Chapter 6
Bennett
I park my car on the street, turning it off. Looking at the house and seeing shadows from inside, I have a feeling that I should have called before coming here. Getting out of the car, I walk up the pathway toward the front door, seeing a toy truck on the side and smiling. The sound of dogs barking and utter chaos comes through the window, and I'm about to hold up my hand and knock on the door when it's pulled open. "What the hell are you doing?" Travis says to me, and I laugh.
"Normally, when someone shows up at one’s door,” I inform him, chuckling, "one either rings or knocks."
"Shut the fuck up," Travis says, moving away from the door. "You’re family." I walk in, closing the door behind me, and I'm greeted by the two dogs they got when they got married.
"Hey, you two." I bend down to greet them. "Are you keeping out of trouble?"
"Who was it?" I hear Harlow who sticks her head out of the kitchen and smile at me.
"This idiot was at the door, and he had the audacity to try to knock," Travis informs her, shaking his head.
"Imagine that," Harlow says, coming to me now. "Having the balls to knock before storming in." She gets on her tippy-toes and kisses my cheek. "Why would you do that?"
"I just don't want to catch him naked." I motion with my head toward Travis. "I've seen him naked enough to last me a lifetime." I look over to see Travis taking his daughter out of her high chair.
"Look who came to visit," he says, taking off her bib and then wiping her face. "Uncle B." He turns and hands me Charlotte.
"Hey there, beautiful girl," I say, bending down and kissing her still wet cheek. She gets all excited and starts batting my chest.
"So what are you doing here?" Travis asks, walking to the kitchen that looks like a tornado has gone through it.
"I have to talk to you," I say, my heart speeding up, and I avoid looking at him as I look down at Charlotte.
"Oh, sounds like you two need to be alone," Harlow says, coming to me. "I'm going to go and give Charlotte a bath." Charlotte throws herself at her mother. "And you two go and have men time outside. I'm going to put her to bed and then relax before the hellion comes home from the farm tomorrow." She mentions her son, Theo, who is going through the terrible twos and making sure they don't forget it.
"It's my turn for bath time," Travis says, handing me a bottle of beer.
"Last time it was bath time, it looked like a tsunami hit the bathroom," Harlow reminds him. "So you just saved me."
"Glad I could be of service," I say, grabbing the bottle of beer.
"Let's go sit outside," Travis suggests, and I suddenly get nervous about what is to come. We've been best friends since kindergarten. He's the brother that I've never had, and I know that if I call him, regardless of the time or the situation, he would be there beside me and I to him also.
"This is nice," I say, looking around at the patio that they just had done, which opens up into a huge yard with a play structure.
"My father-in-law." He sits down on one of the couches. "Came over one weekend, and the next thing you know, I'm looking outside, and he has this crew of fifty." His father-in-law is what you call a cowboy. He has all these farms, but not only is he a cowboy and you don't want to mess with him, he's a computer wizard. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. I think someone even said something that he trained with the SEALs for fun. Who does that?
I laugh, sitting on the couch beside him. "Let me guess, did you come outside to help?" I take a pull of my beer.
His eyebrows pinch together. "Are you out of your mind?" he huffs. "He had shovels and shit. You think I was going to come out here so I can give him a reason to actually bury me?"
I can't help but laugh at that, and I'm glad that I swallowed the beer, or I would have spit it out. "He doesn't still hate you," I tell him. "You gave him two grandkids."
"I broke her heart and left her for four years," he reminds me. "And I was going to marry someone else."
"Yeah, you can spin lots of things." I shake my head. "But no matter what, you are never going to live that down."
"Exactly," he says and then looks at me. "What's on your mind?"
I chuckle and take a pull of beer before I break the news to him. I'm both nervous and excited. "I'm going to be a father." I start with the easiest thing. Just saying the words, I can't help but smile big. The fullness that I feel is out of this world, and I didn't even know something was missing before now.
"Shut up," Travis says, shocked as he looks at me. "I mean…" He puts his arm around my neck, and his hand squeezes my shoulder. "I'm happy for you."
"It's Presley," I share, holding my breath, and now I'm wondering if perhaps sitting next to him wasn't the smartest idea.
"Wait a minute." His hand moves from around my shoulder. "Presley, as in my sister Presley?"
"The one and only," I confirm, and I don't know what I'm expecting, to be honest. He could be happy for me, or he could turn around and punch me in the face for sleeping with his sister. Either way, it doesn’t change the outcome of the situation.
“Oh my God," he says. "I…" He stops, looks at me, and questions, "Presley?"
"Yeah." I nod my head, and out of everything I've done in my life, this moment right here, saying that she is going to have my child, it is everything. "There is no one on this earth that I want to be with but her."
