That One Day (That One #1.5) (35 page)

My breath hitches and I thrust my hips upward to emphasize my point. “I’m yours.”

My body feels like it’s burning—inside and out. Her heat and wetness are luring my cock inside, a call I can’t resist any longer.

“The condom?” I grind out. She leans back a little, ripping the package open and I make the most of the moment, rolling her nipples between my fingers.

A smile crosses my face when her head falls back, pushing her breasts into my eager hand. Her lips part on a moan before she gets back to the task at hand, starting to roll the condom down my cock.

I watch her hands working it down, nearly exploding with anticipation to be inside of her, when she swears, “Fuck. No, no, no.” She looks up at me. “The condom ripped. Do you have another one?”

I exhale a big breath, attempting to concentrate on anything other than her fingers clasped around my cock. I shake my head. “No, I wasn’t expecting to get lucky multiple times. My bad.” I grin. “Let me go inside and grab another one.”

She starts shaking her head.

“I want you, Ben. I want you now. My period ended a couple days ago, so it should be fine. You can pull out, right?” She looks at me, her eyes begging me to give in.

A little voice in my head tells me this is a stupid idea, but the prospect of feeling her without anything between us obliterates all rational thought.

“You sure?”

“Uh huh.” She moans, throwing the condom on the floor and positioning herself above my cock. I grab her hip with one hand and pull her head to me with another, kissing her deep as she slowly sinks onto me. Her fingers dig into my back and mine clench around her hips as her heat envelops me inch by amazing fucking inch.

Once I’m buried to the hilt, we both stop moving, giving us a moment to revel in the sensation. I don’t mind condoms, understanding her wish to not pump her body full of chemicals. But damn, we’ve been missing out.

After a few seconds, or minutes, or hours—I don’t know exactly how long—she starts moving up and down and I help her along with my hands on her hips. We’re so close this way and I’m so fucking deep inside of her.

I lean in, licking and nibbling her neck and shoulder, loving how she melts into me. She catches my earlobe between her teeth, giving it a pull. The mix between pain and pleasure is intoxicating. I feel fucking high. Her ragged breath in my ear mixed with the moans every time she takes me fully inside is the hottest sound I’ve ever heard.

We speed up, our bodies a tangled, sweaty mess.

“Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon makes the perfect soundtrack, while I thrust my hips into her, perfectly timed with her sliding down. Her pussy starts clenching around me, and her breath grows erratic as her nails dig into my skin.

“Ben, oh God, Ben.”

I slam her hips down harder onto me.

“Yes, babe. Let go.” I groan and then crash my lips to hers, swallowing her cries as she convulses and shudders around me, her pussy gripping my cock tight while she orgasms.

She keeps on moving, riding out her high, when I feel my cock swell. The intensity takes me by surprise.

“Shit, Frankie…” I want to pull out, but it’s too late. I come so fucking hard my vision blurs and my whole body shudders and jerks as I release into her.

She pulls me close, stealing kisses from me between moans.

“This was….” She pants, still keeping herself upright by grasping my shoulders. I touch my forehead to hers. “Wow is the word you’re looking for. Just
wow
.”

She giggles. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“I love you, Frankie.”

“I love you, too.”

Climbing off me, she reaches for my shirt and slips it on. Her thighs are glistening with our mutual release and that’s when I’m able to hear the voice in my head again.

“Babe, I didn’t pull out. Fuck.”

I watch her as she calmly pours us some hot chocolate and hands me a mug, setting hers down next to me on the floor together with the box of donuts. Then she climbs back onto the mattress.

“Babe, I just had my period. I think we’re safe.” She plants a kiss on my nose and then turns around, settling between my legs and leaning her body against mine.

I allow her words to lessen the guilt and relax back as well.

We hold each other, snuggled under the blanket, drinking our chocolate and feeding each other donuts.

“Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we need to confiscate the treehouse from Archer.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“You liked this, huh?”

