“What did you tell her about me?” he wiggled his eyebrows at me playfully.
“Just the facts,” I said seriously. “I didn’t give her any details, and I certainly didn’t tell her that we were careless in our activities and therefore ended up like this.” I pointed to my stomach to indicate the baby.
He laughed, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something about that. Aren’t you on the pill?”
I blushed a little, “I was, or I was supposed to be. I don’t take a pill, I wear a patch, and I took it off before we went to the beach because I didn’t want to get a weird tan line.”
He grinned, “So, we’re having a baby because you’re vain and didn’t want to have a tan line.”
My mouth flew open in mock horror, “Or,” I said loudly, “We’re having a baby because you didn’t put a condom on!”
“Funny, I don’t remember you stopping me and reminding me to do that,” he grinned. “In fact, I believe at one point you actually said…”
I cut him off by putting my hand over his mouth, “Okay, you can stop there!” My face felt like it was on fire. I could see the cab driver smiling as he watched us from the rearview mirror. “It’s entirely my fault. Let’s just acknowledge it and move on. I don’t think we need to keep bringing it up, especially in front of strangers.”
He pulled my hand from his mouth and held it in his own. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. “I agree. Besides, it’s not like things would be different if you weren’t pregnant. I still would have moved here, and you still would have been happy to see me.”
“True, though I’m curious to know what your plan was.” I snuggled against him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“What do you mean?”
“You showed up at Ned’s with this ring, so were you expecting me to be there?” I played with the ring as I asked.
“No, but I knew that Chrissy would be. I was hoping to pry your information out of her and then rush off to get you. I figured once I showed her the ring, she’d know I was serious and help me out.” He grabbed my hand and held it up to look at the ring. “Of course, I also assumed that you had told her about what happened between us, but obviously that didn’t happen.”
I shook my head.
He pressed his lips against my ear and whispered, “I’m going to act like I’m not worried that you didn’t tell your best friend about us, because I don’t want to start a fight or argument. I’d just really like to get you home and show you how much I missed you.”
I shuddered as his breath ruffled my hair. “I didn’t tell her because I didn’t think she would understand.” I defended myself for the decision not to tell Chrissy. She didn’t understand relationships in the real world, though her recent experience with Mr. Money might have changed that. Explaining to Chrissy how I felt about Nick, after only knowing him for five days would be like trying to explain taxes to a child. It would be pointless. “I was also embarrassed that I’d let myself fall in love with you.”
He put a hand under my chin and turned my face towards him. “Why were you embarrassed?”
“I hook up one time and end up pregnant and in love with the guy. That’s not reason enough to be embarrassed?” I lowered my eyes so that I didn’t have to look at him.
He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. “We didn’t hook up, remember? We just had a very short relationship that moved at a fast pace.”
I smiled at him.
The cab pulled over and stopped.
“We’re home,” Nick said with a smile.
16.
“Nick, wake up.” I tapped him on the chest. “I need to talk to you.”
He stirred and groaned. “What?”
After our bodies had cooled and our breathing had returned to normal from our last encounter, I’d stayed awake with my head resting on Nick’s chest. My head was full of questions and worries.
“What if we can’t do it?” I asked on the verge of tears. Lying in the dark next to him had my mind racing.
“Cami, we just did it like three times,” Nick grinned but kept his eyes closed.
I rolled my eyes at him, “I’m not talking about sex, Nick. I’m talking about us.”
He sighed and sat up. “What about us?”
“Are we rushing into this? Are we making a mistake? How do you know that we’re doing the right thing?”
Nick put his hands on either side of my face and looked directly at me. “Cami, relax.” He watched me and waited until I settled a little. “Do you trust me?”
He’d said that to me on the first day at the beach, and again on the day of our bike ride. Even when I barely knew him, I knew I could trust him. He was still holding onto my face and I reached up and put my hands over his. I nodded and he smiled at me.
“And you love me, right?” he asked with a grin.
I nodded and grinned back.
He took a deep breath, “I don’t know how to put it into words. I just know that this is right. I know that we’re meant to be with each other. It has nothing to do with the baby, and everything to do with who we are for each other. I feel safe with you. That’s something I’ve never felt with anyone, ever.”
“I feel safe with you, too.”
