Page 39

A Year and a Half Later

S o many times in our relationship, Ryder has surprised me.

It’s something he gets great joy from, and they are always planned to a T and absolutely beautiful.

For our first Christmas, when we weren’t even together, that man flew to Charleston and planned a whole adorable thing involving a horse-drawn sleigh.

We got tattoos and agreed to have sex in a friends-with-benefits type of arrangement, even though it definitely didn’t feel that way.

For our second Christmas, he proposed, all while incorporating the horse and the sleigh once again.

Last year, for our third Christmas, he surprised me with the sweetest puppy.

A Bernese mountain dog, just like I had talked about getting months before.

And then for my last birthday, he surprised me with VIP tickets to a Morgan Wallen concert, with a meet and greet with the handsome guy himself before the show.

I just had to promise I wouldn’t try to make out with the guy simply to cross that off my list.

Don’t get me wrong; I love Ryder’s surprises and all, but for this Christmas, I hope I’m the one who gets to surprise him.

I always thought the whole he treats me like a princess expression was a stretch in any relationship, but with Ryder, he actually treats me like I’m a whole-ass queen.

Anxiously, I grab the small gift bag from my closet—the same one that’s been tucked inside of there for over a week—and I walk out to the living room, where he’s lying on the chaise lounge with Captain snuggled up with him.

Right when Captain sees me, his tail begins to wag, and he makes his obnoxious talking noises—the same ones he makes when he wants to be fed, needs to go outside, or is just feeling extra and needs attention.

He gets that last one from me.

His tail beats on the chair harder.

Captain loves my husband, yes, but that dog is obsessed with me.

When I get closer, he jumps down and nudges his wet nose against my hand repeatedly, damn near knocking me over.

I’ve done obedience classes with him because for the first few months of him living here, the fucker chewed every shoe I’d left out.

He even ruined a couch of ours, along with way too many pairs of underwear.

One pair he swallowed and needed surgery.

So, that was fun.

But Ryder always jokes that no matter what the dog does, I can’t stay mad, and sadly, he’s right.

He’s our baby.

“Whatcha got there, babe?” Ryder grins, jerking his chin toward the bag.

“Let me guess. You got Cap another damn gift to go with the twenty other stuffies you gave him.”

Giving Captain a few pats on the head, I plop down at the end of the chaise lounge and turn my body to the side so that I can pass Ryder the bag.

“This one is actually for you,” I answer shyly.

Reluctantly, he takes it from my hand.

“Just so you know, if it’s another role-playing outfit, we’ll have to be late going to your brother’s today because I want your ass in it right now.” He chuckles, pulling the tissue paper from the top.

When he reaches inside, right away, I can see when he realizes what he’s holding in his hand.

Thick, raw emotion covers his face like a blanket when he holds the tiny onesie up.

On it reads Littlest Bay Shark with the team logo.

“Does this mean …” he rasps, tears filling his eyes.

Nodding my head slowly, I don’t even try to fight my own emotion, but instead, I let it out because this moment deserves to be celebrated in its true, raw form.

“Yeah, baby,” my voice croaks.

“We’re having a baby.”

Sitting forward, he pulls me in for a hug and drags both of us down so that we’re lying on the chaise lounge.

His face is buried in my shoulder, and his shoulders shake gently against my own.

A lot of men may hide their feelings, but not Ryder.

He’s sensitive. He didn’t wipe away his tears on the day he proposed, and he didn’t on the day we got married either.

So, seeing him cry tears of happiness from finding out he’s going to be a dad?

So incredibly rewarding.

“I can’t promise I’ll be any good at it—this whole parent thing,” he says, pausing.

“But I swear to you, Saylor, I’ll protect you and this baby at all costs.”

“I know,” I whisper, bringing my lips to his and kissing him.

“We’re going to be parents, Ry. I can’t believe it.”

For a while, I just lie in his arms. He keeps me close against him, and outside the large picture window, snow comes down heavily.

It’s almost as if the snow brings me good luck in life because some of my greatest moments and biggest triumphs were during a storm.

I spent most of my life feeling like I wasn’t good enough while also feeling like I was too much and annoyed most people around me.

I feared that nobody would ever love me the way I dreamed about, and I guess in a way, I accepted that.

And then Ryder came along.

And that man has loved the hell out of me every day since.

I don’t know what good karma I have that brought him to me, but I’m thankful as hell for it.

I kiss his jawline repeatedly before kissing his lips again.

“I can’t wait to go to my brother’s and tell him and Gemma.”

His head bends so that he’s looking right at me, a shocked expression on his face.

“Gemma doesn’t know?” he says, completely shook.

“No,” I say, lifting an eyebrow.

“You and me, baby—we’re the only ones who know.”

He stares at me, not believing what he’s hearing.

“You told me first?” he utters, almost like he’s thinking out loud as a huge grin spreads across his face.

“You told me first,” he repeats.

I smile, nodding. “Yeah, babe, I did.” I kiss him once more.

“But I have to be real. Now that we’ve had our moment … it’s time to go tell my parents, brothers, and Gem.”

This year, my parents decided to travel the few hours to Smith’s and have Christmas there, and Ryder’s parents are coming in for New Year’s to celebrate Christmas late, just like we did last year with them.

Suddenly, I almost feel guilty for keeping it from them for a whole week.

I mean, for fuck’s sake, I’m pretty sure the first time I met them as his official girlfriend, his mom asked me how many kids I wanted to have.

The woman is the sweetest, but, Lord, she’s crazed when it comes to grandchildren.

Sliding out of his hold, I stand up.

“We need to FaceTime your parents from my brother’s house. It’s not fair for my family to find out while your parents aren’t coming in till next week.”

His eyes widen as he thinks about what I just said.

“Oh shit, you’re right. Once word gets out, if my mom heard it from someone else, she’d probably kick my ass.” He frowns.

“Don’t be surprised if they mention moving to Maine though.”

“I’m counting on it,” I coo sweetly once he stands up and skates his hands around my waist. “The more grandparents, the merrier, right?”

“Yeah, well”—he cringes—“this is her first grandkid. I fear she might be a bit …”

“Overbearing?” I guess, lifting a brow.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he utters.

“She means well. She really does. But goddamn.”

I press a kiss to his cheek.

I know his mom can be a lot sometimes, but she really does mean well, and in my heart, I know she’s going to be the best grandmother and will be incredibly helpful when we bring a baby home without knowing a damn thing about kids.

“Well, lucky for us, we have a big ol’ garage to hide our cars in when we want to pretend we aren’t home, right?”

“Good point, baby.” He grins, leaning his face closer to mine.

“You know, I have to tell you, Sails, knowing you’re carrying my kid inside that sexy body of yours is turning me on. I mean … you can’t get any more mine than that. And a part of me is growing inside of you. What I’m saying is … I know we have to leave soon, but I’ve got to bury my cock inside of you real quick to celebrate.”

I roll my eyes and giggle.

“Jeez, so romantic.” I bite my lip, glancing at the clock behind him.

“You’ve got, like, twelve … no, eleven minutes, Pretty Boy. Best make it quick.”

As I take off running down the hallway toward our room, I may be turned on and desperate for my husband’s touch, but I’m also laughing hysterically at the sight of him chasing after me, ripping his clothes off.

A lifetime with Ryder won’t be enough, but it’s a pretty good place to start.