It had been Jamie’s idea to spend the holidays together, and I’d jumped at the chance. Turned out Nial, his wife, Fox, Reina, and Jamie’s mom were all also going to be able to make it. Jamie suggested I invite my family, and that’s how we got to nine people for dinner. He insisted on cooking and put me in charge of decorations. I was pretty sure it was because he didn’t trust me not to burn anything.
Zoey looked around and slapped her palms against her thighs. “Well, looks like that’s everything. Maybe I’ll see your parents at the airport.”
“If you do, my mom will talk your ear off, and you’ll probably miss your plane.”
She pulled on a jean jacket and puckered her lips. “That’s actually not a bad idea…”
“Oh, come on. It won’t be that bad,” I said, coming up to give her a goodbye hug. “Now that Mimi got you that fake ID, the world is your oyster. I hear the Crooked Stool is a popular spot these days with college guys.”
“Yeah, yeah. Popular spot for frat boys, maybe. I still can’t believe she got that thing for me.”
A few days after the Ambien incident, I went over to Mimi’s with Zoey to apologize. Jamie and Zoey had been emotional when they found me, but Mimi hadn’t deserved to get yelled at by them. After all, all she’d done was try to help me. She’d accepted the apology and given one of her own for leaving me that night at Flare. To make up for it, she’d offered to get me an appointment with her fake id contact. Since I didn’t want one, I convinced Zoey to take her up on the offer, just in case she wanted to let off some steam once she’d taken the MCAT.
“Well, you should think about putting that perfectly legitimate-looking document to some use,” I said, pulling away. We said our goodbyes, and after she left, I went back to finishing the place cards. They had snowflakes and little snowmen in the corners.
I loved so many things about LA, but this was my first chance to love it during Christmas. There was something disorienting yet charming about seeing palm trees lit up with Christmas lights. The mornings were crisp, the afternoons warm, and in the cool evenings, Jamie and I liked to wrap ourselves in a blanket and sit out in his backyard. He always ran hot, so the blanket would outlive its usefulness within a few minutes, and then it was just Jamie’s arms wrapped around me.
Zoey may not have been too far off when she predicted she’d need to ask Sophie to be her new roommate. I suspected Jamie was going to ask me to move in any day now. When I wasn’t in class or volunteering at the clinic, I was already spending most of my time with him. I loved Jamie more deeply than I’d ever thought was possible. Discovering that unending capacity for love inside of me made me realize I could spare some of it for myself. My inner self-critic hadn’t been silenced completely, but I was making steady progress. It was easier to make progress when I stopped expecting perfection. I’d pushed through my nerves and awkwardness and made a few friends in my classes. And driven by my desire to make a real impact at the clinic, I was putting up my hand for more opportunities to help out.
Still, it wasn’t all sunshine—on days when Jamie got really quiet, I knew he was struggling with his cravings. It made me want to unblock Oliver’s number, set up a time to meet, and kick him in the nuts until he couldn’t stand again. But the bastard didn’t deserve even that kind of attention. The lawsuit had made headlines and now Oliver and his father were pariahs in the industry. No one would ever work with either of them again.
I stacked the finished place cards and glanced at the time. It was five pm, and the dinner was meant to start at six thirty, so I had to get going to Jamie’s.
Before I could get up from the table, my phone’s screen glowed with a new message from Jamie.
“Take your time. Everyone’s running late.”
I walked into my bedroom. “What should I wear?”
“Whatever you want.”
Smirking, I took off the casual jersey dress I was wearing and snapped a mirror selfie of me in my black underwear. “This work?”
Jamie’s response was immediate. “Keep sending pictures like that, and dinner will be cancelled. You almost made me drop the ham.”
I laughed when a moment later his second message arrived. “On second thought, fuck the dinner. I’ll let everyone know they need to make their own plans.”
JAMIE
The doorbell rang and I closed the oven on the enormous chunk of glazed ham that needed at least another thirty minutes.
Ivy’s latest message said, “Don’t be a grinch. I’ll see you soon. Just wanted to give you a peek at your late-night dessert.”
Leave it to Ivy to make the chocolate cake I’d picked up at the patisserie seem lackluster in comparison.
The bell rang again, and I cursed Ivy for giving me a semi at the most inopportune moment. Thank God I was wearing an apron. I went to open the door, and on the other side stood my ma, Fox, and Reina, all of them grinning from ear to ear.
“J!” Ma exclaimed, leaving a lipstick kiss on my cheek. “I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night.”
“Big day, huh?” Fox barked from behind her, pulling Reina into his side. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” I said, playing off the nervousness I’d been trying to ignore all day. “Come in.” I waved them inside. As I was closing the door, a taxi appeared at the end of my driveway, and Zoey waved at me out of the car’s open window.
