It Started with a Crush by Piper James

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chase

Ididn’t get another chance to catch Sage alone after dinner last night, and Noah, Ethan, and I had to leave early to get Daniel home to bed. He tuckered himself out with all the baby excitement, and was yawning by eight-thirty. So with one last longing glance at the auburn-haired beauty who haunted my dreams, I left without so much as a goodbye kiss.

As I lay in bed that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the image that had popped into my head when Belle and Ryder had announced their pregnancy. I looked at Sage, and all I could see was her, her belly swollen with my child. My heart had pattered in a syncopated rhythm and my breath had hitched as my body temperature spiked to a near-unbearable degree.

I’d managed to push the thought away for the rest of dinner, and spent the entire two hours it took me to fall asleep lambasting myself for the idiotic thought—and my positive reaction to it. We’d been on two dates and had one sleepover, not counting the fun we had in Belle’s bathroom. There was no way in hell I should’ve been imagining her pregnant with my child. It was preposterous. Insane.

Yet, somehow, extremely appealing.

I felt like hell warmed over this morning from tossing and turning all night. And my short fuse proved it.

“Jesus, what crawled up your ass and died?” Noah complained after I snapped at him for the third time this morning.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, shooting him an apologetic look. “I didn’t get very much sleep last night.”

“What’s going on?” Ethan asked.

I looked out the window to see Daniel playing happily in the yard with his bugs and rocks, then moved back to slump on the couch.

“It’s Sage,” I sighed.

“Trouble in paradise?” Noah asked gently.

“No. That’s just it. Things are great. Better than great, actually. It’s the whole ‘keeping it a secret’ thing that’s killing me. I like her so much, I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want to take her out around town and show everyone she’s mine. I want…more.”

“Have you told her that?” Ethan asked, tilting his head to study me.

“No. I can’t. She’s determined to keep this thing between us under wraps. I understand her reasoning—really, I do—but it doesn’t make it any easier. And I really hate lying to Daniel.”

“You haven’t lied to him, technically speaking,” Noah offered, then snapped his mouth shut at my dark look.

“Lying by omission is still lying,” I muttered.

“I think you should talk to Sage,” Ethan said.

He’d always been the most cool-headed and logical of the four of us. He looked at everything clinically, putting emotion aside, and found the most reasonable solution to any problem. He never did anything on a whim, didn’t let his feelings make any decisions for him, and sure as hell never threw caution to the wind and took a leap of faith. He was pragmatic.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to put more pressure on her. She’s already going against her better judgment, jumping into this thing with me. I’m sorry I’ve been an asshole all morning. I’ll get my head on straight soon, I promise.”

Hopefully, it was a promise I could keep.

* * *

“Hey,”I said when Sage answered my call.

The sun was finally setting, and Daniel went out for some ice cream with Ethan. Noah had gone to the big box store in town, Bull’s Eye, to pick up some beer and junk food. I was finally alone, for once, and all I could think about was talking to Sage.

“Hi,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “What are you up to?”

Missing you. That was the first thought that popped into my head. Instead, I said, “Not much. Ethan took Daniel out for dessert, and Noah is gone, so I thought I’d give you a call instead of texting. What are you doing?”

“Just listening to music while I grade papers,” she said. “I could use a break, so your timing is perfect.”

There was a short silence, and all I could think about was Ethan’s advice. I could still hear his voice telling me to just air my feelings. I pushed it away, and settled back against my pillows.

“Glad to be of service,” I said. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Anything but grammar and long division,” she said, laughing. “How excited are you to be an uncle?”

“So excited,” I replied. “I can finally repay Ryder for all the loud, obnoxious toys he bought for Daniel when he was a baby.”

She chuckled. “Baby’s getting a drum set, right?”

“At the bare minimum,” I said.

“Just remember Belle lives there, too. And she doesn’t deserve your vengeance. Neither does Thanos.”

“You’re right, as usual,” I sighed. “Maybe I’ll start with a tambourine.”

“I’m so happy for them,” she said on a sigh. “That is going to be one spoiled baby, between his or her uncles and honorary aunts.”

