Chapter 30 -  I'm The Boyfriend, It's My Job

“What?!” I exclaim. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Jared nods, his face pale. This concerns me because Jared’s a pretty tan person.

“Well, where is she?”

“She’s in the car.”

“You left my pregnant sister in the car alone!?”

“Well, I wasn’t gonna pick her up and bring her all the way up here!” Jared defends.

“How has her water already broken? She just found out she was pregnant like a few weeks ago.” Bradley interjects, pulling his shirt on and standing behind me in the doorway.

“Well, that’s a funny story actually,” Jared awkwardly says, scratching the back of his neck.

“What do you mean, that’s a funny story? What happened?” I demand.

“Look, I don’t really have time to explain. I think I need to get her to the hospital.”

“Think?” I echo. “Yes, Jared, you need to get her to the hospital. Bradley and I will meet you there. Go!”

“Wait, what?” Have I ever mentioned that Jared’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed? The boy is duller than the dullest. 

“We’ll meet you there, just go.” I reiterate, pulling my black Uggs and white Northface on.

"You’re not coming with me?”          

“We don’t ride in the car while Arianna has water pouring out of her body.” Bradley explains.

“Well, I don’t wanna take her alone!”

“Jared, stop acting like a child. Now, is my mom still downstairs?”          

"Um, no, she left a note saying she had to go to the office really quickly for something.”     

“I’ll get Josh then. Jared, seriously go get my sister to the hospital. Bradley and I’ll be right behind you.”

He swallows a lump in his throat and his Adam’s Apple bobs up and down, “O-okay.” He says, jogging away.

Bradley kisses the side of my head, handing the keys to Ben and says, “Can I just say that your sister has the worst timing ever?”

I giggle, taking them from him and looping the ring on my finger, kissing his cheek. “I agree, she totally does.”

-------

Fifteen minutes later, Bradley, Josh, Jared, Arianna and I are all out St. Paul’s hospital. Josh, Bradley and I are all in the waiting room and Jared and Arianna are back in the maternity ward. I have no idea what’s going on as Jared still hasn’t said what he meant by the whole, ‘that’s a funny story actually’, thing. I hope the baby’s okay. I mean, I hope my sister is okay too, but the baby too.

“Sydney?” Josh asks from his spot on my lap.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Is Arianna’s baby gonna come today?”

“Um, I don’t know, buddy. I think he may.”

“It’s a boy?!” He exclaims.

"Maybe. Why? Don’t you want a little niece?”

"No.” Josh says firmly, shaking his head.

“What? Why not?”

“Because girls are icky.”

“Are you saying that I’m icky?” I ask my brother jokingly, just to mess with him.

“No! Girls except for you, Sydney.” He says slowly like I’m stupid or something.

“Well, it’s good to know that my baby brother doesn’t think I’m icky.” I retort, chuckling.

"I’m not a baby!”

“No, you’re not a baby. But you’ll always been my baby brother.”

"Hey! Wait a second!”

“What?” I ask, curious about his sudden outburst.

“The Stork is gonna bring Arianna’s baby here? Why didn’t he bring it home?”

“Erm, I-I’m not sure.” I say, trying to not destroy my brother’s belief that the Stork is real.

“Is he gonna bring you and Bradley a baby too?”

My face goes as red as a tomato and I uncomfortably laugh. “W-why do you ask?”

“In the car Bradley told me that you’re his girlfriend now.” Josh says, his brown eyes slightly widened.

I don’t know why my brother does that, but he looks so adorable whenever he does. He’s just got the cutest little innocent baby face ever. He’s gonna be a heartbreaker when he hits my age. I already know it and I’m gonna have to threaten to break his neck a few times because of it.

“Oh, did he now?” I ask, eyeing my boyfriend who just gives me sheepish grin.

“Uh huh.” Josh confirms, nodding.                   

I clear my throat and shake my head, “Well, no. The Stork isn’t bringing us a baby.”           

“Never?”

“No time soon.”