“Couldn’t you tell?” She tilts her head back, looking up at me.

“I’m not sure. We might have to repeat it a few times, just to be on the safe side,” I tease, letting my hand wander up her shirt.

She swats it away playfully, her body shaking with laughter.

We lay back, my right hand splayed on her stomach while my left hand rests on her right breast. She puts her hands over mine and we just enjoy the night together until the candles flicker out, one by one.

She burrows her head against me until she’s more comfortable.

I feel so fucking at peace right this moment. I feel at home. Actually, that’s the case whenever I’m with her.

I kiss the top of her head, loving the little satisfied sound she makes.

It’s become our thing over the past months for me to sing when we put Archer to bed, but more often than not, it’s songs I choose for her.

For some reason, she loves it. She loves to hear my voice.

And so when Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” comes on, I sing along.

This time singing just to her. The words couldn’t be truer.

Six weeks later…

I walk up the stairs of the treehouse and squint my eyes against the blinding sun.

Archer is taking his nap inside, the travel crib temporarily put to use here so he can enjoy the fresh air. A mosquito net is draped over the top to protect him from anything with more than two legs.

It’s Saturday, so Frankie has been spending all day outside with him and is now sitting in the bean bag, with a book on her lap, staring into space. She looks completely lost in thought, worry lines marring her forehead.

“Babe, everything okay?” I ask, handing her a sandwich.

“Thanks. I’m fine.” She takes the sandwich, but doesn’t take a bite. Instead, she sets the plate on top of her book.

I’ve been listening to her ‘I’m fine’ answers for a week now, and I don’t fucking buy it.

I take both book and plate from her and set them on the floor. Then I grab her hand and pull her up.

“What are you doing, Ben?”

I quickly check all the treehouse windows to make sure the safety bars I installed are in place and then lead her out onto the balcony.

“We’re going to talk.”

I close the door so we don’t wake Archer.

She gives me a wary look before turning her gaze to the ground. I still catch her eyes swimming with tears and her lip quivering.

“Babe, what’s going on? You’ve been weird all week.”

I stroke her arms, waiting for an answer. I already have a suspicion, had it since about mid-week when she started stealing the food off my plate after finishing everything on hers. But I don’t want to push her, although I don’t understand why she’d be upset.

“Babe?”

She exhales a shaky sigh.

“It’s all my fault, Ben.”

Jesus, maybe my suspicion was wrong after all. “What’s your fault?” I try to keep my voice calm and not betray my sudden anxiety.

“You know how I said I wasn’t in the fertile part of my cycle yet? When we…” She sniffles. “…celebrated my graduation.”

My shoulders relax again, her words confirming my earlier thoughts. “Yeah.”

She looks up at me, her eyes big and she’s blinking nervously. “Well, apparently I was wrong. I’m late.”

She slips her hand into her dress pocket and pulls out a pregnancy test, holding it up in front of my face.

I stare at the pink plus sign in wonder, unable to say anything at first. She seems to mistake my silence for unhappiness. “I’m sorry, Ben. I kept you from getting another condom. I know it’s soon and—”

Not letting her finish, I kiss her—excitement fueling my passion. At first she’s hesitant, but then she kisses me back, the tension leaving her body.

When we break the kiss, I take the test out of her hand, staring at it. The smile on my face is so big, it starts to hurt.

“You’re sure?” I look up from the test and into her face.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent.” She bites her lip, still visibly worried about my reaction.

“Babe, stop worrying. This is awesome. This is fucking amazing.” I swallow hard, trying to keep my emotions at bay.

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad? Babe, remember, I was there, too. You didn’t force me to fuck you bare,” I joke. “And I’m fucking happy—like
shout it from the rooftops
happy.”

Now she beams up at me, her face lit up by a smile. “I know it’s stupid, but I’m excited.”

