Offically Over It Read online

  “Fast forward about six months, I’m playing professional baseball, and I get this letter from her lawyer saying that she wanted to use the eggs. I told them that I wasn’t comfortable with it, and that I wouldn’t consent. Then I went to Vegas for my dad’s birthday, Reggie’s parents had come, too. And when I told her what was going on with Eerie, she jokingly said that we should get married because Eerie would hate it and probably stay away from me after that. I’m not saying that it was the smartest or most thought out marriage seeing as we were both very, very drunk at the time, but it’s legitimate.”

  The lawyer nodded.

  “I can work with that.” She grinned. “Do you have a copy of the signed contract with the sperm bank?” she asked curiously.

  I pointed to the document that I’d thankfully managed to unearth in my father’s safe at his place before coming to the lawyer’s office. It was thankfully on the way. Souls Chapel was only a few minutes away from Uncertain, Texas where my father lived and I’d grown up.

  “Right there,” I insisted.

  She nodded her head. “Okay. Let me see what I can work with. I’ll call you as soon as I do some digging on my own. Oh, and for now, I’ve filed a temporary injunction with a judge. As of right now, Eerie won’t be able to move your child to another hospital. And you have just as much right to visit him as she does.”

  I felt bile rise in my stomach.

  “That woman isn’t getting this kid,” I said stoically. “I will fight tooth and nail for him. I don’t know why she went against my wishes. I don’t know who the hell fucked up. But when this is all said and done, that kid better be in my sole custody, Eerie better be in fucking prison, and I want to sue the fucking pants off of that sperm bank, Eerie, and anyone else that had any hand in this.”

  The lawyer’s shark-like grin filled her face.

  “Oh, don’t you worry,” she said. “I don’t charge this much, or have this much of a reputation, for nothing.”

  I was just about to walk out when a thought occurred to me. “That baby needs to have my last name. Also, we need to change the first name because she knows how much I fuckin’ hate it.”

  Swayze frowned. “Why?”

  I swallowed hard. “Because that’s the name of the man that killed my biological father, mother, and unborn baby brother. And she knows it.”

  Turns out, I somewhat liked Swayze Jensen quite a fucking bit. Upon first impression I thought she was quite young. Too young, in fact.

  But it was more than obvious that she knew quite a bit about criminal law, and she was going to fight for me tooth and nail.

  ***

  “So what happened?”

  Reggie had been waiting at my place for me the moment I’d ridden up on my bike.

  I got off the bike and walked up to her, helmet in hand.

  “What happened was a bunch of nothing,” I admitted. “She was filing an emergency petition with the court to get me a DNA test ordered, which is what is going to be required, she says, for me to see the baby. I should have that by the end of the day. Meaning that depending on however long it’ll take with the lab, it’ll give me access to get into the NICU, because you damn well know that she’s going to say it’s not my kid.”

  Reggie grimaced.

  “She’s also going to work on the custody thing. She says that the baby being in the NICU will work in our favor. The baby won’t be able to go home to anyone’s house, giving her time to get shit done that’ll hopefully be in our favor,” I explained.

  Reggie breathed a sigh of relief. “The DNA test should only take a bit. I bribed the lab techs. So hopefully we can get your name added to that birth certificate.”

  “That was another thing she said. If the test comes back positive, then they’ll add me to it through the court.” I blew out a shaky breath and looked at Reggie. “I’m hungry. Do you… do you want to grab some food?”

  There were things that I needed to talk to her about, and there were things that I found that were better when Reggie was fed and happy.

  “Sure.” She looked at her watch. “I think we still have time to make it to Nanny Goat’s if you’d like to go there.”

  Nanny Goat’s closed at five.

  I’d fuckin’ love to go there.

  “Sounds good.” I grinned. “Let’s go.”

  Only after we were back home did I broach the subject.

  “Umm.” I paused. “So the lawyer said something today.”

  Her eyes were locked on me. “Okay. What?”

  “She said that this all would be easier if I was married,” I blurted out. “And I told her that I was. In front of my father.”

  She sat there silently for a few long seconds before saying, “Shit.”

  Shit was right.

  It was only a matter of time before her own parents heard.

  “And here’s the thing. We need to have this look real. Meaning you should probably move in with me,” I continued.

  Her eyes went wide as saucers.

  “That… move in with you?” she squeaked.

  I was already nodding my head. “Yes, move in with me.”

  She was shaking her head as if the thought was abhorrent to her.

  “I can’t marry—I mean move in with you!” she cried out. “What would my parents think?”

  I looked at her blandly. “You’re already married, Reggie.”

  She narrowed her eyes as if she would reach out and strangle me with her gaze alone.

  “But they don’t know that!” she cried. “Oh my God. That’s the first thing your dad is going to do. Call my mom. Jesus Christ. Why are they best friends again?”

  I would’ve laughed had she not been one hundred percent serious, which was honestly kind of pissing me off.

