Boyfriend Material (Hawthorne University, #2)(79)

I groan at the feel of her warm heaven.

Ah, it’s almost too much to take.

It’s sublime, like discovering a new, better part of myself.

“Fucking after saying ‘I love you’ is the best,” I say on a growl.

She laughs again and I like that. That she and I are open and free—even during sex.

I guide her hands above her head, lace my fingers through hers, and plunge back inside her.

“Wherever you are, I’ll be,” I tell her as we fuck.

She puts her hand on my heartbeat. As if it grounds her. Then she pulls herself up so we can press our foreheads together.

My skin is covered in sweat, and I want to make this perfect.

I want to make this everything for her because she’s everything to me.

“Fuck, Julia, tell me this is forever.”

“I promise.” She gazes up at me, glistening and flushed, her muscles straining as she meets my thrusts.

“I love you,” I rasp because I need to make sure she understands. I’ve gone so long without love that I need to know it’s still there.

I lift her ass off the bed and drive into her. Every time I pull out, even just a little, my world ends.

I need faster. More.

My hands go to her waist, lifting and lowering her, muscles straining as I try to wait for her to come again.

When she comes, I can’t take my eyes off her. I’m awed that I can feel this close to another person. Awed that she wants to be mine. I spent so much time in the dark, and now that she’s here, everything about our future’s so fucking bright.

I toss my head back and roar my release, pumping into her until there’s nothing left of me.

Bliss.

She curls into my arms, and I drift my hand over her hair.

She loves me without judgment.

She accepts the challenges of my issues with Kurt. With my family.

She is what motivates me to face the world.

And no matter what challenges we face, she’s here.

Unconditionally.





EPILOGUE





Some years later…





Eric





“Eric, you aren’t taking our five-year-olds axe throwing at some bar,” Julia calls out as she helps Kurt, one of our triplets, out of the creek. He’s totally me at his age. Carefree, wily, and always ready to play tricks on his siblings, Kara and Kelli.

He and his two sisters, plus Z and Sugar’s two boys, Evander and Nash, age six and four respectively, have been climbing up a flat rock and jumping into the basin of a small waterfall. It’s not even a foot drop into the water but you’d think they were on the Olympic team for diving. They call it “cliff jumping.” My lips twitch.

Kurt has his typical mischievous (maniacal) grin on his face as he sticks his cold hands on Julia’s stomach. The water is freezing, a stream that trickles down the Blue Ridge Mountains in Ellijay, Georgia.

Julia smirks as she bends down and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m so hot your cold hands don’t bother me, munchkin.” She boops him on the nose. “Axe throwing is dangerous, and don’t you ever do it.”

“Swing me, mama, swing me,” he sings and she does, holding him under his arms as she twirls him around. She puts him back down on the pebbled rocks of the shore and he squeals in delight as he wraps his arms around her legs for a hug. Warmth spears me as I gaze at them, an almost tangible bond emanating from me to them. “Strings of love” is what Julia calls that feeling. Yeah, she’s more eloquent than me.

We hadn’t planned on having three kids at once. Hell, we hadn’t planned on getting pregnant a year after we got married, but hello, surprise baby. We went to the first ultrasound and saw that it wasn’t just one baby but three. We walked out of the doctor’s office in a daze. I don’t think we said a single word the entire drive back to our house. It didn’t really sink in until we started getting the nursery ready. Three cribs, three changing tables, pacifiers, toys, bouncy chairs, and so many fucking diapers. We had a walk-in closet entirely dedicated to Pampers. And when they were born, I was right there holding her hand, praying to God to let Julia and my babies be okay.

It wasn’t easy being a second-year rookie in the NHL and a father of three. Yet, unexpected things in life can be the blessing you never knew you wanted. We wouldn’t change anything about how our life fell into place.

Kurt lets her go and races back to the rock where the others are waiting for him. He’s wearing flamingo swim trucks that come down past his knees and a long sleeve white swim shirt. His longish hair sticks out everywhere under a floppy Capitals hat.

Kara is poised to jump in, but he hip checks her out of the way and dashes off the rock in front of her. He lives for thrills. He may act like me, but he looks like Julia with his sweet brown eyes and dark hair. But Kara and Kelli? Those two have my signature hair. Kara is the “mom” of the triplets—she was born first—while Kelli is the quiet genius behind their plots to overthrow the parentals.

Kara shakes her fist at Kurt when he pops up from the water. I can’t hear what she’s saying but I’m sure it’s all about rules and “know your place” and “I was born first so I’m the oldest” kind of thing. I’m still chuckling as Julia turns to me and puts her hands on her hips.