Love Unexpected (Navy Love Series Book 2) (17 page)

Now I'm moving on to phase two of my plan—wine and dine her. Tegan isn't necessarily one of those materialistic girls who need a man to spend a fortune on them or take them to fancy restaurants constantly, but I do want to show her that I'm proud to have her on a date with me.

Which is why we're here. It's our first
official
date.

“So what’d you think of the ride?” I ask, a little unsure of how she took it.

I swallow, waiting for her answer. I really hope she liked it. I was most nervous about bringing the bike tonight. What would I have done had she refused to ride on it? My entire date night would have started off on a bad note.

“I liked it a lot. How come you never took me on it before?”

“You liked it?” She enthusiastically nods. “It’s like a therapy for me. A bike was the first thing I ever owned myself, my first sense of freedom and independence. Growing up in and out of foster homes sucked. I never thought I’d have stability. When my Dad introduced me to motorcycles, it became our thing. I guess I had to buy my own because it was not only my first taste of freedom but also of belonging. None of my foster fathers cared to share a special hobby with me. Bikes remind me of him and the bond we have, that’s why I bought it.”

This is more than I thought I would ever tell any woman I’m interested in about my past, but with Tegan, it doesn’t feel forced. Even when we were just screwing, there were many times I felt the urge to confide in her. I just fought it, refusing to believe that I could care about someone enough to break the pattern I set for myself so long ago.

“So how long were you in foster care?” she asks nervously.

I can understand her hesitation. I’ve known her over six months now and have never opened up like this. Fuck, I’ve known her sister and my friends for four years and haven’t discussed my past this much.

“I was adopted when I was ten. My parents are great, but I know that love like what they’ve got is rare and hard to find. I don’t know if that kind of love even exists anymore.”

“It’s not that rare. My parents have it too, you just have to be willing to look for it and know when you’ve found a good thing. A love like what our parents have isn’t something that comes easy for anyone.” She pauses for a moment. “I know it’s out there for me, I’ll find it someday I’m sure.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I say more to myself than her. Perhaps Marsh was right about her. With that spew she just gave, I don’t think she’s as naive as I first made her out to be.

Our waitress interrupts our conversation to drop off our food. It looks amazing, and we both dig in. My medium-rare steak and lobster are delicious, while Tegan gushes over her stuffed flounder.

“So, what was up with the weird texts earlier?” she asks in-between bites.

“I’m going home for Christmas; I thought maybe you’d come with me.” I shrug, trying to act casual, when in reality I’m mentally preparing for a letdown.

“Hmm, are you serious?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“I can’t. The babies will be here by then, Charlie. I want to be there with them and Tess for their first Christmas.”

After a couple seconds of plotting, I rashly change my plans.

“New Year’s then.”

“New Year’s?”

“Yeah. We can go to Michigan for New Year’s.”

“I have to talk to Tessa first.” Her voice sounds defeated where moments ago it was excited.

We’ve both finished our meals, and both plates are damn near empty. I fish my wallet out and hand it over to the waitress when she comes by to drop off the check.

“What’s wrong, Tegan?”

Tegan remains silent the whole time, still dawning the sad look about her.

“I didn’t tell her today. She’s stressed out about the babies and everything else, I didn’t want to add more on her right now.” She sighs, obviously disappointed with herself. “We’re a dirty secret, just like before,” she throws in almost to herself.

“Hey.” I lift her chin with my hand. “Babe, we’re not a dirty fuckin’ secret anymore.”

I pull her lips to mine, taking my time exploring. My tongue runs along the seam of her lips until she opens granting me access. After a few moments, I pull back, my point proven. “If we were,
that
would not have happened in the middle of this crowded restaurant.”

I’m rewarded with a smile from her.

“I shouldn’t have agreed to let you talk to Tess alone, anyway. I’m just as much a part of this decision to be together as you are, it’s something either I should do or we should do together, babe. So don’t worry about it, we’ll talk to her next time we’re all together. Might as well face the entire firing squad at once.”

“Okay, Charlie.”

God, the way my name sounds coming out of her mouth is like music to my ears. I seriously could become dependent on it.

Leaning in, I whisper, “Now, let’s get out of here. I want to take my girl back to my apartment and get another taste of that pussy I’ve missed out on the past four months.”

Tegan’s face blushes a deep shade of red, and I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me.

We walk out hand in hand, climb on my bike, and do just what I said. Take her back to my apartment, lay her out, and feast on that pussy I’ve become addicted to.

Tegan

My course load is really light this week since we only have classes today and tomorrow, but everything else is piling on, causing this to be a hectic week.

Tonight I’m having dinner with Matthew, Meredith, Caleb, Liam, and Raegan. All of them are heading home tomorrow as soon as classes are over. Raegan is spending Thanksgiving with Matthew and his family. Here’s to hoping he manages to talk to her about his feelings.