“Nothing stupid about it.” I place my hands on her stomach. I can’t fucking wait to feel our baby move. “It’s great news, babe. But next time, don’t mope around, just tell me instead.”

Narrowing her eyes at me, she asks, “Next time? How many kids are you planning to have?”

“Babe, so far we haven’t planned any of them. They have a mind of their own.”

She laughs, the rest of her earlier worry dissipating. I can see the moment she lets the excitement take over. Her eyes start to sparkle and she gets giddy.

“We need to tell the others. And make a doctor appointment. And think of names.”

“Babe, we have nine months.” I try to keep her from bouncing up and down. Next thing I know she has her arms thrown around my neck and wraps her legs around my hips, nearly knocking me off balance and starts kissing my jaw.

Despite her excitement and happiness, I feel the need to tell her something. Something I feel she needs to know. “And this time, you won’t have to do it alone. I’ll be there for every single thing. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

She leans back to look in my eyes. “Good. But you better buckle up for the ride, cowboy.”

We’re interrupted by noises from the treehouse. She unwraps her legs and puts them on the ground. “Time to tell Archer he’ll be a big brother soon.”

We walk back in and find Archer standing up looking at us through the mosquito net. Frankie goes over and I follow right behind as she takes him in her arms.

“Guess what, baby boy?” she coos. “You’re gonna have a little sister or a little brother. How do you like that?”

Snuggling Archer, she pulls me close so we are all hugging. Archer immediately grabs for my pendant, half leaning on me.

“You two and now this baby—I have everything I need.” I kiss Frankie’s temple and then Archer’s head.

“You’re all we need, too, Ben.” She leans her head against my shoulder and somehow I know everything will work out.

This. Us. It’s meant to be.

One day flipped my life on its head and brought a shitstorm of pain and hurt.

But it was also that one day that got me to this place. A place with Frankie and Archer at my side and a baby on the way.

A place I wouldn’t give up for anything in the world.

THE END

I live and breathe music, despite the lack of any musical talent. The melody of a song together with the voice of the singer and the lyrics have an unparalleled power to touch my heart and to move me deeply. It’s no surprise that music is a big part of my writing process. Here’s a list of songs that have influenced
That One Day
.

Songs mentioned in the book:
“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers

“Voices” by Disturbed

“Broken Home” by Papa Roach

“Getting Away With Murder” by Papa Roach

“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Kenny Rogers

“Just Killing Time” by Black Label Society

“All Summer Long” by Kid Rock

“Father and Son” by Cat Stevens

“She Hates Me” by Puddle of Mudd

“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Black Label Society

“Here Without You” by 3 Doors Down

“Someday” by Nickelback

“Panther Dance” by THePETEBOX

“Just Let Me” by Season To Attack

“Decompression Period” by Papa Roach

“Down With The Sickness” by Disturbed

“I Need You” by Mass Undergoe

“Happy” by Pharrell Williams

“Sweet Dreams” by Marilyn Manson

“Sex On Fire” by Kings Of Leon

“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith

Additional songs that I listened to while writing:

“In This River” by Black Label Society

“Angel Of Mercy” by Black Label Society

“Scars” by Black Label Society

“Spoke In The Wheel” by Black Label Society

“I Never Dreamed” by Black Label Society

“Broken” by Seether feat. Amy Lee

“Fear” by Disturbed

“Walk” by Pantera

“Where We End Up” by Season To Attack

“Sick Of It” by Skillet

“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Matt Anderson

“Just For” by Nickelback

“One Thing” by Finger Eleven

“Disarm” by The Smashing Pumpkins

One song perfectly describes Frankie and Ben’s struggles. I got goosebumps when I first heard it. If
That One Day
would ever be made into a movie, this would be the theme song I would choose:

“Little Do You Know” by Alex & Sierra

You can check out the playlist on
Spotify
.

(https://play.spotify.com/user/authorjosiewright/playlist/1Wkz7AUdoBZ0Mnsq3vYpYU)