“Ivy doesn’t have a clue,” she declared proudly once she got to me. “She’s sure I’m flying to Philadelphia right now.”
“Nice job,” I said to her. “Let’s hope she takes her time getting here. Her parents should be here any minute.” We made our way into the kitchen where my ma was fussing over the dirty dishes. I was about to tell her to leave them when Fox came up to me and gave me a slap on the back that felt like it rattled every single one of my ribs. “Excited for you, J. She’s going to love it,” he said.
“Try not to kill me before she arrives,” I wheezed. “I knew it was a bad idea to start bringing you to the gym.” We’d been going together a few times a week for the past month and I quickly discovered that Fox was a beast. I guess working at an auto shop for the better part of ten years was a damn good real-life workout.
Fox let out a booming laugh. “Reina says it was the best idea you’d ever had.”
They got to work on setting the table and putting up the decorations in the backyard, while I kept an eye on the ham. Ten minutes later, Ivy’s parents arrived at the same time as Nial and his wife, and we did quick introductions. I’d been FaceTiming Ivy’s parents over the past two weeks in preparation for the big day, and it was great to finally meet them in person. Her mom reminded me a lot of Cole.
That was the one family member who couldn’t be here today, but some part of me thought maybe it was for the best. Cole didn’t think much of me, and I was hoping things would be easier to smooth out after Ivy and I were already engaged.
Engaged.
I was about to ask Ivy to marry me.
Just saying the words in my head made my palms sweaty. I’d known I wanted to marry her from the moment she told me she loved me, but I’d resolved to wait. I’d worried if it was fair to ask her to decide on forever when she was only twenty and still had so much to learn about herself. For weeks I’d told myself I wouldn’t, but my resolve crumbled with every evening we spent curled up on the couch, talking about our lives and imagining a future together. I didn’t know what the future would bring for me. The only thing I knew for sure was she had to be in it.
So when I felt like I could no longer hold the question in, I called Nial and asked him to talk me down. He’d done the opposite, telling me I needed to stop being an idiot and let her make her own choices. I went and picked out the ring that same day.
“How far are you?” I messaged Ivy when everything was ready.
“Uber’s pulling in right now.”
I rushed everyone lingering inside out to the backyard, took off my apron, and went to open the door on wobbly legs. Ivy stood out
side in a blush-colored dress, her hair pulled back into a low bun, and her hazel eyes shining with excitement. She peeked over my shoulder. “No one’s here yet, right?”
I was too taken with how gorgeous she looked to respond right away. My hands reached for her waist, and I pulled her into a long, deep kiss. “They’ll be here any second,” I said when we broke apart, my voice hoarse.
“Okay, great. I need at least twenty minutes to get everything up.” She shook the paper bag she was holding at me.
Taking the bag out of her hand, I twined her fingers with mine as my heart started to race inside my chest. “Change of plans. I was thinking we do dinner outside since the evening should be mild.”
Her brows pulled together. “You sure? But the tree’s in the living room.”
“That’s okay. We can come inside for dessert.”
She moved her lips side to side, thinking about it. “Hmm, okay. The string lights will look nice. Maybe I can wrap the garlands around them.”
“Why don’t we go take a look?”
I led her down the hall, not letting go of her hand, and when we got to the glass door, I stopped outside first.
Her jaw dropped as soon as she saw what was waiting for her. “Jamie, what’s this?” she whispered, bringing her hand to her chest.
Fairy lights carved out a path over the grass to an arch covered in roses and ivy. I pulled on Ivy’s hand until we stood in front of it, then I turned to face her.
“Jamie…” Her eyes were so wide, her cheeks pink. “Is this what I think this is?”
I gave her a breathless grin and got down on one knee.
Turned out Nial was right. Ivy was perfectly capable of making her own choices, and as luck would have it, she chose me.
Everyone popped out of their hiding spots as soon as she said yes, and Ivy nearly jumped out of her dress. She cried happy tears with her parents and Zoey while I tried to keep my own emotions at bay. An hour later, we were finally ready to eat, which is when I realized I’d forgotten all about the damned ham. Everyone assured me they were perfectly fine with Christmas burgers as long as I didn’t also forget about the wine.
We sat outside at the dinner table, Fox and Reina telling Zoey the story of how they met, Ivy’s parents talking about music with Nial and his wife, and Ivy chatting to my mom. My fiancée would erupt in laughter every few minutes and send me amused looks from across the table. No doubt, my mom was telling her embarrassing stories of me as a child, but the delight on Ivy’s face made me feel less grumpy about it.
When my mom stood up to go to the bathroom, Ivy caught my gaze and arched one brow. I jerked my head in the direction of the house, and we excused ourselves to grab the dessert.
