Keeping Her (The Lexington Series Book 2) (21 page)

Nick let us in and went upstairs to
drop off my bag. I went into the family room where Max and Landon were. As soon
as I sat down, Max came over and cuddled with me. Landon didn’t even look my
way. He left the room early and headed upstairs without a word. I followed
behind him about an hour later, I was beat and we might as well get this over
with. The only problem was he wasn’t in the room. I looked around and that’s
when I noticed that the door to the guest room was closed. So it would appear he
didn’t even want to sleep in the same room as me. I closed the door behind me
and took a shower. I’ve been wearing Landon’s shirts to bed because they were
more comfortable but today I found something of mine that fits. My stomach was
massive and in a few more days I’ll be 8 months pregnant.

I heard him come into the room the
next morning to get ready for school. I didn’t move a muscle the entire time.
He was in and out so I could only assume he just grabbed a change of clothes
and left out. I wouldn’t let him get to me the stress wouldn’t be good for the
baby. When I was sure everyone was gone I got up and made me breakfast. I don’t
care what they say, I cannot live off of takeout and it’s not really healthy.
They’re none the wiser that I do cook and feed myself when I’m home alone. I
thought long and hard about what to do with Landon and decided that the only
thing left to do is just have it out. Clear the air and get it over with. We
cannot continue to live together like this. Even if it comes down to me moving
out I would, the tension between is keeping everyone on pins and needles. Like
Nick and Max has to choose between the two of us and it shouldn’t be like that.
I decided to paint and I just let the brush glide across the page. When I was
done I examined the piece. There wasn’t anything in particular that I painted
it was just a bunch of hard strokes, dark colors, and rough angles. It
represented the turmoil going on inside of me perfectly.  I set it to the side
and decided to take a nap.

When I woke I knew everyone was home.
I didn’t go downstairs I stayed in our room and waited for him to come up. I
began to read and he finally showed himself when I was halfway through the book
getting to the good part. He didn’t say anything to me and went straight to the
bathroom to take a shower. When he came out I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“So this is how we’re going to live
for now on?” I asked him.

He sighed but didn’t face me. “What
are you talking about?”

My eyes narrowed. “Don’t play dumb
with me Landon… you know what I’m talking about.”

“I
don’t
know what you’re
talking about so why don’t you spell it out for me
Lucy
. Don’t waste my
time.”

That pissed me off. I picked up a
pillow and tossed it at him. My aim has never been that great because I caught
him square in the back of the head. His body straightened and he turned around.
He looked at the pillow on the ground then back to me. After he did it for the
second time his eyes narrowed. “Did you just throw that at me?”

I rolled my eyes. “No it was Casper
the friendly ghost. Stop being such a dick!”

His breathing sped up and I could see
the anger in him flaring up. Good. I shouldn’t be the only one angry right now.
“You can keep that sarcastic bullshit to yourself Lucy. What the fuck is your
problem?”

I growled and sat up so that I was on
my knees on the bed. “My problem? You’re the one with the problem Landon. Just
spit out what the issue has been.”

He took two huge steps towards me
closing the distance. “My problem Lucy?  You’re the one that thinks it’s ok to
just fucking disappear into thin air with my baby while you’re supposed to be
on bed rest.”

That was all it took for me to
explode. I stood up so that I was standing in front of him and poked him in the
chest. “IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU! You were the one who was avoiding me like I was
fucking gross or something. You were the one keeping secrets and acting
different. You were the one that treated me like a petulant child and screamed
at me just because I cooked sitting fucking down. Then what do you do? You
disappear. You go out and get drunk and come back smelling like cheap bitches.
Then you act like I’m the fucking problem when I decide to separate myself from
your bullshit so that I’m not stressed so that
OUR
baby is healthy and
comes when he’s supposed to.”

He took a step back and ran his hands
through his hair. “You want to know the secret Lucy? Is that what you want?
You’re acting like a spoiled fucking brat because you want to know what I’ve
been up to? You couldn’t just
ask
like a normal person right, you just
let that shit fester. Come on Lucy… let me show you what I’ve been doing.”

He grabbed my arm and I snatched it
back. “Don’t put this all on me Landon. It wasn’t just the secrets. You don’t
even touch me anymore. Who do you go to now to get your rocks off huh? You
should buy the bitch better perfume, I wouldn’t mind recommending some.”

He growled at me and snatched my arm
back. “No. you brought this shit up. You want to fight about it, so come on
Lucy.” He tugged on my arm for me to follow him. He didn’t pull hard but it was
enough to get me moving. I was so pissed off that I just had to see whatever
bullshit he was about to pull.

He pulled me out of the room and into
the hall. He opened the door to Max’s old room and pulled me inside shutting
the door behind him. He hit the lights and spun on me. “THIS IS MY BIG FUCKING
SECRET LUCY. Fucking surprise!” He screamed.

