Stolen Course by Aly Martinez
“I just found out yesterday. I was headed back up to Chicago this weekend to visit Sarah, so I figured we’d talk then.”
“I wish you had called.”
“I wasn’t sure what to say. This is all so surreal. I mean, I was on the pill. And let’s be honest here—they make lifetime movies about shit less dramatic than our relationship. And on top of all that…I’m really scared.”
“Oh, Emmy…” I let out a loud sigh and lean in to finally kiss her lips to show her some sort of reassurance. And while I’m at it, to selfishly take a little for myself too.
She quickly leans away. “What are you doing?”
“I’m about to make up for two months of separation.” I follow her forward but never quite reach her mouth.
“I think you may have the wrong idea about things,” she says uncomfortably, rolling away and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“We’ll figure it out, Emmy.” I desperately try to pull her back into…Hunter’s bed. Fuck that. “Get dressed. We’re going to a hotel.” I need to get away from here. I don’t care if they are just friends. I’m not taking her in another man’s bed. And trust me—I will be burying myself inside Emma tonight.
“We’re not going to a hotel. It’s the middle of tourist season. A hotel in downtown Savannah will cost a small fortune.”
“I don’t care if I have to sell my left kidney to pay for it. We are not staying here tonight. Get dressed,” I repeat, pulling on my boots and heading to the door to make sure it’s shut and locked before she starts getting dressed.
“Caleb, we don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Get dressed, sweetheart.” I watch as she crosses the room.
She’s wearing nothing but a soft grey camisole and tiny pink shorts that I’m not sure are actual shorts or underwear.
“Stop staring,” she says, pulling on jeans and a T-shirt.
“Please tell me you don’t walk around the house in that.”
“Oh Lord, no. Alex would die of an aneurism.”
“Good. I knew I liked him.” I grab her hand and head for the door.
“Hunter! I need your keys!” Emma shouts.
I prepare myself to exchange a few words with Hunter, but to my surprise, it’s Alex who steps into my path.
“If she comes home crying, I will slaughter you. I’ve known Emma for over fifteen years, and I’ve seen her cry more in the last two months than I have in all those years combined. Man the fuck up, put your personal bullshit aside, and worry about her for once,” he says, staring down at me. I want to say something dickish back to him, but he’s fucking right.
“She’ll be okay. I swear.”
“She better be.” He turns and walks back over to where Hunter is standing with Emma.
“Call me if you need anything.” Hunter kisses her forehead, and it takes all I have not to rip his lips from his face.
“Come on, Emmy. Let’s go.”
“JESUS, YOU really must have sold a kidney for this room.” I walk into a huge suite in the new hotel right on River Street.
“Nah, it wasn’t that bad. No worries. All my organs are securely intact.” He smirks. God, I’ve missed him. “You hungry or thirsty? How do you feel?” he asks as concern slides over his face. His gaze flashes back and forth from my eyes to my stomach (with the occasional rake over my breasts).
“I’m fine. Can we sit and talk?”
“Yeah, of course.” He motions for me to move to the couch.
No sooner than my butt hits the fabric, he slides in beside me—mouth aimed for mine. I barely have enough time to turn my head and dodge it. We have a lot of words that need to be said before we get to that point. I ache for Caleb’s touch, but I know myself. If I kiss him now, I’ll never want to stop and we will end up right back where we were months ago. I’m like an alcoholic when it comes to him. If I take even one taste, I’ll be a goner.
“Please. We have a lot to figure out,” I plead.
He groans into my hair but never moves away.
I can’t think with him this close. I breathe in a deep whiff of all that is Caleb and quickly begin to lose my resolve. The image of Caleb pushing me down on to the couch while I drag my tongue up his neck has me letting out a soft moan.
“For fuck’s sake, start talking, Emmy. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to keep my hands off you.”
“I don’t blame you for the wreck,” I start, but my voice is thick with desire.
“I know.” He pulls away, but not before grazing his teeth across my shoulder. “We were both pissed and said some really shitty stuff. I didn’t mean it—any of it. If I could go back, I would have handled that so much differently. I’m sorry, Emmy. ”
I nod, knowing that, yesterday, this would be an extremely serious and more in-depth conversation, but now, we have much bigger issues to deal with.
“I’m pregnant,” I say, chewing on my bottom lip.
“So I’ve heard. Sarah was all too happy to let me know this morning.” He leans back and runs a hand over his face.
“I’m so sorry. She called me as I was leaving the doctor yesterday. I shouldn’t have said anything, but she could tell I was upset. She just kept asking until I finally broke and told her. Yesterday was really rough for me.”
“You should have called. I would have been here last night.”
“I wanted to tell you in person. I was heading up on Saturday. I’ve been back and forth from Chicago for the last six weeks. I fly up for a few days once a week.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I wanted to see Sarah, and I needed to keep my business going for when she gets out.”
“Why the hell didn’t you just stay up there? That must have cost you a fortune.”
“Well I definitely accumulated some frequent-flyer miles,” I offer a small grin, but judging by the look he is giving me, it’s not enough of an answer. “I didn’t trust myself to be near you,” I whisper, and his eyes immediately go soft.
