“It just snuck up on me…”

  “All I care about is you being healthy. And you are.”

  “I’ll start heading to the gym.”

  “You don’t need to go,” he said.

  “Yes, I do.” I walked around him and headed to bed, depressed I wasn’t pregnant and depressed I was just an overweight woman. I pulled the covers over me and tried to disappear.

  Cayson spooned me from behind and held me close. “You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve seen. I wish you could see what I see.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to disappear. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I just wanted this pain to go away.

  Chapter Five

  Cayson

  Being upset over Skye not being pregnant was something not worth being upset over. It was a weird feeling, to feel that disappointment over something she and I didn’t want anyway. But the idea of her being pregnant, waddling around the house while I got her ice cream at three in the morning, was something that got me excited. Perhaps I was more sensitive than most guys, but the idea made me happy. Skye was the only woman I could envision myself having a family with. If we remained broken up, I would have been a lonely bachelor until the day I died.

  Skye was upset over it too, and that hurt. I didn’t want her to be in pain. And I had no idea how to console her. Humans had such complicated emotions, and sometimes they didn’t make any sense.

  But at least Skye and I knew we wanted kids, whether that was today or in five years. That’s all that mattered.

  When I got off work the next day, I showered and changed at my apartment then headed to Skye’s. It’s what I usually did everyday. I wanted to move in with her, but since she hadn’t broached the subject I didn’t mention it. Sean might not approve of us shacking up and he was the last person I wanted to piss off. He actually liked me and I didn’t want to give him a reason to stop.

  I walked into Skye’s apartment and stopped when I saw her.

  She wore a loose Yankees t-shirt, yoga pants, and her hair was in a slick ponytail. “Hey.”

  I looked her up and down. “You look cute.”

  “Really?” She looked down at herself. “I look like a bum.”

  “A cute one.” I came to her then kissed her. When I looked into her eyes, I still saw the sadness from a few days ago. Since there was nothing I could do about it I decided to let it go. “So, why are you all sporty?”

  “Can you go to the gym with me?”

  So, she was still upset over her weight gain. I wish that had never come up. It wasn’t even a lot of weight, maybe ten pounds. She looked gorgeous anyway. That hadn’t changed in the least. “Why don’t we stay here and watch TV?”

  “Because I want to lose weight,” she said firmly. “And I don’t know how to do anything but run. I thought you could help me.”

  “Of course I can help you,” I said. “But you don’t need to lose weight.”

  “Yes, I do. Now let’s go.”

  She clearly wasn’t going to change her mind. “I need to change first.”

  “That’s fine.”

  ***

  When we got to the gym, she turned to me. “What do I do first?”

  “Let’s run for a little bit.” She and I had never worked out before. I’d never even seen Skye inside a gym. She used to jog in college but she hadn’t done that in a long time.

  “Okay.” She got onto the treadmill beside me.

  “Jog, don’t run. You burn more fat when your heart beats at a lower rate than a higher one.”

  “Okay.” She started to jog.

  I turned on my iPod and jogged beside her. Like a pervert, I glanced at her bouncing tits whenever I could. She wore a baggy shirt but I could still distinguish them. It reminded me of the times she was on top. Her tits bounced up and down, looking like a wet dream. When I forced myself to face forward, the guy on the machine across from her was staring at them.

  Instantly, I was pissed off. I pulled out my ear buds. “Do you mind?”

  He quickly looked away and didn’t even glance Skye’s way again.

  “What?” Skye pulled out her ear buds. “Did you say something?”

  “Oh, nevermind.” I kept jogging.

  She believed me, and put her ear buds back in.

  After thirty minutes, Skye was red in the face and sweating. She was struggling to keep going, breathing hard.

  “That’s enough,” I said.

  “Thank god.” She immediately hit the stop button. “Geez, I’m out of shape.”

  She didn’t bring a water bottle so I handed her mine.

  She drank half of it while she caught her breath.

  “Good job,” I said.

  “Whatever,” she said. “That was pathetic and you know it was.”

  “I don’t think that at all,” I said seriously. I got paper towels then wiped down our machines. When Skye’s breathing was back to normal, I took her to the free weights.

  “Now what do we do?”

  “Weight training,” I said. “It’ll tone you up, bring your muscles closer to your skeletal frame. It makes you appear thinner than you really are.”

  “Ooh…I like that idea.”

  I smiled at her then retrieved a bar. I placed it in front of her. “Dead lifts are good for your ass and thighs. And it’ll tighten your lower back.”

  She stared at it like she didn’t know what to do.

  I grabbed my bar and put the weights on the end. “I’ll show you.” I adopted the stance then did a few. “Use your ass, not your back.”

  “Okay.” She picked up the bar but her form was all wrong.

  I came behind her then did it with her, keeping her back in line with my chest. I tried not to get hard because I was wearing running shorts and a boner would be easy to spot. “Now you try.”

  She did a set of ten on her own.

  “Good,” I said. “Now do two more sets.”

  “Two?” she asked incredulously. “Are you crazy?”

  I gave her an affectionate look. “You can do it.”

  She sighed then got to work.

