Page 76 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

ALFIE

“You don’t show up at a person’s house unannounced,” I muttered when Rick called from the dock on the other side of the water.

“Am I not welcome?” he asked in a flat tone.

“Not if you’re coming to plead Lennie’s case,” I replied.

“Lennie’s his own man, I’m mine. Now do I get to come see Lily or am I not welcome?”

“You’re welcome so long as you don’t stress my wife out,” I replied, even though I was suspicious of his motive. I’d barely gotten off the phone to Lennie when Rick had called, although I deduced that he must have already been on his way before Lennie’s call.

It wasn’t even fifteen minutes later when Lily met Rick at our front door.

“Hello, princess,” he muttered, sweeping her in for a hug. “Whoa.” Rick stepped back and glanced down at Lily’s neat bump then grinned. “Hard to imagine the badass rock chick on stage that you are, with the gentle, sweet mom I know you’ll be.”

Lily smiled, but it was tight and didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks, well… it’s happening.”

“Through here,” I said, interrupting them from the hallway. I gestured for them to go into the kitchen.

Rick grabbed Lily’s hand and covered it with his other one. “How’re you doing, sweetheart?” he asked as they followed my lead.

“Good,” Lily replied deadpan.

Rick let go of her hand, pulled out a chair for my wife, and once she was settled, he took the one next to her. “Any latte going?” he asked me as he tipped his chin toward our coffee machine.

“Sure,” I replied and began to make his drink. “Green tea, Lily?” I asked.

“That would be good,” she replied.

“What’s with the ‘goods’?” Rick’s eyes were studious when he frowned at Lily.

“Goods?” she asked, glancing up at me. I’d turned at his comment and her worried eyes met mine.

“Yeah. How are you? ‘Good’. That would be ‘good’… all the goods,” he said, repeating Lily’s replies.

He sighed. “Tell you what, shall we deal with the elephant in the room so we can both get whatever is on our chests off, then maybe I can have a proper visitation with my ‘good’ friends.” He made quotes in the air with his fingers to emphasize his use of the word.

“You said you weren’t coming here for Lennie,” I challenged.

“I didn’t but since the conversation has been reduced to a few words either way this visit has all the hallmarks of an interview. I ask a question, and you give me the appropriate answer without elaborating further.”

“I won’t have Lily harassed. She made a difficult decision and I’m going to ensure she gets the time she needs to work this out in her head.”

“As she should,” he agreed. He gave us an awkward look while he scratched his beard. “Lennie’s been an ass, I told him as much. I have no clue what’s gotten into him lately. He’s tried to call again today, I take it? Did you answer him this time?” he asked Lily.

“He didn’t call Lily this time, he called me,” I replied.

He chuckled. “Interesting, the guy’s growing some balls, who’d have thunk it?”

Lily and I shared a look. “I had to step away,” she finally said to Rick.

“Sweetheart, you should always do whatever makes you happy. If the band isn’t cutting it for you right now, it’s only right you take time to decide what’s next.”

Tears pooled in Lily’s eyes, and she looked relieved. “Thanks, I’m trying to do that.”

“There’s nothing worse than working with people you don’t get along with,” he commiserated.

“I did get along with him. I love Lennie… that’s what’s making this so hard,” she mumbled, sniffing.

“I know you do… hell, he knows you do… and he loves you too. But he’s stubborn and single-minded when it comes to the band.

His way or no way, from all accounts. Lennie’s one of these mild-mannered, caring guys until it comes to XrAid.

He said he felt blindsided by your news.

” He shrugged. “I told him to grow the fuck up.”

“It’s a relief to hear you say all that,” Lily muttered.

Rick placed an elbow on the countertop and rested his head in his hand. “So, is there a plan going forward?”

Lily cast him a wary look before her eyes darted to me.

For a second I wondered if, like me, she thought Rick might have come to find out more for Lennie in a roundabout way.

“No, it’s too early to make any firm decisions.

Besides, my hormones are all over the place right now, so who knows how I’ll feel next week? ”

“Then sit back, enjoy the time you have at home with ‘Lover Boy’.” Rick nodded at me as I handed him his latte. “Now, let’s talk about something far more pleasant. How long do you have to go now and if it’s a boy are you naming it Richard after me?”

Lily dabbed her eyes, chuckled and shook her head as she rubbed her bump. “Why does everyone think this is a boy?”

“Look at him,” he said, pointing to my face. “Would you trust that guy with a daughter? He’s already one hundred percent protective of you and you’re a grown up. Imagine what he’d be like with a baby daughter?”

