RICH BOY BRIT (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)(91)

“Just like that?” I asked.

“Just like that,” he said, smiling as he drew circles on my belly.

“Now, if only tomorrow would come!” I said.

“It’ll come before you know it,” Tyler said as he continued touching me.

***

The next day did come after a long, sleepless night. Tyler woke up before I did and came to get me from my room like I had forgotten.

“Are you coming?” he asked as he opened my bedroom door.

“Unless you want to take the test for me,” I said, giggling.

“No, my job is to deliver the sperm, that’s it,” he said, laughing as he ducked from a pillow I threw his way.

***

We arrived at the doctor’s office in record time without getting a speeding ticket. Tyler waited as the nurse called me and took some blood and urine. After a few minutes of the most agonizing wait ever, the nurse returned. I searched her face for a clue, but her face was blank.

“Jenn, you’re not pregnant.”

One part of me wanted to leap up in joy, while the other part wanted to cry for a baby I might have wanted. Then reality set in. Yeah, it would have been nice to be pregnant for Tyler, but maybe when we were more prepared. Even though a part of me was really disappointed, it was meant to be.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Are you using protection?” she asked.

“Well, not really,” I said, feeling a little ashamed because I should have known better.

“Well, take as many as you want and consider using them.” She pushed a basketful of condoms in every shape and size toward me. I grabbed a handful and stuffed them in my bag. I decided that Tyler and I were just too frisky and grabbed a couple more handfuls. Even if we had sex several times every day, we weren’t going to run out in the near future.

Tyler was in the waiting room, and as soon as I opened the door, he walked briskly to me. I shook my head. “We’re not?”

“Not this time,” I said.

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me in public. “I guess we have to keep working at it. “

“Yeah, with these.” I reached into my bag and handed him a couple of condoms.

“Yeah, I can work with this, maybe,” he said, smiling and kissing me again.

We got home and spent the day lounging and cooking dinner. Our plans were to talk to our parents about our relationship and let them know we loved each other. I expected Tyler’s mother to be okay with it because she was rather laid back, but I knew my dad would throw a fit.

“Maybe we should tell your mom and have her tell my dad?” I said as Tyler and I cleaned up the kitchen.

“That’s taking the easy way out. We can’t do that anymore.” I nodded. He was right—if we had to do this, we had to do it right.

A few minutes later, Tyler’s mom’s car pulled into the driveway, followed shortly by my dad’s. I swear they probably stopped somewhere together every evening, which is why they always showed up together. I imagined they stopped at a sleazy motel every evening to have mind-blowing sex before returning home. But that was a theory I had never tried to prove and probably won’t ever try to prove. I was excited they were happy together. We were mostly one big happy family, which was why I was having a hard time thinking about how I would make both of them understand my need for Tyler and his need for me.

“Hello, guys.” Tyler’s mom came in through the door first. “Wow, this place smells good. What did you guys cook?”

“Steak and potatoes,” I volunteered.

My dad came in soon after and made the same comment about the food. I hoped they liked it because that would make it much easier to talk to them after a full meal. I set the table and invited everyone in to dinner.

“What’s the occasion?” Lauren asked as I pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge.

“What do you mean? We always eat together.”

“Don’t play with me, young lady,” she said, smiling. I smiled back, happy she was in a good mood and hoping the mood would stay even after we told them our little story.

“They’re up to something,” my dad said as he opened the wine and poured it. “What are we toasting?”

“Family,” Lauren said.

“Secrets revealed,” I said, and everyone except Tyler put their glass down and looked at me.

“Are you pregnant?” Lauren asked.

“What?” my dad yelled. “You’re pregnant?”

“No, I’m not pregnant,” I said. I thought about how I had narrowly escaped that, but I didn’t think telling them about my almost-pregnancy was such a good idea.

“Phew. You almost gave me a heart attack!” Lauren said as she turned to my dad and smiled at him. He smiled back at her, and I smiled internally. If only they knew what I was about to say next.

“So, Tyler and I….” I started, but lost my confidence. I had prepared a whole speech, yet I forgot what I wanted to say when it mattered most. The adults turned to Tyler as if expecting him to complete my sentence.

“We’re dating!” he blurted out.

The two of us looked at our parents, expecting them to burst out laughing, yelling, screaming, shouting or something to show how they felt, but they did nothing but look at each other.

“Do you want to tell them?” my dad asked Lauren.