Sage

Sage

The following day I get a text from Vi letting me know that my apartment is all put back together. It feels like it’s been forever since everything happened, when in reality it’s been about a week. Time flies when you’re getting fucked by one of the most famous NFL quarterbacks, I guess.

When we get to my door, a very pregnant Vi lets out a deep breath as she holds her stomach.

“You good?” I ask.

“Yeah.” She smiles. “I’m just kinda over being pregnant. I can hardly walk to the kitchen without getting out of breath.”

“I’ll bet. You literally have a little succubus attached to you,” I say with a wrinkled nose.

Vi laughs. “Don’t you want kids one day?”

“I mean, maybe. In like thirty years or something.”

She lets out another laugh like I’m hilarious, which I am but like also not super joking. Kids kinda scare me. Like other people’s kids are great but that’s because I get to give them back. Being responsible for another life? Teaching them right from wrong, building their morals, being responsible for their generational trauma? No thanks. I’m good for now.

When we step inside, my mouth parts. This doesn’t look like my apartment at all. I mean, the bones of it are all the same, better looking actually, but the décor is completely different. Gone is my broken forty-five inch TV, now replaced with one so big it barely fits on the wall. A fancy marble coffee table takes up the space in the middle of the room accompanied by a brand new gray sectional.

My eyes continue throughout the apartment, catching on each new detail. The bedroom is by far the most drastic difference. The windows are fixed, which is great, but a large wooden bed frame now holds what must be a brand new king sized bed, replacing the torn-to-shreds queen that I had before. Matching side tables on either side, appearing to have come in a set with the coffee table from the living room.

The comforter set is a light lilac color, and the room is decorated with black accents. It’s feminine without being too girly. I love it all, but I can’t even imagine how much all of this is going to cost me. Especially with my emergency cash gone.

“Vi, this is amazing, but you guys spent too much money. It’s gonna take a while to pay you back.”

She waves me off as she shakes her head.

“Don’t worry about it, really. Declan already paid the contractor, so we are square there, and as for all of the new furniture and things, we didn’t pay for it.”

I frown at that. “Who did?”

She turns her head to the side with a confused smile like I should know this.

“Trevor. He gave me his credit card and told me to buy whatever you needed for the place. To be fair, I may have gone a little overboard, but he’s kind of a jerk sometimes, so I think it’s okay,” she laughs lightly.

I try to chuckle with her, but my brain is still trying to play catch up. Trevor paid for all of this? He gave her his credit card to replace my things…what the fuck? We’ve just barely started tolerating each other. Why would he do that?

Shit. I’m gonna have to push my pride to the side and thank him. That’s gonna suck.

I guess this means I get to move out of Trevor’s house. Finally. I’ve been there long enough. We’re already developing little routines, and it’s getting too stuffy. To be honest, it’s kinda nice not being alone all the time. It’s nice to be protected in a sense behind that big iron gate and all the ridiculously over the top cameras surrounding the property. If I have to really think about it, staying with Trevor wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I got some great sex out of it, a few laughs, and he even paid to have my whole apartment redecorated. Maybe I should give him, like, a thank you/goodbye blowjob or something.

I’m chuckling to myself at that thought when I hear Vi swear from the living room. It takes me a moment to realize she isn’t in the bedroom with me anymore. Furrowing my brows, I step out of the room to see her standing in the middle of the hallway, her feet on either side of some spilled water.

“If you’ll hand me a towel, I’ll clean that up,” Vi says, her hands cupping her lower stomach.

“Sure,” I say as I walk over to the paper towels. “Spill some water?” I ask.

“Something like that,” she says as her face tightens in what looks like pain while her knees bend slightly.

Realization dawns on me suddenly, and I feel like a dipshit for not realizing it faster.

“Holy fuck! You’re in labor! Your water broke!” I shout.

Vi nods her head, her face still pinched in pain.

“Fuck. What do I do? Who do I call? An ambulance? Declan? Definitely Declan. What else!” I ramble frantically.

