Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,54
up. Oh, that’s right, it wasn’t a dream.” Harley squares her vision on me.
I cringe. “Sorry.”
Stella sits down with Linus and I peek over her shoulder. “He’s a good mix of the two of you, huh?” Stella says.
“I think he’s all Rome.” Harley sits up to look over at him as if she can’t remember what her son looks like. “Dion is more me and Rome mixed. But this guy is all Bailey, like Phoebe is, if you ask me.”
“He’s lucky then. Since all the Bailey men are drop dead gorgeous.” I wink at Harley and she rolls her eyes.
“There’s that inflated ego again,” Stella says.
“I say we hand him the baby and see how full of himself he is after that,” Harley says.
Stella laughs and everyone joins. It’s the best damn sound in the world.
The room quiets when the three kids run into the family room to watch television. I watch Stella from the other side of the table. She looks good with a baby. I don’t even know if she plans on having kids. She used to, back when we were close, but you never really know until you’re actually old enough to think about these things.
I want kids and I want them to grow up in Lake Starlight. For a long time, I wasn’t sure about that. The small town, the gossip, but this town built me back up after my life shattered. I hate the memories sometimes and the reminders of what I lost, but it was a good place to grow up. What could be better than being surrounded by the people you love and who love you? I want that for my own children.
But I don’t want as many as Rome. That’s for damn sure.
Stella’s eyes catch mine across the table as Harley’s head falls back to the chair and her eyes drift closed. I’d do about anything to know what Stella’s thinking right now.
“Do you want to hold your nephew?” She stands and comes to my side.
As good as I thought I was with a baby, it turns out, I’m not, because the exchange is all kinds of awkward and my hand ends up grazing her boob. She probably thinks I did that on purpose.
A loud crash comes from the family room and Rome heads out to investigate. Harley startles but falls back asleep. I stare down at my brother’s fourth baby. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe more is better.
Stella doesn’t leave my side since my nephew has his hand wrapped around her finger. I feel you, bud, me too. Her perfume lingers around us and her hair tickles my neck. If we were a couple, I’d turn and kiss her right now.
“Fatherhood looks pretty good on you,” she whispers.
“Pretty good? I’d rock this job.” Both her eyebrows rise at my cockiness. “I wouldn’t mind a few of these.”
She smiles and nods. “Me either.”
I give myself approximately thirty seconds to imagine what a child of Stella’s and my creation might look like. I think we’d make the cutest babies ever. I can envision our bi-racial babies now and I know they’d be drop dead gorgeous.
“I’m not sure about the name,” I whisper.
Stella laughs. “It’s pretty unique.”
She always sugarcoats things. The sound of a phone buzzing ruins the moment, and Stella digs into her purse.
“Oh… um… it’s Sedona.”
Rome walks in with a pissed off look on his face. “Sedona’s calling you?”
She puts the phone to her ear. “Hey, Sedona… Okay. Okay… Calm down. I’m in Lake Starlight. I’ll be right over. Just sit tight and breathe.” She hangs up and looks at me. “Sedona isn’t feeling well. I’m going to go check on her.”
I look to my right and left for someone to take the baby.
“I hate to ask this, but did you drive your truck?” Stella swiftly takes the baby from my arms and places him in Rome’s hands.
“Yeah.”
“I walked from my mom’s place. Could you drive me?”
Is she kidding me? “Absolutely.”
Twenty-One
Stella
Kingston speeds through the rural streets to get to downtown. Sedona ended up taking Juno’s old room in his apartment until she can figure out a long-term plan that works for her. He parks outside his apartment and we file out, him unlocking and opening the door for me. When we step inside the apartment, we find Sedona sitting on the couch with a piece of pie on a plate resting on her stomach.
“Sedona, how are you feeling?” I say, coming to her side.