CHAPTER 9
BRIDGER
I try not to stomp through the house, but I’m annoyed after we were just interrupted. Fuck, I was about to kiss her. Even though it would have complicated matters. It would have been impossible to stop.
It felt like I was being pulled closer to her, like gravity.
Maybe I should be grateful to Amelia for showing up when she did. Instead of heading straight to the door, I take a small detour and help Avery sit down on the couch. The groan of relief she lets out tells me I should have sped up the tour.
“Thanks,” she says, her voice soft.
“Of course,” I grunt. “I should warn you that Amelia can be a lot.”
She blinks her dark blue eyes up at me, her hands going to her belly. “Okay?” Understandably, she sounds unsure.
“You’ll see,” I grumble under my breath as I head to the door. Just as I reach it, the knock sounds again.
I open the door to find Amelia standing there with a bright smile on her face and books in her arms. “Wyatt didn’t give me a lot of details, but I’m prepared for surprise babies of any age,” she chirps.
I step back and nod toward the living room. There’s no reason for me to stop this from happening and there are worse people to have at your back when everything is turned around and flipped upside down. She also has some pregnancy and baby experience.
She steps into the living room a step ahead of me and freezes. “Well, this is pretty much what I was expecting for some reason, but I’m still a little surprised,” she says to me out of the corner of her mouth. When she focuses on Avery completely, she smiles wide and takes a few steps closer to the couch.
Avery looks unsure, but damn if she isn’t beautiful. Her blonde hair is down and falling around her shoulders in soft waves. The dress she’s wearing, the same one that outed her bump, is a rich plum color and molds to her curves. Even though it’s relatively modest, the hint of cleavage she’s showing is a huge turn on.
I find myself licking my lips as I stare at her tits. As I study them, I tilt my head slightly. I’m pretty sure they’ve gotten larger.
Wait. Isn’t breast sensitivity a pregnancy thing? Are hers more sensitive? Do they hurt?
Thinking about how responsive she was when I wrapped my lips around her nipple the night we spent together has my cock throbbing behind the fly of my jeans.
“Hi,” Amelia greets Avery, “I’m Amelia. While I’m sure it hasn’t been all explained to you because it’s a lot, I don’t want to overwhelm you with a lot of details. I’ll say this, my husband used to work at Vibrant Ink with Wyatt and a lot of the crew. He left and opened his own shop. A lot of life stuff happened, I met him and we fell in love, then our family got bigger in a lot of ways. Also, Wyatt is married to Troy’s little sister and Troyworks at Banks and is part of my family. All of this to say that Bridger is part of our family.”
“I’m Avery?” It comes out as a question more than a statement.
“I’m overloading you.” Amelia scrunches up her face and sighs. “Sorry, you’ll have time to find out all the details. You’re family. You, Bridger, and your baby.”
Avery’s hand slides over her bump, her voice husky, “We’re your family?”
Amelia’s eyes soften. She steps over to the couch and sits next to Avery after putting everything in her arms down on the coffee table. A coffee table, I realize as I look at it, which will need to be replaced. Glass isn’t going to work with a baby. I’m more than okay with it; I never really liked the thing. As Amelia takes one of Avery’s hands, I can see it shaking.
It makes me want to go track down her father and beat the shit out of him. And whoever the prick is that was supposed to marry her. There’s no way in hell I’m allowing that shit to happen. Not now, not ever.
“Yes,” there’s a promise in Amelia’s voice. “You are family, Avery. You don’t even want to know right now how big your family has become. We’re loud. We’re fun. We’re difficult at times, but we will stand next to you or behind you whenever you need it. We’ll be there when the day is long and filled with lows. We’ll celebrate every win and every high that comes your way.” Avery squeezes Amelia’s hand like she’s afraid the woman in front of her will become a beautiful mirage. “For us, family shows up and family does what needs to be done. We do it without judgement and with a lot of love. You are family.”
When tears start to trail down Avery’s face, a feeling of panic like I’ve never known seizes my heart. I’m on my knees in front of her before I realize it. I growl at Amelia as I glare at her and bark, “You made her cry.”
Amelia just chuckles and pats my shoulder like I’m funny and not like I’m trying to figure out a way to get back at her which won’t have Beckett at my door with murder in his eyes. The man is head over heels in love with his wife. I was never envious of it until this very moment.
Avery’s small hands cup my jaw and when I look at her, my shoulders relax. The tears are still there, but there’s a light in her eyes that is new, a light that speaks of hope.
“They’re happy tears,” Avery whispers.
“I’m sure the pregnancy hormones aren’t helping,” Amelia adds with a wave of her hand like the woman carrying my child crying is no big deal.
It’s a big fucking deal and I don’t like it at all.
As I reach up to wipe her tears away, I murmur, “No more tears, Sweetheart.”