Vi lets out a deep breath as she seems to stand a little bit taller.

“Sage, calm the hell down. My god, you’re worse than Dec. Please call him, and if you wouldn’t mind giving me a ride to Seattle Memorial, I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course. Oh my god! You’re having a baby! We need a wheelchair or something. Do you want to, like, sit on my chair, and I’ll push you?” I ask, walking over to the swivel office chair in the corner.

Vi laughs and shakes her head. “I can walk for now. Let’s just hurry if it’s okay?”

“Yeah, hurry. Duh. C’mon,” I say, gently ushering her out the door, only grabbing my purse at the last minute before quickly locking the door.

The elevator takes forever, and once I get Vi into the car and buckled up, she hands me her phone. I call Declan, but it goes straight to voicemail. The boys are in practice for another hour at least. He won’t even be near his phone until then. I call him again and again, my own panic seeming to rise more than Vi’s despite the increasing pain she seems to be in.

Pulling out my own phone, I call Trevor a few times. If anyone is going to be on their phone during practice, it would probably be him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t answer the numerous calls I make in rapid succession.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter.

“No luck?” Vi asks, a hint of fear tinting her words for the first time.

“I got this. Don’t worry. Just keep that baby in your uterus until we get to the hospital.”

Vi laughs through what looks like another contraction.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” I mutter as I dial another number. One I usually hate using.

It rings and rings, and for a moment I don’t think it’s going to go through. Until I get a terse, “What?”

“Dad. You need to let Daniels go for the day. His wife is in labor, and I think the baby is coming fast. She looks like she’s in a lot of pain.”

“Fucking hell,” he grumbles into the phone before he pulls it away slightly. “Daniels!” he shouts, the sound slightly muffled. “Your wife is in labor. Might want to get to the hospital.”

I hear Declan’s distant, “WHAT!” before Dad is back on the phone.

“He’s on his way. That all?”

“Yeah,” I say before I hear the disconnecting sound.

Cool. Love you too.

We pull up to the emergency parking of the hospital at the next moment, a person jogging out to meet us.

“She’s having a baby!” I shout, the hysteria in voice evident even to my own ears. I take a calming breath as I run around the car to help Vi into the wheelchair they pull out for her. She nods her head in thanks to them as they begin wheeling her inside.

“We will get you to triage in just a second and find a room for you.”

“Thank you,” she says on a wince.

They wheel her off into basically a corner of a waiting room while the nurse lackadaisically walks over to the desk, chatting with her friends and laughing as they thumb through paperwork. We sit there for several minutes, not a single person coming over yet before I’ve had enough.

I storm up to the counter, my irritated glare pinned on both the nurses. They cast me an equally irritated look covered by a plastic smile.

“Can we help you?”

“Me? No. Her? Yes,” I say as I gesture to Vi. “Why has no one taken her up yet? She should be on the VIP wing, right, Vi?” I ask as I turn around to face her. “Trevor told me Declan spent a ridiculous amount of money to make sure that you’ll have your own suite.”

She waves me off as her hands white knuckle the wheelchair arms.

“It’s fine, Sage. No matter what room I’m in, a baby is coming out of my body. It doesn’t really matter.”

“Wait, Declan Daniels?” the nurse asks. “You’re his wife?”

Vi nods as both of the nurses suddenly scramble toward her. “Oh god. Sorry. VIP wing it is, Mrs. Daniels.”

From there, things move a little quicker. A nurse has just finished checking to see how dilated Vi is when Declan barges through the door, Trevor hot on his heels.

“Baby!” Declan shouts as he runs into the room, rushing to her side of the bed as he presses a kiss to her lips.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry I didn’t get your calls.”

“It’s fine.” Vi smiles. “Sage has been amazing.”

Declan’s eyes come to mine, thankfulness practically overflowing them as he nods to me.

