Ethan supposed he would have to respect that, even if he was curious too. "Fine," he said, almost to the point of panicking when a thought occurred to him. There was no question; Cade would have at least one girl in their room right about now. Only one, if Ethan was lucky. How to stall going to his dorm? "Y'all hungry? Let's go get some burgers."
"I'm good," Ty announced, looking as if he were ready to hit the road immediately. "Ava can stay with you, right?"
Ethan was straddling a heaven and hell kind of feeling. Yeah, he could fit her in his single bed, no problem. And it would be heaven holding her for the entire night. But with Cade's groupies traipsing in and out all evening—that would be pure hell, for sure. Ava would freak, but maybe he'd get lucky and Cade wouldn't stay the night there. It had happened before, more than once. And besides, what other choice did he have? He had nowhere else to take her. "Yeah, you bet she can stay. Of course she can stay." He sucked in a breath and issued a small warning—and eased into the fact that he couldn't control his roommate's actions. "But there's not shit I can do about my roommate. He and his friends are usually loud and annoying."
Ethan glanced away from Ty and analyzed Ava's expression. It didn't change—she didn't get that his reference to 'friends' meant girls. As Ty tossed Ava's backpack to him, he caught it as Ava said, "That's fine. I don't care."
Ty said, "Cool," and after a quick conference about the time he'd pick Ava up the next day, he turned and left, looking like a man on a mission.
Ava said she wasn't hungry either, and as he'd already eaten, Ethan wrapped his fingers around hers and began leading her to his dorm.
It was all good when they arrived; Cade was nowhere in sight. Ethan dropped Ava's backpack on his bed as she took a look around. "This is pretty neat," she declared softly, looking a little out of her element.
He studied her a moment, the paleness of her skin alarming him. She seemed more fragile than he'd ever seen her, and what the hell, weren't her damn parents taking care of her at all? She was pregnant, for God's sake, they should give a fuck. His eyes dropped to her stomach as nerves attacked him. That was his baby there, no denying it. He was going to be a father, and soon.
As he looked her over, he saw that her features were strained and he felt such a huge surge of guilt for what he'd done to her—what he was still doing to her—what he'd done that would affect the rest of her life. He'd stolen her youth and saddled her with a kid, while she was still a kid herself.
But goddamn, she was still tempting as hell. Something about knowing he had put a baby in her belly made him want to do it all over again, right here and now. And he was pretty sure that made him an asshole. Why was he so insensitive at a time like this? Why was he such a selfish fuck? All he could think about was tasting her, grabbing her and holding on tight, taking what he needed from her instead of thinking about her needs. What the fuck? He couldn't continue being a selfish kid, that time had to be over. He felt like kicking his own ass—she was pregnant with his baby and all he could think about was jumping her bones the second he got her alone?
What the hell was wrong with him?
He fisted his hands and forced himself to lean against the wall, while she continued to stand in the middle of the room looking around.
He moved to secure the door lock and the chain. No way Cade was going to come in unannounced and catch him off guard or, God forbid, see a single inch of Ava's bare curves. Wasn't going to happen. Ava deserved to be protected from a scene like that and he intended to always protect her, from everything.
Something about securing privacy made heat erupt in his belly. When he turned around, he intended to only kiss her, to taste her. But when his hands landed on her hips, the hips that safely encased his baby, Ethan lost it.
He pulled her in and kissed her, and when she kissed him back, he took a step forward, a step that propelled her backward toward the bed.
The only thing that stopped him from stripping her and nailing her to the bed with her legs spread wide was the baby. He had to be careful. So he kept a supporting arm behind her back until she was safely on the bed—and then he began stripping the clothes from her body like a man possessed.
Her shirt and bra came off first and when her breasts spilled out, he knew he was in heaven once again. Why the hell couldn't she stay here with him? Live here with him? He wanted that so badly. Nothing would be right again until he could see her every single day. He needed that with a fever he almost couldn't control.
Needing more of her, his hands went to the waistband of her cotton pants and pulled the strings that loosened them.
Her fingers fell to his hands and stopped him. "Ethan," she began.
