The Unexpected Series (Unexpected #1-3) (19 page)

T
he next morning I feel like I drank a whole bottle of tequila despite going to bed early from exhaustion. My head is pounding and every time I woke up last night to use the bathroom I would feel as though I spun in a circle for five continuous minutes. Deciding that I not only needed a mental health day, but also a “don’t want to face Walker” day, I call in and arrange for a substitute for my classes.

My body feels heavy as I head to the bathroom for the tenth time in as many hours but stop halfway as my mother’s ringtone screams from the nightstand.

“Good morning, Erin.” Her singsong voice carries through the phone. “I wanted to catch you before work.”

“I’m not going to work, Mom. I feel awful.” I sigh just a bit too loudly. “I have a headache and I’m dizzy and I just feel like I need to rest. Did you need something?”

“I was calling to see if you and Walker want to join us again on Sunday? I’d love to see the two and a half of you then, but sounds like you might need some motherly love today, huh?”

“That actually sounds kind of nice. I think I screwed up last night.” I drag my hand down my face in frustration.

After she tells me she would head right over I shut my phone off, upset that I haven’t heard from Walker and not wanting to spend the rest of my day wondering if he will call. Not that I blame him. I made an ass out of myself, embarrassed him in front of his friends, and ran out like an immature little girl. A grown up would have stayed to talk but I just couldn’t stay a minute longer in Anna’s presence and let’s face it...I was mortified.

My mother lets herself in with the key I gave her just as I finish up my shower. She has Dunkin Donuts and a Starbucks hot chocolate. I waste no time letting all my tears fall, telling her about the previous night.

“Erin.” Her hands glide over my back as we laze around on the couch. “Just give him time. I know you are shocked and feel humiliated at how things happened but think about what he went through. He just found out that his pregnant girlfriend’s ex boyfriend’s mistress is his cousin.”

She looks up to the ceiling while she is going over what she just said and continues. “Well doesn’t that sound like a Jerry Springer show?”

“That’s what I said!”

We both laugh and then curl up on the couch, settling in to watch some daytime television. My headache is now dull due to some help from Tylenol and my mom’s suggestion that I drink more water to help ease the discomforts I’m having.

“In all seriousness, my daughter, you and Walker are strong. You will get through this. I can see it in your eyes, you care so much for him, more than you ever did for Robert.”

“I do mom. So much. Walker and our daughter mean the universe to me. I’ve felt so lost the last twenty four hours not having him by my side. I feel like I’m missing half of me. I think Robert was immature love. What Walker and I have is the real thing. I can’t see my future without him in it.”

“I know, baby,” my mother says, pulling my head down to her shoulder, combing her hands through my hair.

Saliva seeps from between my lips as I wake up to another pounding headache. I sit straight up looking around for my mother and some water, only to realize the pounding is coming from the door. Slowly I get up and tiptoe my way towards it. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s already 4:30 and I have a pretty good idea of who it could be.

Three more loud knocks cause me to jump, and after confirmation through the side window that it’s Walker, I open the door to mean green eyes. He doesn’t come in but just stares at me. The silence is killing me, but I don’t know what to say.

Okay, maybe I do.

“I’m sorry, Walker. So sorry.” I lower my head in shame.

“Erin, look at me.”

I can’t. Last time I saw him I accused him of cheating.

“Erin, I won’t say it again.”

I look up and my body ignites. His commanding tone and fierce eyes have me fidgety and wanting to touch him.

A knowing smile spreads across his face as his thumb and pointer finger trap my chin, bringing my lips closer to his, and he wraps an arm around me, tugging me closer. The heat coming off his body has my mind running in circles. I can’t think straight when he is this close.

“I was so angry about last night that I didn’t know how I was going to react when I saw you this morning. Then after I realized you subbed out I tried to call you to make sure you were okay. I was so worried about you and I couldn’t leave school. You didn’t return my phone calls or text me, and I started to worry that something happened to you or the baby. But now that I see you are okay, I’m going to tell you how the rest of the night is going to go. Are you ready?”

