Xenia's family sound fun. Of course, Clay would make a sex joke out of his mother being an elitist snob. But Sophia's reaction, she didn't know Trevor even unintentionally hurt Clay.
I don’t care that she didn’t know. She was going to represent that scum despite everything. She stood there and was willing to defend Trevor and act like he was better than Don. Her words and actions are all that keep her from having a relationship with Reese and getting to know her grandchildren. Why can’t she open her damn eyes and see that we know what’s best for us? I don’t understand why or how, but the Frost women always alienate their children. It’s like a blood curse from great-grandma Emma, who so quickly and coldly abandoned my grandfather and his brothers to be raised by Nana Hazel. At the same time, she carried on her carefree life running the Frost empire, having affairs around the world with married men, and making many enemies. My mother, Aunt Emma, and Aunt Arieannah have followed that pattern. They were putting themselves above all else. Aunt Emma left her son to be raised by her parents so she could keep being a shallow Hollywood cunt that denied even having a son f
I need to get my head out of the clouds and keep my feet firmly on the ground. Making dinner together, eating on the terrace, and even enjoying what I imagine is some expensive wine is nice. It’s domestic and romantic, but that’s not us. We aren’t a couple. We don’t live together, so I shouldn’t feel all domestic about this situation. And Clay’s been honest that he doesn’t do relationships. I need to stop trying to picture a future with him. Staying here is temporary. This fantasy will be over as soon as I get a new place or can return to my apartment. I’ll go back to my life of not dating and only focusing on work and taking care of Tinkerbell. He’ll go back to his life of threesomes and one-night stands. We’ll forget all about each other, eventually. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. My vagina, however, says there is no way she will let me forget Clay and his big dick. I can ignore her. Maybe I’ll buy one of those big dildos to shut her up with. My heart, however, thumped o
After five minutes of waiting, I decided to check on him. I waved a hand to the dogs, wanting to reassure them it was okay and telling them to stay out of it simultaneously. Carefully I climbed the stairs, listening for any sounds but was only met with silence. So he’s off the phone. Hesitantly I slowly opened the bedroom door. I wanted to give Clay time to tell me to go away. But when he didn’t, I stepped into the bedroom, frowning as I saw him sitting at the end of the bed, hunched over with his face in his hands. My heart broke seeing him like this. It was worse than this morning when he threw his mother out and sat on the floor against the door. “Clay… you don’t have to tell me. I just… I wanted to make sure you were okay. If you need space, I’ll leave. I can do that if you want someone to be silent with you. If you want to talk, I’ll listen.” I offered, walking closer slowly, not wanting to spook him. I yelped as his arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, and I was pulled into
I should feel like a shit-tier human being right now. I fucked Xenia to escape all the shit my mother unloaded on me. Who the hell does that? Who uses another person to escape reality? Me apparently. I’m the kind of loser asshole that uses a woman for sex to forget all his pain temporarily.She didn’t say no or make me stop, but that doesn’t make it any less of a douche move. Not to mention I just told her about my biggest secret with the new information about what my mother did. I have expressed more emotions around Xenia in the last twenty-four hours than I have anyone that’s not in my immediate family.My mother…no, Sophia lost all privileges to be called mother isn’t an immediate family in my book, and after that phone call, s
I have met more members of Clay’s family in a week than I had guys I’ve dated for months. And I honestly can’t say which was the worst meeting. Makayla caught me in a state of undress in her living room with Clay. His parents met me at the hospital when he had been drugged, and Sophia accused me of doing it. And now his sister has seen me naked, straddling him. I mean, it’s good that she hadn’t shown up earlier or a few minutes later because I’d been even more embarrassed. This is the second time one of his relatives has walked in on us during an intimate moment. This time it was more of an emotionally intimate moment. But given that his cock was stirring, we were on our way to round two. As fun as a second round sounded, even my pussy had to admit she needed a break. So maybe it’s for the best that we got interrupted. As we came downstairs, I recognized his brother-in-law from the pictures Clay showed me the other night at the bar. I can’t see the twins from here, but I know there i
I should be more worried about what my sister is saying to Xenia and what’s taking them so long. And if Don hadn’t decided to distract me by handing Nik and Leo to me, I would be. But honestly, it’s hard to think about anything else when I’m holding them. Leo had stopped fussing and, like her brother, was currently drooling against my shoulder, fast asleep. It reminded me of holding my cousins’ kids, especially Aiko and Saki, whom I held like this. Though they were smaller than my niece and nephew, the Nikolaidis gene wasn’t as strong as my cousins’ kids. I know most people would be worried about letting me hold something as delicate as a baby. Hell, my hand is bigger than most newborns’ heads. But being big doesn’t mean I’m not gentle. “You’re good with them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this point. They’ve always settled down in your arms since you first held them.” Don commented as he portioned out dinner to four plates. “It’s a gift. Forrest called me the baby whisperer.”
