Always Ever After Read online

  She wraps her legs around me and I move in and out, pushing in as deep as I can go. Her hips move with me, and she digs her fingers into my back. I kiss her mouth, our tongues lashing together, as frantic as our bodies. I pick up the pace, pounding her harder. She moans and runs her hands along my skin, sending sparks through every nerve.

  Nothing compares to this. To her. She feels so goddamn good. I know she thinks I have an unending sexual appetite—and to be fair, I probably do. But it’s not just that. This is the best way I know to show her how I feel. I can tell her a million times that I love her. That she’s my world. My life. And I do, every single day. But when I make passionate love to her—when I fuck her until she’s breathless—I show her. Not just with words, but with my whole body. I can show her what she is to me, make her feel what I’m feeling.

  With our bodies connected, we’re completely in sync. She moves with me, moans with me, cries out in pleasure with me. I feel her climax building and I hold back, waiting for her to be ready. My cock throbs.

  “Yes, baby,” she says. “Right there. Oh, my god, yes.”

  Her voice goes high-pitched and her pussy tightens. My eyes roll back in my head and I explode inside her. The orgasm comes in hot waves, pulsing through me. For those blissful seconds, there’s nothing else. Just the agony of release, the feel of her wet pussy, the sound of her voice as we come together.

  I move off her and we lie together for a moment, catching our breath. She rolls over to kiss my shoulder, then gets up and slips into the bathroom.

  She comes back a few minutes later, still naked. I pull her back into bed with me and wrap her in my arms, breathing in her scent. My eyes drift closed. I’m so relaxed with her body warm against mine that I could probably fall asleep like this, but I remember that I have some things to talk to her about.

  “I heard back from the real estate guy,” I say.

  She lifts her head and props it up on her hand. “You did?”

  “They accepted my offer.”

  I’ve been working for months on a deal to buy a new building for my gym. I’ve outgrown the space I’m in, and Kylie and I decided that instead of finding a new place to lease, it would be a good investment to buy a building. It took a while to find the right location, but the one we found is perfect.

  “Are you serious?” she asks. “This is going to happen?”

  I smile. “Yep, it’s going to happen. We got a great deal on it too. It’s a pretty big cash outlay, but long term, this is going to be huge for us.”

  “Wow,” she says. “It’s kind of scary, but exciting.”

  I kiss her forehead. “It is. But don’t let it stress you out. We have a solid plan. We just need to stick to it.”

  Kylie takes a deep breath and lays her head on my shoulder. I have another surprise for her. I was planning to wait until after Selene’s wedding to tell her. But I feel like she’s going to be anxious about the business stuff, so maybe now is a good time.

  “I have another surprise for you, baby girl.”

  “Uh oh,” she says. “You didn’t buy a new house too, did you?”

  I laugh. “No. But I did buy some plane tickets.”

  “Plane tickets? Are we going somewhere?”

  “We are.”

  She glances up at me. “Are you going to tell me where?”

  “You need to guess.”

  “Um…” She caresses my chest while she thinks. I love the way her hands feel on me. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

  “I’m taking you back to London.”

  “What? Are you fucking with me?”

  I shift so I can look at her. “Nope. We’re going to do London right this time. I booked it for a few months from now, so we can both arrange with our clients to be gone.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing,” she says. “But … are you sure we should do this now?”

  “Of course,” I say. “This is the perfect time. Once I move my gym into the new space, things are going to get a lot busier. Besides, I want to do this with you.”

  “But it’s so expensive.”

  “It’s fine.” I kiss her again. “I’ll dip into my inheritance for this if I need to.” My parents left Selene and me a considerable amount of money when they died. We both used it to pay for college, and I took out more to buy my condo, as well as open my gym.

  Generally, I don’t spend what’s left of it unless I have to. That money feels sacred to me, because it was theirs. But I won’t hesitate to use it for this.

  “Oh, Brax,” Kylie says.

