Fuck.
“Cut. It. Out,” I scream as the next contraction hits, but I start pushing again.
This goes on two more times before she tells me one last push.
And the minute she’s out, my body feels a sense of relief, and every part of me droops with overwhelming tiredness.
“Why isn’t she crying?” My mother’s hands are now digging into mine.
Shit! Is she meant to cry?
I manage to look up to see them already moving her over to a small cot, and a team of doctors are working around her. I attempt to sit up, but I can’t, my body’s too exhausted and worry sets in.
“Is she okay?” I question in a voice that even I don’t recognize. As the words leave my mouth, a tiny cry is heard around the room, and a small bundle is lifted and brought over to me.
The midwife opens my gown. “Skin to skin is best.”
I nod as she places this little human on my chest, who instantly stops crying when she’s on me. And when I look down, I know. I know straight away she’s meant to be. No matter what happened or how it happened, she’s meant to be mine.
Kissing the top of her head, tears leave my eyes in abundance. “Annabelle,” I state.
My mother hiccups and then starts to cry next to me. “It’s beautiful,” she says as she reaches out and touches the top of Annabelle’s head. And I know, no matter what, I will kill for this small baby in my arms.
Maybe, now it’s all over, my one-night stand with the pretty blue eyes wasn’t so bad after all.
He’s given me something I never knew I wanted.Chapter OneBlazeOne year laterHer long red nails tap on the table, bright red lipstick coats her lips.
Damn, I want to taste them.
Instead, I stay where I am as I watch them turn up into a devilish smirk.
She is trouble.
“I propose we fuck.”
I cough, swallowing my drink the wrong way.
“You didn’t just say that,” I say, shaking my head at her words.
She raises one eyebrow.
“You did just say that, didn’t you?” I ask, bringing my glass back to my lips, watching her over the edge.
She’s dangerous this one.
Dangerous.
“What? It’s natural. I think you’re hot. You think I’m hot.”
“And how do you know I think you’re hot?” I ask, as the music grows louder.
A door opens then shuts, placing us back in silence as she stares at me, her hands still visible on the table.
“I see the way you watch me. I know.” She gets up, her hands sliding over the table as she begins to touch me. I don’t stop her as she slides her hand over my chest then down to my pants buckle where I am hard for her.
“This would like me very much.” She squeezes slightly then smirks before she pulls her red manicured hands back and sits down. “So, as I was saying… I propose we fuck.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head.
She pokes her bottom lip out in a pout, then pulls it back in and sucks on it. “You are such a buzzkill.”
“Kat…”
I don’t turn to that voice, but Kat does.
She stands, her shiny red dress glimmering in the light, and I watch and love every fucking curve it shows.
This woman will be the death of me.
Rochelle, Kat’s sister and the woman who’s currently got my brother whipped, stands at the door. “We should go.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kat says.
I feel Rochelle’s eyes on me, and I turn to face her, her stare is hard. “Hi,” she says, but I don’t say it back.
Marcus walks up behind Rochelle and slides his hand over her hip. He nods, and I turn back to Kat, who’s standing in front of me.
“My offer stands.” I smirk at Kat and don’t bother answering.
Rochelle reaches in and grabs her sister, then pulls her out of the club.
Marcus stands behind me, not leaving. “You don’t have to be such an asshole. She isn’t going anywhere,” he says, referring to Rochelle.
“That doesn’t mean I have to like her.” And I don’t. Well, kind of. I don’t hate her, but I have a history with her. Or should I say her friend who I don’t want to be reminded of but am every time I look at her. Plus, she’s changed my brother. The one constant in my life is now her constant.
That makes me mad.
“I love Rochelle,” Marcus says.
I’ve never heard those words leave his lips before, and I’m stunned to my very core. My hands grip the glass in my hand, and I can’t move. “And I love you, too.”
Managing to finally breathe again, I turn back around. And when I do, he’s gone. In his wake, I get one last look at a pair of sinful lips that promised me she would make me pay.A few months ago.A flash of red walks through the door. Why the fuck is she here? She shouldn’t be here, but I can’t seem to look away either, even when I know I should. She throws back a shot at the bar with Snow, who smiles at her as if she’s some fucking ray of sunshine. I shake my head and finally manage to glance away, but fuck that’s hard to do—to look away from her.