I looked around the room and gasped.
He had done the nursery. There was a crib with a matching change table and
dresser. The room was painted a pretty shade of green and the curtains were a
pale blue. The bed sheets and comforter in the crib matched the curtains. There
was animals painted on the walls and all the clothes and crap that we bought
were put away. There was a comfortable looking rocking chair in the room and a
small sofa. The entire floor was covered with these plush puzzle pieces that
had the alphabet on it. There was a bookshelf filled with children books.

I turned to look at Landon. “You were
putting together the nursery?” I said but it was more of a statement than
question.

He sighed and ran his hand through
his hair in frustration. “Yes Lucy. I was ordering stuff and looking things up.
I know how badly you wanted everything ready, and with you on bed rest you can’t
get around to do things like you had started. I spoke to Erica to get what your
ideas were and I wanted to surprise you with it. But not like this.”

I shook my head. “But why do you try
to stay away from me… and where the hell were you that night?”

He groaned. “I
can’t
touch
you. You know how much I want you all the time Lucy. Touching you is torture to
me knowing I can’t have you. I try to avoid temptation.” He walked up to me and
cupped my face in his hands. He placed a soft kiss on my lips and let his hands
trail down my arms and around my back to my butt. He pulled back with another
groan. He rubbed himself against me and I could feel how hard he was. “Do you feel
that Lucy? You did that and I barely touched you. Do you see my problem?” he
asked softly.

I dropped my forehead to his chest.
“And that night? Why did you smell like perfume?”

He released me and stepped back and
started pacing. “When I came home and saw you in the kitchen I freaked out. You
don’t understand how scared and nervous I am all the time for both you and our
son. To see you standing in the kitchen cooking my heart leapt into my throat.
I overreacted but I was panicking out on the inside. When I saw the hurt
expression on your face when you said you didn’t want anything and went
upstairs I felt like such a dick and I couldn’t face you. I called Ted to see
where the guys were and he told me. I went to meet them but I didn’t know that
it was a strip club. I was already there so I said fuck it and I just got
wasted. I didn’t talk or do anything with any of the girls. One girl tried to
sit on my lap and I sent her flying across the room. None of them approached me
after that. The more I drank the more I became pissed at myself over what
happened.”

I shook my head. “You did hurt me. I
just wanted things to be like they were. You are all treating me so different
that sometimes I feel lonely or just plain invalid. I wanted some normalcy so I
decided to cook. I was barely on my feet I promise. I just thought that, maybe
if I did something that was familiar that you guys would too. I didn’t do it
being reckless I thought it through and everything. I made sure that there was
minimal effort and risk involved. Then you just shot it all to hell, I was
really hurt. Then when you come home you smelled like you were with another
woman. I had been feeling insecure since you changed and I was afraid of
knowing. What if you truly didn’t want me anymore or something, I thought it
was better not knowing.”

He grabbed me and pulled me as close
as my stomach would allow. “Baby, you should know by now you’re it for me. I
find you sexy even with a huge baby belly. I actually find it sexier because I
know I did that to you. Then I can’t touch you the way I’ve been dying to and
its driving me crazy.”

“Landon, why does this keep
happening?” I asked.

He put his finger under my chin to
tilt my head up. “Communication Lucy… that’s all it takes babe. You talk to me
I’ll tell you. But you
never
need to question my faithfulness or love
for you. Understand me?” he asked. I nodded and he shook his head. “I need to
hear it girl. Answer me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes sir.” I
replied with a salute.

He laughed. “Get your ass to bed so I
can rub those huge swollen feet of yours.” He demanded. He wasn’t going to get
an argument there because that sounded like heaven.

After he rubbed my feet he turned on
the TV and put on the movie
Twilight
. He sat back against the headboard
and I put my head down in the crook of his neck. I put my arm around his chest
and I could feel the rumble there.

“Lucy….” He trailed off.

I looked at him. “What?”

“Do you
have
to do that?” he
asked.

“Do what?”

“Touch me… I’m getting
uncomfortable.” He complained.

I frowned. “I’m barely touching you.
It’s just my arm.”

He shrugged. “That’s all it takes.
That’s the point I was
trying
to make earlier.”

I sighed and removed my arm. He
placed a kiss to my forehead and whispered a small thank you to me. As much as
I wanted to touch him, I needed to be considerate of him too. It was literally
making things hard for him. And I could understand, I’ve never had blue balls
but rumor is that shit hurts.

Landon

After Lucy and I had it out things
went back to normal. Well as close to normal as possible. This whole bed rest
thing is driving me nuts! I can’t wait for her to give birth because I need her
badly. We have three more weeks until she makes it full term and she’s been
doing well so far. The girl thinks she’s sneaky but she’s not. I know she
doesn’t stay in bed all day when we’re not there. She complains about all the
takeout that she’s eating but there’s no evidence of it while we’re gone. I let
her have that because I know it’s better for her to be eating home cooked food
anyway. It’s not that I don’t trust her judgment it just makes me nervous is
all.