  Jillian, a personal trainer, came over to me. She and I exchanged words every now and then when we ran into each other. She always wore tight spandex shorts that looked like underwear and a sports bra that showed off her cleavage. She was blonde and always wore heavy make up. Guys at the gym always hit on her whenever possible. Perhaps I was immune to her charms because I was obsessed with Skye, but she wasn’t my type. “How’s it going?” she asked.

  “Well,” I said. “You?”

  She eyed Skye in her baggy t-shirt and black pants. “Looks like your trainee has never set foot in the gym.”

  “She’s learning,” I said, ignoring the insult.

  “She’ll come for two weeks then give up, just like all the rest.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  I headed to Skye since she finished her set. “Good job, baby. You did great.”

  Skye eyed Jillian, noting her flat stomach and toned thighs. “Who’s she?”

  “A trainer,” I answered.

  “Oh.” She looked away and stared at herself in the mirror. Sadness overcame her features.

  I could tell she was comparing herself to Jillian. And I didn’t want her to do that. “Your ass looks great in those yoga pants.”

  “What?” She became distracted by my words.

  “You look cute.” I put my arm around her and gave her a kiss even though she was sweaty. “Hottest chick in this place.”

  She smiled and seemed to be in a better mood. “Now what?”

  “Let’s do a few other things.” I showed her other weight machines and how to use them. A few girls eyed me while I was with Skye, and judging the way they whispered to one another, they were talking about me. I ignored them and concentrated on Skye. Sometimes I hated going to the gym because everyone was so superficial. And I couldn’t count the number of offers I got. It didn’t seem like they cared that I had a girlfriend. That just made me more depressed. No one seemed to respect monogamy anymore.

  By the end of the hour, Skye was exhausted. “Food…”

  “Let’s call it a day.”

  “Oh, thank god.”

  I grabbed her hand and we walked out.

  “Pizza?” she asked. “Chinese? I don’t care. I’m hungry.”

  I didn’t want her to sabotage herself by working out hard then binge eating. It was a common mistake. If she worked hard and made no progress, she would feel discouraged. “Let’s make something at home.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “How about sandwiches?”

  She shrugged. “Cheesy pizza sounds better…”

  “It does,” I said. “But diet is just as important as exercise when it comes to weight loss.”

  She sighed in acknowledgement. “I’ve only been on a diet for a day and it totally sucks.”

  I laughed. “No one likes it.”

  When we got to the apartment, we both got into the shower.

  “I’m so sore…” She rubbed her ass. “It already feels twice its normal size.”

  “Good for me,” I said as I smacked it.

  She chuckled. “I can’t have big tits and a big ass. That’s too much for one man to handle.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said immediately. “The bigger, the better.” I pulled her close to me and brushed my lips past hers.

  She rubbed my arms then grew serious. “You get hit on at the gym all the time, huh?” There was no jealousy in her voice, just resignation.

  I shrugged in response.

  “All those girls were staring at you,” she said. “They didn’t even try to be discreet about it.”

  “Well, they can look at me all they want. You’re the only one I notice.”

  She smiled slightly then looked down. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

  “No, I’m the lucky one.” I pulled her closer to me as the warm water cascaded around us. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world. And you’re mine.”

  “I don’t know about that…” She rested her face against my chest.

  I rubbed her back under the water and rested my chin on her head. It was nice to hold her, to feel her like this. She didn’t understand just how amazing she was, and it was unfortunate.

  Because she was the most amazing woman I’d ever known.

  ***

  “What’s new with you?” Slade asked while he sat across from me at Mega Shake.

  I sipped my milkshake. “Nothing really. How’s the wedding planning going?”

  “Ask Trinity,” he said. “I try to stay out of that. All I wanted were tigers and she vetoed it. So, I don’t really care about anything else.”

  “Why don’t you have doves instead? Something less dangerous.”

  “Because doves are lame. Tigers are sick. I think I’m going to get a tattoo of one.”

  “You must be running out of room,” I noted.

  He shrugged. “I have a few spots left. I want to get a tattoo for Trinity before our wedding day. I’m not sure what to get though.”

  “Something from the Odyssey?” I suggested.

  “Maybe…”

  “Don’t tattoo her name. That’s cliché.”

  He rubbed his chin. “I can’t make a decision… I was thinking of tattooing her actual appearance, along my ribs on the left side. You know, show her long legs and beautiful curves.”

  “You could do that…”

  “I want to get something though. She’s my wife, or almost my wife. She deserves some skin.”

  “That’ll mean a lot to her,” I said. “And I’m glad you have a much better attitude about marriage.”

  He shrugged. “Marriage may be stupid, but marriage to Trinity can’t be that bad. I get to be with her all the time and everyone recognizes us as monogamous. At least less guys hit on her because of that ridiculously expensive ring that sits on her finger.”

  “Where’s this month’s payment, by the way?”

  “Oh yeah.” He opened his wallet and tossed me some cash. “I hope I didn’t put you out for Skye’s ring.”

  “No, I’ve had that money saved for a long time.”

  “Are you going to propose soon?”