  “This means a lot to me,” I say. “I’ve wanted to go back to London with you since we were there last time. I want to take you to all the places you want to see so we can experience them together, like we should have before.”

  “Why are you so amazing?” she asks.

  I rub my nose against hers and kiss her lightly on the mouth. “Did you need to talk to me about something?”

  “Oh,” she says, looking away. “I guess I don’t remember now.”

  “Was it something to do with Selene?” I ask. “Is she okay? You didn’t tell me why you’re back early.”

  “Selene’s fine,” she says. “We had fun, but we didn’t have anything planned for tomorrow, so we decided we’d rather come home.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” I say. “I’m glad you’re home.”

  5: Kylie

  Brax and I let ourselves into Selene and Ronan’s house. Selene texted me earlier and said she could use help with some wedding stuff. I’m more than happy to help; I just wish I wasn’t so tired. It’s barely after six, and I feel like I can’t keep my eyes open.

  Selene is sitting at the dining table with a sprawl of candles, ribbon, and glass vases. “Hey, you guys.” She meets my eyes and raises her eyebrows.

  I give her a quick head shake and she looks a little confused.

  Please don’t say anything, Selene. Not yet.

  Braxton surveys the table. “This looks like a nightmare. What the fuck are you doing?”

  Selene groans. “I thought it would be a good idea to make my own centerpieces for the reception. Pinterest is the devil.”

  I take a seat next to her. “I’ll help. Just tell me how they’re supposed to look.”

  Selene points to a finished one off to the side. “They look simple, but this ribbon is a pain in the ass.”

  Ronan comes downstairs. He’s as tall as Braxton, with dark hair and a chiseled Disney-prince jaw. He nods to Brax and comes over to kiss Selene.

  “This looks like something I should run from,” he says.

  “I’ll go get takeout,” Braxton says. He looks at Ronan. “Want to come?”

  “Yes,” Ronan says. “Definitely.”

  The guys head out. I try get the layers of ribbon to cooperate, but Selene is right. This is a pain in the ass.

  “Why didn’t you have the florist do these?” I ask.

  Selene rolls her eyes. “Because the internet makes things look so easy. I might just call them in the morning and add centerpieces to our order.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.”

  She puts her strand of ribbon down. “So, what’s up? Did you talk to Brax yet?”

  “No. I was going to on Saturday, but we got distracted.”

  “Distracted? God, Ky, no wonder you’re pregnant,” she says. “I’m surprised it took this long.”

  I toss a piece of ribbon at her. “It wasn’t that.”

  She arches an eyebrow at me.

  “Okay, it started with that, but I wanted him to be in a good mood. Afterward, he told me the building owners accepted his offer. So this business expansion is really happening.”

  “Yeah, he told me about that yesterday,” she says. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” I say. “But it’s kind of scary, you know? And then he told me he booked us a trip to London.”

  “Oh my god,” she says. “That’s awesome.”

  “Yeah, it is. But … I don’t know if we should
be doing all this right now. It’s so much, and it reminded me how unplanned this pregnancy is. If I’m really pregnant, which I still don’t know for sure.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know for sure? The tests were positive.”

  “Yeah, but I haven’t been to the doctor yet,” I say. “I don’t want to drop this in his lap before I’m completely sure.”

  “Kylie,” she says, a note of sternness in her voice. “Do you really think both those pregnancy tests were wrong?”

  I chew on my lower lip. “Maybe.”

  “Do you have any more?” she asks. “You should take another one.”

  “Yeah, I have a box in my purse from this weekend.”

  “Go take it,” she says.

  “Why?”

  “I think you need to see it a few more times before this really sinks in, babe,” she says.

  I sigh. “Fine, but I’m still not telling Brax until after I see my doctor.”

  “Fair enough, but you need to talk to him soon,” she says. “I’m terrible at lying to him, and if he starts to suspect something is going on, he’s going to see right through me. I won’t tell, but this is getting really hard to keep in.”

  I look at her in alarm. “You didn’t tell Ronan, did you?”