“I knew I didn’t like that woman when she first showed up at my house.” Don shook his head. “I’m sorry, Clay. I can’t and don’t want to imagine your pain.” He frowned, looking from my sister holding their son to me holding their daughter. “And I’m sure it’s a pain that won’t just go away. But maybe with some therapy, you’ll work past it. And I can say when your post haunts you and the pain your blood inflicted on you hurts so bad you want to cut yourself off from the world, having someone at your side always makes it better.” Don nodded in Xenia’s direction. Xenia blushed a little. “I… that’s implying there is more to us than there probably is.” She shook her head. It hurt hearing that. I can’t exactly fault Xenia for it. It’s not like either of us has said what this is. Sure we’ve shared our secret pains, but that doesn’t mean we are something more than two hurt people finding an escape in sex together. “So true, Don.” Reese nodded. “And Xenia, everyone at this table knows you two
If you’d told me two weeks ago that the guy I fell into a pond with would be my boyfriend and that I’d be moving in with him, I’d say you were nuts. I’d have thought it as believable as having to go to court later to give testimony against my now former neighbor. Yet here I am, taping shut the last box of my belongings. My family decided they ALL had to drive up from Jersey to help. It’s not like I had much stuff or was taking any furniture. Do you know that saying that too many cooks in the kitchen will burn the soup? Too many Rosarios in a tiny apartment cause headaches for all. I need some extra strength Tylenol after this. Clay is lucky he had to work this morning, so he is missing out on the headache. Though it’s probably good, he isn’t here. There wouldn’t be enough room for anyone else to come in and out of the apartment with boxes, as he’d take up half the space. Shit, maybe he should have come. Then I’d have a reason to tell my family just to let us handle it. Instead, I hav
Pregnant! Xenia is pregnant! I’m going to be a dad!? Me, of all fucking people, is going to be a dad! I know we tackled the subject when the puppies were born. But an offhand ‘we’ll have one when it’s time’ differs from a positive pregnancy test. A positive test is real. Our baby is currently growing inside her as we speak. How far along is she? How did I miss the signs? Has she missed her period? No, I couldn’t go off that her birth control made that hard to track properly. We’ll have to wait till we see a doctor to get an estimate on how far along she is. I say estimate because, in my family, we’re big, so judging just on the size of the fetus may not work. Though I guess they can go off from developmental stages like when certain organs develop and yadda. As I walked into the ceremony, all eyes turned to me. Reese underestimated how many guests we had. Including Xenia’s mom, sisters, and Reese, we had 48 guests. So, add Xenia and me, and we had 50 people. That’s, of course, no
I didn’t know what made me think pressing myself against the door was a good idea. There was no way little me could keep out Clay or his equally tall and strong twin sister. I should have been upset with Reese for deciding to get him when I started crying over the pregnancy test. But I can’t. Because as I looked at his face and saw all the love and concern in his eyes, I knew she was right. I needed him. “Xenia, baby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Clay asked as he put Zeus down. “What worries do I need to put to rest?” “It’s not worries, per se.” I sighed and steadied myself with Tink’s help. “I just…” I frowned as I avoided eye contact with him. It’s not that I’m ashamed that I’m pregnant. I mean, it’s my fault for not being on top of renewing my birth control. Clay couldn’t help it if a condom broke. We agreed to use both condoms and my birth control to be safe. We knew we wanted kids, eventually. Like he said, we’d have one after the puppies were born when we were ready.