I nod. That’s as much as he is going to get out of me with him just a breath away.

“You and I are going to talk about what the hell happened yesterday, but there is something you need to do for me first.” He moves his lips closer and brings his hands up my shirt, sending goose bumps everywhere. “Go into your room and strip down completely naked because I have the urge to ravish every single part of you. I plan on making you scream, Erin...multiple times, and then after I feel I’ve exhausted you physically, we’ll get to that talk.”

His grip on my chin tightens as he pulls me to him. Instantaneously I grab him around his neck using my tongue to tell him silently that I want to do exactly as he planned.

Just as Walker picks me up under the back of my thighs, our moment is interrupted by the sound of my mother coughing from behind us.

Our lips disconnect.

“Erin?” He whispers.

“Yes?” I whisper back.

“Is your mother here?”

“I guess so. I thought she left.”

“I didn’t.” My mom laughs from behind me, and Walker spins me a quarter turn so that we can both see her.

“Mrs. Decker. Nice to see you.” Walker’s voice is shaky, nervous. Something I’ve never heard before. “I’m sorry if you heard anything.”

“Oh, honey.” She grabs her purse off the table and lightly slaps Walker, who has yet to set me down, on the shoulder. “I know how my beautiful granddaughter was made and I’ve heard my fair share of dirty talk from Erin’s dad.”

“MOM!” I yell, wiggling so Walker finally releases me.

“What? You’re daddy was very alpha, Erin.” Shaking her head, she lets out a breath. “Sexy as hell.”

And with that she opens the door and leaves.

“Well that wasn’t awkward,” Walker laughs, slapping me on my ass.

“Not at all.”

~~

M
y mother’s presence during Walker’s schedule of the night’s events didn’t deter him one bit. At the moment I am completely spent, lying diagonally across my bed.

Walker asks if I need anything from the kitchen while walking around completely nude. My lady parts hurt as the tingly feeling resurfaces watching his ass muscles flex. I ask for some water and will myself to get up and put my clothes back on.

When he returns he slides his cargo khakis on, going commando, and sinks down onto the mattress next to me, handing over the bottle of water. How he expects me to have a deep conversation with him when I know he is sans boxers is beyond me.

I don’t know how I could possibly want more. I feel like one of those people who you give an inch and they want a mile....or just another eight or nine inches.

“What?” He asks as I giggle taking a sip of water.

“It’s nothing. So, let’s talk then,” I say twisting the cap back on and rolling over to my side of the bed.

He mirrors me from his side, grabbing a hold of my hip and rubbing his thumb along the side of my bump.

“Well, for starters let's get something out of the way. I, in no way, want to talk about Anna or the fact that she is the one who your ex cheated with. I will say that I am sorry though. I had no idea she was like that and apparently Bruce didn’t either. However, this conversation is about us. So, with that said, let me ask some questions that I need answers to.”

He scoots a bit closer so that we are within a foot of each other. I could get lost in the green eyes that bore into mine.

“What did you mean about me confiding in Emma?” He questions.

I take a deep breath. This is probably going to be the easy part of the conversation and I’m finding it hard to confront him about this. Out of everything that happened this is the one thing that he was in the wrong for.

“After our little argument yesterday morning I was trying to figure out a way to apologize. I know that I need to let it all go and shouldn’t care what everyone thinks but they are all talking about me and the things that they think I did wrong. So maybe that’s why it doesn’t bother you as much. So anyways, in between classes I headed to the break room and overheard Emma and you talking about how I was embarrassed. It hurt. How would you feel if I confided in another guy, who was constantly trying to get into my pants, about an issue between the two of us?” I look down towards his hand still caressing our daughter inside me.

He stops momentarily to bring my chin back up so that I am looking at him again and then continues his touching.

“Erin?” He glances up as if he is praying to God that I understand. “I didn’t say anything to her. She was standing outside your classroom when I walked out. She must have heard us talking because when she came in to the lounge she started talking about what she heard. I put her in her place though. Told her that it’s our business and it will never be hers. You must not have heard that part.”