He throws his head back, and he laughs now. "Does she know this?"
I chuckle, the burning hitting my stomach now. "I'm going to marry her," I say, bringing the bottle to my lips and taking a pull.
"Is that a fact?" He can't help but throw his head back and laugh. His whole body shakes with laughter. "You told her this?" he asks me, and I just glare at him.
"She calls herself a lone wolf," I remind him. "You think she's going to be open to marrying me?"
"Not a chance," he admits to me, taking his own pull of his beer. "She's going to fight you the whole fucking way."
"Oh, I know." I smile, putting the bottle against my neck. "Trust me, I know."
"This is going to be fun to watch." He sits back on the couch and looks over at me.
"I can always use my charm." I shrug. "Made her sleep with me."
"You might lose some body parts along the way." He raises his eyebrows, and he's about to say something else when the back door opens, and Harlow comes rushing out with a naked and dripping wet Charlotte on her hip.
We both stand at the same time, expecting the house to be on fire or something else. "Oh my God," she says, holding up the phone. "Is everything okay out here?"
"Why are you rushing like a bat out of hell?" He walks over to her swiftly.
"Clarabella just called me," she says, looking at Travis and then at me. "And told me about a certain situation going on."
"Is that code for Presley being pregnant?" I ask her, and she opens her mouth in shock and then looks over at Travis to see his reaction. "I told him already."
"And everything is okay?" She looks at Travis, who reaches out to grab Charlotte.
"Everything is fine." Travis leans down and kisses her lips. "He was just telling me how he's going to marry Presley." Harlow throws her head back, similar to her husband, and laughs out loud. She also adds clapping her hands together. "See." He points at his wife.
"She's the lone wolf," Harlow reminds me, and I roll my eyes. "I mean, she says it."
"Every single time," I finish the sentence for her. "I know, I know." I hold up my hands. "But she's having my baby."
"Lots of people raise kids together without being married," Travis reminds me.
"Well, I want to marry her. Does that say anything?" The pit of my stomach burns when they just look at each other with “that poor bastard” look. "Okay, well, this is fun." I put the bottle of beer down. "But I'm going to head out." I walk back up the steps, kissing Charlotte on the cheek. "You two," I say to Harlow and Travis. "Suck balls."
"If it's any consolation," Travis says. "I'm glad you’re her baby daddy."
"Thanks, that means a lot." I put my hand to the middle of my chest over my heart. "Wish me luck."
"Oh, you are going to need a lot more than luck," Harlow warns. "But in Presley's defense, her siblings didn't help that matter." She looks at her husband. "At all."
"It's like PTSD," Travis says. "But in the end, we all ended up happy."
"Yeah, well, good to know," I say, walking past them and out the front door. I get in the car and make my way home.
The whole time all I can think about is going to her, but knowing that she is probably freaking out and the more I push myself in her face, the faster she is going to push me away.
Walking up the steps of the house, making my way through the door, and not even stopping in the kitchen, I just head straight for the living room, collapsing on the couch. The stick in my pocket slipping out and falling to the floor. I pick it up and look at it again, the smile coming to my face. "She's having our baby." I put the stick on my chest and think back to how this all started.
The knock on the door was so soft that I wasn't sure I heard it. I got up from the couch and walked over, pulling open the door. I was shocked and surprised that Presley was the one standing at my door step. I had left the bar not thirty minutes ago, after she leaned against the bar asking me the most ridiculous request. I also hightailed it out of there before I did something stupid like actually give in to her. "What are you doing here?" I asked her and stuck my head out to see if she was with anyone. "Are you here alone?"
"Yup," she said, pushing herself to come into my apartment. "Are you here alone?" She looked around the living room, my books were scattered all over the place. She placed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and all I could do was stare at her. When did she become so hot?
"Should I call Travis?" I asked her as my heart started to speed up to a not normal rhythm and I suddenly got nervous. "Or anyone else?"
"Bennett." She said my name and my cock sprang to action. It sounded like it was between a moan and a plea. "I asked you for a favor."
I groaned at that moment and looked up to the ceiling. "Oh, God, Presley, you can't be serious right now."
"Why not?" I didn't even hear her move close to me but suddenly her hands were on my hips, and all I could do was swallow because my mouth became dry. "I don't want to go to college a virgin."
"Okay, one, there is nothing wrong with you going to college a virgin," I huffed, trying to focus on the words that were coming out of my mouth and less on the way her hands felt on me. "In fact, it's even sexier."
"Please," she said in a plea. "There is no one else I want to be my first." I looked into her blue eyes and I was lost. I didn't even have time to make a decision because she got on her tippy-toes and her lips found mine.
"I'm going to make her mine," I tell the dark room when I blink away the memories. "She's always been mine. Now it's time to show her."