I laughed. “See… that’s exactly what I told her.”

“Everyone is in for one hell of a shock if it’s a girl then.”

“It’s not,” both Rick and I said in unison.

By the time Rick left after dinner, I felt convinced that he’d come with the best of intentions. He was our friend and the most straight-talking man I’d ever met, apart from Jack Cunningham.

“Knowing Rick isn’t taking sides with Lennie is a big worry off my mind,” Lily admitted while I snuggled down on the sofa. “Skyfall” by Adele filled the room as the opening credits rolled in the James Bond movie of the same name. Lily began singing along but stopped when I interrupted.

“Good. I must admit, Rick was my one concern in all of this. You never know which side of the fence he’s going to fall on.

He can be unpredictable, as we learned today.

I thought he’d have Lennie’s back, if I’m honest. He must really love you,” I muttered.

I pressed a kiss to the top of Lily’s head and spooned closer with her.

“I have a lot of respect for Rick. He can be brutal, but he reads situations wisely,” she agreed.

“Okay, so… now we lock out the drama, concentrate on ourselves and from now on, no more reading news stories or social media. I’ve told Joanne to monitor this shit with Cody, and only to contact us if it’s beyond her control.”

Lily twisted her head and looked up at me. “What do we do if there’s no drama to fall back on to keep us on our toes.

“I can think of better things to do with your toes,” I teased, smiling.

“And we’re back to that,” she stated, biting back a smile.

“That?”

“Yeah. The thing that’s poking into my back.”

“You felt that huh?”

“Hard to miss,” she suggested.

“So hard,” I agreed, chuckling.

“For months now you’ve only had two moods. Pissed and turned on,” Lily suggested.

“Both are connected with that hard thing in my pants,” I playfully replied.

She laughed. “Not that kind of piss.”

“I know but it was fitting… talking about fitting.” I slid my hand over her hip, gripped it and pulled her firmer against me.

“Alfie, we’re supposed to be watching a movie,” she chastised.

“We are. We could… multitask,” I suggested.

“And how much of the storyline do you think we’d miss if we did that?”

“Fortunately for us, we have a streaming service. We can hit rewind and voila, Adele singing the opening credits again,” I told her with a lopsided smile… the kind my wife couldn’t resist.

“But I’m so comfortable,” she remarked, pouting.

“Again, that’s lucky because you have these stretchy yoga pants on.

All I need to do is slide them over your ass like this…

” I said, pulling them down and lifting her hips to clear the top of her thighs.

Lily faced away from me and tucked her chin on her chest. “And check something really quick,” I said.

I slid my fingertips along her wet seam and grinned. “Ah, yes, you’re soaked.”

Without turning back to look at me, she said, “What do you expect? I have the hottest man in the world, exposing the most intimate area on my body, and fumbling through my folds.”

“Baby, two points here,” I informed her while sliding one finger into her pussy, pulling back then entering two.

Lily gasped and a small moan left her lips.

My dick twitched at the breathy sound, and I smiled.

“Number one, my private area. Alfie only zone,” I said possessively.

“And two, I never fumble. I believe we’ve made love enough times for you to recognize that I know exactly what I’m doing. ”

I lined my cock up with her entrance. Lily arched her ass higher to give me more access and I slid inch by inch inside her.

“Oh, God,” she moaned like she did the second I entered her. I smiled until James Bond fought with a baddie on top of a train. It distracted me for a second, until I reached for the remote and turned the TV off.

“Thanks,” she muttered, like she’d telepathically asked me to do this. “My pleasure,” I whispered in her ear, making her shiver. “I’m going to take this slow and make it last,” I muttered into her ear.

“You’ve been taking it slow for weeks now,” she pointed out.

“I’m never fucking you hard again while you’re carrying our child. Life can be brutal at times, so I’d prefer he had a gentle and sensitive vibe at the start of his life.”

When Lily fell silent, I cupped her chin and tilted her head up, extending her neck until her upside-down view met my eyes.

Passion and desire may have seared her heart, but I held back more than a little of that hungry carnal need to devour her.

There was a time and a place to unleash the wants that were never far from my mind when I looked at my wife, and it wasn’t then.

However, I strongly believed the intimate connections my wife and I made while our baby developed inside her, should be soft, intimate and unhurried connections of love.

In a way I suppose I wanted to prove to myself that I could put their needs before my own, and I had the right protective qualities to keep them both safe.