Roping Melanie by Melissa Ellen

25

Melanie

What the hell just happened?

I stood alone in the hallway, watching Nash’s retreating back. The moment I’d stepped into Dudley’s with Josh, I knew things looked bad. But I didn’t exactly have the chance to explain it all.

“There you are,” Conley said, walking into the hallway, blocking my view. “I was wondering—” She took one look at my face and stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I swiped at a tear that was rolling down my cheek.

“Nope. Not buying it.” She marched to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the stock room.

I expected her to pepper me with a million questions, instead she swallowed me in her arms, forcing me into an awkward hug around her pregnant belly.

The comforting embrace caused the dam to break and the tears to fall harder.

“Oh good lord, honey. Don’t cry. No man is worth it.”

“I don’t even know why he’s so angry. I mean I do, but it’s because he misunderstood—”

“Okay, slow down. Tell me what happened.”

I did. I told Conley everything. About Nash being Avery’s father, the secret rendezvouses, about the champagne, my car breaking down, that day in the doctor’s office, and finally showing up here with Josh and being surprised to find Nash.

“Okay. That’s a lot to unravel.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you.”

“No. You definitely should have a long time ago. Just give me a minute to process. Pregnancy brain and all.” She smirked.

A small chuckle slipped from my mouth as I wiped away the rest of the tears.

“First,” she said firmly. “He’s an idiot.”

I nodded.

“Second, so are you.”

I started to nod again, but stopped as soon as her words registered. “Wait, what?”

“For heaven’s sake woman, why would you want to keep that man a secret? Why would you not explain the situation to him with your car and Josh immediately knowing the history? If he’d shown up here with the nurse, how would you feel about that?”

“I’d be pissed.”

“Exactly.” She jabbed a pointed finger at me. “And he would have some immediate explaining to do. You should have told him when he asked. It might have saved you both a whole lot of heartache.”

“God, you’re right.” I dropped my head into my hands. I was as bad at this as him. “I know you’re right. I just didn’t want the whole town to get wind of all our business.”

“I get it girl. Trust me. I lived in the spotlight for way too long. But the whole world knew my business,” she said, referring to her past relationship with her ex who happened to be a very popular rock star. “Speaking from a lot of experience, you can’t let the opinions of others determine how you two carry on with your relationship.”

“Except Avery.”

“Least of all Avery.”

I sat back, my brows furrowing.

“Just hear me out,” she said with her palms up. “I know I’m new to parenthood and all, but the one thing you’ve got to remember is a relationship is between two people. You and him. Not even Avery should have a say in that. The only thing she needs to know is that no matter what happens between you two, you’ll both always love her.”

I chewed on my lip as I considered everything she was saying. “You’re definitely better at this than Tim.”

She laughed, her hands dropping to cup her baby bump.

“What do you think about him not calling for days?” I asked.

“That one is a little tougher. And something only he can answer.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

She waved me off. “Don’t mention it.”

“I guess I should get back out there before something else goes wrong.”

Conley gave me another big hug, then looped her arm through mine as we walked side-by-side back to the reception.

The moment my parents dropped me at home, I carried Avery to bed. She’d passed out on the drive home, having been so exhausted from running around all night and dancing with her friends. I couldn’t blame her. Having been physically and mentally exhausted, I dozed off myself the moment we drove away.

Once she was tucked into her bed, I closed her bedroom door, leaving it only slightly cracked. Then I jumped in the shower, needing to wash away all the dirt and grime. I used the opportunity to think about everything that happened between Nash and me, along with Conley’s words of wisdoms.

Walking out of bathroom and heading for my bedroom, I towel-dried my hair. My phone dinged with a new text alert from where it sat on my night stand. I picked it up and sat on my bed as I read it.

Nash: I’m sorry. I’m a jerk. An idiot. And everything in between. Call me when you can.

Not waiting another second, I dialed his number.

“Hey,” he answered immediately.

“Hey . . . so, I was thinking about what you said . . . and you’re right.”

“About what?”

“I think it’s time we tell Avery.”

“I’m coming over.”

The moment I heard Nash’s truck outside, I jumped from the couch and headed for the door. I yanked it open before he could knock, catching him with his fist in the air.

He took one look at me in my thin tank and pajama shorts and then his mouth was on mine. Kissing me, walking me backward, he kicked the front door closed behind us.

“Fuck. I’m sorry,” he said between hard kisses and his roaming hands.