“Bu--“

“Hey, Josh, are you hungry? I bet they have ice cream in the cafeteria.” I say to stray him from the topic.

“Ooh, can I get some? Can I get some please, Sydney? Please?!” He pleads, hopping off of my lap.

“Yes,” I say, laughing at my brother. “I gotta call mom so just hold on a second.”

“I’ll take him, if you want.” Bradley offers, standing up. “I’m not too fond of waiting rooms anyway.”

"The amount of time you spent in them as a child, I can imagine why.” I reply. “And yes please.”

Seeing as how Bradley’s father is a cardiologist, when we were kids sometimes after school he’d come up to the hospital - this one, actually - and have to wait in the waiting room for his dad to finish up any surgery or work. His mom spent a few years…estranged from the family. Three, to be exact. Mrs. Edwards left Bradley and his dad when Bradley and I were eight and went to Milan on some big business venture. Secretly, I think that’s why Bradley’s not too affectionate towards his mother now. Because he never forgave her for that. I don’t know why, but I honestly think that’s why. It’s funny the effect our parents can have on our lives.

Like, my dad, for example. I know the reason I don’t exactly trust too easily is because of my dad. Like I said, he left when I was sixteen, a little over a year ago. Almost two. Well, that’s not really a nice word to use there. He didn’t leave us. They separated. Anyways, after the separation, I was really stressed out just because like any sixteen year old girl, I didn’t want my parents to break up.

That meant that they didn’t love each other anymore. And if they didn’t love each other anymore, why would they still love the thing they created? Of course I don’t think that anymore, but I did in the beginning. So after the separation, the divorce came into play and six months after the separation, the divorce was final and my dad moved to his lake house. Taking my cell phone out of my pocket, I got to my mother’s contact and hit call, pulling it to my ear. The phone rings four times and just as I’m about to hang the phone up, she answers.

“Sydney,” She chimes, sounding pleasantly surprised. “are you guys back?”

“Yeah, we came back a few hours ago. You were in the kitchen making dinner, apparently.”

“I had no idea, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oh, I just didn’t wanna disrupt you. Listen, are you busy right now?”

“I had to run to the office but I’m walking out right now. Why? Is something wrong?”

“Well, I don’t know yet. Arianna’s in the hospital. Saint Paul’s.”

“What?” My mother gasps. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Jared said her water broke and Bradley, Josh and I are just waiting in the waiting room.” 

“Saint Paul’s, you say?”

“Yeah, the one that Bradley’s dad works at.”  

“Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’ll call your father and he can meet up with us there.”

“Erm, okay.” I reply.

The good thing about Arianna’s water breaking when it did is that now Bradley and I don’t have to have that super awkward, incredibly stupid dinner with my father. If I know my dad though, and I think I do, he’ll wanna do it tomorrow or something. He’s a weird man, I admit that much.

"I brought you ice cream,” Bradley tells me, handing me a vanilla ice cream cone.

“Thanks,” I say, taking it from him and he and Josh reclaim their spots.  

“Did you call your mother?” He wonders, cracking his knuckles.

“I did, and she’s on her way. My dad’s coming too, apparently.”

“Didn’t you expect him to?”

"He’s not really a big event kinda guy.” I explain. “Birthday parties, family reunions, stuff like that? No.”

“I never knew that,” Bradley says with a curious expression.

“Wel--“ I don’t get to finish my sentence because at that moment a female doctor comes into the room.

“Uh, here with Barker, Arianna?”

“That’s us.” Bradley calls, raising his hand.

The doctor briskly walks over to us, her white lab coat swishing around her knees. She’s got brown hair that’s pulled back into a business-y type bun, a black dress and black heels on. Man, I’d hate to be a doctor. Sure, saving people would be cool, but like, what if they die? That’d suck.

“Melissa Martin.” She introduces herself, shaking our hands.

“Is our sister okay?” Josh asks, tugging on the lady’s lab coat.

