Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
His arms are full of clothes, and he turns, dropping them on the chair before turning back to me. “You’ve been crying.”
I pull the towel up to wipe at my face and then struggle to cover myself again. “I’m fine.”
He comes to me, pressing his body to mine. “You’re not fine. You’re crying. What’s wrong? What happened? You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
I shake my head and bury my face into his chest. “I couldn’t sleep. And… and you have some kind of lock on your toilet. I peed down my leg before I could get it completely off and then I showered and this stupid towel won’t even go around me. I’m huge.” I sob, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m about to be a mother, and I can’t even take care of myself.”
Before I can say anything else, he lifts me in his arms and walks over to set me on the bed. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I watch him walk into the bathroom and almost back out. He has a brush in his hand, and he positions himself so that he’s sitting behind me. He unwraps the towel around my hair and throws it to the ground. The towel around my body is useless now. It barely covered anything when I was standing up, and sitting down, it does nothing to hide all I have going on.
Austin pulls me back against him and starts to brush my hair.
“Austin, what are you doing?”
His breath grazes my ear. “I’m brushing your hair. Did you get any sleep?”
I sigh. “No, I couldn’t sleep. I did cancel my appointments coming up, though.”
We’re both quiet as he continues to untangle my hair. I should attempt to cover myself, but I don’t even care right now. I couldn’t sleep earlier, but suddenly I feel exhausted. I let my body sway back until I’m settled against his chest. He leans back in the bed, pulling me with him. From this angle, my belly points out even more. I reach for the cover and pull it up over us.
He stops brushing my hair for just a second and then he starts again. “You’re going to be a great mom. You know that, right?”
I shrug. I have high hopes that I’m able to figure this all out, but I definitely have my doubts. “And the thing on the toilet was something I did to childproof it. I baby-proofed the whole house.”
I gasp. “You did?”
I feel his head nod. “Yeah, I did.”
“Austin, you know it will be months before the baby is here, right? And then a year or two after that before she can even get into cabinets or toilets or trash cans.”
He sets the brush down and then wraps his arms around me, resting both his hands on my belly. “I know that, but I wanted to be ready.”
I close my eyes as I burrow deeper into him. Every part of me wants to just go along with all this, but I know that as soon as it turns bad, I run the risk of losing my best friend. And I know I won’t make it the next few months, hell, the next few years without him by my side. No, I need to guard my heart. I have to.
He turns to kiss my forehead. “Also, you’re not huge. I think you are absolutely beautiful and perfect the way you are.”
I open my mouth to refute him but close it quickly. He shifts behind me, and I jerk to a halt when I feel it. Really slow, I say his name. “Austin.”
His voice is deeper. “Yeah, baby?”
I don’t try to beat around the bush. “You’re hard… again.”
He no longer tries to hold back. He shifts us both until we’re lying next to each other. He wraps his arms and legs around me, tucking me next to him. “You need to get some rest.”
I nod as I feel his hardness pressed against my belly. “What about you? You going to be able to sleep like this?”
I feel him nod. “Yeah, I’m getting used to it. If you’re around, I’m hard. I’m learning to live with it.”
I bury my face into his chest. Just keep quiet, Ally. Don’t say it. But as soon as the thought comes, I open my mouth. “I could, uh, help you with that.”
He groans. “Fuck, Ally. You have no idea how much I want that.”
I start to reach for him, but he catches my hand with his own. He presses my open palm to his chest. “But no matter how much I want it, you’re my first priority, and I know you need to rest. Let’s try this. Let’s see if you can sleep while I’m holding you.”
I yawn, and my words slur a little as I can feel myself falling toward slumber. “We know I can. I told you I haven’t ever slept as well as I did last night.”