I’m excited and nervous, Charlie will be meeting us here shortly. It’ll be the first time he’s met everyone—with the exception of Caleb since they had that little run-in a few weeks ago. I just hope everyone doesn’t hold that encounter against him.

We’re all in the ordering line at Moe’s Burrito Grill. I’m chatting with Meredith when a pair of arms come around my waist from behind. If I didn’t know Charlie was coming, her expression lets me know it’s him.

Most girls get that doe-eyed expression when they see Charlie. He literally makes girls go dumb with his good looks. That dark hair, the tan skin, and those piercing-green eyes are a lethal combination.

He places a small kiss to my collar bone. “Hey, babe.”

“Hey, you.”

We place our order and follow Meredith to the table where everyone else is.

All eyes are on Charlie when we approach.

“Charlie, this is Matthew, Raegan, Liam, Caleb, and Meredith. Guys this is—”

“Her boyfriend. I go by Reed, please. Nice to meet you guys.” He shakes hands with Matthew across the table then looks to Caleb. “Caleb, sorry about the other night, man.”

“It’s cool. I didn’t know you and Tegan were still an item or else I never would have acted that way.”

Charlie nods his understanding, but is sure to throw his arm around my shoulder, silently staking his claim.

Everyone gets along well. My friends seem to genuinely like Charlie. There’s a sense of normalcy that’s beginning to settle inside me at us being together in public. It’s a satisfying feeling that we have more chemistry than just in the bedroom. I just hope that Reed’s friends and my protective big sister will see it and accept it.

When we head all leave for the night, I’m pleased with how well it went.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I’m at my sister’s house prepping. The past few weeks went by quickly. After talking it over, Charlie and I decided to keep our relationship under wraps until Tessa’s pregnancy is over.

Is it the chicken way out? Probably. It took some convincing of Charlie at first. I’m not sure what happened to him, but he’s suddenly not gun shy about our relationship anymore. He’s still not in love with the idea of hiding us again, but he’s at least willing to for a short period of time.

We all agreed doing Thanksgiving dinner here would be best; Sawyer’s toys are here,

and if Tess gets too overwhelmed or tired, she can always go lay down. And, yes, Tess and I both caught all kinds of hell for calling the afternoon meal
dinner
and not lunch. What can I say? Back home, any big lunch time meal is considered a dinner, regardless of the time.

Although she doesn’t like to admit it, Tessa’s energy is very low these days. She shouldn’t be cooking at all, which is why I’m here. Between Hunter and me, we’ve managed to keep her on a stool or in a chair, up off her feet, most of the day.

At her last doctor appointment, her blood pressure was a little high. The doctor told her she needs to rest more and stress less. Something she doesn’t seem to want to listen to. My sister can’t sit still—she’s a control freak. And this holiday dinner prepping has been a perfect example. She’s refused to sit and relax; Hunter has gotten onto her multiple times and even threatened to kick her out of the kitchen.

The babies could come anytime now since she’s thirty-six weeks along. Even though she is a huge, grumpy, pain-in-the-ass right now, we’re all trying to keep her happy.

It was very fortunate that we’re doing it here. Hunter and Tessa’s house is bigger than Jeremy’s, Hunter and Marshall’s father. Yesterday, J.C. called Tessa to let her know he’d had a change of plans and would be joining us for dinner instead of going back home to Georgia.

Although she hasn’t called yet, we’re all expecting Jo to confirm she’ll be here tomorrow too. It seems like a trend with the two of them. They both take leave at the same time and spend the same holidays here in Norfolk. None of us will be surprised if she ends up here tomorrow.

We finally finish all the preparing around 10:00 PM, and I head home.

Tomorrow should be pretty simple, we just have to fix the sides and toss the turkey in the oven.

I’m surprised when I pull up at my apartment to see Charlie’s car outside. I gave him a key a couple weeks ago, at his insistence.

He’s sitting at the table, the TV off and most of the lights too.

“Hey, you,” I say as I place a kiss to his cheek. “What’s going on?”

“Hey.”

He seems reserved, unlike Charlie.

“What’s wrong?”

He doesn’t look at me. Instead, he keeps his face trained ahead. A moment of silence passes before he releases a deep sigh.

A million thoughts run through my head at once.
What if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore?

“I’m done hiding us, Tegan.”

“What?”

He gets up from his chair and stands directly in front of me, finding my eyes.

“I’m finished hiding this between us. We’re telling your sister and everyone else tomorrow,” he says with conviction.

“But, Charlie, we can’t. We agreed to wait—”

“I know that, and at the time I thought it was a good idea, but I’m finally at a stage where I’m comfortable with dating someone. I don’t want to hide that; I don’t want to hide you.”

“What about Tessa being pregnant? The babies will be here any day, Charlie. I don’t want to stress her out.”