  “No, of course not,” she says. “I haven’t told anyone. But it’s killing me to have such a big secret. You need to tell Brax. Soon.”

  “I know, I will.”

  “Good,” she says. “Now go pee on that stick and tell me what it says.”

  I take the test and wait in the bathroom while it sits. I admit, I met Braxton half-naked when I got home on Saturday to put him in a good mood and soften the blow. But then he told me about buying the building, and the trip to London, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. It all felt like so much.

  Going to the doctor first isn’t just me procrastinating, however. It makes sense. I should be sure. I glance over at the test. Nothing is showing in the result window yet. I tap my foot and look up at the ceiling while I wait.

  What do I want it to say? Do I want it to be negative? I’m not sure how I feel about this anymore. I’ve had moments when I think I could actually get excited about this. Other times, I’m so overwhelmed I want to crawl in bed and stay there for a week.

  I pick up the test and force myself to look. Yep. Pregnant.

  I’m running out of ways to convince myself this isn’t happening.

  6: Braxton

  I get home from work and brush the water off my hair. It’s raining like crazy, and I wonder if Selene’s freaking out about the weather. Their wedding is at a winery over on the east side, so hopefully things clear up this weekend. You never know around here, even in the summer.

  I hear what sounds like Kylie’s phone on speaker. I think she’s listening to her voicemail, so I stay quiet while I take off my coat.

  “This is to confirm your appointment with Dr. Shepherd, tomorrow at nine a.m.”

  I hesitate near the door. Doctor? That’s weird. Why would Ky need to go to the doctor tomorrow?

  I head into the kitchen and she smiles at me, then taps her phone a few times and sets it down.

  “Hey, love. You’re home early. How was your day?” She grabs something out of a grocery bag and puts it in a cupboard.

  “Not bad,” I say.

  She keeps putting groceries away. “Do you have to go in to the gym tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, I have clients until early afternoon.”

  “Okay,” she says. “I have a few errands to run in the morning, and then we have the rehearsal tomorrow night.”

  Errands to run? Should it bother me that she’s not telling me about seeing her doctor? It’s not like she has to tell me everything she does. But there’s something about this that’s worrying me. “You okay, baby girl?”

  She meets my eyes and smiles again. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

  “You sure?”

  “Why, do I look bad or something?”

  I come around the counter and slide my hands around her waist. “No, of course not. I’m just wondering.”

  “I’m okay. Just tired, I guess. It’s been a busy week.”

  I put my hand on her cheek and kiss her forehead.

  “Oh, I picked up the tuxes earlier,” she says. “Would you mind taking Ronan’s over to their place? But hurry. We’re supposed to bring dinner over to my dad tonight.”

  “Yeah, of course,” I say. “I’ll go do that now.”

  I glance at her again, but she just smiles and keeps putting things away in the kitchen. She seems fine, so I grab Ronan’s tux and head for the door.

  I let myself into Selene and Ronan’s house, hoisting Ronan’s tux over my shoulder. “Hey, you guys home?”

  “Yeah,” Ronan says from somewhere inside.

  I bring the tux in and lay it over the back of a dining chair. Ronan’s in the kitchen, standing with his arms crossed, staring at something on the counter.

  “Hey man, what’s up? Is Selene home?”

  “No, she’s out.” His eyes are locked on something in front of him.

  “You okay?”

  Ronan looks up. “I think Selene might be pregnant.”

  His words hit me square in the chest. For a second, I’m ready to launch myself across the counter and grab him by the throat. That fucker got my sister pregnant? But I calm myself before I move. He’s marrying her, dumbass.

  “Holy shit,” I say. “What makes you think so?”

  He holds up a box of home pregnancy tests. “I found this in the garbage—outside, in the big one, like she took it out there so I wouldn’t see it.”

  “Okay, don’t panic,” I say. “Maybe she was just checking, and it was negative. It’s not like she’d keep something like that from you.”

