Jumping up, I bring her with me and spin around. We kiss again, and when our lips part this time, Billy comes over the loudspeaker, and asks, “What’d she say?”
I give him a thumbs-up.
Shelby and he cheer just as the band starts playing our school’s touchdown song. Marching across the field, they form a circle around us to Delilah’s utter delight. I set her down, still holding her hand but spinning her out like we’re on the dance floor. When she stays away too long, I say, “C’mere.” Caressing her face in my hands, I kiss her good and improper, the way she likes to be kissed.
“You sure did go to a lot of trouble for a girl who already said yes.”
“You once asked for a redo. I want to make all your dreams come true.”
She tilts her head to the side, eyeing me with a sweet smile on her face. “You succeeded, stud.” Plucking the eight on the front of my jersey, she adds, “You always did look good in a uniform.”
“You look so incredible I’m already planning a quick escape route to get you home and in bed so I can make love to you all night.”
Spinning away from me again, she shows me the back. “It’s all rigged with safety pins. This skirt is way too tight.” She’s linked the sides together. There’s at least two inches keeping the sides from meeting.
“You’re sexy as hell anyway.”
“I’ve put on a little weight since you’ve returned, a few love pounds. I’m not worried, but it will be more.”
“More?”
She bends down and picks up one of her pom-poms, flashing me her fine ass while doing it. These pants are feeling tighter already. When she turns back, she grabs something dangling from the center of the black and gold. “Yes. More.”
I’m so confused until I see the stick, a white stick with two pink lines that she’s holding out for me. I take it, the poofy ball coming with it. My thoughts fumble to register what this is, even though I know exactly what it is. She calls my name. “Jason?”
“Yeah,” I reply, glancing at her and then down at the stick again.
“We’re having a baby.”
It wasn’t just one time we didn’t use condoms. We stopped using them altogether because we wanted this. We want this. I drop my head but keep my eyes on her. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.” Her smile is even prettier than seconds before.
My heart starts beating for a new reason. A baby. “I’m going to be a dad?”
Cozying up to my side, she laughs. “Yes, you’re going to be a dad.”
I wrap an arm around her and kiss the top of her head. “What about the wedding? Do you want to get married sooner?”
“It doesn’t matter when. It only matters that we’re together.”
The band had stopped playing and have almost disappeared from the field altogether, but who could notice when I’m having a baby with Delilah Rae, my honeysuckle. She wraps her arms around my neck and tilts back, letting me bear the weight as she smiles toward the moonlight. Technically, it’s under the stadium lights, but for her, I get all the light to shine for her. “I was in town earlier, and I overheard Janice spreading gossip at the pharmacy.”
“And what gossip was she spreading?”
“Well,” she starts, raising one eyebrow, “rumor has it that you’re bad for me.”
“Shouldn’t believe everything you hear. Sometimes a little bad can be good for a girl.”
“I’d say.” She kisses me, and I kiss her with all the love she deserves.
“You know they’re going to gossip about me knocking you up before marriage?”
“Let ’em. They don’t matter. Only we do. And this baby. We’re going to give this baby the best life ever.”
Bending down, I kiss her bare midriff. “Hey baby, it’s your daddy.” Delilah’s fingers run through my hair, holding me there. “Do you know how much I love your mama?”
I take her hand while I still hold that stick in the other, ready to confess the last of my secrets. “I have more money than what’s in Solace Pointe Bank. Your name is on all four accounts. I was going to give it to you as a gift when the paperwork came in, but I guess we should figure out how to manage it together to make sure our family is always taken care of, and we can re-file all the paperwork.”
“More money? I don’t understand, What paperwork?”
“I don’t really have a lot of faith in small-town banks. I was protecting our financial interests by spreading it out across the US and one account in Switzerland.”
“Wait, what are you saying?”
“We’re really fucking rich.”
Her brows knit together in disbelief. “Since my name is now on it, how much are we talking about?”
“Fifteen or so.”
As much as I love surprising her, I don’t like shocking her. “You’re not talking thousands, are you?”