“Shut up,” I ordered, pulling his mouth back to mine. We had a million things to talk about. But right now, we needed this. To feel each other, the connection, the chemistry between us. We just needed to be in the moment.

I broke away, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hallway to my bedroom. I tugged him inside, then turned and shut the door, locking it behind me. I pressed my back against the door as I caught my breath and appreciated the view before me.

“You’re a vision,” he said, taking the words right out of my mouth. “Come here.” He held out his hand.

I closed the short distance between us, slipping my palm into his.

He threaded our fingers and raised his other hand to my face, cupping my cheek. Our eyes locked on each other as he dipped his head, giving me the gentlest of kisses. Slowly, we began to strip each other. With each piece of clothing lost, the fervor of our kisses increased until I was pushing him onto the bed and climbing on top.

With my legs straddled on each side of his thighs, he gripped my hips with a sexy smile growing on his face. “Show me what you’ve got, cowgirl.”

“Think you can last longer than eight seconds?” I teased.

“I think we both know I can.” He smirked.

I slid down onto him, giving him my full weight as he filled my core. The pads of his fingers dug into my skin. His hips bucked upward, thrusting deeper inside me in response, and his eyes fell shut. As I began to move up and down and swirl my hips, his eyes met mine once again. We watched each other with rapt attention. Every swivel, every thrust, I fell deeper into the light green pools of his eyes.

I planted my hands on his chest and kissed up his jaw and then over to his lips. He fisted the hair at the back of my head before flipping us.

Increasing his pace, he drove inside me harder, faster. My orgasm began to build as I met his every punishing thrust. But then it was gone, and he was flipping me again. This time to my knees with my ass in the air.

“Fuck,” he growled from behind me, palming a cheek in his hand and squeezing as he slid back inside me. “I’ve been dreaming about this ass for weeks now.”

With slow, deliberate movements, he pumped inside me. Within seconds, the familiar sensation was building once again. His arm snaked around my waist and his hand cupped me between my legs. He rubbed his thumb against my clit, pushing me over the edge moments before his body tensed with his own release. I bit down on the pillow to muffle my moans so I wouldn’t wake Avery as Nash thrusted hard inside me a final time.

He rolled the two of us over, cradling me in his arms with my back to his chest. He dotted kisses over my shoulder, then sighed. “I think I like make-up sex the best. We should fight more often.”

I elbowed him lightly in the ribs with a laugh then turned in his arms, so I could see his handsome face. He kissed my lips before pulling back to stare at me.

“I found your car.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry how I acted. And I took care of it. I called a tow, and it’s at the mechanics in town. He said he’d take a look at it first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you.” I hadn’t even noticed it was no longer on the side of the road since I’d been asleep on the way home. “And it wasn’t all your fault. I should’ve explained to you what had happened the moment I saw you.”

“What did happen?”

“It died on me when I was headed to the liquor store to find some missing bottles of champagne. I’d been in such a rush to get them, I left my phone at the bar. I was walking to town when Josh drove by and offered to give me a lift.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here in time to help. I’m glad he came along when he did. I was a jealous idiot. I just thought with the two of you showing up together and the looks you kept giving him every time I wanted to be near you or dance—”

“Yeah. I know. I’m sorry. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to dance with you. It was that he’d asked me earlier, and I’d told him I couldn’t. I just didn’t want to hurt his feelings by turning around and dancing with you.”

“So instead of hurting his you hurt mine?”

“Well, when you put it like that . . . Look, I know I messed up too. This whole thing between us has been difficult and then add in the fact that I haven’t dated since before Avery—I’m a little out of practice.”

“Speaking of Avery, what are we going to tell her?”

I sighed and rolled to my back to look at the ceiling. “I’ve been thinking about it all night and honestly, I don’t think we have to say anything.”

Nash lifted to an elbow. “So then what? Are we not telling her?”

“No—Yes. I mean, what I’m trying to say is we don’t have to come out and say we are dating. Maybe we just don’t hide from it. If she sees us together and has questions, then we can talk to her about it. Explain that we don’t have all the answers, but that no matter what happens we will both always love her,” I said, telling him the sage advice Conley had given me.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah. You’ve done this parenting thing a lot longer than I have and you know Avery better than anyone. I trust you and your opinion.”

I sat up, cupping his face between my palms and planting a big kiss on his lips. He fell onto his back as I did, pulling me on top of him. I laughed and gave him another quick kiss.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” he asked.

“What?”

“We get to have our own slumber party.” He grinned then rolled us. I laughed as he pulled the sheets over both our heads.