I smile at him as he presses his forehead to hers, whispering soft words that I can’t quite hear. They calm her in a way that I clearly couldn’t, and she even gives him a dopey smile before another contraction takes over.

“Trev? Can you call Scar, have her pick the kids up from school and daycare?” Declan asks Trevor.

“Of course,” he nods. Trevor makes his way out into the hallway as I follow after him. When I pass through the threshold, he surprises the hell out of me. Without saying a word, he wraps his arms around me in a tight hug before pulling back, brushing a piece of hair away from my face as those bright blue eyes look down at me.

“You good?”

“I’m fine, mild panic attack. I haven’t even seen the worst of it, and I can already tell I don’t have what it takes to do all of that,” I say with a shake of my head.

Trevor’s fingers continue running through my hair, pushing it out of my face even though it’s no longer in the way. Almost like he’s just enjoying running his fingers through my hair. I know I’m enjoying it, so I don’t bother to ask him to stop.

“You never know. I don’t think there’s a thing in this world that could stop you from anything.”

The confidence in his words takes me by surprise, and my eyes raise to meet his. They’re softer than normal, bluer, if that were even possible. His almost featherlight touch against my skin causes a wake of goose bumps to run up and down my arm as he seems to be almost lost in thought. It’s only for a second though before he’s shaking himself out of it and dropping his hand to his side.

“You know,” he continues. “Because you’re such a pain in the ass. I don’t think you would ever allow anything to beat you out.”

I chuckle at that, pushing away the disappointment at the loss of his touch.

Definitely not exploring that feeling right now.

“Maybe so. I am pretty badass,” I agree.

Trevor laughs as we turn to head out of the hospital.

“So modest.”

“Nope,” I grin. “Are you sure you want to leave? Should we stay, and I don’t know…wait?” I ask as we near the exit.

Trevor shakes his head. “Nah. Who knows how long it’ll be, and they need their little family bonding time when it does happen.”

I nod as we get out to the parking lot where I notice Trevor’s Mercedes is parked next to my Toyota.

“Why did you come anyway?” I ask.

He hesitates for a moment and shrugs his shoulders.

“Dec was pretty worked up when you called Coach. I figured he couldn’t drive, and I wanted to make sure you were good.”

“Me?” I ask with furrowed brows.

Instead of answering me, he climbs into his car and fires it up. I, however, continue staring at the dark silhouetted man in the car. Why the hell would he be worried about me? I’m not the one who was in labor. Sure, I was freaking the hell out, but he had no way of knowing that. Eventually, I shake my head and unlock my car before starting it up. I back out of the spot I’m in, and Trevor pulls out to follow behind me the whole way home.

When we got back to the house I told Trevor that I was going to make myself some dinner. He nodded his head and was about to go upstairs when I stopped him and asked if he wanted some too. If I didn’t know better, I’d say his mood seemed to almost lift at that offer before he came over to the bar top and watched me work.

Don’t get me wrong, baking is my passion, but I like to cook too. It’s fun and honestly being a cook has been a really delicious hobby of mine so it’s a win, win.

Trevor has a housekeeper who comes a few times a week, and she also gets all of the groceries. Since I’ve been here I’ve always bought my own stuff and brought it back, but yesterday he told me it was dumb for me and her to both go grocery shopping just to bring it back to the same house. I wanted to argue since the difference was that I was buying my groceries, and she was buying them on his little black card. But I decided not to because he’s loaded, and I’m not. Plus I look at it like retribution for all the times he was an asshole to me.

As I’m prepping the stuffed bell peppers, I pause mid motion. He hasn’t just bought groceries for me today, and as weird as it is to me that he would go out of his way to try to replace my things, honestly upgrade my things, it was really nice.

“Vi told me about my apartment,” I say as I resume my task at hand, cutting the tops off the peppers, scraping them out for the sole purpose of keeping my eyes off his cerulean blues for as long as possible.

“What about it?” he asks.

I pause for a moment, sparing a glance to see that he’s already watching me intently.

