Always in the Cards

Copyright © DL Gallie 2022 Always in the Cards First published 19 July 2022 in It Was Always You charity anthology. Second edition 14th February 2023 Email: [email protected] All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of copyright and the above publishers. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the produce of the author’s imagination or used factitiously. Any resemblance to the actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Edited by Karen Hrdlicka, Barren Acres Editing Proofread by Gem, Gem’s Precise Proofreading eBook interior design and formatting by DL Gallie Paperback interior design and formatting by J.M. Walker, Just write.creations Cover designed by Cassy Roop, Pink Ink Designs CONTENTS Also by DL GallieAuthor NotePlaylistChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Sneak peek at Deck…the BallsAcknowledgmentsAlso by DL GallieAbout the AuthorContact for DL Gallie Every month it’s the same thing, waiting for that pink plus sign to show us our family is growing. But every month it’s nothing but heartbreak. Rusty Richards is my other half. My best friend since forever. My ride or die. We did everything right. First came love from friendship, then came marriage, but we still don’t have a baby in the carriage. Time is running out and it feels like the deck is stacked against us. Maybe it’s time I stopped counting the cards and just let fate determine if being parents is in the cards for us. ALSO BY DL GALLIE STAND ALONES Antecedent Doc Steel Oops Off the Books Fractured:A driven world novel Deck…the Balls Secrets and Sunrises Always in the Cards Out of Nowhere Love Me Like You Do Never Let Me Go Seven Nights Seven Kisses After the Ashes PUCKING NOVELS I Pucking Hate That I Love You A Pucking Good Christmas …and a few pucking more FALLING NOVELS These men make it hard not to fall for them Falling for Dr. Kelly Falling for Dr. Knight Falling for Agent Cox Falling for Agent Cruz Falling:The Complete Collection THE UNEXPECTED SERIES When it comes to love, expect the unexpected The Unexpected Gift The Unexpected Letter The Unexpected Package The Unexpected Connection The Unexpected series: The Complete Collection THE CASTAWAY GROVE COLLECTION Love has arrived in the Grove Oasis Unequivocal Love Five Words Broken Rules …and a few more to come. The Castaway Grove Collection, Vol 1 THE LIQUOR CABINET SERIES Liquor has never been so disturbingly saucy Malt Me (Book 1) Tequila Healing (Book 2) Wine Not (Book 3) The Final Shot (Book 4) The Liquor Cabinet: Series boxset For Troy, You and I were always in the cards. AUTHOR NOTE This story was first published in the charity anthology It’s Always Been You. This is the same story but it’s now bundled into it’s very own cute eBook and paperback <— and the paperback is the cutest thing I have ever seen. If this is your first time reading, I hope you love Rusty and Drew as much as I do. And if this is your second rodeo, I hope you love these two once again. Cheers, Dana PLAYLIST Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington Jr feat. Bill Withers Thing for You - Hinder I need You - Saving Abel Easy to Love You - Theory of a Deadman All I Want - Staind You and Me - Lifehouse Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden Only Wanna Be With You - Hootie & the Blowfish The Keepers of the Stars - Tracy Byrd Out of my Head - Theory of a Deadman Tangled up in You - Staind Start of Something Good - Daughtry I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden Love of a Lifetime - Firehouse I’l Follow You - Shinedown This playlist can be found on Spotify. 1 “Yeeeeeees,” I moan as Rusty thrusts into me from behind, his hands gripping my hips as his cock slams in and out of me. Reaching down, I massage my clit. My finger rubs in circles and it’s the detonation I need. My walls clench around his cock and he knows I’m ready to climax. We’ve been together for so long now, we know each other’s bodies. Know each other’s tells, and we both know we are each about to reach our climax. He growls, “Now.” And I let go. A scream passes through my lips as I give myself over to the powerful release, setting Rusty off too. He empties himself inside of me with a guttural growl that has my already spent body, buzzing to life again—down, girl. Falling to the mattress below, Rusty collapses beside me. Both of us breathing heavily and deeply as we come back to Earth. “Surely there’ll be a bun in the oven after that,” Rusty breathlessly pants. The elation I just felt after coming harder than I ever have before plummets at his mention of not being pregnant. “Mmmhmpf,” I nonchalantly reply because I have no words right now. I just have an ache in my uterus, but my ever on the ball husband knows me too well, I mean, we have been friends for twenty years and a couple for eleven of those twenty. “Drew, look at me,” he commands. Shaking my head, I turn my face away from him and stare at the wall beside our bed, willing the tears away. “Drew,” he growls, but I continue to ignore him. That is until he flips me onto my back and lies