  After we’d finished our meal, I drove back home, ready to fight it out if that was what it would come to.

  It didn’t.

  The moment that I parked and we headed inside, she was already speaking.

  “You only have one bedroom. I have two. You move in with me,” she countered.

  I was already shaking my head. “I’m not moving in there. That place is filled with shifty people. And look at it this way, at least you don’t have to pay rent anymore. All that money can go toward whatever you’re paying off that you’re trying not to let your parents know about.”

  Her eyes gleamed.

  “That is five hundred bucks a month,” she admitted. “Fine. For how long?”

  That was the problem. I didn’t know how long. But I didn’t think anything about this process was going to be fast. I also didn’t delude myself into thinking that even if I won that Eerie wouldn’t keep fighting. And, seeing as her dad was a millionaire, I had no doubt in my mind that Eerie had the funds to fight me.

  “I’m guessing a couple of years,” I admitted. “But we’ve already been married for a while, Reg. What’s a couple more years?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Did you know that Sierra had herself artificially inseminated?”

  My mouth dropped open as her left field comment took me completely by surprise. “Umm, no. That’s not something that Sammy told me about.”

  The first smile since I’d arrived graced Reggie’s perfectly beautiful lips.

  “That’s because her brother doesn’t know,” she admitted. “Nobody but me does. Sierra wanted to make sure it worked before she told anyone. She did it completely on her own.”

  I had no clue where she was going with this.

  None.

  “I have three conditions,” she said formally.

  My brows climbed up to my hair line.

  I’d give her my left kidney if that was what she wanted.

  The sad thing was, it wasn’t just the baby and the custody battle to come that had me so excited. I’d wanted Reggie since I’d first laid eyes on her when we were young kids.

  I wanted her to be mine.

&nb
sp; And I felt like if she was in my house, close to me, that she might be able to see past her annoyance to the man underneath.

  I hoped, anyway.

  God, I fucking wanted her.

  “Name them,” I said seriously.

  She fidgeted, looking as if she was seconds away from dropping something onto my plate that might be painful for me.

  “One, I want you to know that if I help raise this baby, the baby will be mine, too,” she began, flicking up one finger. “I’m already kind of attached to him.”

  My heart swelled. “Done.”

  “Two.” She flicked up her second finger. “I want this to be a real marriage. No cheating on me. No doing things without me. Either you’re all in, or I’m all out. I’m not doing this in name only. I don’t want to be made to look like a fool.”

  My dick hardened behind my jeans and a thrill went through me that I’d never felt before. It was pretty close to elation, I was thinking.

  “Not name only,” I said carefully. “Does that mean you want…”

  I left it hanging because I couldn’t physically force the words out. My throat had closed up in delight.

  The glee pouring through my veins was starting to pick up speed.

  “Yes,” she said simply. “Because that leads me to my next condition.”

  I swallowed and nodded, knowing that I couldn’t get a word out without my voice cracking and giving me away.

  “I want a baby. One of my own. One that has my DNA.” She paused. “I’m not saying that your baby with Eerie won’t also be mine, because he will, but I want to go through pregnancy. I want to experience that. I want… everything.”

  “You want a real marriage,” I found myself saying. “You want this.”

  I pointed at my heart.

  She already had it, but she didn’t know it.

  “Your heart?” she asked, eyes serious. “I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that you’d give that to me because I demanded it. But this is going to be serious business. I don’t want children growing up thinking that we’re pretend marriagging it.”

  “I’m not sure marriagging is a word,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I don’t want that either.” I held out my hand. “Deal.”

  I could also see the benefits of this.

  With her here, I could convince her to fall in love with me.

  Or, at least, I’d have more of a chance.

  I knew she’d fight me every step of the way.

  “Anything else?”

  She swallowed hard, as if what she was about to say was making nervousness work its way through her, causing her to fidget.

  “Two more things,” she said softly. “I want a wedding night. I want to test out the waters, so to speak. Before you tie yourself to me forever, I want you to know what you’re getting.”

  I couldn’t point out that I was already tied to her forever. Because suddenly I couldn’t see past the big white flag she’d just waved in front of me.

  The one that signaled her surrender to me.

  “And the other?” I croaked.

  “I’ll tell you the last condition after.”

  She held out her hand for me to shake.

  It was more than obvious that I was in the twilight zone or something.

  I was feeling and saying things that I never thought I was going to get to say, and I was actually getting things in return.

  Things that would make Reggie officially mine.

  Was she aware of what she was about to give me?

  I reached for the hand that was still being held out in my direction.

  The moment that my fingers closed around her fingers, I pulled her into me.

  She gasped, her free hand going to my shoulder as she stared up at me in shock.

  “Do you want me? Or do you want the nice husband? The one that I can pretend to be?” I asked. “Because those aren’t the same man.”