The Doctor smiles at Josh before looking up at Bradley and me. “Your sister is fine.”

“So, can we see her, then?” I wonder.

"You can. She’s having contractions on and off, so just, uh, bewary. Room 139.”

“Okay, thanks.” Bradley says to the Doctor who simply smiles and heads back to where she came from.

Bradley picks Josh up, carrying him as the three of us follow behind Dr. Martin. She leads us through the doors before going off somewhere, pointing us in the general direction of where Arianna’s room is.

“There it is,” Bradley tells me, stopping in front of the door labeled number 139.

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t go into labor while we’re in here.” I say, pushing the door open.

The three of us walk into the room and I see Arianna lying on the big hospital bed with a tired, grumpy expression on her face, dressed in the traditional blue and white hospital gown. I eye her stomach inconspicuously, and notice that she does look a little bigger.Not nine months bigger though. Just by looking at her barely there baby bump, you’d only guess she was like, five, maybe six months along in her pregnancy. Jared’s sitting in the armchair beside her, his hand encased around hers. When we walk in the room, they both look up at us.                

"Do you feel alright?” I ask my sister, sitting on the two person couch in the room.

"I’m hungry,” She moans. Arianna tends to bitch and moan whenever there’s something wrong with her. And by something wrong with her, I mean anything. Hungry. Tired. Sleep. Cold. Hot. Bored. Lonely. Anything.

“I’m pretty sure you can’t eat before you give birth, Ari.” I tease, calling her by the nickname I used to.

“Well,” She says looking at her stomach. “Come on out, baby. Mommy’s starving.” She coos.               

“You’re really weird,” Jared tells her, kissing the back of her hand.

“And you’re really terrible. I feel absolutely awful right now.”  

He gapes at her, “And this is my fault how?”

“Because if you didn’t get me pregnant, contractions wouldn’t be occurring down there right now.”

Bradley awkwardly coughs, holding my brother on his lap and busies himself by looking down at the floor. “So, mom is on her way and she said she was gonna call dad so he could come.”

“Dad’s coming?” Arianna asks sounding surprised.

“See? It’s not just me.” I tell Bradley, looking up at him.

“Wait a minute,” My sister says with a chuckle.

“What?”

“Something’s different.”

“What do you mean?” Bradley asks, cocking his head to the side.

"The two of you look different. Did something happen in Colorado.”

"Well,” I say hesitantly. “Define happen.”

Arianna shrieks, and if she wasn't confined to that hospital bed right now, she’d be turning somersaults and cartwheels and backflips and just all that good stuff. She has a tendency to overreact to pretty much everything.

“Oh my gosh, you two hooked up in the mountains, didn’t you?”

“I love how you could go into labor at any moment but you’re discussing us right now.” I tell her.

"So, there’s an ‘us’? And you didn’t even deny that you hooked up. Oh my God, Sydney, this is big.”

“We didn’t hook up…” Bradley corrects her, shaking his head firmly. “Per se.”

“So, what did happen?” She demands. “You know you wanna tell me,” Arianna adds in a sing song voice.

“I’m not the only one who feels just a little awkward right now, am I?” I ask, looking at Bradley and Jared.

“Not at all,” Bradley assures me, his face singed red.

Seeing as how the Arianna is the only female interaction I ever get with anyone besides my mother, I am kinda itching to tell her. Just so we can do the stupid stuff that best friends do when they tell each other they’re seeing someone new or something. Kinda pathetic, right? The fact that the only girl I talk to is my older sister? I know.

“So…” Arianna edges on.

“Can we maybe talk about this when our baby brother isn’t in the room? Or never? Never would be nice.”

“I’m not a baby!” Josh cries for the second time today, licking his ice cream cone.

The door flies open, revealing my mother and father. My mom squeals and runs over to Arianna, kissing her head. My dad closes the door behind them and nods at Jared before sending a greeting to Arianna. Mind you my dad’s not too great with family stuff like this.

“Hi daddy,” I say to him as he walks over to us.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He replies, then eyes Bradley for a minute.

