Page 12 of His Valentine

“I hope you don’t require a lot of sleep because I doubt I’ll be getting much rest.” I lick his neck and wiggle my hips.

“Sleep, woman,” he grunts.

“Good night, Trent.” I settle in and attempt to stay still. No promises, though.

“Night, babe.” He presses a kiss to the side of my head but otherwise remains still. I guess I’m sleeping on top of him tonight, and while I didn’t think it’d be able to fall asleep, I’m slowly succumbing. Between Trent’s breathing and his warmth, I find my eyes slowly drifting shut.

10

TRENT

“Where you goin, Kennedy?” I roll us over until she’s on her back. My mouth hovers above hers, ready to say good morning in a different kind of way, but it seems she’s got other plans.

“As much as I want to stay in bed with you all day, the real world is waiting, for both of us. You have work, Briar is at my parents’, and we both have to be at Asher’s later today.” She is the voice of reason when the last thing I want is the real world to start closing in.

“Fuck, you’re right.” My cock slides against her wet heat, not getting the memo that we both have shit to do today.

“Trent,” she moans, arching her back and lifting her legs to wrap around my waist, hands holding on to my arms as if she’s scared I’ll let her go. I’m going to work my hardest to make sure she knows I’m never letting her go. I’ll reassure her with my words and actions daily, bust my ass till my last breath.

“Kennedy.” My head tips skyward. One small dip of my body, and the head of my cock is right there. One thrust of my hips, and I’ll be buried deep inside her completely bare, taking her raw and fucking my come inside her sweet cunt.

“Oh god, doesn’t your phone ever stop ringing?” I look from Kennedy to my phone bouncing around.

“Horrible timing, the downside of the job. I’ll take care of this call, make coffee, and follow you to your parents’ house. From there, I’ll head to the station, do some paperwork, and meet you at Asher’s.” Kennedy can do all of this on her own, but news travels fast, and I’m sure the bust has already made it to local social media sites. Things like this don’t happen in our small area, not of the magnitude of what seems like a trifecta of drugs, guns, and illegal prostitution.

“You don’t have to do that. I can handle them.” I shake my head at her trying to take this on by herself.

“Babe, Asher’s gonna be at your parents’. News travels fast, plus I’d rather Briar find out about us in a smaller social setting than with everyone around.” Her face softens, and a smile tips her lips. While I’ve been around Briar her whole life, would do anything for her, she still deserves to hear about her mom dating from her mom.

“What, how, when?” she asks.

“Last night when you were in bed, Chase got here, we did the exchange. I made a couple of more phone calls, knew if word got around last night and someone snapped a picture of you, it’d be posted on social media. It’s easier to do damage control before shit can go from bad to worse.” I sit up in bed, taking her with me.

“I didn’t even think about that. I’m a dummy. I should have done that; made the calls, I mean. I really, really hope no one saw me dressed like that, especially Chris. Jesus, I don’t think he’d try to do anything or use it against me, but the thought of losing Briar is hard.” No one would allow that to ever happen. We’ve got a lot of guys in our friend group who can pull their weight separately, but together, shit would hit the motherfucking fan. Matthew, the lawyer in our group, whodoesn’t even practice family law, well, let’s just say he’d sink his teeth into this and rip Chris to shreds. Then he’d have the rest of us to contend with, and we’d all be standing in line to take it out on him in the form of a pound of flesh.

“No fucking way. I’d never let anything like that happen to you or Briar. I’m going to make this clear as day: you two are a package deal. I’ll lay my life on the line, rip my heart out of my chest, and I’d do it over and over again for you and Briar.” Kennedy moves closer, cushioning a potential blow to my balls when she situates herself. “Appreciate that, babe.”

“I think I have more to thank you for. Your family jewels are only the tip of the iceberg if you ever want to reproduce.” Her eyes slide downwards, almost like she’s getting shy on me.

“You want that, babe?” She nods. I need her pretty eyes on mine, and I help her, so she sees the truth behind my own. “As many as you want. Got a house full of empty rooms, land kids can play on to their hearts’ content and still be close enough to our family that they’ll see them as much as they want.”

“Yes, I want more.” I’m more than glad we’re on the same page. “I wish Briar came from you. I’ll never regret her, but I’ll always regret who her father is. I guess that’s kind of mean, but Briar deserves better. She deserves more. She deserves you.” Motherfucking shit. Kennedy is trying to take me out. Giving me those words means more than she’ll ever know.

“Kennedy, Christ, babe. I’d have wanted nothing more than her to be mine. Still want that. We weren’t ready to be together.” She lifts an eyebrow. “Yeah, well,Iwasn’t ready. I’m a damn fool. Never in a million years did I think you’d start your life before I was ready to pull my head out of my goddamn ass. I realized too late Briar could have been mine. The way things worked out sucked. Timing is a motherfucker. The truth of the matter is, back then, I wasn’t ready. Knew a couple of weeks ago, the minute I said those three words, I’d regret them. And I very wellfucking did. I know I hurt you and it’s going to take time for you trust that I won’t push you away ever again. I got the patience and nothing but time. Alright?” I’m captivated by her. She’s completely bared to me, and not in the form of clothes, either. She’s raw emotion and pure beauty. It doesn’t matter that tears are streaming down her cheeks or that she’s breathing through my words trying to hold back on tucking herself into my neck and hiding.

“Trent.” Her lips tremble, and my name comes out wobbly. I let her have this moment. She’s been on one hell of an adrenaline rush from the time I entered the club to us talking it out, then fucking each other senseless, to her letting everything out. Sure, we’ve talked in between there, but nothing like this, nothing like her telling me she wished Briar were mine, when in my eyes she already fucking is. The only thing we need to do is get everyone else on the same page.

“Come here, babe.” I don’t give her any room to do anything else except what I want. My arms wrap around her naked back, pull her in, and wrap her close. Kennedy’s been strong long enough. It’s time for me to carry the burden, and I’m going to in every way possible.

“I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry.” Wetness hits my neck, traveling down my chest and I’m sure her own. She has nothing to apologize for. Had I not been a dumb ass, things could have happened differently. I told her the truth. I wasn’t ready. The only things I’ve focused on have been my career, hanging with the guys, and working on my place out here.

“Nothing to apologize for. It’s all going to work out in the end. You and Briar will be mine. In order to do that, we kind of need to get the ball rolling. I still have to stop by the station, then pick something up to bring to Asher’s,” I whisper softly once she settles down some.

“I’ll pick up food or make a quick side dish.” She lifts her head, then dashes away the tears and gathers herself.

“I’m gonna pack a bag, too. Stayin’ with my girls tonight as long as Briar is good with us,” I tell her.

“God, I hope she is. Surely, she will be, right? Oh, my fuck, there goes another worry. Alright, it’s time to pull myself together. One thing at a time, one foot in front of the other; that’s what I tell Briar and what I’m going to tell myself.” I chuckle at her antics. She’s talking herself in and out of a mini-freakout.

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