“I figured as much. How’s Chelsea doing?”
“Much better. I’m dropping her off in a few then picking up Ali to take her to the hospital.”
“What’s wrong with Ali?”
He sounded so alarmed Drew smiled even bigger about his genuine concern. This close to her due date Ali had already told her what a mess Beast was lately, and Nine probably knew it too.
“Nothing, but Lila had her baby about an hour ago. Ali said Beast has missed so much work lately because he insists on being by her side so much. He’s training today. and she didn’t want to bother him. So she called to see if I’d want to go with her. She said he won’t freak out so much if she goes anywhere without him if someone’s with her. And I’m as anxious to see Lila’s baby now too.”
“No shit. What did she have?”
“A little girl.”
“Hmm. Little girls are cool.”
That made Drew laugh. “Yeah, I think so too.”
“Listen. About last night—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Drew’s insides knotted up just thinking about getting into something that might have him sounding as cold as he had yesterday. “We’ve all had bad days. Mine wasn’t the greatest yesterday either. Having to leave work early to go see about Chelsea and then dealing with her all night was rough too. I get it.”
“Sorry you had a bad day. But, nah, I was a dick. I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
As she smiled again, her heart thumped with anticipation. Drew could hardly wait. “I’m sorry you had a bad day too.”
“It’s okay. I was able to turn it around before the night was over. I was good by the time I knocked out.”
They discussed her plans for the rest of the day. She’d left her schedule wide open because of Chelsea in case they had to end up at urgent care or something. But really, just as she’d been doing since they started this on Phoenix’s weekend with Chelsea, she’d left her entire weekend open, even before she knew Chelsea wasn’t feeling well, in case he could take either or both days off.
Now that she wouldn’t be seeing him until this evening, she’d be going to the hospital then having lunch or late breakfast with Ali and then just play it by ear. She did have a few errands she needed to run.
“Keep your phone on you,” Nine said a little anxiously. “I’m gonna try and see if I can get out of here earlier than I thought. I got up early so I could get an early start and finish sooner.”
Feeling giddy again, Drew agreed, and they were off the phone. She finished getting Chelsea ready and was off. After talking for a few minutes to Phoenix when she dropped Chelsea off, she left and picked up Ali.
“Congrats, Auntie Ali.” Drew smiled as Ali waddled into her car.
“Thank you. It’s so weird to think I’m an auntie.”
“And soon you’ll be a mommy.”
“Ugh!” Ali sat back, looking uncomfortable before closing her door. “Not soon enough.”
They named the baby Emma after Ali and Lila’s late mother. Ali and Drew discussed baby names all the way to the hospital. Ali still didn’t know her baby’s gender. When they arrived, Lila was alone in her room. They’d just taken the baby away to give her a break, and Sonny had taken advantage of her down time from the baby to go home and shower.
They were just in the middle of discussing engorged breasts when there was a knock on the door. A girl Drew didn’t recognize peeked in. “Can we come in?”
“Hey, girl,” Lila said, smiling. “Get in here.”
The girl walked in, followed by two others. Drew’s breath nearly caught when the third girl walked in—Becca. Without having to ask, Drew knew they were all either fellow boxers or fitness models because all three had rock-hard bodies.
Lila introduced them as her friends, Freda, Estella, and Becca. They all greeted Drew very nicely but quickly started with the labor and delivery questions. Was it long? Did you tear? How bad was it?
They moved onto asking Ali about her pregnancy and how much longer she had. Why the heck both sisters chose not to find out what they were having ahead of time? “I’d so want to know,” Freda said as Drew casually took in her badass biceps.
As they talked more about babies and kids in general, Lila turned to Drew. “And where’s your baby today?”
“With her dad. I just dropped her off before picking up Ali.”
She told them a little about the rough night she had because of Chelsea’s stomach bug, but thankfully, she was much better this morning.
