Page 11 of Our Unexpected Beginning (Club Surrender #4)
Julia
T o her regret she put off going back to see her aunt, not wanting to get ambushed again. She hadn’t spoken to her mother aside from the text book ‘ I’m sorry you took it the wrong way.’ message.
“Aunt Elaine.”
“Juju, what’s wrong?”
“I need something from the house…from the other house.”
“What could you possibly need from there? Didn’t we get everything important you wanted after your brother died?”
“I didn’t know I wanted it until now.”
“Little girl, I can’t see well enough through this phone.”
“I want Grandma’s crib. I um, I need it.”
“Oh Julia!!! That’s wonderful news!”
Julia’s silhouette was even curvier than before. Her stomach rounded and wasn’t squishy anymore. Her breasts’ increasing sensitivity had become a point in their phone calls that Graham enjoyed most .
Eight and a half weeks since she’d seen Graham. The distance ate at her. The ache settled in her chest the more her belly grew. He was physically absent, but there in every way he could be. And to his credit he hadn’t missed a doctor’s appointment yet.
They followed the baby’s growth on an app they shared together. Sending each other articles and keeping strong the bond they were building.
“Where are your clothes?”
“They got shredded by the bear whose cock I was just bouncing on.”
Two and a half months is too long for them to be apart. Julia could only satisfy the ache to a degree. But her body craved him.
“You’re so fucking tight. You fit me so well.”
He’d infiltrated her dreams long after their heated phone calls ended. She’d woken up with her hands between her thighs, wishing it was him easing the hunger he caused.
“Fuck baby you look hot as hell in my shirt.”
“Bet it’d look better on the floor…”
“Jules, earth to Julia?”
“What? Oh, Sorry. ”
“Where’d ya go?”
“N-nowhere.”
“Oh bullshit. I know that look.”
“What look?” Mel looked from Lexi to Julia whose face blushed the reddest she’d ever seen.
“That. That look.”
“Spill. Why does she know this? What is this!?”
“Sex flashbacks.” Lexi chirped into their conversation.
“Excuse me?”
“Sex flashbacks,” Lexi repeated, rapidly blinking her eyes and smirking. “That’s when you know it’s not just chemistry anymore.”
“Please explain, because–” Julia gestured her arms wide in surrender. “I–”
“It’s when the sex is so fucking good that thinking about it can put you right back in that moment. The moment before your dominant lets you release.”
Yes! That. The memory of the last time they were together flashed through her mind again. The way he denied her release without eye contact. The instinctive need to shatter and please him was ever prevalent in her thoughts.
Julia ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at the nape of her neck. “I know he’s working and it’s important and all that. It’s not the same.”
“You two have been texting every night.”
“I know…it’s not feeling so casual anymore. I know we have a tether but things are different.”
“We’ve all noticed. ”
“It was supposed to be all fun and games. You know, Fun Time Barbie.”
“I see the way he looks at you.”
“He came for a good time and–”
“Don’t you dare throw the jellybean into this.”
“I mean, it’s not untrue.”
“It stopped you from bolting and let him get to know you. You’re worth knowing Jules.”
“Thanks. I’m still figuring that out.”
“Not to bring up a sore subject…”
“No word from dragon mother. She doesn’t know, she doesn’t get to take my joy…”
“But?” Melody was a great friend and listener. Julia wasn’t sure if she ever gave her enough credit for it.
“I’m sick of people asking what she thinks. Not that they know her or anything, it’s always casual. I know it’s an innocent well meaning question, it’s not something that fits for me.”
“So then you tell them what Aunt Elaine says. She’s been more of a mom to you than anyone.”
“She doesn’t want to give up the house.” Julia shrugged, picking at the edge of her shirt.
“With her health, I know it’s one of the reasons she’s still talking to my mother.
I don’t know what her damage was that night, but she shot both barrels.
Even with Graham there. She usually puts on a face and pretends, but this one, Mel.
There was no holding back. Everything was up for grabs. ”
“I still can’t believe all the things you told me. I’ve known you forever, this is a new level for Cassandra.”
“I think that now that I have a life and I’m not lapping at her heels hoping for a bit of something she doesn’t care even more. I’m honestly not sure how that makes me feel, Mel. I don’t care, but I wish she would.”
Julia sighed and pressed her palm to her belly.
Melody bumped her shoulder gently. “You can still be nervous. I’ve got excitement for both of us.”
Julia placed her hand on Melody’s and squeezed. “You’re going to make an amazing auntie.”
Graham
Julia:
Daily check in.
Graham:
So how’s the little avocado?