  “No,” I said. “Skye and I will wait until after you guys get married. You’re in the spotlight and we don’t want to take it.”

  “You think I care?” he asked seriously.

  “It’s a girl thing,” I said.

  “I guess,” he agreed. “So, you and Skye are still shacked up like bunnies?”

  I told him about the false alarm.

  “Shit, that would have been bad,” Slade said. “I noticed she’d gained some weight. I just assumed she was fat.”

  “She’s not fat,” I snapped.

  “Sorry.” He raised his hands in apology. “I take it back.”

  The anger passed. “If you say that to her, I’ll mutilate you.”

  “Like I ever would.”

  I gave him a pointed look.

  “Okay, I would. But I won’t. She’s struggling with it, I’m guessing?”

  “Her self-esteem has taken a toll. We’ve been going to the gym together.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Then she’ll be back to normal in no time.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me. I love her body.”

  He sipped his soda then stirred the ice. “I wish Trinity would gain a little weight. I love her body and think she’s perfect, but since she works in fashion, I think she has a different definition of skinny. She hardly eats and picks at her food like a damn bird.”

  “It seems like our girls are the polar opposites of each other.”

  “Yeah, which is good,” Slade said. “Because Skye is damn annoying.”

  “You just think that because she’s your cousin.”

  He released a sarcastic laugh. “No, she’s just annoying. You don’t notice it because you’re too busy fucking her. If you took the hormones away, you wouldn’t be able to stand her.”

  “She was my best friend before I was getting sex from her.”

  “But you were trying to get laid,” he said. “Makes a difference.”

  “I know you love her, Slade. You can’t fool me.”

  Slade changed the subject. “Good thing she’s not prego. That would have been a disaster.”

  “Actually, I was a little disappointed.”

  “Really?” he asked incredulously. “Sean would have murdered you. Like, actually murdered you.”

  “He would have been upset at first, but he would come around later. Having a grandchild is exciting.”

  “Not when his daughter isn’t married…”

  “I would step up immediately,” I said. “Everyone knows that. Skye and I are financially capable of having a family, and we are both responsible adults—”

  “But not responsible enough to not get pregnant to begin with.”

  “Shut the hell up,” I said in a teasing way. “No pregnancy scares for you?”

  “God, no,” he said immediately. “I’d have a panic attack. I’m broke as hell and Trinity is starting a company from the ground. It couldn’t be a worse time to have kids.”

  “True.”

  “And she wants to buy a house,” he said. “I’m not sure why she thinks I have money. That diamond I got her is flawless and broke the bank. She needs to remember I’m not rich like her father. I’m middle class.”

  “I doubt she wanted to buy a mansion.”

  “A townhouse, but still. I don’t have that kind of money right now.”

  “Well, a one bedroom apartment will get cramped,” I noted.

  “She weighs ten pounds. She doesn’t take up much space. And she sleeps on my chest like a cat. What more space do we need?”

  I shrugged. “Good point.”

  Slade finished his soda then tossed the empty cup aside. “So, what else is new?”

  I thought about Roland and the fact he was gay. But I didn’t want to mention that to Slade. Roland had the right to tell people himself. I would never take that away from him. “Nothing.”

  “You want to play ball then?”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter Six

  Thomas

  For the past few weeks, Rome’s husband hadn’t made an appearance. He didn’t surprise her at the office, and he didn’t lurk in the garage after hours. He probably realized she never went anywhere without me, and there was no possibility of cornering her alone.

  Not when this guard dog was around.

  It was clear he was weak. He wasn’t a strong man, not strong by my definition. He beat up women because that was the only opponent he could defeat. He was afraid of me. Not only was I big and formidable, but I was also rich and had power. I wasn’t an opponent you wanted to go up against.

  Rome was in a much better mood when he disappeared. Ever since she moved in with me, she practically danced every time she walked. The invisible weight was gone from her shoulders, and she was relaxed and happy.

  I loved seeing it.

  She cooked dinner for me every night and cleaned up around the house. She did my laundry and ironed my suits. I didn’t even need a housecleaner anymore so let her go. In addition to that, she took care of Lizzie. They spent time together, playing in front of the TV or reading on the couch. Their relationship seemed to grow stronger since Bryan was gone.

  Knowing I made this happen made me feel warm inside.

  Lizzie warmed up to me in the preceding months. She was always friendly with me, but now she trusted me as a co-parent. She would ask me questions about my job and what I liked to do for fun. Sometimes she would ask me to take her to the park when Rome was napping. I usually did.

  I went from being a lifelong bachelor to a family man. When I came home every day, my family was waiting for me. I didn’t resent the change at all. In fact, I loved having both of them around. I loved the chaos and the laughter. I loved the fact I wasn’t alone. Silence didn’t last long, and soon their beautiful voices carried to my ear.

  I was happy.

  It may be premature to assume Rome’s husband was off the radar for good, but I sincerely hoped he was. I didn’t want Rome to move out until I was absolutely certain he wouldn’t bother her. She seemed to hold her own when I was around, but what if I wasn’t? He was much larger than her, and while scrawny in my eyes, he could still kill her if he wanted to.

 

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