Becca kept yawning, even apologized for it at one point. “Okay, Becca, I was in labor, and Drew was up with a sick kid all night, but you look more exhausted than either of us.” Lila eyed Becca, smiling playfully. “What’s your deal?”
Smiling big, Becca waved her off. “Different kind of nurturing but totally worth it.”
“Oh, here we go,” Estella said, chuckling. “Another Friday night booty call? ’Cause I know you don’t have time for more as much work as you’ve been getting.”
“No, I don’t, but this was an emergency late night booty call,” Becca said as her eyes met with Drew’s for just a second before returning to Estella. “My boy toy was injured in one of the most intimate of places, and his regular booty call was unavailable, so you know me. Out of the kindness of my heart . . .” Becca placed her hand over her chest, meeting Drew’s eyes again but quickly looked away when Lila laughed.
“You’re so bad,” Lila said, shaking her head. “I just hope you’re using protection. How’d your boy toy get injured there? Did he overwork it?”
“God, no.” Becca laughed. “It was a close one but praise God”—she lifted her hands to the air, all animated—“the man’s incredibly talented gift was unscathed.” She shrugged, giggling as the girls also continued to giggle, shaking their heads. “On-the-job injury, but I fixed him up real good. The night just started late, so it ended late.”
Drew refrained from rolling her eyes. Sure, she’d had plenty of booty calls in her day, but she’d never spoken so proudly of them. Still, she wouldn’t judge. This was girl talk after all. It’s the only time a girl could speak this openly about something like this, and Drew had to assume they were all close. The girls were only there until they brought the baby in and they each got to hold her.
Becca was the last to get to hold baby Emma. Drew did her best not to stare at the girls kaboom in-your-face breasts. She had to wonder if they were naturally enhanced from all her working out or if they were fake. Either way they were pretty damn perfect.
After all the second-guessing and jumping to conclusions Drew had been doing lately, she refused to give Becca too much thought. So what if the girl was what most guys would consider smoking hot and clearly a willing option for Nine. She even had the same mindset as him—no time for anything more than a booty call. Nine had already chosen Drew before when he’d had the choice. He’d even been a little rude about it.
“She’s precious,” Becca said as she handed her back to Lila. “Congratulations, Mama, but I need to get my ass back in bed. My body is spent.”
The baby fell back asleep, and everyone was in agreement that Lila needed to get some sleep, including Ali, who said she’d be back later that evening after Lila had slept and relaxed a little longer.
Drew and Ali had a late breakfast and discussed babies, pregnancy, body changes, and how to overcome the weight gain. They drove back to Ali’s place, and Drew hung out with her for a bit before heading home.
Nine called on her way home. “Where are you? I can be at your place in an hour.”
“An hour?” Drew glanced down at the clock on her dash; it wasn’t even two yet. “I thought you had a lot of work to do today.”
“It’s done. I took care of it like a boss. It’s why I didn’t even call you during lunch time. I figured you’d be busy with Ali anyway.”
“I was, and Lila’s baby is adorably perfect.”
She told him more about it as she drove the rest of the way home. When she got hom
e, she rinsed off in the shower, even though she’d showered that morning. Nine was always ravenous after not having seen her the whole week, and she wanted to make sure she was absolutely fresh for him.
When he got there, he did his usual, taking her in his arms and kissing her until she thought she’d just melt. But to her surprise, instead of stripping her down, he finally came up for air and gazed in her eyes. “Grab a light sweater. I’m taking you out.”
“Out?” she asked breathlessly and a little disappointed because she was so ready for him to do more now. “Where to?”
“Santa Monica Pier.” He pecked her several more times before elaborating further. “You said you like lunch trucks, right? They’re having a food-truck festival today, but there’s a lot of other stuff we could do while we’re out there. I told you I’m making up for being an asshole yesterday. We’ll make a day of it and then come back here and . . .”
He kissed then sucked her neck until she pulled away. “No marks. Chelsea already asked me about the bruise on my neck once.”
Nine chuckled. “What’d you tell her?”