“Nice to see you again, Jeff.” Bradley greets, giving my dad half a grin, addressing him by first name.

“Oh, you must be Bradley.”

I blink a few times before I get what he’s doing. “Oh, come on dad.”

"What?”

“Are you really gonna do this?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend you don’t know Bradley.” I clarify.

“I’m not pretending I don’t know Bradley.” He defends. “I only know him as your friend, not boyfriend.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

"Well,” My dad laughs. “We obviously can’t have dinner tonight so we’ll have to reschedule to tomorrow.”

“Actually,” I say, trying to think of a way to get out of it. “Tomorrow’s no good for me.”

“No? Why not?”   

“Erm, I have track practice.”

"Why do I get the sense that you’re lying to me?”

“You’ve always been paranoid, you know.” I say shrugging with a hopefully persuasive grin.

“Uh huh. Paranoid, shamarnoid.”

"That’s not a word.”             

“It is.” He argues.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so.”

“But I know so.” My dad defends and then smiles. “It’s nice seeing you again too, Bradley. Really though. If you two are gonna be together the three of us are having dinner tomorrow night. I never get to see you as it is.”

“Fine,” I groan. “I guess we can make it up there tomorrow in time for dinner.”

“Good,” He says with a satisfied look.

The door opens again and the doctor from earlier walks in with two nurses behind her. Dr. Martin looks around the room, taking in how many people are in here and she awkwardly chuckles, shaking her head.

"My, my, my Miss Barker, you sure are popular, aren’t you?” She asks, putting a blood pressure cuff on her arm. “I’m really sorry, but this many people is against hospital protocol. Two is the absolute most that are supposed to be in here at once.” She says apologetically as if it really pained her to tell us that some of us have to leave.

“I’ll leave,” Bradley happily volunteers, standing up and putting Josh in his seat.

“Yeah, we’ll just go back to the waiting room. Jared?”

“Hmm?” He asks,  looking confused.

“Come with us.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.” I demand as Bradley and I walk out.

That leaves my mom, Josh and my dad in the room. I just wanna ask him about the thing he said before we left the house a while ago. The thing about why my sister is already about to have her baby when she’s not even six months.

“O…kay.” He agrees, following Bradley and me. “What’s up?” Jared asks as we step outside the room.

"So, about what you were saying earlier? About Arianna’s pregnancy?”

“Oh, yeah, that.” He recalls. “What about it?”

"You said you didn’t have time to explain, but now you do.”

“Right, well, you know how we told you a few weeks back, right?”         

“Right,” I nod.

“Well, when we told you that she was pregnant, we hadn’t just found out.”           

“What’s that mean?” Bradley interjects, wrapping his arms around me from behind, resting his shoulder on my shoulder.

“We kinda already knew, we just weren’t, you know, ready to tell people.”

"So, how far along was she when you guys told me?”

“Erm, I think she said thirty-two weeks? Maybe thirty-one.”

“What is that, like four months?”

"More like seven and three fourths, sweetie.” Bradley teases.

“Oh, shush. My conversion skills aren’t too stellar.”

“Obviously.” He says, kissing the back of my neck softly.

“I think the last thing I wanna do is see you two get all frisky, so I’m gonna go back in there.”

“Wait,” I say, stopping Jared. “So, what name did you guys pick?”

“We didn’t.”

“You didn’t pick a name yet?” Bradley asks skeptically.

“In our defense, she’s only seven months pregnant. We thought we still had two months to pick.”

“That would mean you also don’t know the sex?”

“Nope. We had a doctor’s appointment in a few weeks and we were gonna find out.”

“S--“

Before I can get my sentence out of my mouth, the door flies open, almost hitting me and Bradley in the process. When he sees that it’s my dad, he unwraps himself from around me and stands a few inches away from me. Following my dad is my mother’s who’s holding Josh.

“What’s going on?” Jared demands.

“She’s having contractions and the doctor said she’s already dilated three centimeters.” My mom says.