I feel stupid but there is just one other thing. “You were letting her touch you, Walker. Your arms, your face, your chest...I want to be the only one touching them.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I was just so dumbfounded by the load of crap coming out her mouth that I didn’t notice it until just before I told her to knock it off.”

His hand wraps around mine bringing it to his bare and ripped chest. When it comes in contact just above where his heart lies he kisses my forehead.

“As long as you have this...” He pushes my touch further into his body so I can feel his heartbeat. “This right here. Then you have all of me. My heart, my mind, my soul...anything you want, Erin...it’s yours. Do you understand?”

I’m a well educated woman with a Bachelor’s degree in math from a respectable Illinois school. I teach in front of hundreds of kids each day. But at the moment, I can’t speak. I do what I normally do when I am around him...I nod, and then I start to cry.

Typical hormonal pregnant woman.

“No crying unless you are happy,” he says wiping a renegade tear from my cheek.

“I’m happy, I promise,” I say finally getting my voice back.

“Are you sure? Because that leads me to the biggest part of our little chat.” He sits up, adjusting himself so that his back is against the headboard.

Following his lead, I gently pull myself up to sit so my feet are by the headboard and my arms are propping me up. “I am, but go ahead. Let’s get all this out of the way.”

“Okay, well, I didn’t like what happened at the restaurant. To be honest the whole day pissed me off. I get that I was hugging the woman who helped him betray you but I truly believe a relationship is about trust and if you trusted me, then you wouldn’t have reacted that way. A few weeks ago you told me that you trusted me and that it was a first for you. Are you still trying to get over all of the crap that Robert did to you?” His arms cross over one another on top of his chest.

I have to think about it for a minute so I don’t say something that will be taken the wrong way.

“I don’t know if this is going to come out the way I hope it does, but I’m going to try.” My lungs fill with a deep breath before I start. “On top of these pregnancy hormones I also have these insecurities that arise from this rapidly changing body.”

“I love your body, Erin,” he interrupts, dropping his arms back down, grabbing onto my right foot and massaging it.

It feels like heaven.

“I know you do, but this is about how I feel and how I think about myself. I had these issues and then throw in what I thought was going on with Emma. All of the sudden I’m happily having dinner with Noelle and I spot Anna and I could only hope she wasn’t with Robert. The images of them flashed before me and then what I saw was worse. Her with her hands on you, and all I saw was red. I wasn’t thinking. All I know is that it hurt, bad. Even more than what I saw with her and Robert. But to get to your question, yes.”

“Yes? To what question?” He asks switching from one of my feet to the next.

“All of them. I trust you, Walker. So much more than anyone I have ever been with, but I do have some trust issues that I am working on and they definitely come from trying to get over all of that. I think that because I trust you so much is why I reacted the way I did.”

I pull my legs in underneath me and use my knees to make my way to him. Throwing one thigh over his legs, I straddle Walker and place my hands on each shoulder. Shimmying just so that our naughty parts only have fabric between them, I can feel him growing underneath me. His touch finds the top of my thighs and squeezes.

“I want you to know...” I continue. “That I am so sorry for everything yesterday. I also want to make clear that I do in fact trust you.” I kiss his nose. “And I love you.” I kiss the dimple on the side of his mouth. “And I adore you.” I kiss his parted lips. “And I want you. Again. Right. Now.”

I don’t have to repeat myself. In just a few swift movements his pants are unzipped and my shorts, along with my panties, are moved aside, relieving the ache that I have for him...for the third time today.

~~

A
fter my legs were strong enough to stand, and with Walker in the shower, I head to the kitchen to fuel us up for another round later.

I almost drop the chicken I was pulling out to thaw when someone starts banging loudly on the door. I know Noelle was going to happy hour with some coworkers so she is most likely drunk and can’t find her keys.

I don’t bother to see who it is as I swing the door open. “You drunk ass. Can’t find your...”

My chest tightens at the site before me. Standing just a few short feet away is Robert with bruises covering his cheeks and a black left eye, which is currently zeroed in, along with the right, on my stomach.