Page 98 of Make Us Yours
The whole gang is heading over to Burkley’s place for dinner. Greyson is supposed to propose to Emma today. And if all goes well, she’ll say yes, and we’ll be celebrating their engagement at Clay’s house.
Emma is still in a funk since Maddison’s passing, still hardly leaving the bed and functioning. She’s spiraling into a depression, and Greyson is starting to freak out.Originally, he had planned to propose at their launch party this weekend. But with her state of mind, he thought proposing earlier might get her out of depression in time for her and Cecilia’s grand opening.
Cecilia has been picking up the slack with the rest of the girls’ help to get everything ready and moving for the launch party and their first day of work. But she can’t do it all on her own; she needs her business partner.
“Yeah, of course. You can even pack up all your things while you’re at it and just move in.” Gabe shines a blinding smile at her.
She stops in front of him, patting his chest. “One thing at a time, Pretty Boy. One thing at a time.” She steps away and heads for the elevator.
Gabe leans in, hands in his jean’s pockets. “She didn’t say no.”
I chuckle and shake my head at him, then follow after Veronica.
We take Gabe’s Porsche over to Veronica’s condo, since my car only fits two. We’re just turning onto her block when she pushes her head between us from the back, arms bent and supporting her body on either side of our seats.
“You know…” she starts, then smiles devilishly at me. “If we ever have a baby, you’ll have to get a new car since yours is only a two-seater.”
My eyes grow wide as Gabe hits the brakes hard, sending us all flying against our seatbelts, except for Veronica, who doesn’t seem to be buckled in. I quickly put my arm in the way, stopping her from flying out the windshield.
“HOLY FUCK! I’m sorry. Shit, fuck, sorry. I just… I think I just came in my pants.” Gabe shuts off the engine and turns in his seat, beaming at Veronica. “Is it time? Are we really having this conversation now? Because I’m ready. I’m so, so ready.”
He practically bounces in his seat with excitement. “We can do it right here, right now. Or in your condo, since we’re already here. I’m going to put so many babies in you, Vixen. Fuck, I’m hard just thinking about it. I can’t wait to see you all swollen and emotional.”
“Jesus, that turned scary real quick,” I mutter, still shocked from what Veronica spurted out of the blue.
Gabe glares my way. “There is absolutely nothing scary about a pregnancy. It’s one of the most beautiful moments in a woman’s life. Don’t say shit like that, she might take it back!”
Veronica suddenly bursts into a high-pitched hyena laugh, holding on to her belly as she falls back into her seat. I swear if there was more room back there, she’d be rolling all over and kicking her feet in the air. “Oh my God! That was hilarious! I should have filmed it.”
I give her a reproachful look. “This is funny to you?”
She takes a few deep breaths as she steadies herself and sits back up properly. “Oh, come on, it’s a little funny. I just wanted to see his reaction. I mean, look at him.” She nods toward Gabe. “He’s like a big golden retriever puppy all excited to chew on his new toy.” Gabe narrows his eyes at her, and she quickly places a hand over her mouth to suppress her giggle. “Look, now he’s pouting because we took away his toy.”
I can’t help but laugh as I watch Veronica giggling her heart away at Gabe’s expense.
“I hate you both,” he declares as he faces forward in his seat and crosses his arms, sulking like a child.
Veronica goes to the back of his seat, her arms coming around to hold him. “Aww, no, you don’t. I think you still like me very much.”
“You’re right, I think I do. But only because you’re fucking hot and I really want to fuck your brains out tonight.” He turns, grabbing her head and kissing her.
“Way to make that sound romantic, Pretty Boy.” She laughs against his lips just as her phone begins to ring.
She pulls back and takes it out from her purse, frowning as she sees who’s calling. She quickly answers it and puts the phone to her ear. “Hey, Nate.”Nate? Who the fuck is Nate? Nathan? And if so, why the fuck is he calling her?
“Yeah, actually I just got to the condo.” She listens for a moment. “Oh okay, sure. We haven’t gone in yet, so I’ll just wait before heading up, so you don’t have to ring… Okay, see you in a bit.”
She hangs up and looks at us. Apparently, I’m not the only one not enjoying that phone call. One look at Gabe and he looks ready to rip someone’s head off.
“So… Nathan’s coming to pick up some of his stuff he left at my place a while back. He was supposed to collect them before we left on vaca, but he had an emergency, so he canceled. He said he was right around the corner and asked if he could stop by,” she clarifies for us as she looks out the window. “Oh, he’s already here.”
Veronica quickly steps out of the car as Gabe and I follow suit. She walks over to him as he opens his arms, only hesitating a second before reaching up and accepting his hug. I hear a growl erupt from Gabe’s throat at my side as he watches them.
Veronica must hear it too, because she swiftly steps out of his embrace and glares at Gabe. She then smiles awkwardly at all of us before snapping out of it. “Um, Nathan, this is Noah and Gabriel. Noah, Gabe, this is Nathan.”
We nod at each other in acknowledgment. “So, you’re the friend?” Gabe says ina not-so-friendly voice.
Nathan smiles broadly with another nod, then looks at me. “And you’re the boyfriend.”