“I-is that a lot?” Jared asks in a panic.

“Well, considering she only has seven more centimeters to dilate before the baby comes, yes.”

“B-but it’s only been an hour! Wikipedia said it takes eight.”

“Most of the time,” My mom corrects. “Besides, the baby is premature, he may have a small head.”   

“Are you saying we’re gonna have a birth defected baby!?” Jared exclaims, panting.

“Jared, shut up.” I tell him, rolling my eyes. “You’re overly freaking out about this.”

"Aw, man.” He moans, holding his stomach. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

"Well, be sick in there.” Bradley suggests, pushing the door open and gesturing for Jared to go in.

He nods, “Okay, I can do this. I’m a man, dammit. I’m recording it all, so you guys can see it later.”

“I think I’m gonna pass on that, but I’m sure Arianna would love to see it.” I tell him.

Arianna screams from inside the room. It’s a weird, non-shrilling sound, unlike her normal shouts. The doctor motions for Jared to either come in or close the door and he goes in, giving us all one last nervous glance.

“Why’s Arianna screaming? Did she hurt herself?” Josh curiously asks to no one in particular.

“Something like that,” My dad chirps. “Come on, let’s go to the waiting room. It’s gonna be a long night.”

-------

“Sydney?” Bradley says, his voice close to my ear.

“Hmm?” I murmur, snuggling up closer into his warm chest.

 “Wake up, princess.”          

“Did you just call me princess?” I ask, still half asleep.

Bradley chuckles and says, “Yeah, I guess I did. Now come on, get up.”

“Why?”                  

“Dr. Martin just came out.”

“What’d she say?”

“The baby’s here, Sydney, Arianna just had her baby like half and hour ago.”

My eyes pop open and I look at my boyfriend, “Really?”

“Really. Your parents just came from back there so now it’s your turn.”

I stand up from the hard plastic chair, arching and popping my back. “What time is it?”

Bradley looks down at his wrist, inspecting his watch and says, “2:30.”

"Was I asleep that long?” I ask skeptically  as he stands up and I loop my arm through his.

"Yup,” He confirms. “You remind me of a sloth.”

“How do I remind you of a sloth?” I laugh as we walk back through the maternity ward.

“Because all you do is eat and sleep.”

“Because those are the best two things a human being can do!” I exclaim, giggling.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?” He wonders as we reach room 139.

“Pretty much every few hours,” I remind him with a tiny smile.                

“Well, I do.”

“And I like you a whole lot.”

“I guess I can deal with that for now.” Bradley teases.

“I guess you kinda have to.” I rebut, pushing the door open.

“Shh!” Jared cries as we walk in.

I see that Arianna’s fast asleep in her hospital bed and beside her is a clear carrier thing. In it is a swaddled up baby complete with a little hat on its head on everything. It’s a pink hat, which could only mean one thing. It’s a girl! Unless they ran out of blue hats and had to give my new nephew a pink hate. I don’t have a preference, I’d love my little niece/nephew regardless.

"It’s a girl?” I wonder, walking over to the carrier and peering down at the tiny human lying there.

“Yup,” Jared says, then shows us his video camera. “Got the whole thing recorded.” He proudly says.

“We’re not watching your girlfriend’s birth video.” Bradley warns.

“I figured you wouldn’t. It’s really gross too. Like there’s blood and pu--“

"Jared!” I quietly exclaim as Bradley laughs, mentally finishing Jared’s sentence. “You don’t have to share.”

“I’m just saying,” He defends with a happy smile.

“So, what’s her name?” Bradley queries.  

"She actually doesn’t have one yet,” Arianna says, her voice tired as she wakes up.

“You guys haven’t named her yet? How come?”

“Well, I was kinda hoping that you’d do it.” Arianna boldly tells me.

“Me?” I repeat. “You want me to name your baby?”      

“If you can handle such a responsibility.” Jared sarcastically says.

"Shut up, Jared.” I tell him.