Julia :
That will always stay weird when you say it that way.
Graham:
I’ve been around the guys too long. This could get crude.
Julia:
No thanks! I’m okay besides the daily cruise ship tour my stomach takes me on from lunch til it’s socially acceptable for the 4th dinner.
Graham:
I’m rotating out next week, I’ll be home for a bit before the next haul.
Graham:
I wish I could help.
Julia :
Well, there is this other craving you can help me with…
Julia :
[ Incoming image]
Fuck he loved that beautiful body of hers. Her breasts were fuller with her pregnancy and he couldn’t wait to put his hands on her. He missed the way she felt beneath him .
The ache of being away grew. But financial opportunities like what he had going with Alex wasn’t something to pass up. He’d been able to get a condo closer to the rest of the family, and get rid of his bachelor apartment.
With him and Julia expecting he wanted to get as many ducks in a row as he could. He wasn’t working to sustain himself anymore, he had a whole future waiting on him if he wanted it. If she wanted it.
Julia had offered him an out, giving him the opportunity to have no ties. But he meant what he said that he wasn’t running.
Whether she knew it or not, she irrevocably had him under her thrall. Bending and breaking her body for his baby. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Graham hopped out of his truck, pulling his jacket in tighter as he ran in toward the back workshop at Club Surrender.
He scanned his card at the back entrance and headed straight for Wes’ office. “Hello, yo?”
“If it’s not the Golden Boy who’s returned!” Wes chuckled, moving from his workstation to greet Graham.
“Hey, we haven’t hit paydirt yet.” He grabbed a beer from the corner fridge and sat in the chair next to Wes’ desk. “So what’s this mysterious mission you have me on?”
“I thought we could do a little secret shopping.”
Graham noticed Wes’ unease. He was shuffling work orders on his desk without any organization or order. They ended up in the same spot he started in until he got frustrated and shoved them in the drawer.
“Okay dude. Spill.”
“I’m asking Melody to marry me.”
“Well fuck man, that sounds amazing.”
“I don’t know why I’m nervous.”
“Because you’re telling her you’re all in.” Graham waved his hand and pointed at Wes. “When did you know you loved her?”
“She was dancing in the kitchen with my daughter wearing a unicorn onesie and dancing to Frozen. The way she laughs, it’s like electricity.”
“That I get. I crave her company more than my solitude. She’s home for me. I didn’t plan it, it wasn’t expected.”
“Oh yeah?” Wes smirked, stealing a glance at the photo of Melody on his desk.
“Yeah. She’s the most amazing and special person I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. I feel lucky if she’ll let me love her. To watch Julia bend and break her body for me, for our baby. Her body is beautiful. She glows from the inside out. I-fuck man. I don’t see my life without her.”
Wes crossed his arms and grinned at Graham. “Well we could make it a secret shopping trip for two.”
Graham thought for a moment and shook his head. They weren’t there–yet. However, he knew that when the time was right, it would be with his grandparents ring.
“When we moved here, we had nothing. My mother hid the silverware—back then, it was silver—in her dress lining when they came to this country. My parents had a wedding band made from one of the pieces. It connected them to their past. We had nothing; together, we had everything.”
Everything was the goal.
“Long-distance pregnancy is a hurdle enough. I don’t need to spook her away too much too fast.”
Speaking of runners.
Graham knew with things changing in their expanding little family, with a new beginning came the truth. “Hey, um since it’s just us.”
“Oh no.”
“What, I haven’t said anything.”
“Well if it was good news your demeanor would be different.”
“It’s about Kat.”
Wes’ face twisted into a grimace. “What ’bout her?”
Did he have the balls to tell him the truth? To tell him the secret Graham’s kept for the past four-plus years…
“Spill it.”
“When Kat left…” he let out a swoosh of air.
“At first I called two, three times a day. I never got an answer. A few months went by and I started sending her photos in hopes…” Graham let out a defeated sigh.
“She’s my sister.” That defense sounded hollow to his own ears.
It was ingrained in his DNA never to leave her stranded, even after her desertion .
Wes stood up and walked to the fridge, acquiring and bringing back two drinks. “What happened?”
“I should have told you. She’s my niece but she’s your daughter. I’m sorry man.“ Graham swallowed thickly, wondering if the older man would send him home with a black eye and one less limb. Or worse, never allowing him near Sarah again.
It wasn’t a punishment that he was undeserving.
“For months I never got so much as a ‘read’ to know she was alive. It wasn’t until Sarah’s second birthday. She was into bumble bees,” he chuckled nervously, scrubbing the back of his neck. “Everything yellow was bumble .”