“I blamed the curling iron. I’ve burned my forehead before with it, and she remembered. Poor kid’s gonna get a curling-iron phobia if she sees another one.”
This time Nine laughed as Drew pulled away to go grab a sweatshirt. As usual, they chatted the whole drive to Santa Monica. Nine was back to being his happy self with no hint of the cold guy she’d spoken to yesterday. That is until Drew went and said something stupid.
She wasn’t sure why, but she was still feeling a little on edge about having seen Becca. Something about having gotten such a closer and longer look at the girl made Drew curious about what his reaction might be if she mentioned her. So she did.
They’d arrived at the pier and were just walking toward it from the parking lot when she took advantage of the lull in their conversation. “Becca was there today.”
Not sure if she imagined it or not, but for the tiniest moment, it seemed his walking slowed, but then he was right back to normal pace. “There where?”
“At the hospital.”
“Yeah?” He uncharacteristically glanced away, avoiding eye contact. “Hmm.”
They were walking hand in hand, and Nine’s fingers opened and clenched around hers in what felt like an involuntary nervous release.
“She looked good.”
Immediately, she felt like an idiot. What was she fishing for? For him to agree that, yes, Becca is very attractive? “Well, they all do, I guess,” she added, backpedaling but only feeling like she was digging herself deeper. “Lila and her fitness model friends, that is. She arrived with two others.”
His finger movement continued as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it. Okay let it go. This is pointless. You’re just going to ruin a perfectly nice day out. But the continued involuntary clenching of his fingers had her heart speeding up and made her wonder. “When’s the last time you saw her?”
They stopped at the entrance ramp of the pier to let a man pushing a woman on a wheelchair by first. Nine’s eyes finally met with hers. The odd way he searched her eyes nearly stopped her heart. “It’s been a while. I don’t even remember.”
Feeling the tension her dumb ass had everything to blame for drain from her body, they started up the ramp. “Deep fried pickles,” he said as they reached the top. “Didn’t you say you liked those? Want one?”
Drew almost agreed immediately until her stupid thoughts were back on Becca’s hard body. She pointed at the fresh fruit cart across the way instead. “That looks better.”
They each got a mango on a stick with chili powder. The rest of the day, as they strolled the pier and then the beach, sharing stories of other times they’d been there, Drew snuffed any idiotic and insecure thoughts of Becca. She even allowed herself to indulge at the grilled-cheese truck.
“It’s not as good as the one Charlee and I go to in Los Angeles,” Drew explained as they ate without giving the calories in the greasy-ass grilled cheese a second thought. “But it’s still good.”
They home because it got too cold as the evening wore on. Unlike when he first arrived at her place in the day, Nine was as ready for more than just kisses once back at her house. They barely made it into her house, fumbling about in the darkened house, removing layers of clothing as they kissed, groped each other, and moaned all the way to her bedroom.
Once fully naked in bed and condom on, Nine flipped her around and buried himself with a groan deep inside her. Drew moaned unabashedly as he thrust in and out over and over again, all the while his magic fingers played with her clit.
His fingers were so damn good at what they were doing. Drew knew she wouldn’t last long before climaxing. A few more thrusts was all it took, and she was crying out in pleasure. Hearing her cry out had Nine burying himself so deep inside her; it only made her throbbing that much more intense, and she moaned in utter delight.
Nine
Determined to make it up to Dee for acting the way he had Friday, Nine worked fast in her kitchen. He’d been there enough now to know where she kept everything. If he thought he could make it to a restaurant and back before she woke, he would have ordered something instead, since he wasn’t the greatest of cooks. But breakfast had always been the easiest for him. Not too many ways you can mess up eggs, and he had the fried ones down now.
He buttered her toast and set it on the plate with the fried eggs and sausage. Once everything, including her coffee, napkins, and silverware, were on the bed tray, Nine picked it up and started back to the room.
