Page 132 of Nine Months to Love
“I can handle it.”
“Can you?”
“I’ve handled you so far, haven’t I?”
She splashes me. I retaliate by dunking her under. She comes up sputtering and laughing, water streaming down her face, mascara smudging under her eyes.
“You’re dead,” she warns.
“Bring it.”
We wrestle in the pool like children. She’s slippery and quick but I’m stronger, bigger, and far more ruthless. I pin her against the edge and kiss her until she stops fighting.
When we break apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“I want our baby to have a full family,” she says. I feel her tense against me. She knows she’s stepping into dangerous territory.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles.Love.” She pauses. “A real family. Not what we had. If we… We can do things right, Stefan. We can offer this baby grandparents.”
“Your parents have some things to change first. But if they do, I’m open to it.”
“Them, yes. But also?—”
“No.”
“Stefan—”
“No, Olivia.”
She pulls back to look at me. Her eyes are serious. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Yes, I do. And the answer is no.”
“Your mother?—”
“—is not a topic for discussion. Not here. Not now. Not ever.”
“But—”
“Drop it.”
Her mouth sets in a stubborn line. “I just think?—”
I kiss her, hard and deep, until she forgets whatever she was about to say. She puts her hands on my chest to make me slow down. “Stefan, please?—”
“Didn’t learn your lesson? Alright then. Round two it is.”
I kiss her again. My hands slide down her sides, over her hips, between her thighs. She’s wet, and not just from the pool.
“What are you doing?” she gasps.
“Distracting you.”
“It’s working.”
“Good.”