Lucy is so big and tired now she’s
barely moving around. When Max gets home, he heads directly to our room and
keeps her company. She helps him with homework and he talks to the baby and
rubs her stomach waiting to feel him move. At night I try to rub her feet and
anything I could do to make her comfortable. I make her take baths to relax and
buy her all that froufrou shit that girls like to make it smelly and stuff. She’s
exhausted and I know she just wants him out. I do too I’m ready to meet him. We
had a big fight about the birth. She wanted to go natural but after the shit I
read I told her hell no. I don’t think I could stand watching her in that much
pain. I think she’s more scared of the stories about the epidural. How if it’s
done incorrectly you can become paralyzed or something, but I read the statistics.
I had to sit her down and make her watch natural births. When she turned green
in the face I knew that victory was mine.

This was the first time ever I
dreaded football. I honestly wanted to be with her all the time. We have our
first game of the year next week so I had to be at practice. Coach had
approached me and asked if I would still be able to commit to football. When I
told Lucy I was considering dropping to have more time for them she threw a
tantrum and told me no. We went back and forth but I caved when she threatened
to leave me if I did something ‘
so damn stupid’
. I can’t lie that girl
has me by the balls but it would be a cold day in hell before I let her know
that. She already gets away with too goddamn much.

The day of my game Lucy and I got
into yet another fight. She wanted to be there and I refused. I had to threaten
to not play if she does. She puffed out her chest and pouted but none of that
was working. This is one thing I wouldn’t bend on. The crowds are too crazy and
I didn’t want to risk her getting shoved or worked up over anything. She only
had about two weeks left before we made it full term. I smoothed things over
when I asked Nick not to go and stay home with Luce so she wasn’t alone. I was
packing up my things to leave when Nick sauntered into our room and laid his
big ass down next to her in my bed. I watched him cuddle her and I wanted to
punch him. I wish I could do that, but I just can’t. I do it sometimes because I
know she craves it but it wreaks havoc on my body. I should thank him but I
refuse to. The green monster on my back just won’t let me. She curled herself
into him and he began flicking through the TV stations. I bent down and gave
her a kiss.

She looked up at me. “Make sure you
win for me.” She told me.

I nodded. “I’ll win for you baby.” I
promised.

The stadium was packed and the crowd
was amped up. I love it when we have a lively crowd, it helps boost my
adrenaline. I thought about the promise I made to Lucy and that made this game
that much more important. When I stepped on the field I let my inner beast
loose. You know, that feeling that you get that brings out all of your animal
instincts and your strength seems to amplify. I was more than ready for this. I
eyed all of the members from the opposing team. They were a good team which
means this wouldn’t be a simple win. When half time came we were neck and neck,
the game was intense and the players on both teams looked like they were
getting tired. I kept pushing on knowing that I absolutely needed to win this. The
fact that there was a chance that I could lose was eating at me. Throughout the
remainder of the game I kept thinking Lucy. When the game was called to an end
I’ve made three more touchdowns and the other team made none. We won the game
and I was on cloud nine.

The team congregated in the middle of
the field and I was ungracefully picked up into the air. We were celebrating
our victory when I saw Naiyla run onto the field. Her face was red from
exertion and she was frantically waving her cellphone around in the air. I had
them lower me to the ground and I jogged over to where she was now bent over
with her hands on her knees panting. She looked up when I got close but was too
winded to speak. She thrust her phone at me and I took it feeling totally
confused.

“Hello?” I asked.

It was Nick. “Dude I think Lucy’s in
labor. What do I do?” he asked me frantically. I heard Lucy yelling something
about a hospital and him being an idiot. It sounded like he covered the speaker
but I could still hear his muffled voice saying something about Landon, crazy
bastard, and punching. I shook my head because I could swear that sometimes I
felt like we were in the middle of a late night comedy show.

“Nick!” I growled in frustration.

I heard him shift the phone and he
responded. “What do I do?” he asked again.

I shook my head. I agreed with Lucy,
he could be a fucking idiot sometimes. “Take her to the hospital you moron
unless you’re going to play doctor. I’ll leave now and meet you guys there.”

“Alright, ok, yea. Good idea.” Right
before he disconnected I heard him beginning to tell her I said to go to the
hospital. If I knew Lucy as well as I think I do she was going to retaliate and
I’m kind of sad I’m going to miss the show.

I tossed Naiyla back her phone and
ran to the locker room to get my bag with my keys and phone in it. I debated
changing my clothes and instead I just grabbed them to go. I would need to
change as soon as I got there because there was no way I’d be able to hold or
touch my son covered in dirt.