  He pulls a test out of the box. It looks just like the picture on the outside. When he turns it, I see in plain letters the word Pregnant.

  “Oh, shit,” I say.

  “Yeah.” He puts the test back in the box.

  “Wow,” I say. “I guess, congratulations?”

  Ronan rubs his chin. I’ve never seen this look on his face before. He’s really shaken up. “Why wouldn’t she tell me?” he asks.

  Asking me why women do things is like asking a fish why a bird flies. “I don’t know. Maybe she wanted to wait until after the wedding.”

  “That actually makes sense,” he says. “I’m worried about her, though.”

  This is precisely why I’m glad Ronan is marrying my sister. He gets it. He wants to keep her safe and happy, the way I always tried to do when we were growing up. I feel like I can pass the responsibility on to him. I’ll always be protective of her—she’s my twin—but I can let my guard down a little. I know Ronan will take care of her.

  “Have you guys talked about kids?” I ask.

  “Not really,” he says. “I guess maybe we should have, but it just hasn’t come up.”

  “So…” This is treading into weird guy-conversation territory, but he’s about to become my brother-in-law, so what the hell. “Do you want kids?”

  “If you’d asked me that a couple of hours ago—before I saw this,” he says, gesturing at the box, “I would have said no. I didn’t think I wanted kids. But holy shit, Brax. If this is real, I think I can get on board with it.”

  I grin at him. “That’s freaking you out, isn’t it?” Maybe I shouldn’t be amused, but Ronan is so fucking collected all the time. It’s kind of funny to see him rattled.

  “You have no idea.” He goes to the fridge, brings out two beers, and hands one to me. “What about you? You and Kylie want kids?”

  I take a seat on the barstool and open the bottle. “Yeah, we do. Now that I’m expanding my gym, I guess we’ll wait a while. But I can definitely picture a couple little Taylor babies running around.”

  Ronan laughs a little. “Life is fucking weird, sometimes, isn’t it? I’m getting married in two days. A year and a half ago, that wasn’t even on my radar. And
here I am, thinking about the fact that I might be a father, and I’m actually okay with it.”

  “Fucking weird is right,” I say. “I’d pretty much resigned myself to believing nothing would ever happen between me and Ky. And then, there she was, wearing a wedding dress for me. It wasn’t just weird; it was unreal.”

  “You realize we’re a lot luckier than we deserve, don’t you?” Ronan asks.

  “Every fucking day, man. Every fucking day.” I take a long pull from my beer. “But what’s up with our girls not telling us what’s going on?”

  “Why, is something up with Kylie?”

  “Maybe,” I say. “I overheard her get a message from her doctor’s office about an appointment tomorrow. But then she didn’t say anything. In fact, she told me she has errands to run in the morning.”

  “Is she sick?” Ronan asks.

  A thread of fear uncurls itself in my chest. Holy shit, is Kylie sick? Is something wrong and she doesn’t want to tell me before Selene’s wedding? “Fuck, man, I don’t know. She seems okay. But why would she be going to the doctor and hiding it?”

  “No idea,” he says. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about her. I bet it’s nothing. Don’t they need to get their birth control refilled or something? Maybe it’s just that. Although apparently that isn’t always enough.” He gestures to the box.

  “You guys will be fine,” I say. “Just tell her you found the box and ask her what’s going on. I bet she’s just overwhelmed with the wedding and everything.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he says. “And hey, don’t tell Kylie yet. If Selene is pregnant, I know she’ll want to tell Ky herself. She’ll probably be upset that you know before she has a chance to tell you.”

  “No problem.” I take another drink and stand. “I guess I should get back. I think we’re bringing dinner over to Henry tonight, so I should go see what’s up with that.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll see you tomorrow for the rehearsal.” He pauses. “And thanks.”

  “Anytime, man.”

  I head outside and up the street toward my place. My head is spinning a little. Is my sister really going to have a baby? I wonder if Kylie knows already. She probably does, but I won’t ask, just in case Selene hasn’t talked to her yet.