Authors: Andria Large

Wild Renegade (21 page)

I
let go of her hair, my hands falling to my sides, as I lie there panting.
"Damn, love, that was so good," I breathe.

"Good."
She smirks and sits up.

"Ugh,
what time is it?" I grunt and lift my head to look for a clock.

Nicole
hands me a box of tissues from the nightstand. "It's three in the
afternoon," she tells me.

"Well,
at least we got some decent sleep," I say as I clean myself up.

"Yeah,
I want to see what everyone is doing. Maybe we can go get some food,"
Nicole says.

I
nod. "Okay, but I'm starving and want something to eat right now," I
smile devilishly and grab for her.

She
squeals and laughs as I toss her onto the bed next to me, shove her legs apart,
and have myself a little snack.

After
having my way with my wife - I love calling her that - we meet up with everyone
for an early dinner. Raelynn, Sebastian, Gina, and Alex are flying back home
tonight since we have to get back on the road in the morning. Nicole, Dennis,
and I accompany them to the airport that night. The airport is pretty empty
this time of night, which is good. I don't have to worry too much about getting
noticed and bombarded with fans. The ladies take a walk to the bathroom, so
Sebastian, Alex, and I are standing just outside of security, waiting. We can't
go with them into the terminal without a ticket, so we have to say our goodbyes
before they go in.

"Take
care of her," Sebastian says out of nowhere.

I
glance over at him and nod. "I will."

"And
don't have kids right away," he says, giving me a pointed look.

I
smile. "Yeah, I'm not ready for kids yet."

"Good.
I love Mikey, but it's hard. Kids are tough on a relationship. Rae and I barely
have any time alone. And when we are alone, which is mostly at night, we're
both exhausted and just want to sleep," he tells me.

"I
want Nicole all to myself for a while," I agree.

He
nods. "It's a good plan."

I
then hear Nicole's laugh and glance up. The girls are walking up, all giggling.
I stare at my lovely wife and my heart swells at just knowing that she's mine
forever. She's perfect in every way and I am the luckiest man in the world to
have captured her heart. She finds me watching her and raises an eyebrow in
question. I shake my head as if to say "Nothing."

Gina
walks over to Alex and wraps her arms around his neck. I know Alex and Gina
hooked up last night. I saw them kissing on the dance floor. And they've been
kind of touchy feely and flirty with each other today. I don't really know
where they are going to go from here because he is eleven years older than her,
but we'll eventually find out.

"I
think we should join the Mile High Club," she purrs before kissing him on
the lips.

"Gina!"
Nicole scolds.

Sebastian
barks out a laugh. Raelynn shakes her head and Dennis tries to cover up his
smile with his hand.

Gina
blinks innocently at her sister. "What?"

Nicole
just shakes her head. Alex grins rakishly.

"I
think it's a pretty good idea," he rumbles.

Nicole
fake
gags. "Ew, that's my sister you're talking
about," she groans.

Alex
chuckles and Gina rolls her eyes.

We
say our goodbyes because they have to get to their terminals. Sebastian and
Raelynn are flying right into Philly while Alex and Gina are going to New York.
Nicole, Dennis, and I start walking back to where we parked the car. Dennis
drives us back to the hotel. Nicole and I go back to our room to get ready for
bed since we have to be up at a decent time to get on the bus in the morning.

We
get into bed and I pull her into my arms. "Did you ask your sister about
what's going on with her and Alex?" I ask, stroking my hand over her hair.

Nicole's
head is on my chest. "She said that they are just having some fun, she
doesn't think it'll turn serious."

"Mmm,
I don't know," I say dubiously.

"Yeah,
I don't know either, she seems pretty infatuated with him," she murmurs.

"Like
how you're infatuated with me?" I tease.

She
barks out a laugh. "Infatuated, my ass."

I
laugh and hug her tight. "I love you, baby."

"I
love you, too."

We
fall asleep in each other's arms, just how I hope that we will do for the rest
of our lives.

Epilogue

~Ace~

One
Year Later...

A
knock on the door forces me to extract myself from my conversation with Alex
and Dennis. It's our one year wedding anniversary, and we decided to have a
little party with our friends and family to celebrate. Nicole is chatting with
a very pregnant Gina in the kitchen. Yeah, that's right, Gina and Alex are
having a baby. They got engaged a few months ago but are going to wait until
after the baby is born to get married. I'm extremely happy for them. Alex is a
lovesick fool and it's hilarious. He kisses the ground that Gina walks on. Good
thing that she treats him just as well.

I
open the door. Elena and Guy are standing there. Guy has a bottle of wine and a
white box - which I'm assuming are Italian pasties - in his hands. His face is
anything but happy. He's slowly come to terms with the fact that Nicole and I
are married and are going to remain that way. Elena smiles fondly and gives me
a hug and kiss. At least she likes me. What really pisses me off is that Guy
loves Alex. Can you guess why? Yup, because he's Italian and speaks it, too.
Asshole - Guy that is, not Alex.

"Guy,"
I mutter in greeting.

"Ace,"
he replies in return.

That's
the most we'll say to each other today. I close the door behind them and watch
as they go into the kitchen to greet their daughters. Guy gives Gina a warm hug
and a belly rub. Then he turns to Nicole and just gives her a little peck on
the cheek. I can see the disappointment and hurt in Nicole's eyes and it breaks
my heart.