"What?" he asked, needing her so badly he could barely get in enough air to say the word.
The look on her face was tormented. "I'm huge—"
He almost laughed at that, because seriously, the bigger her breasts, the better, as far as he was concerned. But he managed to keep his voice even to calm her nerves. "You're not huge."
"I am so—it's not a pretty sight."
"It was a damn gorgeous sight not two weeks ago, babe. Couldn't have changed that much."
His words must have made her feel better because she gave him a tremulous smile and let go of his hands, granting him permission to proceed.
He had her pants and panties off within seconds, tossing them to the floor. Looking down, he couldn't believe what he saw. The last two weeks had made a difference—a stupendous, glorious difference. With her clothes off, she was visibly pregnant and for the first time, instead of pure fear, a surge of sheer, masculine pride hit him. She was carrying his baby. He tried to tamp it down, because really, you shouldn't be proud of getting your teenaged girlfriend pregnant, you know?
But the feeling was there, and so was the primitive craving she induced that he'd been carrying around since he'd been fourteen years old.
He realized the emotion would always be there and pregnancy only seemed to enhance the strength of his feelings.
He continued to study her as a blush stained her cheekbones. A baby bump was definitely there, her flesh curving protectively over his baby in the most alluring way possible. Her middle had thickened, her breasts were filling out to nourish his baby, and all that amazing shit added to her usual beauty was just too fucking much for him to resist.
He stood from the bed and shucked his boots and jeans. From habit, he started to go for a condom, and when it hit him that it wasn't needed, he put one knee on the bed and then the other with an impatience he no longer tried to hide. His balls ached with need and his cock jutted out. It knew where home was, and so did he. His hands found hers and he threaded his fingers between hers.
"Ethan," she began slowly.
"Yeah?" he gritted out, glancing down into eyes so beautiful his stomach dropped to the floor. Goddamn butterflies, that's what it was. Butterflies? Did that make him a pussy? So fucking what? He didn't care. He'd never experienced this feeling of outright ownership with anyone but her, so it was okay. She was the mother of his baby—goddamn, she was Ava. He'd be worried if she didn't give him butterflies, it had been happening so damn long.
She licked her lips and a blast of fire licked down his spine. "I love you," she whispered.
He placed her hand on the back of his neck, then used his free hand to maneuver the head of his penis to her opening. "Yeah?" he asked, holding his breath. He knew he should repeat the sentiment back to her, but his brain was only giving him one word at a time.
"Yeah," she answered with a shuddering breath.
He was so far gone he had to regroup. His cock wa
s poised and ready like a heat-seeking missile, but there was a baby in there that needed to be protected. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his child or his girl. Taking a deep breath, he dipped his head and swallowed hard. Then he lifted his eyes to hers and said, "That's damn good, babe. Because truthfully? I'd find anything else completely unacceptable." He was teasing, right?
Yeah—no.
She broke into a smile and dug her nails into the nape of his neck in a teasing rebuke. "So romantic, Ethan."
Adjusting his hips, he carefully sank a single inch into her. "You want romance?"
Her smile never wavered as his heart began beating triple time. When he sank another inch inside, her smile faltered but her eyes clung to his face, almost as if she were drowning in him.
He'd meant to say something just a bit raunchy because she usually liked stuff like that. It made her laugh.
But as she watched him as if he were her hero or something, raunchiness dissolved and the truth came spilling from his lips. "I love you too, Ava." Wrapping his hands around her face, he leaned in, his lips barely brushing hers as he spoke. "And I'm going to love you 'til the day I die. Nothing can ever change that; no force in the universe will take you away from me. I won't allow it." With another push of his hips, he was seated deep inside her, the only place he wanted to be. "And when I die, your name will be the last breath from my lips."
And with that, he took the kiss he was dying for.
****
The next day, after Ty picked up Ava and they'd left for Redwood Falls, Ethan knew he should have told her. He should have told her the whole story about Cade and his goddamn fan girls. But he hadn't. He'd been too worried she wouldn't understand. He'd been having too fantastic of a time so he'd pushed it to the back of his mind.
Fucking pussy.
He could still tell her. He could always do it by phone.