“Come here.”
He doesn’t have to say it twice. I move toward him and melt completely into his strong arms. He kisses the top of my head before dragging me across his lap. I nuzzle into his neck and ask him the real question.
“How do you feel about me being pregnant?”
“I have no fucking idea. I wish I could tell you I’m giddy with excitement, but that would be a lie. I just don’t know. On one hand, I love you. On the other, we’re not exactly in the best place right now, and adding a baby to the mix just seems like a clusterfuck.” He answers honestly, and even though he’s right, it still hurts to hear him say it. This isn’t how this was supposed to happen, but it’s not like either one of us can change it now.
“You should know you can be as involved or uninvolved as you want. I don’t want you to feel trapped, and Hunter said—”
“Fuck Hunter! If the next words out of your mouth have anything to do with him and my baby, I can’t be held responsible for how I react.”
“You’re acting like a dick.” I sit up with a full-blown smile spread wide across my face. “I’ve missed you. You’re such an ass, but I’ve really fucking missed it.”
“God, Emmy. You have no idea how hard the last two months have been.”
I finally give in, and against my better judgment and all rational thinking, I lean forward and touch my mouth to his. I figured Caleb would devour me, but the slow, soft kiss he places on my lips is even better.
With his eyes wide open, his perfect lips move across my mouth. He slides a hand into my hair and the other around my back, forcing me against his chest. I go more than willingly. I move to straddle him, needing a connection. Even the one inch of space between us is too much. I need more.
“I need you, Caleb.” I move to unbuckle his jeans, but he grabs my hands.
“Not yet, Emmy. I want this figured out. All of it. Because I want you to know that when I touch you this time, I will never ever let you go again.”
“Okay.” I
“Stop,” he growls, taking my lips in another gentle kiss.
“All right, all right. Where should we start? The baby?” I peek at him through my lashes, not quite sure I want to have this conversation at all.
“I love you. And this is shitty timing, but I think as long as I have you, we can deal with the rest of it together.” He lets out a sigh and rubs his thumb across my cheek.
I look around the room, trying to avoid his gorgeous blue eyes. I know I’m going to cry the minute I land on them.
I try to collect myself but continue to look down. “What about Sarah? Avoiding her didn’t exactly work out so well. I can’t just sit by and watch you spend hours chasing dead ends that may or may not ruin her.”
“Now this is where it gets tricky.” He touches my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. “Emma, I hate her. I will for the rest of my life for what she did—what she took from me. The blame game is a slippery slope, and I can’t seem to find my way off it. You have always been amazing about my past—about Manda. You were even understanding to a point about the way I feel about Sarah. I think that’s why I love you so much. You’re so confident and strong, which is basically the exact opposite of me these days.
“So here it is. I want this with you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. You can’t ask me to like Sarah, but you can ask me to stop obsessing about the hate. So ask.” He stops talking, but my eyes go blurry. Of all the things I expected from Caleb, the words that just came out of his mouth were my absolute best-case scenario. Ones I never even dared to dream about. “Ask,” he urges me as the tears escape my eyes.
“Stop with the box. Stop trying to break her. If you succeed, it would break me too.”
“So. Ask,” he repeats once again, waiting for me to find the right question.
“Love me more than you hate her. Please,” I plead.
A small smile creeps across his face and he uses the pads of his thumbs to wipe under my eyes. “I can do that.”
He suddenly stands with me in his arms and strides across the room to the bed. Gently laying me down, he positions himself on top of me, careful to avoid resting his weight on my stomach.
As he trails kisses up my neck, he stops at my ear and whispers, “I tossed the box the day you mailed back the ring.”
“What?” I breathe in disbelief.
“I’ve been trying to get my shit together so that when I came for you, you couldn’t say no. You had no idea, but I never planned to let you go despite your little ‘move on’ text.”
“What text?” I scratch my nails down the back of his neck.
“The text you sent that night.”
“Ah, that was Hunter. I didn’t trust myself with my phone. I knew you would text when you got the package.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, I really hate that guy.”
“He did tell me you regretted trying.”
“I’d apologize, but I think you know I’m a dick by now.” He slides a hand teasingly under the edge of my shirt. “And apparently you missed it.” He gives me a wink.
“You threw it away?” I ask again, running my fingers through his hair.
He doesn’t say anything, just nods against my chest as he pulls down the neckline of my T-shirt to gain access to my cleavage.
“Come home with me in the morning. Move in with me, Emmy. I refuse to sleep another night away from you.” He sits up to allow me more room to pull his shirt off.
“I can’t. Sarah will need someone when she gets to come home. In a few months, they are going to start letting her do two weekends a month at home.”
“Then stay at her place on those weekends, but you’re living with me the rest of the time.” It’s not a question. It’s a command. “You and that baby are mine. I want you under my roof permanently.”
My chest warms at the idea of us as a family. I sit up and he drags my shirt over my head.
“If I say okay, will you stop talking and make love to me?”
“Absolutely.”
He scoops a finger down into my bra to brush against my tender nipples. My back arches up off the bed when he makes contact. Fire spreads across my body and down to my core, drenching me.
“I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t stop touching me,” I whisper as my hips begin to rock, searching for some type of friction.