“About how you paid for all of the stuff. You practically redecorated the entire place, and the stuff definitely wasn’t from Bargain-Mart.”

“I fucking hope not. The dent Vi put in my card tells me it should be really nice stuff.”

I let out a short laugh at that as I nod and turn to face the stove and start cooking the meat.

“It was. Thank you,” I say, rushing out those last words.

Trevor doesn’t say anything for a moment. Instead, all I hear is the soft creaking of the bar stool before his slow but purposeful footsteps make their way over to me. Anticipation thrums in my veins, my heartbeat thumping steadily against my ribcage. In the next second, his hands appear on either side of me, gripping the countertop as I stir the beef.

I feel him before I hear him next, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear as he speaks.

“How did those words taste coming out of your mouth?” he asks, a smirk blatant in his tone as he does.

I turn to look over my shoulder at him, narrowing my eyes at his mocking smile.

“Like acid.”

His smile grows as one of his hands comes down to grip the front of my hip, pulling me back until my ass is flush against him. I feel his other hand wrap around my throat gently, forcing my head to tilt up even farther as he looks down at me.

“You’re welcome, Raven.”

Without another word, his lips are on mine. They move slowly, softly. It’s a complete contrast from every other kiss we’ve had. They are usually so rushed and frantic. We’re typically too busy fighting for dominance to do much more than lash against each other. This time, though, just this once, I let him take control. Because fuck, he’s so good at it.

His tongue comes out, stroking against my own in a steady rhythm that has my body practically sinking into him. I can’t help but push back softly, waiting for the tempo to change. For him to abandon this slow sweet kiss that shouldn’t be shared between us.

This isn’t a kiss for a couple of friends with benefits. Or in our case, enemies turned acquaintances with benefits. No. This is a kiss for lovers. True actual lovers who crave each other, who savor every last drop of one another. This is a kiss that leaves your body weak and your soul alive. It doesn’t belong to us.

Slowly, he breaks the kiss, not pulling away fully as he looks down at me, his eyes flicking back and forth between my wide eyes. I expect him to react, to freak out, push me away, or maybe for us to start fucking. He doesn’t do any of those things, though. Instead, he presses another kiss to the crown of my head before releasing my throat and mirroring his grip on my other hip, his head just barely tucking into the crook of my neck as he holds me.

It takes me a second to grasp my composure before I focus back to the practically burning meat.

Whoops.

Again, I’m readying for us to descend into some awkward silence or something, both of us too wrapped up in whatever the fuck is going on in our heads, but per usual lately, Trevor Michaels takes me by surprise.

“You don’t have to go,” he murmurs against the bare skin of my neck.

“What?”

“You don’t have to go,” he repeats, his lips brushing against me with every word spoken. “If you aren’t ready to go back there, you’re welcome here.”

I can’t stop myself from smiling at that, hating that my stomach does backflips in response to his words.

“Yeah?” I question coolly.

Trevor adopts my same tone, and I feel his shoulders shrug slightly, but he doesn’t move away or release his hold on me as he does.

“I mean, it just makes sense. We both go to the same place for work most days. We travel together, and you make me food.”

“All true. And you make me come,” I point out.

He grins at that as he places a gentle kiss against my skin.

“That I do.”

“Well, sounds like a pretty decent setup,” I say as if I was weighing my options.

“Yeah?” he questions, a soft lilt to his voice.

I do my best to bite back my smile. I’m showing too much emotion. I’m feeling too much emotion. I need to lock shit down. Get out of here and run like hell. I’m not safe here, not long term, and anyone around me won’t be safe. It’s best that I leave soon, keep moving, keep hiding.

But as Trevor’s grip on me tightens, like he can practically hear my thoughts, the fear inside of me dims out until it’s nothing but soft burning embers. It’s stupid to say that I feel safe with him. We can barely tolerate each other most days, but something inside me tells me that if anyone was going to protect me, in more ways than one, it would be him.