Crazy Girl(28)

“Have a good dinner, babe,” Deanna told him as we all cackled in the background. “We miss you,” she added as she rubbed her belly.

“One of you ladies kiss her belly for me,” he demanded. Courtney was on her knees in a heartbeat planting a firm kiss on Deanna’s stomach. Glancing at Kate, I made a frowny face because he was so sweet it melted my heart. Allen was too cute. We all said bye and Deanna closed the laptop, grabbing her mug of tea and taking a seat at the table with us.

“You guys are so disgustingly adorable, I don’t even know what to do with you,” Kate informed her.

“What can I say,” Deanna said. “I got lucky with that one.”

They were both lucky. Allen and Deanna Bronson were a storybook romance—high school sweethearts that fell in love their freshman year. Neither of them had been with another person—I don’t think it even occurred to Deanna how rare and awesome that was. They went to college together, got married, bought an amazing house, and now…they would have their baby. All of their dreams had come true and they deserved every bit of it. I was so proud of them.

“He didn’t do too bad himself,” Courtney added.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her then took a sip of my wine.

“Better. Been a little nauseous in the morning, but other than that I feel pretty good.” Lowering her head, she peeked up at us, her mouth twisting to the side as if she had a thought she wasn’t sure she wanted to share.

“What’s that look?” Kate asked.

Deanna scrunched her face up before letting out a huff. “I wanted to ask you guys, or Courtney and Kate, more specifically,” she cut a look to me that said sorry, though I had no idea what she’d be sorry for. “Did Will and Mike get kind of…I don’t know…weird about being physical when you guys were pregnant?”

Kate and Will had a two-year-old daughter named Willow, and Courtney and her baby-daddy had a son named Turner. Realizing I had absolutely nothing to offer on this subject, I leaned back, wine in hand, and readied myself to listen intently.

“Mike was a little standoffish at first, but things went back to normal after the first few months,” Courtney replied with honesty.

Kate chirped in, “Totally different for me. Will was all over me. He couldn’t get enough.”

Deanna sighed, seemingly not soothed by their responses as she tapped her fingers on the table.

“Is Allen not…in the mood these days?” I asked, gently. I didn’t think this was a soul-crushing subject for her, but I didn’t want to sound like I thought it was funny, in case she was more bothered by it than she was letting on.

“We’ve always had sex,” Deanna answered. “Often. Like we can’t get enough. But since we found out I’m pregnant, Allen just doesn’t seem interested.”

“Have you spoken to him about it?” Courtney asked as she popped a chip in her mouth.

Deanna’s mouth moved as if she were about to smile, but she stopped herself. “He says he’s afraid he’ll hurt the baby.”

Courtney choked on the chip as Kate and I fought the urge not to chuckle. “So he thinks his junk is so big he’ll hurt the baby?” Kate chortled causing Courtney and I to laugh.

Deanna finally let go and let the smile she’d been fighting seize her features. Holding her hands up as if to stop us, she said, “I know. He’s ridiculous.”

“So us telling him you were telling us how big he was probably wasn’t helpful?” Courtney managed to get out as she laughed. “Whoops.”

Deanna stood and grabbed a plate of brownies from the counter, placing them in the center of the table. “Definitely not. He probably thought you were joking, making fun of him. And I’ve tried to tell him he has nothing to worry about, that he can’t hurt the baby, but it hasn’t changed,” she huffed. “I know he loves me, but he won’t do it. I’m dying over here. And the less I get it, the more I want it,” she whined. We were all chuckling—with her—not at her. Okay, maybe a little at her. It was so unlike Deanna to talk candidly about her sex life, even with us, her best friends, so we knew she must be really frustrated.

“So you guys really haven’t had sex at all since you found out? Not even once?” Kate asked.

Deanna poked out her lower lip. “No.”

“Damn,” Courtney added. “Not even four months along and baby Bronson is already a huge cock-block.”

The three of us laughed while Deanna smirked, fighting the urge to join us. “That’s a terrible thing to say,” she finally murmured quietly before biting her lip. She may not have laughed, but the glimmer in her eyes said she thought it was just as humorous as we did.

Her gaze fell for a moment before she perked back up. “So how was your date last night?” she inquired, clearly ready for a subject change. Crap… Courtney and Kate turned their stares to me, making me the full center of attention. Double crap.

I wasn’t one to overshare, but I couldn’t stop my mouth from quirking up in a half smile as I reflected on kissing Wren.

Most first kisses are exciting, but this one had been different, mostly because I hadn’t expected it to be stellar. I mean, it was the kiss of all kisses. If there were a checklist for the things a man should do prior to and during a first kiss, Wren had marked off every box. Even if you put aside the actual kiss itself—firm but gentle—and simply focused on everything else, it would still rate highly. His body language was nothing short of perfection—he was postured toward me as if he were fighting the urge to pounce, but practicing impressive self-control. I felt it—the way he wanted to, and it made every inch of me tingle with anticipation. But when he didn’t make a move, I questioned myself, wondering if I’d read it wrong. I hadn’t done a first kiss in a while. But again, Wren came through when I moved away, grabbing me and taking what he wanted. I liked that. I really liked that. Then there was the second kiss, which was something else completely. When he’d said he could still taste me with his heated gaze fixed on me, something in me broke loose and I reacted. I needed his mouth on mine. When he lifted me and set me on his tailgate, that moment where we both lost sense of where we were and what was going too far, it was…amazing. It had been so long since I’d let go like that and even though it had only lasted a minute or two, it felt like a drug that sent me rocketing on the best high. I wanted more.