having my own family were locked away, and now, here I am, watching her with her best friend’s daughters, and I can see it clearly.
She’s round with our child, patiently teaching them.
She’d be the mother neither of us had. The thought has my chest tightening.
Is it possible those dreams could still come true? Was Eden the one all this time, and we just hadn’t crossed paths yet? I’m pulled out of my thoughts by a celebration.
“Let’s go!” Summer says, jumping off the couch and running toward what I assume is the kitchen.
“Let’s go. Me, too!” Daisy says, climbing to her feet and rushing after her sister.
“You feel like making some cupcakes, birthday boy?” Eden asks.
“Can’t say I’ve ever done it, but I’m game to help where I can.”
“You’ve never made cupcakes?” she asks, her mouth falling open.
“Nope.”
“This must be rectified immediately.” This time, it’s Eden who’s eagerly standing on her feet, reaching for me, and pulling me toward the kitchen.
We get lost in the task, and if I’m being honest, my face hurts from smiling so much.
Who knew baking with kids could be this much fun? When the cupcakes are on the counter, cooling before we can ice them—something I’m just as bummed about as the girls—Eden’s phone rings.
“It’s your mom,” she tells the girls, placing her index finger to her lips, letting them know to quiet down. “Hello?” she answers on speakerphone so the girls can hear their mom.
“Don’t freak out,” Carrie says, and I see Eden stiffen.
“Hey, girls, why don’t you go to the living room, and we’ll be right there,” I tell them.
“Okay!” they both holler cheerfully and rush off to do as I asked.
“You can’t call me and tell me not to freak out and expect that to work,” Eden scolds. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m okay, but I was in a car accident. I hit my head, so they’re making me go to the hospital. My car is totaled. I tried to call Nick but didn’t get him. I’m sure he’s under a house or in an attic or something. Can you come and get me?” she asks.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Are the girls around you?” Carrie asks.
“No. Foster asked them to wait for us in the living room.”
“Good. I’m pregnant,” Carrie says, and I can hear the happiness in her tone. “When I told the EMTs, they wanted me checked for precaution. I’m seven weeks, and everything is fine. I just need a ride.”
“We’ll be there,” I tell her. “What about car seats for the girls?”
“Nick took his work truck, and I’m in the car. You can bring our van. They have a car seat and a booster seat in it.”
“We’re on our way. Nashville General?” I ask her.
“Yes. Thank you both. I promise I’m fine. Ubers don’t come as far out of town as we live, unless it costs an arm and a leg,” she replies.
“No. It’s not a problem for us to come and pick you up. We’ll get the girls loaded up and head that way.”
“Thank you,” Carrie says again before ending the call.
Taking Eden’s phone from her, I place it on the counter and pull her into my arms. “She’s okay,” I say, hugging her tight.
“I know, but she’s all I have,” she says, and I want to tell her that’s not true. She has my friends and me, but now is not the time to debate that.
“What do I need to do with these?” I point to the cupcakes.
“They’ll be fine. The girls need to get their shoes on.”
“Okay, let’s do that so that you see with your own eyes that Carrie is all right,” I tell her.
“Thank you, Foster. I-I’m glad you’re here.”
“Nowhere else I want to be, baby,” I tell her honestly.
We get the girls loaded up, and twenty minutes later, after a mini–Taylor Swift concert from the back seat, I’m pulling the minivan into the parking lot of the Nashville General Emergency Room.
The girls don’t know what’s going on, and that’s a good thing. With each of their small hands in mine, we follow Eden into the ER. She talks to the clerk and finds out where Carrie is, while the girls and I wait in the waiting room with their tablets.
“We can go back. Just two, but I convinced them to let me and both girls go. I’m sorry,” Eden says.
“Babe, it’s fine. You go and set eyes on her. I’ll be right here when you need me.”
“Thank you, Foster.” She rises on her toes and kisses me quickly, before leading the girls to where a woman in scrubs waits for them.
After twenty minutes have gone by, I’m tired of feeling like a fish in a fishbowl, so I walk to the small room that houses a couple of high-top tables and some vending machines. I’m perusing my options when I hear my name being called.
“Foster?”
Turning, my mouth drops open when I see Violet standing there. “Violet?” She’s standing by the back wall with a coffee in her hands. “What are you doing here?”
“I work here.” She smiles. “How have you been?”
“You work here? In Nashville?”
“Yeah. I’ve been here about two years now,” she says. “I thought about looking you up, but so much time had passed. How have you been?” she asks again.
I stare at her, waiting to be swept away by emotion, but all I feel is… fondness. There’s no pain, no insistent regret. Nothing. Just me and the woman I used to date, who I once thought was my world, but I was wrong.
I don’t feel anything for her.
Eden is the woman my heart beats for, and I’m reminded of Knox’s words. He told me that Violet wasn’t the one because I didn’t feel it deep enough. He said I would have stopped at nothing to keep her in my life, and he’s right.
I do feel those things.
I feel them for Eden.
We catch up for a few, just exchange awkward pleasantries, before I wish her well, and go back to my seat to wait for the true love of my life.