He smiled, “You should, I’ve already saved your life a few times.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him on the shoulder. He dropped his hands from my face and pushed me back against the bed. He crawled up my body until his face was just inches above mine. I wrapped my arms around him and wiggled underneath him.
“I have a confession to make,” he said and dipped his head down to kiss me softly on the lips.
“What?”
He rested his forehead against mine and looked me in the eyes, “I’m a little scared, too. I don’t know how to be a good husband or a good father.”
“You know what not to do,” I said quietly.
He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “I promise to never be like my dad.”
I kissed him on the lips, “You would never be like that.”
He shook his head again then opened his eyes. “I never thought this would happen to me.”
“Getting a girl knocked up?” I laughed. “Really? Fifteen girls and not one slip-up? I find that hard to believe.”
“Nope, not one,” he smiled and shifted his weight onto his elbows, “and it’s sixteen, now.”
My body froze, “Sixteen?” I tried to wiggle out from under him. “Sixteen? Did you sleep with someone when you got back to LA?”
“Cami,” he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back to him, “I was at fifteen and you were at three. Now, I’m at sixteen and you’re at four. Think about it.”
I did the math in my head and looked away embarrassed, “Oh, sorry.”
He laughed, “Don’t be. It was nice to see you be the jealous one this time. Well, jealous again, actually.”
“Again? When was I ever jealous over you? You were the one who came running out of the water because I was playing volleyball with someone else.” I laughed and teased him.
He smiled, “Okay, I’m going to tell you again, that Mike guy was all hands! He didn’t need to be touching you that much just to show you how to serve a volleyball.”
“Well, you got more than a handful later that night, didn’t you?”
“I sure did.” He reached down and pulled my legs up around his hips, “Don’t change the subject on me, though. Admit it. You were jealous when you saw me playing pool with those girls on the first night.”
“Oh! The beach blanket bimbos. No, I wasn’t. I barely knew you then.” I shrugged nonchalantly.
“I was thinking about you the whole night.” He pushed his hips into mine causing a small moan to escape my lips at the contact. “All I could think about was how sexy you looked on the surfboard that day.”
“Was that before or after I had my epic run?” I laughed.
He laughed too, “It was when you were hanging off my board coughing up half the Atlantic.”
“I’m sure that was a very sexy scene. I bet you couldn’t wait to get me back to the house and tear my clothes off after that.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“Actually,” he said as leaned down and kissed me, making me forget all about the conversation.
When I woke up the next morning, Nick was still lying next to me. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and said gruffly, “Good morning.”
He smiled at me, “This is my new favorite way to wake up.”
I smiled, “Naked and sticky?”
He smiled back, “No, next to you.” He scooted closer to me. “Although, waking up next to you naked and sticky is pretty damn good, too.” He pulled me into him and kissed me on the nose.
“You know, if you hadn’t snuck out that first morning then you would have known how great it could be.”
“I was getting you coffee. I thought I was doing something nice for you.” He rolled his eyes at me. “How was I supposed to know that you were going to wake up, or that Chrissy was going to come in, before I could come back?”
“I know,” I said sweetly at him. “I’m just teasing you.”
“Would you like some coffee now?” he asked with a smile.
“Unfortunately, I’ll have to say no. Coffee is one of those things that I think I’m going to have to give up for a few months.” I put my hand on my belly and gave him a pitiful look.
A pained expression grew on his face. “I never asked you this, but the baby is healthy, right?”
“I guess so. The doctor didn’t really do much on that first visit. She said that at my next appointment she’d do an ultrasound to check that everything was fine.”
“When is that appointment? I’d like to go, if that’s alright with you?” he said softly. “I don’t want to miss anything, if I can help it.”
I smiled at him, “I’d like that.”
“You don’t know yet what you’re having, do you?”
“No, it will be a few more weeks before that can be determined. But,” I hesitated before I finished. “I kind of don’t want to know.” I gave him a cautious look.
“Why not?” He stared at me quizzically. “Don’t you want to know what kind of clothes to buy and what color to paint the nursery?”
“It’s not that,” I shrugged. “I just think it would be great to not know. I think it might be nice not to have any expectations about what he or she might look like, or be like. I don’t want our child to feel like there’s a mold that they need to fit into.”