Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(56)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“I love it when you’re losing.”

“I love it when you’re naked!” I laughed as I ran up the last couple steps. I knew she was playing games with me and I loved every second of it. We both loved the game of pool. It had brought us together. She was the only partner that I needed. One day I would beat her fair and square. I had our whole lives to do it.

Chapter 24

Vessa

Our story was far from being romantic. Some may have said that we rushed into it. Others have said that it was a relationship based on two people rebounding.

We didn’t care.

Our love was real and we were happy.

I didn’t meet Ramsey’s parents until I was seven months along and already his wife. He’d talked to them frequently, but we just had never had time to take a trip to visit. I would have been nervous meeting them as his girlfriend, but meeting them after we’d already married and gotten pregnant wasn’t exactly reassuring. I was so nervous that I threw up the whole way. The kids were excited, realizing that new grandparents meant more Christmas and birthday presents. My husband was the only one who remained calm, smiling the whole way.

We pulled into a small community with only a few houses. Each one looked different and they were surrounded by large pine trees giving each yard complete privacy. His parent’s house was a large white colonial. It sat off the road and had a long circular driveway. Black shutters were dressed around every window and it was fully landscaped.

I felt like it was more from a movie than and actual place that Ramsey had grown up in. “Don’t let the size fool you. My dad built it and they got the property for next to nothing. It’s the idiots that have moved into the neighborhood after them that are the rich ones.”

I tried to smile, but still felt overwhelmed. It wasn’t just that I was meeting his parents. I felt like I had to compete with Jules. I felt like they were going to look at me like I was just a replacement. Maybe it was selfish, or possibly my hormones. Ramsey always said I was the only person who thought things like that. He said that Jules and I were very different and he loved me because of that reason.

At any rate, by the time we got to the front door, I was shaking like a leaf. The kids were giddy and standing behind us talking about being at a mansion. It wasn’t close to being a mansion, but I guess it was the biggest house they’d been in.

When he took my hand and opened the front door, I thought he was going to have to carry me in. My feet wouldn’t work. He leaned down and started laughing at me. “Seriously, you act like they’re horrible people. Would you just calm down.”

Reluctantly, I squeezed his hand and proceeded into the foyer. We found his parents sitting in a family room off of the kitchen. His mother stood up and came rushing over toward us. After hugging her son, she turned all of her attention to me. She grabbed both of my hands and gave me a once over. “I am so happy to finally have you here, Vessa. Talking to you on the phone and seeing pictures just doesn’t even compare to spending time together. You must be exhausted from your long ride. Come sit down and I will get you something to drink.”

“Thank you.” Ramsey smiled as his mother pulled me into the living room. His father stopped us before I could sit down. He reached his hand out to shake mine, but I hugged him instead. He seemed to get a kick out of it. I noticed that on his arms he had a couple of old military tattoos. I’d worn a cardigan to try to hide what was on my arm. I had no idea what these people would think of me and I wanted to make a good impression. I didn’t have any family, so having them was special.

For the next few hours, I got to know the people that raised Ramsey. His mother broke out photo albums and told stories of when he was a teen. She talked about Jules, but not in a way that made me feel uncomfortable. She even talked about Katie, not that she had to. Her walls were covered in her.

For dinner, his mother Maggie, made a turkey and we ate a feast like it was Thanksgiving. We joked about how Ramsey couldn’t even boil water without burning the house down. He was trying to do better, since we had a restaurant to run.

Ramsey’s father, Joseph, took the kids on a nature walk and told Logan all about being in the war and what it was like to be a soldier. They talked about planes and then they got talking about fishing. Asha followed Maggie around like she was her apprentice. I enjoyed seeing her bonding with another female and it seemed like Maggie was feeling the way.

Throughout the day and into the evening, Ramsey kept making sure that I was alright. When it was time to go to sleep, he climbed into bed humming. It was strange to hear, since he’d never done it before. “My parents love you. I told you it would be fine.”

“They’re really nice people. I told your mom that they need to come stay with us when the baby is born. The guest room will be ready by then.” Right now it was full of all of Ramsey’s things from the cabin.

He placed his hand on top of my belly. It was something that he did every night. The closer I got to our due date, the more I knew that he was becoming anxious. I knew what he feared, and although I couldn’t predict the future, I was certain that everyone was going to be okay.

Sometimes our life together seemed surreal. I had never imagined being so happy with someone. He loved the kids and they loved him back. He was good for them, always making sure they were never left out, especially when it came to decisions about their baby brother or sister.

Finding out the sex of the baby had been a huge ordeal. Since I was still young and had never had complications with my first two, our insurance only covered two sonograms. We had one at twenty weeks and that poor technician tried her hardest, but couldn’t get a good enough look to make a determination. So we’d been suffering to know ever since.

Ramsey swore it was going to be a boy. Since I already had one of each, it didn’t matter what I had. My main concern was that it came out healthy.

“My dad wanted to know if you’d be interested in…” Ramsey stopped mid sentence.

I leaned up and looked over at him. “What’s wrong, honey?” He just seemed off.

“They have the cradle that he made for Katie up in their attic. He asked me tonight if I wanted it for the baby.”

“What did you tell him?” I could see it in his eyes that he didn’t like talking about it.

“I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t talk about it.”

I reached out and rubbed his back. “I think it would be really special if the baby got to use the same cradle as one of their big sisters.”