Dee was just starting to stir as he walked into the bedroom. When she opened her eyes and she seemed awake enough, he smiled big. “Morning, beautiful.”
“What’s this?” She peered at the tray in his hands, looking as pleasantly surprised as he’d hoped. But her smile deflated as she sat up and took in how he was fully clothed. “You’re leaving?”
“Not right this minute.” He set the tray down over her lap. “But, yeah, I have one job coming in today that I have to work on, but it shouldn’t be too long. You don’t have baby girl until tomorrow, right?”
She nodded, picking up her cup of coffee. Nine already knew the drill, but he just wanted to be sure that, like Friday, nothing would change this time. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Cool. So if you don’t have other plans later today, I’ll pick you up, and we can catch a movie or something.”
She nodded again, smiling big as she chewed on her toast but then stopped and wiped her mouth. “I thought you said you weren’t leaving just yet.”
“Yeah, but now I’m thinking the sooner I get there the sooner I’ll be done and can come back. I just hope I don’t have any setbacks like Friday.” Nine shook his head, remembering what a shitty day that was.
“You never told me why you had such a bad day Friday.”
“Bunch of shit. Mostly my mood went downhill the moment I got the call bursting my bubble about seeing you that night. Then other work-related crap, and to top it off, I’m always going on about safety to the guys, and I end up getting hurt. Just sucked all around, but I’ll tell you more about it later.” He leaned in and kissed her lips. “I’ll try and knock this out early like I did yesterday.”
After kissing her a few more times with her smiling sweetly with each kiss, he insisted she stay there and enjoy her breakfast and he’d walk himself out.
Riding back to the shop, all he could think of was knocking out his work and trying not to do it half-assed because he was that anxious to get back to her. The crew was in full swing when he arrived. Talia was reading something at her desk when he walked in. O was on his way down from their apartment. “I’m just gonna take a quick shower, and I’ll be done if a few,” Nine said as he went over some of the correspondence at the reception area.
“You’re good,” O said as he reached the desk. “We’ve got things covered right now.”
“Are you guys doing this?” Talia asked, still reading the paper in
her hand.
“What is it?” O asked.
Talia handed it to him, but Nine was too distracted with what he was reading to be bothered. “Huh,” O said as he read whatever it was. “I don’t know anything about this. You doing this, Nine?”
Nine finally gave the paper his attention. “What is it?”
“Photo shoot for some Boyle Heights community outreach thing.”
Peering at the paper O held up for him to see, Nine was instantly annoyed. “Did she come by again?”
“Who?”
“Becca. She was here twice Friday.” He turned to Talia when O seemed lost. “The girl who was here Friday . . . She drop this off?”
Talia shook her head, looking a little annoyed. “I didn’t see her, but I was gone one day, and there were piles of crap on the desk. It was under some stuff. Could’ve been there for days or maybe she was here today.” She shrugged indifferently, turning back at her computer. “I’ve only been here a few minutes.”
Glancing at the digital clock on the desk, Nine confirmed the time. The shop had been open for over an hour. Maybe Becca was still working on the same shoot as she was Friday and dropped it off in the morning on her way. When she stopped by late Friday night, she had other things in mind and hadn’t even mentioned this community photo shoot thing.
Whatever. He turned back to O. “Nah, that’s just something Becca suggested. Said I’d be perfect for it, but I don’t have time for that shit.”
Not to mention he was not about to do anything that would even bring up the subject of Becca to Dee, especially since Becca said she’d be auditioning for the shoot herself. That meant, if he actually got the gig and she did too, he’d have to be around her. After Friday night, he was not about to risk being alone with her again. Already, he’d nearly choked when Dee called him out on when the last time was he’d been around Becca. For a moment, he’d been pissed that maybe Becca had been a bitch and mentioned Friday night to Dee.
The subject of the photo shoot was dropped, and Nine took off to shower. Coincidently, he was right in the middle of applying ointment to the wound that was already healing pretty well when he got the text from Dee.