Page 27 of Play Hard
“A baby,” Portia repeated.
Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist but kept his other hand on her stomach. “My baby is having our baby,” he said with a wide grin, and Portia nodded excitedly.
So you’re having my baby…
The lyrics from Jodeci’sForever My Ladyblasted through the space and there was laughter and more applause. From the side of the stage where the control board that operated the sound system was located, Camy shrugged. “It’s the only song I could think of that said something about having a baby.”
Laughter and more applause grew louder as Ethan had both arms around his wife now and he lifted her into the air to turn her in circles as the song played. I was happy as hell for my brother and his wife. Ecstatic, actually, because I knew this was something Ethan had never considered possible. None of us thought we’d survive past the rowdy teenage years we’d lived but we had. The careers we sought were just hopes and dreams, but we were never really certain that our riotous past was behind us. Tonight, it seemed that Ethan was heading straight into a beautiful future, one where he had the woman he loved and the baby they’d created.
As if she were calling me, my gaze immediately found Serra’s in the crowd. She smiled and lifted her glass as if to toast to the lucky couple. I nodded because I knew exactly what she was thinking. The same thing I was. That Ethan and Portia were indeed lucky to have found love and family. Serra put the glass to her lips and tossed back the contents while I squeezed my fingers into fists. Drinking wasn’t an option for me, not beyond one beer while I was working and no more than two when I was at home or hanging at one of my brothers’ homes. I hadn’t been addicted to alcohol, but any vice for me needed to be something I couldn’t use as a crutch when the pain from my injury hit or guilt and anxiousness rested on my shoulders again.
So I looked away from Serra and waited my turn to congratulate Ethan and Portia when they came back to the bar area. Focusing on my happiness for them, instead of thoughts ofwhat might’ve been between me and Serra was the best I could do to keep from losing my shit in front of everyone.
CHAPTER 12
Noah
With the happy news I offered to close for Ethan so he and Portia could get home and do what got them into this joyous situation in the first place. We closed at midnight, even on weekends, because again, we were trying to remain as friendly a spot as possible. If we stayed open as long as most bars, no doubt we’d be playing directly into the town council’s hands. The moment something popped off—a fight, somebody leaving here drunk and running into another vehicle killing those inside, someone threw up on the sidewalk, or anything out of the way—at a late hour, the council would have the ammunition they needed to start the process of revoking our licenses and having us shut down.
That was Deputy Mayor Shiloh Reeves’ goal from the moment we came back. Shiloh was older than us. His younger brother, Pilot, had been in one of Lance’s classes, I think. And none of us ever bothered with his geeky ass. But he wanted to fit in with us so one day he stole his daddy’s car and ran that shiny Cadillac SUV right into the lake. Now, that wasn’t any of our faults, but somehow—as they tended to do around here—the blame fell on us for being a bad influence because Pilot said he was on his way to the basketball court where we liked to hang outbefore our curfew at the House. None of us got into any trouble for the lie, but it was another blemish on a reputation none of us had intentionally created.
Dropping down onto the chair I was supposed to be turning over on the empty table, I sighed. At least every other day I wondered why the hell I’d come back. There were so many memories here, so much shit that had piled up in the time I’d had no other choice but to stay here. Leaving for college had been a blessing that, again, I hadn’t really thought would happen. But I was surprisingly smarter than anyone, including me, had ever believed. So when my guidance counselor suggested I at least take the SATs to see what might happen, and when I passed, fill out some college applications, I figured I was just going with the flow. Doing what was expected of me instead of continuing to perpetuate the consensus that I wasn’t shit and was never gonna be shit.
Yes, that’s what the arresting officer said to me the night he walked into my mother’s living room and placed me in cuffs. It didn’t help that about a month before, he’d caught me givin’ his daughter backshots behind the community center. But that shit had been her idea, not mine. The familiar heaviness in the center of my shoulders started, and I leaned forward to drop my elbows on my knees.
