Pucking Ever After(Jacksonville Rays, #2.5)

by Emily Rath

With a sigh, I push through. “His body of work is like the story of my life, you know? Each album, each song…they become like their own mini time capsules. I hear one of his songs, and that time capsule gets opened…and then the memories come pouring out.”

“My parents mostly. My brothers, my cousins, my friends, sometimes even my teammates. They fed me the lie over and over. They twisted me the fuck up until I believed them. I believed I was a monster—” “You’re not.” I cup his face with both hands, stepping in close. “There is nothing wrong with you, Caleb.”

“Puppy?” Novy repeats. I narrow my eyes at all three of them. “You wanna do this now? You really wanna come at me like I don’t know all your collective dirty laundry? Go ahead. First guy to crack a joke and call me ‘puppy’ is volunteering to get roasted.”

“Hey, there’s an ocean just outside, right? Good. Go walk into it and count to a thousand.”

Because why wouldn’t scuba diving maintenance workers clean my honeymoon villa while I’m trying to get balls-deep inside my wife? After the chaos of this weekend, I don’t know why I didn’t just assume there would definitely be scuba divers watching us fuck through the glass. As if on cue, the diver drags his squeegee along the glass. It makes a faint squeaking sound with each pull.

All I know is that I’m so tired, I’m so horny, and I have literally no idea how, but I’m hungry again.

Watching our girl struggle like this, knowing it’s us who put her in this position? Yeah, it really fucking sucks. We get that this is the process. We all wanted this baby. We all tried for it. But we’re men of action.

That’s what Mars does for me—he holds me together. The others can’t do it. Only Mars. I close my eyes, knowing Caleb probably sent him out here. Our broody Finn is the only one who can quiet all the shit spinning in my head. They sent me who I needed most in this moment. Because, unlike my parents, they understand me. They respect me. They love me.

She’s all smiles. It glows like a light inside her. Fuck me, this is the most beautiful she’s ever looked. I want a picture of her sitting just like this—hair a mess, IVs in her hands, tired circles under her eyes, nursing my kid. She looks like an earth goddess, all power and calm and love.

I loved Rachel first and now we’ve made this beautiful human life together. There’s a shared piece of us in the universe. It feels like a full-circle moment.

“Fuck, I wanna live inshide your shkin.”

Rachel is the slow beating of my heart, essential to living. Jake is the breath of fresh air in my lungs. But Caleb? He’s become my second set of ribs. He’s our protector, our center. He keeps us safe. He keeps us whole.

“Oh—you son of a—are you kidding me?” In my confusion and panic, I shove him again. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Another shove. “How long, Mars?” He grunts, letting me push at him. He’s such a tree, he hardly even shifts his weight. “How fucking long—” “Caleb—stop—” He breaks his stoic silence at last, body checking me. I stumble back and he grabs me by the shoulders, turning me and forcing me up against the wall. “Enough.”

“To know you is to want you, Caleb.”

“Because we are the safe harbor. You are held apart, removed from me like a lighthouse on the far distant shore. I can see home, but I cannot reach it. I know it’s there, but your fire cannot give me warmth.”

“Because you’re my other half.”

“I can’t breathe for wanting you. I have no pride left. No clever words. Nothing. Please…just end my fucking agony and tell me there’s something left.

“The others have staked their claims on me, it’s true. But you may have the rest. Take anything…everything. Every part of me. It’s yours.”

I lick my lips, heart racing. Sudden death. No going back. “Are you in love with me, Mars?” He closes his eyes and lets out a breath. “So much it hurts.”