  She licked her lips, nervousness now flitting through her eyes where before she’d looked like a fully composed, in control of everything she said, woman.

  Her pulse was beating wildly against the smooth skin of her neck, and it took everything I had not to bend down and lick it.

  Even still, I brought my hand up to curl around the side of her neck and my thumb around her throat to sweep over the pulse at the opposite side.

  My hand looked good wrapped around her neck.

  I refused to admit how hot I found it that she wasn’t pulling away. That my tanned hand looked big and rough against the smooth skin of her throat.

  She pressed in a little deeper, her eyes never leaving mine, as she said, “I want you, Nathan. I don’t want some stepford-husband stand-in. I’m not going to lie and say you’re always going to like what I give you, but I’m not going to pretend I’m not me.”

  Her words did something weird to my soul.

  She wanted me?

  Well, she was damn well going to get me.

  Chapter 11

  The more people I meet, the more I understand serial killers.

  -Text from Reggie to Nathan

  Reggie

  What in the absolute hell was I doing? I thought about my propositions as I was escorted to his house.

  I want the real you, Nathan? I’m going to give you the real me.

  What the hell did I know?

  I’d been playing a stupid game when it came to Nathan Cox for so long that I didn’t even know the real me anymore.

  Ever since I was a kid and I thought it would impress him if he knew I knew how to throw a baseball.

  We’d been competing for so long that I didn’t even know the real me anymore. I didn’t know how to be real.

  But I knew a few things for sure.

  I wanted…

  He kissed me.

  I was seconds away from calling the whole damn thing off. From telling him that I’d be his wife in name only because what the hell was I thinking?

  Then his mouth connected with mine.

  His lips met my lips. His tongue plunged inside my surprised, hanging open mouth.

  And his hand tightened on my throat to the point that it had my heart pounding out an even faster tattoo.

  I gasped in surprise, inhaling the air that came straight from his lungs.

  He gave it to me willingly, waited for me to be steady on my feet, and then backed up a step and ripped off his t-shirt.

  Nathan had always been a big guy.

  From the moment that he started to mature into a teenager, I’d never been able to stop myself from looking.

  When he was fourteen, he started to develop those lines that ran down the inside of his hipbones. The ones that were an indentation of muscle that sweatpants liked to reveal when you wore them down low enough? Yeah, Nathan Cox mastered the art of wearing sweatpants like that when he was sixteen. Which also happened to be around the time that he developed six-pack abs that weren’t those kinds of ones that boys had, but men had.

  He had those muscles along his ribs that always reminded me of fish gills.

  When I was a horny little seventeen-year-old and Nathan caught me staring, I always liked to give him shit that if only he could swim, he could play the part of a shark.

  Granted, it wasn’t my most imaginative line, but it always used to annoy him.

  And since I stared at him a lot, it was my go-to line that always seemed to pop out of my mouth when he called me out.

  The day that he’d gotten the tattoo had been the last day that I allowed myself to stare at his body so openly.

  From then on until now, I only allowed myself quick little glances here and there so that he didn’t figure out that I was staring.

  But now?

  With his shirt off?

  Well, now I was looking.

  And I liked what I saw.

  I liked it a lot.

  I groaned inwardly when he reached for my shirt.

  “We should p
robably close the door,” I found myself stammering, suddenly nervous now that things were turning naughty.

  I’d never done the whole sex thing before.

  He was about to find out that I hadn’t either.

  That I’d lied when I was sixteen and that I’d never done the thing that I swore up and down that I did.

  I swallowed hard, ready to bolt, but he must’ve sensed my unease because he hooked his big-ass fingers into the belt loop of my jeans and yanked me toward him.

  I had no other choice but to go or fall into his chest face first.

  I chose to take a step, because if I fell into his chest, I’d be indecently close to his nipple, and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to stop myself from licking it.

  I’d done a whole lot of imagining when it came to those nipples.

  And being that close to one?

  Yeah, it wasn’t a good idea for me.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, pressing himself against me and pressing me against the wall.

  “I was going to close the door,” I lied. “I didn’t want anyone to walk in here and see…”

  Lies.

  All lies.

  And he knew it, too.

  Because my stupid tell? The one that always came out to play when Nathan was around? Yeah, that came out to play.

  I focused my eyes onto his nose and looked at the broken bridge of it.

  The very first time I lied to him I told him that I wasn’t mad.

  I stared him straight in the nose, waited until he took down his guard, and then punched him straight where I’d been looking.

  I broke it, too.

  And now, whenever I was lying, I stared at his nose.

  He knew it.

  I knew it.

  My parents and his knew it.

  It was a really bad habit that I couldn’t stop myself from doing.

  Like right now.

  I was staring at his nose.

  “You’re staring at my nose like that one time when we were kids and you punched me in it even though you said that you were fine. That you weren’t mad,” he countered, moving in until his mouth was dragging along the length of my jaw.

  I groaned.