“Yes, we want you to name her!” Arianna supplies.

“Okay,” I reply, trying to think of a good name. “What about something simple like Emma? Or Amy?”

“Too simple,” She argues, shaking her head.

“Claire?”

“Makes me think of Claire Danes,” Arianna denies, shivering.

“You’re so picky.”

“Am not.”

"Yeah, babe,” Jared interjects, “You kinda are.”

“What do you think, Bradley?”

“What do I think about what?” He asks with a confused look on his face.

“What do you think they should name her?”

“Well,” Bradley starts, pushing his hands down in pockets. “If I had a daughter, I’d name her Charlotte.”

“Like Charlotte the spider?” I wonder.            

“Yes, Sydney,” He chuckles. “Like Charlotte the spider.”

“I like it. Charlotte. It’s eloquent, yet not too fancy schmancy. I think we’ll just call her Charley though.”

“So, Charlotte?” I ask.

“Yeah, Charlotte. Do you like that J?” Arianna asks Jared, looking up at him.

“Love it,” He nods. “What about a middle name?”

“Well, I kinda have one name in mind.”

“What is it?”

“Sydney.”

“What?” I say taken aback. “You’re not giving your baby my name, are you?”

“I think I am.” She smiles. “Why, you don’t like it? Charlotte Sydney?”

“No, no, I think it’s cute.” I assure her. “I just didn’t know you were thinking of doing that.”

“Well, duh. You’re like my best friend, stupid.” Arianna tells me. “Charlotte Sydney McMillian.”

"Sydney and McMillian kinda rhyme, don’t they?” Bradley says.

“Sydney McMillian. Sydney McMillian. Huh, I guess they do.” I retort.

“You do like that, don’t you Jared?”

“I think it’s adorable,” Jared confirms, picking up his daughter’s little fist.

“Then it’s settled. Charlotte Sydney McMillian. That’s her name. Tell the lady that when she comes back.”

"Are you going back to sleep?” Jared asks his girlfriend.

"Yes, I’m dead tired. I feel like I just ran a marathon.”

“She was only four pounds, you light-weight.” He teases, laying down in the recliner.

“You try giving birth and telling me how you aren’t tired.” She challenges.

“Well, believe me, if I could, I would.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yes, but I’m your idiot.” He says, kissing Arianna’s cheek. 

“Well, we’ll leave the happy family to be.” Bradley announces, grabbing my hand.

“Are you two leaving now?”              

"Yeah, we’ve got school tomorrow.” I remind her. “We’ll come over first thing after though, I promise.”

“Okay,” She yawns. “Use protection,” She mumbles as we head towards the door.

“We aren’t doing anything!” I cry, my face going red.

“Yet.” Arianna retorts, winking suggestively. “Goodnight.” She sings.

-------

“Do you think we’ll actually have a baby one day?” Bradley randomly asks.

“Maybe,” I shrug, pulling his black shirt over my head.

“Can I turn around now?”

“You can turn around now.” I confirm, pulling my hair into a ponytail and flopping on his bed.

We’re sleeping at Bradley’s house tonight. Which is crazy because I haven’t slept over here in about two years. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because of his mom. I’ve always had this uncanny feeling that she doesn’t like me. But luckily, Bradley’s mother was already asleep when we got here ten minutes ago. I mean, she’s never actually done anything to make me think she doesn’t like me, but I just don’t think she does. Is that weird? I think that’s kinda weird.

“Quit perving on me, you perv.” I warn, hitting his shoulder as he falls in the bed beside me as I notice him staring at me, particularly at my bare legs, as the shirt of his that I’m wearing only stops mid-thigh on me.

“I’m the boyfriend, it’s my job; sorry. It’s just how it works.” He says with a wolfish grin.

“Oh, yes, because you sound very sincere.” I sarcastically reply.

"I’m not.” Bradley tells me, kissing my lips lightly.

“Mhm, that was a terrible kiss.” I groan, pushing myself closer to him.

