Fine. Whatever, I won’t fight it.
“You did so well, sweetheart. They’re perfect,” I kiss her sweet lips, looking down at our instant family. I never knew happiness could feel this way. Never realized that things could actually get better. But they have.
“You were part of this too, you know?” She looks up at me with the most contented expression I’ve ever seen.
“Love, all I did was orgasm inside of you. Not exactly a hardship for me. In fact, when they give us the go-ahead, I’d like to do that again.”
Her eyes widen in horror. “Make more babies?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Orgasm inside of you.” She really should have gotten that point. I’ll blame it on the fatigue and hormones. “I think we’ll start with the two babies we have and see where we end up in a few years.”
“Thank Christ. I was worried there for a minute.” She looks down at our little bundles that are happily sucking away.
“We have to name them.”
“You don’t like the names we came up with?”
We had two of each gender since all we knew was that we were having twins. We decided to be surprised on the rest.
“Yes, but which ones, love?”
“Oh. Right.” She sinks her teeth into her lip, worrying it back and forth. “I think I like Will.”
“I assume that’s for our son?” She looks up at me like I’m an idiot. “Just making sure.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “Will, it is. I think I like Leah for our girl.”
She nods. “Will and Leah. Perfect.”
“Just like you. And them, of course.” I lean down and kiss her lips again, brushing my fingers across their tiny soft heads and kissing them. I’ve heard babies smell good, but I never realized just how amazing it really is.
All of it. Every single thing about this is just…perfect.
“We’re perfect, Ryan,” Katie says, echoing my thoughts as she always seems to do. “And thank god we didn’t have them in the car.”
* * *
The End
* * *
Thank you so very much for reading Start Again! If you liked Kate and Ryan’s story? Get the second book in the series (Luke’s story), Start Over.
Sign up for J. Saman’s Newsletter and get a free copy of one of my books as well as exclusive content, sales, giveaways, and other fun stuff!
J. Saman is a USA Today bestselling author who loves all types of novels, but finds herself always going back to writing/reading romances. She's addicted to Diet Coke and sour candy, and swears way too much. She's an admitted lover of second chance romances, love triangles, and the perfect amount of angst. She writes smart, strong women and sexy alpha (slightly nerdy) men who have a softer side.
KISSING & TELLING
Copyright © 2019 by Beck & Hallman LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Design by T.E. Black
Cover Image by Wander Aguiar
Editing by Ellie McLove at My Brother’s Editing
KISSING AND TELLING
* * *
Everyone knows the rules of friendship, right?
* * *
Rule #1: Don’t kiss your best friend.
Rule #2: Don’t have sex with your best friend.
Rule #3: Don’t pretend like it didn’t happen the next day.
Bailey Renshaw is my best friend.
Kind. Sweet as a peach, and so beautiful it should be a crime.
Since we were kids, I’ve wanted her, and one time when we were nothing more than teenagers, I kissed her. It was the first mistake I ever made in our friendship. Giving her my heart and hoping she felt the same were my second and third.
That night she broke me, ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it. Anyone else would’ve hated her for it, but it only made me value her more, and realize that I would do anything I could to keep her in my life even if it was only as a friend and nothing more.
As a permanent resident of the friend zone, I promised myself that I would never cross that line again, no matter how badly I wanted to, and I wanted to, badly.
Every time she smiled at me, licked her pink lips, or flashed her doe eyes my way, I came a little closer to breaking the rules again… but I didn’t. I couldn’t do that to us. Until one night when we decided to break the rules together.
One earth-shattering night together and I knew nothing would ever be the same.
Friends or lovers? I don’t know what we are anymore. The rules no longer apply to us.
Now the only question is, can we fix what we had before it’s too late or is our friendship over for good?, and all because of one single kiss?
1
Bailey
* * *
The big twenty-one. I’m twenty-one-years old today and somehow, I held onto my virginity. No, somehow wasn’t really the word to use. I held onto the damn thing with an iron grip because of the person I wanted to give it to.
See, I have a secret. A secret that I have kept for a long time, since first grade, to be exact. A secret that if it ever comes out, could ruin my life. That secret has to do with Elijah.
My best friend, my crush… Elijah Westbrook. Polar opposites in every way. Like water and oil, by all social standards, we should have never mixed, but surprisingly we do. People could never understand how we became friends, let alone stayed friends for so many years. I like reading and writing. Drinking coffee and snuggling on the couch. The simple things.
He loves parties, drinking, sex… lots of sex, which left him with a reputation, one that has landed him as a bad boy in more than one woman’s book. He’s the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. Never staying the night and never dating.
Basically, I’m the eternal nerd, while he is the jock, the alpha. ‘Men want to be him, women want to be with him,’ kind of guy.
Still, I want him in my life and not because he is the good-looking guy that everybody else sees and wants. I want him for the things that people don’t see. I want him because he is sweet, and smart, and funny. And above all, I want him to be my friend. That’s why I never told him about my crush. Hell, I’ve wanted him to have my virginity since I learned what sex was. It was always going to be Elijah for me. I knew it back then and I know it now. That’s why I’m doing what I am tonight… I’m finally going to see if I can free myself from him. There are many things wrong with the situation we’re in, us being best friends is simply the icing on the crap-tastic cake.
Is there something wrong with me? I ask myself as I eye my reflection in the mirror. Big green eyes look back at me, a smoky eye painted over each of them. Erin, my other best friend, and the only other person in the world who knows my secret, has done my makeup and hair for tonight’s operation. An operation she calls: Twenty-one-year-old-virgin no more.