Irresistible ► Xavier Woods

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jessie and Austin sat in her parents' backyard.

The house wasn't in a big neighborhood, but it wasn't quite in the middle of nowhere, either. It was right on the edge of town, with a big backyard that seemed to never end. If you just kept walking, you would eventually reach city limits, but Jessie wasn't quite sure where that was.

"So you grew up here?" Austin asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "But what's that supposed to mean? Why'd you ask it like that?"

"I didn't mean anything by it," he said, "I think it's great. Nice and quiet and away from everything. And I've always wanted a big backyard, a place for dogs to run around and for kids to play."

"You want kids?"

"Oh yeah."

"How many?" she asked.

"At least two," he said. "You can't have just one, or else that kid will just be lonely." He paused and looked over at her, panic starting to set in. "Unless you don't want two. Or any. You're the one having them, so it's up to you."

"Hey, it's okay, I totally want kids," she said.

"Oh, okay. Good."

"I just want to wait for my career to take off. I want to be making enough money to take care of kids," she said.

"But --"

"Yeah, I know you probably make more than enough to take care of you, me, and a million kids," she said, "but I want to be able to contribute. I don't want to feel like I'm not doing anything. Even if it's just playing video games on the internet, it's at least something, you know?"

"I'm not in rush," he assured her. "Whenever you're ready."

She smiled. "Let's go inside. I'm tired."

She stood up and he did too.

"Hey," he said.

Jessie looked over at him. He took a step forward and wrapped her in a hug. She relaxed into it and let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. She had been stressed about revealing her job plans to her family, and then she and Austin had to talk about having kids, and it was just all getting to her. The hug was comforting and she was relieved, and also glad that he could tell she needed it.

They stood there, hugging, for a good minute. Then she looked up at him, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a kiss.

"Come on," she said, "let's go inside."

As they started walking, her phone vibrated. She looked down at it -- a text from E.

W.

***

"Oh, so Jessie wants kids?" Cheyenne teased.

It was the next morning, and with Austin in the shower, Jessie had decided to take a break from packing to FaceTime Cheyenne. She was sitting comfortably in her bed, and Jessie could see her bra straps, so she wasn't even sure if she had clothes on. But that wasn't any of her business, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Of course I want kids." She scoffed. "That's two more people for me to beat in 2K."

"Oh yeah." Cheyenne nodded. "You're not birthing kids to love unconditionally, you're creating new opponents."

Jessie smiled. "I'm glad you understand."

"Oh hey, when you get home, I've got your Christmas present at my place," Cheyenne said.

"Yeah, yours is all nice and wrapped, sitting in my room," Jessie said.

Cheyenne had left to her parents' before Jessie and Austin did, so they weren't able to exchange gifts. Based on the bed she was currently in, though, she had made it home before them.