All night, since Portia and Ethan’s announcement, memories had been bombarding me. That day on the basketball court when Del had broken Mal Penning’s nose and a few of his boys acted like they were going to come for Del. Until we all closed around him waiting, almost willing one of them bitches to jump. The anger that had welled up inside of me that day and so many other times when defending myself or someone I loved was my only option. Even if taking that option always landed me in trouble. All those thoughts combined with us not getting the permits and now needing to come up with a plan B for the fieldday event had been steadily piling up, until I felt like I was once again being pushed into a corner I would have no choice but to fight my way out of.
Hearing that Ethan was gonna be a father was, at first, a great balm to the vicious pain that often came with memories, but it had been temporary. The moment Ethan and Portia left the bar, those thoughts settled over me once more. Dropping my head, I tried to breathe through the stabbing pain of a headache coming on.
“Hey, handsome,” she said, then pushed on my shoulders until I was once again upright in the chair. I knew her voice and her touch, still it took me a moment to register it was Serra standing in front of me.
And the second I did, it was too late to respond because she was climbing into my lap. And fuck, I wasn’t about to stop her. No, the bar wasn’t cleaned up yet, but Camy and Rylan were upstairs in the Lounge helping Del and Rock take care of that space. I’d insisted I could do downstairs on my own while Jeret and his crew were in the kitchen. I could’ve sworn Serra had gone upstairs with Camy. But now, she was here, letting her long legs hang off the chair around me, while her arms draped around my neck. If I was searching for a way to get those bad memories out of my head once more, I certainly had it now.
“So, I was thinking,” she said, scooting even closer so that her pussy was right above my dick. She wasn’t wearing a dress tonight like she had when we were in the elevator and I had her ass pressed against the back of my office door. And while she looked delectable in this jumper, I quickly missed the easy access I would’ve had with her in this position.
My hands immediately went to her thighs, lightly gripping them instead of inching my hands up to the breasts that almost spilled from the top of this garment. “What…” I gritted the oneword out as I tried to at least sound like I was thinking with the right head, “what were you thinking, pretty?”
She tilted her head and her bone-straight hair shifted to the side. Her eyes were a little low, but I chalked that up to it being late and she’d been here for almost four hours dancing and chatting with Camy and the crew. After the announcement, I’d stopped by their table a couple of times because I hadn’t been able to stay away much longer. I wanted to be near her and I wasn’t going to deny that. When she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, my dick jumped and I gripped her thighs tighter.
“That you should take me home tonight,” she said in a voice wet dreams were made of.
“You didn’t drive?” The stupid as hell, but also logical question rolled off my tongue. Whether she’d driven or not, when a hot as fuck woman sat in your lap and asked you to take her home—unless she was a psychopath or something like that—you weren’t supposed to question it.
She giggled. It was the cutest and most uncharacteristic thing I’d ever heard from her. Serra had a great sense of humor, if laughing until there were tears in her eyes at some old ass episode ofI Love Lucycounted for anything. I preferred action or sci-fi movies, but on the occasions when we agreed to watch or attend a comedy show, her laughter had never sounded like this. And I was deadass losing my shit for focusing so much on the sound of her voice, rather than the way she’d scooted even closer so that I was sure she felt every pulse of my dick against her covered mound.
“I did,” she said, pressing her palms to the back of my head. “But I don’t wanna get in that car by myself and driveallllthe way back to the lake house.”
The way she drew out that one word had my hands involuntarily inching up her thighs until I gripped her hips.
“If you take me home with you, I won’t be lonely.”
Her tone was a throaty whisper…and shit! I was lightheaded with how fast all the blood from my body settled in my groin. My gaze had been resting on her lips as she spoke. The peachy gloss I’d noticed on them earlier in the night was long gone. Her bottom lip was just a bit thicker than her top one.
“If I take you home, I won’t be able to stop at just kissing and only touching you.” I wasn’t going to lie or mislead her. Not that I’d ever do that to any woman. If I only wanted sex, that’s exactly what I said to be sure we were on the same page. Ambiguity wasn’t my thing.
She swiped her tongue over that bottom lip, and I couldn’t help it, I groaned.
“I don’t want you to stop.” Her hands cupped the back of my head, and she leaned down, touching those pretty lips to mine in a feather-like kiss.