Xenia is supposed to be MY emotional support human. I was not a fan of this switch of roles, but for Xenia, I would try my best. Just because I failed all those training classes to be an official support animal doesn’t mean I cannot be here for my human. She has always been there for me when I was upset. It’s about time I returned the favor. I didn’t understand why she was upset. She’d been so happy a few moments ago. She was trying on her new dress, and everyone was gushing over her and talking about how great today would be. I still didn’t know what was happening today. I knew Xenia was getting all dressed up, even fancier than when she and Clay went on a night out. I got a purple outfit and a crown of flowers to wear. Zeus was given a special outfit, too. So, something big was going on. Even if all the special clothes didn’t make it clear, we were in a strange place, and there were people we only saw occasionally. Plus, all my puppies were here. I love to see my puppies. It’s
I put up with a LOT of shit with Clay as my human. The silver lining is that I have Tinkerbell and her human Xenia around. Not that Clay makes a habit of dressing me up like this. That doesn’t mean I like being in this getup. I don’t care that it’s a special day. I don’t understand what is happening, but it must be special. Clay and Xenia have been planning this gathering for what felt like forever. And all the people they like most are here. Which means all our pups are here. I am happy and envious to see my pups. I was glad to see them since we see some of them only on special occasions. But I was envious because none of them were dressed up like me. Lucky pups. I feel ridiculous dressed like this. Whatever is supposed to happen today better happen soon, or I will find a way out of this outfit to run around free. I was restless and bored sitting in that room, waiting for something to happen. I was happy when Clay decided we could venture out of the room. I was happy until I picked
Holy shit! It’s MY wedding day! If someone told me two years ago I’d be in a committed relationship, I’d ask if you were high. If someone said I’d be getting married, I’d recommend a trip to the nearest psych ward. Old me couldn’t imagine ever wanting to give up being a bachelor. I loved the freedom of that life and couldn’t fathom giving that up for a woman. It wasn’t until I fell into Turtle Pond in Central Park with Xenia that I realized I was all wrong. Being in a relationship wasn’t a noose around my neck. It wasn’t the death of my freedom. It was just a change. Sure, I wasn’t free to fuck whoever caught my eye, but that’s fine with me. If I learned anything from the disaster of an attempt at a threesome before Xenia and I were official, it’s that no one else would do. Till Xenia, I didn’t realize that the ‘freedom’ of being a bachelor was more a cover for loneliness. It was for the loneliness that Reese gave me Zeus. The little shit never filled that loneliness. At least not d
Who’s bright idea was it to have a Valentine’s Day wedding? Oh right. It was mine. I thought it would be romantic and Clay would never forget our anniversary. Not that I believed he would forget any other day. This was the guy that proposed on the anniversary of our meeting in the same spot where we got ‘pongoed,’ as Makayla likes to call it. It still makes me laugh when I think back on how we met. It wasn’t so funny at the time, but in hindsight, I can laugh. I also can’t watch 101 Dalmatians without laughing and thinking of that day in Central Park when my life changed for the better. By chance, Fate, or just the divine intervention of Zeus, I ended up with this incredible man who is hot, great in bed, and so damn sweet. I still don’t know how, in the thousands of men that live in NYC, after only finding assholes, I found such a keeper. And trust me, I know all about the assholes that live in NYC. Between the assholes I met in college, like Alden Zachery Greenwood the Fourth. Inse
The following bonus chapters are for the Valentine's Day special "A Valentine's Wedding." There are references to future Ravenwood books, but no spoilers! I hope you enjoy it!Clay - Who'd have thought the perpetual bachelor would settle down? Meeting Xenia turned my world upside down in the best way. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with her. My family, the ones that count, are all behind us. Xenia - It has been almost two years since I fell into a pond and found true love. Clay is everything I could have wanted and didn't think I deserved. Despite some annoying human-size speed bumps, we will start a new chapter together as husband and wife.
Zeus: It’s been a year since I met Tinkerbell, and therefore Clay met Xenia. Unlike Clay, it didn’t take long to figure out I found the one I wanted to be with and have a family with. He was slow on the uptake, that’s for sure. But he finally got his head out of his ass and made it right with Xenia. I swear if he'd dragged his feet longer or lost my chance with Tinkerbell, I’d have chewed every shoe he owned and never given him a moment's peace again. Thankfully for all involved, that didn’t happen, and since that time, things have been mostly great. The devil woman has never returned, and I’m happy about that. I didn’t want her around even before I met Tinkerbell and even less after I did. We moved into a new house where our humans gave us our own room and outdoor area. And we had eight puppies. That’s where the “mostly great” part comes in. After our puppies were old enough, they were sent to their forever homes. They at least ended up with members of our humans’ families, so we
Tinkerbell: I’m so happy we stopped living in that tiny place. I’m even happier that we will never see that mean man again. I didn’t fully understand everything that happened. But I knew, based on what Zeus and I would overhear our humans say, the mean man tried to hurt my human and was punished by the human catchers. I felt terrible that I wasn’t with Xenia to protect her from that evil man, but Clay was, so it was okay. And now we all live together. Zeus has been a great help to my anxiety. With him around, I’m never alone; if I start to feel anxious, he’s there to nuzzle me and remind me I’m safe. Alan, our dog sitter, is excellent too. He’s learned how to handle my anxiety, always brings us yummy treats, and takes us on long walks. I should miss my doggie daycare, but I don’t. There were always so many other dogs and humans that it would be hard on me. Living with Zeus, I’ve gotten better at handling things that used to scare me. Like small humans. When our humans took us on a l