Page 76 of Intersect

40

QUINN

The following week, just before my classes begin, Nick and I have our first obstetrics appointment. He’s already in the waiting room when I arrive.

“Decaf latte,” he says, placing a Styrofoam cup in my hand as he leans down to kiss my forehead.

I smile at him. “You’re spoiling me. What happens when the novelty wears off?”

He tips my chin up with his index finger. “The novelty of you is never going to wear off. But you know how to scare the shit out of me if I ever start taking you for granted.”

“I have less stressful ways to remind you that you like me,” I reply, and I get his dirtiest smile in response.

“Once this is done we should go home so you can remind me again,” he replies.

A few minutes later we are called back, and I go through something I only vaguely recall in the past…the cold jelly spread over my stomach, the smooth paddle sliding over it. Nick is watching the screen so avidly you’d think he expects one of the babies to speak to us. He finds what he is looking for and stares at it awestruck.

“You see something?” I ask.

His smile goes wide. “Yeah.”

“I see two somethings,” says the doctor triumphantly. “You’re having twins, Mrs. Reilly.”

I try to pretend I’m surprised, and I don’t correct him on the name. I guess I’ll be Mrs. Reilly soon enough.

41

QUINN

TWO WEEKS LATER

I’ve finished getting ready, though I’m wearing clothes Caroline will undoubtedly find lacking because they don’t cost ten million dollars. “You’re sure you don’t want to come?” I ask Nick for the third time.

Nick kisses my forehead. “Go have fun with your friends,” he replies. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

Between school and the pregnancy and my unending obsession with Nick’s eight-pack and biceps, there hasn’t been time to see Trevor and Caroline since we got back from France. I’m excited to have drinks with them, even if I won’t be drinking, but I wish Nick was coming with us. When we’re apart it feels like something is missing, and the world becomes nothing more than a series of stories and experiences to dissect with him later. “I’m not sure how much fun it will be watching them drink margaritas while I sip water.”

“I thought you were meeting someone Trevor is dating.”

“The senator,” I reply, grinning, “in theory.”

“Trevor is dating a senator? You said he prefers criminals.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves. Senator and criminal aren’t mutually exclusive terms. But no, it’s just some legislative aide. He and Trevor do this roleplay in which he’s a senator who trades political favors for sex. And thus the nickname.”

Nick shakes his head. “That was slightly more than I needed to know about Trevor’s sex life.”

“Admit it. You’d love to play senator with me.”

He gets that smile on his face—slow and dirty, his eyes a little feral. “Senator Reilly has a nice ring to it.” He pulls me in for a kiss. I can feel his cock pressing against my stomach as if it’s knocking on the door to beg entry. I really wish I wasn’t already running late.

He sighs as he pushes away, glancing downward. “Now see what you’ve done?”

I bat my lashes. “Oh, Senator Reilly, I’m so sorry, sir,” I reply, my voice high and breathy as I grab my keys. “If there’s any way I can make it up to you, let me know.”

“Not helpful,” he growls at my retreating back.

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