“Don’t forget Max and Marshall,” I said.

Belle’s brothers lived in Georgia with their wives, but I was sure they’d make several trips per year out here to see their newest niece or nephew.

“And it was so adorable how excited Daniel was,” Sage said.

I almost mentioned his request for a little brother or sister on the car ride home last night, but I refrained. I didn’t want Sage to think I was hinting at anything—and I totally would be. Fuck. I was imagining her pregnant with my child again, and my dick was hardening.

“Yeah, he’s pretty stoked,” I said, my voice cracking a little.

“You okay?”

Of course, she caught that. I needed to think of something, quick. Something that had nothing to do with her mothering my future children.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just hearing your voice is making me hard.”

What? What the fuck? God, I’m a dumbass. Why did I say that?

“Sorry,” I said when she didn’t respond. “I don’t know why I said that.”

“It’s okay,” she said, and there was something different about her voice.

It was deeper. Huskier. Like…

“Are you turned on right now?” I asked before I could stop myself.

She made a choking sound, and I sat up a little straighter. My dick was fully erect, now, and I really wanted to see where this would go.

“Sage?” I asked.

“Yeah?” she squeaked.

“Where are you right now?”

“On my couch,” she said, her voice a little stronger.

“I’m in my bed,” I said, my tone husky. “I’m wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and my cock is hard as a fucking rock.”

I shut up then, waiting to see what she would say. I didn’t want to push her into something she didn’t feel comfortable with. But God, I hoped she’d decide to play with me. I’d never had phone sex before—the idea never appealed to me. Until now.

“Maybe you should wrap your hand around it,” she said finally.

The breath whooshed out of me, and I shoved my hand down my shorts to grab my dick. “What now?”

I could hear her panting through the phone, and I wondered if she was touching herself. Just the thought made my dick jump in my hand.

“You should stroke it. Slowly,” she breathed.

“Mm, that feels good,” I groaned as I started to move my hand as she instructed. “What are you wearing right now?”

“A tank top and shorts,” she murmured.

“No bra?”

“No bra,” she confirmed.

“Are your nipples hard?”

“Yes.”

“You should touch them.”

She moaned quietly, telling me she was doing what I said. I stroked my hand a little faster.

“Does that feel good?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“Feel yourself with your other hand, and tell me how wet you are,” I said, and I heard the echo as she put me on speakerphone to free up both of her hands.

This was fucking crazy. Insane. But fuck, if I wasn’t enjoying it. Not as much as actually having her in my arms, but close.

“I’m drenched,” she said, a tell-tale shudder in her voice.

“Are you teasing your clit right now? Pretend it’s my tongue. You taste like heaven.”

The sounds she was making were music to my ears, making me pump my hand faster as I chased my climax. I could see her in my mind, her back arched as she pleasured herself, and fuck…I was about to come.

“I’m gonna come, baby. Are you close?”

“I’m close,” she breathed.

“Push a finger in your sweet pussy.”

She made some sort of choked gurgling sound like she was drowning, but before I could comment, she let out a not-so-quiet howl. My dick exploded at the sound of her coming, a whole bucket’s worth of jizz coating my hand and stomach inside my shorts.

“Yes,” I groaned, my voice deep and gravelly as I drew the word out.

I was breathing hard, and so was she, and the silence between us grew a little awkward. Finally, I laughed.

“Well, that was definitely interesting,” I said, grinning like an idiot.

“Definitely,” she agreed, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Better than BOB?” I asked in a joking voice.

“Oh, yeah. Way better than him,” she said.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” I said, my voice growing a little desperate.

“Dinner in Oakley tomorrow night?” she asked.

“Antonio’s?” I suggested.

“Sounds good. Six o’clock?”

“It’s a date,” I said.

We ended the call shortly after. I needed to get myself cleaned up before the others got home. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, though, and thankfully Noah and Ethan kept their questions to themselves, despite their curious looks at my suddenly good mood.

Daniel was happily oblivious, hyped up on sugar after the fudge sundae he ate with Ethan. I was hyped up, too. Not on sweets, but something more savory.

I was hyped up on Sage.