“I’m sorry Cole couldn’t be here,” I said to her as we stepped into the bedroom. “I’m sure you would have been happy to see him.”
“Did you talk to him?” she asked, surprised.
“No, but your parents did. They said he couldn’t make it because of the deadline on the album. I’m not even sure what they told him about me.”
“You mean he may not know that my fiancé Jamie is Jamie Berg?”
I nodded. “I suspect he’s not going to be pleased.”
“He’ll be pleased if he knows what’s good for him,” she said firmly.
“I don’t want to put a wedge between you two.”
“Jamie, you still don’t get it, do you?” she asked, taking a step closer to me. Her palms landed on my chest, and I curled my hands around them. She was looking at me with fierce determination in her eyes.
“Us, together, is a miracle. You fell in love with me even as you told yourself you shouldn’t. I fell in love with you even as I told myself it was impossible. So many things were against us, and yet despite all odds, we ended up together. Cole is my brother, and I love him, but he will never take precedence over you. So stop thinking of yourself as a problem. You’re not. You never will be. You’re the man I love, and I won’t let anything come between us.”
God, I loved this woman. She tilted her head back and stood on her tiptoes to press her lips against mine. I drew our joined hands closer to my chest and kissed her back, savoring the softness of her lips.
I’ll get to kiss these lips for the rest of my life.
When we broke apart, and she must have seen that thought in my eyes, because she blushed and looked down at the ring on her hand. A hopeful, content smile played at her lips.
“A miracle, huh?” I teased her with a grin. “That might be the nicest compliment I’d ever gotten.”
“I said us. Not you.”
“Half of a miracle is still a miracle.”
She tilted her head to the side, a smile playing on her lips. “Don’t think that’s how it works. You need both of the halves.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist as a vision of our future painted itself across the expanse of my imagination. “Then it’s a good thing I have you.”
The End
BONUS SCENE
Cole visits Ivy and Jamie in Los Angeles. Want to find out what happens?
Check out this exclusive bonus scene!
Sign up here to receive it by email:
https://BookHip.com/KXAZDAM
I hope you enjoyed reading Ivy and Jamie’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Before you go, I have a request. Could you take a minute to leave an honest review for Pretty Words? Reviews help little authors like me get noticed and it would mean the world to me if you wrote a few words.
Leave a GoodReads review
Leave an Amazon review
Leave a BookBub review
Want to meet like-minded readers, chat about Pretty Words, and get access to exclusive giveaways? Join my reader group on Facebook!
Join the Backstage Crew
Bibliography
Peele, Stanton, and Archie Brodsky. Love and Addiction. e-book, Broadrow Publications, 2015.
Szalavitz, Maia. Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. Reprint, Picador, 2017.
Also by Gabrielle Sands
READ TAUT STRINGS
Taut Strings is the first book in the River Valley Rebels Series. It is a reverse-harem rock star romance with a HEA.
BLURB
My name is Adeline and I’ve learned a hard lesson in my twenty-one years of life. Dreams are fragile things, easily broken.
I used to think I’d become a professional musician, and look how that turned out. Rejected by Julliard. Orphaned at nineteen. Now, my dreams extend as far as putting my little sister through college.
I shouldn’t be disappointed. Nothing truly great has ever come out of River Valley.
Nothing other than them.
When Bleeding Moonlight left this town ten years ago, they were a promising local band. Now, they’re gorgeous heavy metal legends. Talented, successful, fearless. Everything I’ll never be.
They’ve come back to town to bury their bandmate, and they’re staying until they record the last album he ever wrote. The kicker? They’ve asked me to be his temporary replacement.
Four weeks to earn the money I desperately need.
I’ll be fine as long as I don’t get tangled up in old dreams again.
As long as I don’t get tangled up in them.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my amazing husband for always being there for me. Having you by my side as I continue on this author journey is everything.
A huge thank you to the team of women who made this book possible. Heidi, you're an incredible editor and thought partner. Working with you on this book has been an awesome learning experience, and I’m so grateful for your feedback. Maria, thank you for making another gorgeous cover and for guiding me through the process. Soledad, thank you for your amazing work as a proofreader.
My critique partners—you’re the best. Thank you for being my beta readers for this book and for lifting me up whenever I needed it. Our regular calls never fail to make me excited about the future!
I also want to give a shout-out to the lovely bookstagrammers and booktokers who have helped me so much. You know who you are. Your support means everything to me.
Last but not least, I am so grateful for all of my amazing readers. Reading your comments and messages always brightens my day. I hope you enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to share more of my stories with you.
Pretty Words
Copyright (c) Gabrielle Sands, 2021
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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 retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, places, business establishments, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Pretty Words: An Enemies To Lovers Rock Star Romance (River Valley Rebels) Page 30