All the Sauce (IceCats 4)

His thrusts slow, he makes one final push, my name filling the room with a loud growl, and then he stills as I gasp for breath. My heart is pounding as he throbs inside me. He reaches for me by cupping my neck and bringing me up against his chest. He takes my jaw in his hand and turns my head before kissing me hard on my lips. When we part, we’re both gasping for air as our eyes dance together widely.

“You think I don’t want this? Look how great we are together. It isn’t just in bed, Angie. We’re great.”

I nod. “I know. I agree.”

“Then stop stressing. All I want is your love.”

“You got it,” I promise, and he kisses me once more. He wraps his arms around my stomach, my dress bunching up a bit, and I have to fight the urge to pull it back down. I’ve gotten really good at hiding my stomach from him, but I know if I try to fix my dress, he’ll realize he hasn’t seen it. I haven’t gotten completely naked for him, and I do everything to distract him from that. It’s the only part of me I can’t allow him to see. It’s so full of stretch marks, and it looks like a lump. Yes, I’ve lost weight, but my stomach just isn’t appealing. With me moving in and us living life, I can’t chance my stomach scaring him off. No matter how confident I am in our love or how intense our lovemaking is or how great our vibe is together, I just can’t love my stomach.

So why would he?

Chapter Thirty

Owen

* * *

Fucking hell, I can feel the apprehension rolling off Angie in waves.

She’s so nervous, I’m nervous, and I have nothing to worry about. Her parents are going to love her like they always have, they’re going to love me, and they’ll love us. I’m not even concerned that it could go bad, because it won’t. Angie’s family is great, but even though she knows this, she’s a ball of nerves. She tried on seven different outfits before she decided on a cute flowy skirt and tank. She pulled up her hair into a sleek ponytail and did her makeup. I had to talk her out of the jean jacket since it’s almost summer, but no matter how much I tell her she’s gorgeous, I don’t think she believes it. It drives me insane how, after all these weeks, she still does not see how perfect she is.

My only hope is that her family will help her realize this.

The Paxtons got in with my parents around noon. I went to lunch with my parents since I knew we would be going to dinner with hers. Angie has to work until four, so we plan to have another lunch tomorrow as a group, and then my parents want to have breakfast with Angie tomorrow while I’m in a meeting. I expected her to be nervous about that, but she isn’t. She probably has to get through seeing her parents first. My biggest concern is that I’m supportive enough. I feel as if I’m not even helping, with how frantically she’s bouncing her knee.

“Did you eat with your meds this morning?”

She nods and gives me a weak smile. “I did and then again after my workout.”

I kiss the back of her hand. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“I know,” she says. Though, I don’t think either of us believes her. “Are you sure I look okay? Maybe I should have worn jeans to hide my legs—”

“Are you talking bad about my favorite body in the world?”

She gives me a dry look. “I’m not in the mood to play around.”

“I’m not playing,” I say simply. “You’re perfect, Pax.”

But her leg doesn’t slow. Jesus.

As we merge onto the highway to head to the part of town where the arena is and where our families are staying, I decide to try to distract her a bit. “Did you and Jean have a nice lunch date?”

I love that she and Jean are friends. They’ve started having twice-weekly lunch dates. One with baby Celeste at the park and then one just the two of them.

“Yeah,” she says, and then she throws up her hands. “I brought up Dart, and she shut me down, like, automatically.”

I make a face. “So, Kirby did tell her Dart has herpes?”

She laughs, and boy, I love the sound. “No, he didn’t. She just doesn’t have time for guys. She has a lot going on with her family. Her dad is in an assisted living home.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, so she’s just focusing on him and her siblings. You know she has eight?”

“And I thought we had big families.”

“I know, right?” she says, and it almost feels like normal.

“Do you want a big family?”