Page 41 of There Are No Words

“Brady, did youget the box that was delivered?” Allegra shouted from the bathroom where she’d informed me she was peeing for the fifth time since she’d woken up (two hours ago, might I add).

I cut open the seal on the box and placed the scissors on the coffee table beside it. “Yeah, I’m opening it now,” I yelled back. “Which sister bought this for you again?” Thethiswas still a secret. Allegra had said they’d told her it was a surprise, so we were both in the dark.

“Bianca,” she answered, strolling into the room as she fixed her shirt, pulling it down over her stomach. “Why? What is it?”

I wanted to answer, wanted to do something, anything, but I couldn’t because my eyes were fixated on her stomach. I swallowed, thinking about how big she was going to get. In no time at all, a blink of a damn eye, she was going to grow bigger. Which meant this baby was becoming less of a pea and more of a. . . being.

“You know, pre-baby bump, men would stare at my boobs. Now I feel like all anyone sees is my belly or my ass. It’s likeI know, I know, I’m pregnant.”

I shook my head and dragged my eyes up to meet hers. “What men?”

She shrugged. “All men. All the time. I don’t know. Men stare.Youstared.”

I wet my lips. “That’s different.”Your rack is a thing of beauty.

“How so?”

Because I like you.“Because we’re having a baby together.”Good job, Brady, that’s the dumbest answer.

“Sure, now we are, but we weren’t when you stared at them. You liked my boobs, admit it, but now all you can focus on is the fact that I’m carrying our baby.”

My jaw twitched. I was starting to really hate it when Allegra had no regard for the way I felt about her, the way I saw her. Not that she knew about my secret crush—it wasn’t called a secret for no reason—but still. It would’ve been nice if she opened her eyes and took a look around once in a while. Hell, I’d gone to a food mart at an ungodly hour for her. No man did that unless they wanted to get into a woman’s pants or were whipped. And, in case you needed a refresh, I had already been in her pants. I rather liked it in there and definitely wanted more of that sweet pussy of hers, but that wasn’t why I was doing any of this.

I liked Allegra. Simple as that.

“You’re fucking gorgeous, Allegra, and our daughter is going to be beautiful just like her mother. I already know I’m going to have to fend off so many fuckers.” I gritted my teeth, seeing red the more I thought about it.

She walked over to me and smoothed a hand over the V in the middle of my forehead. “If you keep this up, you’re going to have high blood pressure before she’s born.”

I growled as she backed away, dropping her hand.

“So are we going to find out what’s in this box before Christmas?” She angled her head and nodded it to the box that was still flapped closed on the table.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Right. The box.” I opened it to reveal. . . “What in the world is this?” I slowly pulled out a long. . . well, I didn’t know how to describe it. It was wrapped in plastic, but it was long, pink, soft like a pillow. It had two eyes and a smile on the top. On the bottom, hanging on either side were two. . . balls?

All right, why did it look like a penis?

I looked over when Allegra snorted. She was holding a hand over her mouth and one to her stomach as she practically keeled over in laughter.

“Is this a joke or some crap?”

She was still laughing. Allegra placed a hand on my arm, and I paused, staring at the fire I felt burning in the spot she was touching. “This is such a Bibi gift to get me.”

“It looks like a penis. Is this supposed to be a stuffed toy for you or our baby?” And was her sister out of her ever-loving mind?

She nodded. “It’s a pregnancy pillow. For me, silly.”

“This thing is going back.” No way was any woman carrying my baby going to be snuggling up with a phallic-shaped pillow.

Coming down from her laughter, Allegra smiled. “Oh, relax. It’s funny. I told her how I’d been having a hard time sleeping lately, so she probably thought this would help.”

“Why the hell do you need this thing?”

She shrugged. “Just look at that shape. It’s going to curve against my body like nothing else in this world.”

Raising an eyebrow, I stared at her, the tick in my jaw starting up again. “Yeah, well, it’s going back. You want something against your body, you can have my cock.”

“Excuse me?” She crossed her arms and raised both her brows.

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