Page 1 of Knocked Up

Chapter One

Grace

My favorite indie country band is playing at the bar tonight, and despite the fact that I’m currently alcohol free and waddling like a duck, I refuse to miss them play. Buck Dalton is even making a special appearance, which I think will become a more regular thing now that he lives up here.

Sipping the virgin daiquiri I ordered ten minutes ago, I do another check for my friend Zoe but it’s hard to see through the crowd of people drinking and dancing. I’m gonna miss nights like tonight when I’m stuck inside with a newborn. People keep telling me that the second I give birth, my entire life will shift focus, but I can’t fathom it yet. Maybe that means I’m going to be a terrible mother.

God, I hope not.The world doesn’t need another kid raised by a rotten parent.

A man passes by my booth with a tall foaming beer and a tray of hot wings. I stare, though I’m not sure if I’m ogling the bearded giant or the tray of hot wings. Lately, my hormones have made me both insatiably horny and hungry, so my reason for staring is anyone’s guess.

He passes by quickly, leaving a manly, woodsy sort of scent that I let go straight to my clit. Thinking this will be the most exciting moment of the night, I let a little fantasy play out in myhead of the man backing up to ravage me in the corner of the booth with everyone watching.

His big hands on my throat, his warm breath in my ear, his giant muscles flexing and—

“Excuse me,” a deep voice shakes me out of my straw-stirring fantasy.

Glancing up, I see the man who’d just passed by a second before.

Oh God, why is he back? Why is he talking?

“You mind if I sit for a second? The bar is full, and I can’t eat wings standing.” He holds up his beer and the wings in both hands as though he’s proving how difficult a task it’ll be to finish his food standing in the crowd of people right in front of the small stage.

Maybe I’m still fantasizing. I mean, that’s a real possibility here. My hormones have been having strange effects lately. Last week, I stayed up past midnight to sneak into my neighbor’s strawberry patch and raid the good stuff before morning. I’m sure if I’d asked, she’d have let me have as many berries as I wanted, but that wasn’t good enough. I needed the biggest, juiciest berries right then and there.

I don’t know what got into me.

I grin. “Hmm… it seems we’re at an impasse. You want to sit, and I want your hot wings.”

“Yeah?” he says with a smile. “You’re more than welcome to share.” I don’t know how the universe spun to make this moment happen, but when a tall, muscular, bearded dude with tattoos sits next to me with a plate of hot wings, turns out, I get all kinds of turned on.

“Okay,” I nod, “let’s do this.”

He slides into the booth and tugs a few napkins from the dispenser at the end of the table before taking a sip of his beer,grabbing a wing, and glancing toward me. “Help yourself. Oh, I’m Cyrus, by the way.”

“Grace.” I grab a wing and devour it in a single bite. It’s a trick that my sister taught me where you slide the entire wing into your mouth and clean the meat before pulling out the bone.We really are refined people.

“Damn.” Cyrus grins and licks the tip of his finger before grabbing his napkin. “What’s a girl with tricks like that doing sitting alone?”

Is he flirting with me? I’m pretty sure he’s flirting with me.

Grabbing my own napkin, I wipe my face with a smirk I think is cute, but most likely looks creepy as hell. “I’m waiting for a friend. Plus, I’m not technically alone.” I rub my hand over my stomach. “I’ve got this guy to keep me company.”

“Oh shit. Are you pregnant?”

I nod. “Eight months.”

I decided a while back that I would never hide the fact that I had a kid. Not for a second, and not for anything or anyone.

“And you feel like being out at the bar?” The man strips a few of his own wings, speaking between bites. “My sister had a baby not too long ago, and she was a wreck by eight months. She said she felt like an alien had taken over her body.”

“Something like that. It’s… not so bad. I’ve had an easy pregnancy, thank God. I couldn’t imagine doing it alone if things were difficult.”

“Shit, that sucks. I’m sorry.”

“No, please. This is on me. I knew my ex was cheating, but I kept my head stuck in the sand… then boom, pregnant. Don’t worry, I left. I’m not raising a baby in that kind of environment. Apparently, he didn’t want anything to do with us either because he signed his rights away last month.”

The bearded giant eating wings narrows his brows. “What the hell? So, this whole thing is your responsibility, then?”

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