"It's
not right, the way he treats you two," Alex growls as he comes up next to
me.

Alex
has laid into Guy a couple of times for how he treats Nicole and me, but the
man is too stubborn and hardheaded to change. Guy might love and approve of
Alex, but Alex feels anything but love for him.

I
shrug. "Nothing we can do about it." I sigh.

Alex
grunts in agreement and takes a sip of his beer. He's back to being my
bodyguard. I hated having to let Dennis go because I really like him and he did
an amazing job, but Alex is my number one guy. Dennis took it better than I
did, actually. Said he was ready to go home. He wasn't a fan of the constant
traveling.

Sebastian
sidles over, his lip curled up in disgust. "Can I punch Guy in his
face?"

Alex
and I chuckle.

"I
think that will only make things worse," I say, rolling my eyes.

Gina
then waddles over to us, her hand on her large belly. Alex said she's been
having some Braxton-Hicks contractions for a few days now. She looks great,
she's all belly. She's wearing a dress today. She said that's all that she can
tolerate anymore - dresses and flip flops - even though it's the middle of
February.

"You
okay, sweetheart?" Alex asks with a frown.

She
grimaces. "Ugh, these stupid contractions are..."

She
doesn't get to finish her sentence, instead she gasps as a gush of fluid hits
the floor at her feet.

"Dude,
seriously? The bathroom is right down the hall," Sebastian says dryly.

Alex
and I both glare at him. "Sebastian!" we exclaim in unison.

"I'm
joking!" he laughs and holds his hands up in defense. Then he shouts to
everyone, "It's okay! I've delivered a baby before! Don't anyone
panic!"

Gina
cries out in pain and doubles over, one hand gripping Alex's
forearm
hard, the other on her stomach.

"We
gotta get her to the hospital!" I say. When no one does anything, I snap,
"NOW!"

Nicole
comes rushing over with Gina's coat. Alex insists that Sebastian go with them
in the car since he did in fact deliver a baby before. His own, actually. Elena
and Nicole also go. I stay back with everyone else. Raelynn helps me clean up
the floor. Luckily it's hardwood and not carpet.

"I
can't believe that just happened," Dean says, his eyes wide in shock.

I
chuckle. "It's not every day that you see a woman's water break,
huh?"

He
shakes his head fervently. "It's scary."

I
nod. "Agreed."

I
go into the kitchen to grab another beer, my hands a bit shaky after that
scene. Guy is standing at the counter. He clears his throat then actually
speaks to me.

"Are...uh...you
and Nicole planning on having children?" he asks me.

I
glance over at him, eyebrows raised in surprise. He frowns at me. I take a sip
of my beer then turn my back on everyone else. "Actually, between you and
me, we were planning on telling everyone today that she's pregnant, but Gina kinda
stole our spotlight," I say with a shrug.

Guy
actually smiles. "My Nicole is having a baby?" he asks quietly.

"My
baby," I say, almost as a challenge.

He
gives me a dirty look. "Who else's would it be?"

"Exactly.
Are you planning on treating my baby differently than Alex's baby because of
who their father is?" I ask, unable to keep the nasty tone out of my
voice. "I could care less how you treat me. I don't like how you treat
Nicole and I sure as hell won't stand for you treating my child like
shit."

Guy
surprises me by actually looking ashamed. "I have not been the best
father, this is true."

I
snort at the understatement of the year and take another sip of beer. I ignore
the glare that Guy gives me.

"I
will not love your child any less than Alex and Gina's," he states.

I
stare at him for a moment to gauge how honest he is being. He seems pretty
sincere. "I'm going to hold you to that. If I ever see that you are
treating them differently, I'll make sure that you don't see us anymore,"
I say coolly.

Guy
nods. "I understand," he says and holds out his hand to me.

I
hesitate before I reach out and shake it. Seems like we've finally come to a
tentative truce. We'll see how it goes when our baby is born. I will have no
problem keeping Guy from seeing Nicole and the baby if he decides to treat them
as though they are not as good as Gina and her baby.

Nicole,
Elena, and Sebastian return from the hospital later that night. Everyone but
Raelynn and Guy has left already. Nicole's parents, Sebastian, and Raelynn are
staying with us while they are in town for the weekend. Gina gave birth to a
healthy 7lb 3oz baby girl, who they named Alessandra Natalia DeGrassi.

When
we get into bed, Nicole shows me the pictures that she took with her phone and
the baby is gorgeous. There is a picture of Alex holding her, staring down at
her with tears running down his face, and I actually get choked up a little
bit. I can only imagine how he feels with his little girl in his arms. Nicole
curls up against me.

"That's
gonna be you soon," she says lovingly.

I
hum in agreement. "I told your dad," I tell her.

She
tenses against me. "You did?"

"He
actually asked when we were going to have kids, so I told him that you're
pregnant," I say.

"And?"

"He
smiled."

Nicole
lifts her head to look at me. "He did?" she asks in shock.

I
nod. "Yep, and he said that he hasn't been the greatest father."

Nicole
blinks at me. "Shut up, you're lying!"

"I
swear," I insist. "We even shook hands."

"No
way." She gasps.

I
nod in earnest.