Caleb drops his mouth to my nipple, sucking it and swirling his tongue in a relentless pattern. He settles on his side, pulls down the other side of my bra, and begins a different rhythm with his hand on my other breast. He’s always been good with his hands, but this is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
“Oh God, Caleb,” I moan as he continues. Every stroke sends a wave directly between my legs. “I want you inside me.” I reach down, quickly trying to pull away my jeans.
“Not yet. Come for me, Emmy. Show me you missed me.” He quickly switches his mouth to my other breast, sending me into a complete spiral.
“Fuck, Caleb!” I come, calling his name.
He slowly drags his tongue across my nipple one last time before releasing. He looks up at me with his signature smirk that almost has me coming all over again.
“That. Was.” He stops and stands up to unbutton his pants. As soon as he pushes them to the ground, he crawls back up the bed. Wrapping an arm under my back, he drags me up the bed. “Unbelievable,” he finishes just before crashing his mouth into mine.
I CAN’T get close enough or deep enough. As my tongue rolls in Emma’s mouth, the emotions threaten to overtake me. I need to be inside her, but I’m honestly not even sure that will be enough. I can’t hold her tight enough to show her how I truly feel, and the words won’t do this moment any justice.
I slide her jeans down her perfectly toned legs and sit in awe as I look over her body and into her eyes. I knew it months ago, but here and now, I am not only ready to admit that my life will never be the same again, but I’m willing to embrace it. I watch for a minute as she moves under my hand. Very slowly, I slide my fingers over her, teasing the way up.
I can’t lose this woman again.
“You scare me,” I admit. “I’m thirty-three years old, and I’ve never in my life felt like this before. Never. And it makes me doubt every single moment of my past. In some ways, you make me feel more lost than ever.”
Her eyes flash to alarm, and she begins to sit up. I quickly silence her with a kiss. I don’t need her to talk. I need her to listen.
Pulling away only an inch, I continue, “You see, every emotion I ever knew to be real just exploded around me. Love. Hate. Compassion. Peace.” I pause to give her a soft kiss. “I’ve described you as a whirlwind from the very start, but that’s not true at all. Emmy, you are a natural disaster. You stormed in and stripped me bare. Say you’re going to stay and help me rebuild. Swear to me, this is it for you. Because it sure as hell is for me.”
She doesn’t say a word. Instead, she leans forward, taking my mouth into an agonizing kiss. Showing me emotions with her mouth that her words would never be able to convey. Careful not to break the kiss, I slide inside her.
“Caleb,” she breathes with the same contentment I feel in my chest. “You’re it for me,” she finally replies.
Five years after my life was stolen from me, in a hotel room in Savannah, Georgia, I finally reclaim it.
“I CAN’T believe you’re pregnant!” Kara screams across the room. “That might possibly be the best-looking baby ever born. You should alert the Guinness Book of World Records now!”
I laugh, propping my feet up on Caleb’s new coffee table. “I don’t know. Channing Tatum’s kid might have already secured that spot.”
“Oh please. Mrs. Tatum has nothing on you.” Kara’s serious tone only serves to make me laugh more.
“I can’t believe Caleb is going to be a dad,” Jesse says, setting down a plate of cookies “When are you due?”
“How is Sarah taking this?” Jesse asks. She’s not nosy like Kara. She’s genuinely concerned. Brett is a really lucky bastard.
“Okay, I guess. She’s not all that happy about me and Caleb. I think it’s still weird for her. In her eyes, Caleb will always be Manda’s fiancé and I’ll always be her baby sister. As soon as we got back, I sat her down with her counselor and explained that this was my life and not hers. She said she understood but her attitude says otherwise. I just ignore it.” I shrug and take a sip from the virgin daiquiri Jesse made me.
It’s girls’ night at Caleb’s house. Brett and Eli came over to help Caleb with some stuff out in his workshop, so Jesse brought Kara and came over to keep me company.
“And how are you and Caleb?” Jesse questions, picking up a cookie.
“Now that is the million-dollar question.” I sigh. “Caleb and I are great. Caleb and the baby are not so great.”
“What do you mean?” Jesse asks, concerned.
They both lean in close, ready for some good gossip.
“I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about the baby at all. When I bring up decorating the room or names or even doctor’s appointments, he basically shuts down.”
“Well, you know guys don’t get all excited about the planning the way women do. It’s probably just such an abstract idea for him at this point. It’s not like you have a big pregnant belly or anything yet.”
“Hey, I’ve got a little bump.” I rub my stomach.
“Oh please. I’ve eaten hamburgers that have made my stomach bigger than that,” Kara says, causing us all to laugh.
“Just give him some time. You watch. He’ll be passing out pink or blue cigars in no time.” Jesse tries to reassure me, but I can’t help that something just seems off.
Suddenly, Kara’s phone rings and she excuses herself outside to talk. I instantly see this as my moment to ask Jesse something that I’ve been dying to know.
“What really happened the night that Sarah broke into your apartment? I mean, I know the gist of it, but I get the feeling from everyone involved that it became some sort huge, life-altering moment in y’all’s lives, including Caleb’s.”