“You wound me.” He feigns hurt, putting his hand over his heart.

“Sorry,” I reply, pushing my lips against his warm ones.

                “I’m sure you can find some way to make it up to me.” Bradley tells me, rolling us over in his king bed.

Mere seconds later, Bradley’s tongue is in my mouth, re-familiarizing itself with it. After all, we haven’t actually made out since, like, last night. That sounds pathetic, like I’m addicted to kissing him, but I totally am. Almost instantaneously, I wrap my arms around Bradley’s neck, getting his as close to me that is humanly possible. A low groan escapes his throat as he peppers my neck with light kisses before gently sucking on the skin, probably leaving a hickey. If it were anyone else, I’d probably be pissed, but I since it is Bradley and kissing his is one of my favorite things to do, I have no objections. Bradley’s hands slip around my waist, one of them bunching the fabric of his t-shirt and pushing it up just a little, revealing my ‘Sunday’ neon orange underwear. Yes, I’m being consistent in wearing his birthday present.

Bradley laughs against my lips as he spots them - hey, they’re neon; they stand out - and says, “You’re actually wearing them?”              

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“I did, actually.” He admits.

“I’m wearing them, I assure you that.” I giggle.

“Mhm, yeah I can see that.” Bradley tells me, moving his lips back to mine.

My hands slide from around his neck, slowly sliding down his shoulder blades and chest before I hit his stomach. Using my index finger, I trace the outline of his abs, just loving the way his muscles feel. Bradley’s hand suddenly wraps around my exposed thigh and I hook it around his waist, pushing myself closer to him. The whole time, our heated make-out is still going on.

I subconsciously start grinding my hips roughly against Bradley’s and he moans into my mouth. I honestly think that may be one of the sexiest sounds ever. In the existence of sounds. Bradley’s other hand, the one not grasping my thigh, roams my upper body and I bite down on my lower lip, trying not to let out a moan. I don’t really remember how close Bradley’s parents’ bedroom is to his, but hopefully it’s not close at all. Hopefully, it’s downstairs.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Bradley pulls his lips away from mine hesitantly a few minutes later.

“What? What’s wrong?” I ask, breathless. 

“If we keep going, I’m not gonna be able to stop.” He huskily whispers in my ear.

“Then I guess we’d better stop.” I say with a giggle.

“Yes, yes we better.” He agrees, nodding and lying back on the bed. He instantly wraps his around me though and I rest my head on his chest, using it as a pillow. Bradley pulls his navy blue cover up over us, slightly before kissing the top of my head. “I love you, Syd. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Bradley,” I reply, closing my eyes as I regain my breath.

Author's Note: The rest of the guys will be in the next chapter! I hope you  liked this chapter! Comment letting me know, maybe? Oooh, three things!

1. In case you didn't know, I got an Instagram a few days ago, so if you followed me, that'd be really, really cool and yeah, that'd just be amazing. I'm millie_wattpad on there. (:

2. My new story, Poor Little Rich Girl, went up almost two weeks ago, so if you haven't read it yet, but you wanna, it's up. If you read that, that'd be really cool too. 

3. Don't forget that Losing Grip is published on e-book and in print now! It's still pending for iBookstore and Nook, but once it's approved, I'll let you know. Until then, you can still buy it! It's really not too expensive and if you've got some money and wanna be able to carry it around or whatever, you should totally go buy it. That'd be just the best thing ever. 

I lied, there's actually four things.

4. Sequel? I'm thinking about doing a sequel to this story, but I'm still kinda on the fence about it. So, would you guys be interested in a sequel? Because if there's a sequel, I already know how this story is gonna end and I have a name and all that good stuff in mind for it. I dunno though yet. Would you guys like that? And if there's not a sequel then there's another way I wanna end the story, so yeah, just let me know!

Wow, this a/n was long. Sorry about that. Anyways, yeah, don't forget to comment and vote if you liked this chapter! Notice the picture of Barbara Palvin [Sydney] over there! ♥