Face-Off at the Altar

by Toni Aleo

  “You do not.”

  “I know.”

  “You love me and my smelly ass.”

  “That’s debatable.”

  “Eh, I don’t think so,” he teased, kissing her jaw and then her cheek.

  She glared at him, but he grinned back as she said, “You ruined the sweet, sleepy-morning moment.”

  “Who, me? With my fart?” he asked innocently, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, my bad. Want me to do it again so I can ruin the funny, lazy fart moment?”

  “No!” she cried and he grinned, cuddling her tighter into his chest. She didn’t understand it, he should disgust her, but she didn’t want anything else but these smelly moments. As long as they were with him. It was about him. About the love she had for only him. “Markus.”

  “Yeah,” he said, his eyes closed as she tipped her head back to look at him.

  “I’ve loved you for a really long time.”

  “I know,” he said, still not looking at her.

  “You did not.”

  “I did too,” he said, finally opening his eyes as his lips curved knowingly. “You may think you can hide how you feel, but, woman, I can read you like a play.”

  “Whatever,” she said, glaring. “You’re ruining my moment again. You were supposed to say something all sweet and innocent, like, ‘Oh, really?’”

  He scoffed. “Hey, at least I didn’t fart.”

  Shaking her head, she leaned her forehead to his chin. “So all the romance is gone now, I guess?”

  “Hey, I don’t fart for anyone.”

  “I really hate you.”

  “You do not.”

  “I know.”

  Kissing her temple, he moved his lips along her forehead as he breathed her in. For a second, she was conscious that she might not smell all fresh. But then, the room smelled like fart, so why she cared, she didn’t know. When she felt him grin against her, she smiled too. It was nice not to care, to just be comfortable with another person completely. “Hey, Mekena.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know you’ve loved me for a while, and that’s amazing and perfect and something I’ll hold in my heart forever, I will. But with me, it isn’t what I feel for you—that’s a given, I love you—it’s what I don’t feel for anyone else. I don’t want to make anyone else smile. I don’t want to make anyone else laugh. I don’t even want to cook for anyone else. Or lie in a bed and fart. Only you. I love only you, and that will never change.”

  “Wow,” she breathed, and she felt him grin against her temple.

  “How’s that for a romantic moment?”

  “Really damn good.” Tipping her head back, she curved her lips as their gazes met. “I love you too.

  He grinned. “Good. Now can I fart again? That damn chicken last night got my gut twisted.”

  “I swear to God, Markus, I’ll cut you.”

  He moaned. “Fine.”

  “Thank you,” she said, nuzzling her nose into his neck as he rested his chin on her head. “We should just stay here all day.”

  “We can’t. We have breakfast with everyone before they fly back home. Baylor asked if I was moving back in. Told her my sugar momma was taking me in.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re insane.”

  “Been called worse…by you, actually,” he teased, and she laughed.

  “Fine, we go to breakfast and then we go to the hotel, veg out, and watch Netflix.”

  He nodded. “Sounds amazing. Did you finish Gilmore Girls?”

  She giggled; she had forgotten she got him hooked on that show when they were dating. “Nope, Lorelei pissed me off. It broke me, I quit her.”

  He mocked a gasp. “Mekena, give her a chance. She was lost and confused! We’re finishing it before…” He trailed off as he looked down at her. “Before we find out if we are doing this together or apart.”

  She swallowed hard as she nodded. “Sounds good.”

  “I’m excited, though.”

  She smiled because she knew what he was speaking of. Everything. He was excited for everything. “I am too.”

  “We’re gonna be happy.”

  “Yeah, we are,” she agreed, closing her eyes as she held him, her fingers moving along the back of his neck. He smelled divine and all kinds of yummy. Thankfully, all the death gas was gone.

  “It’s going to work out, you and me. We’ll figure it all out.”

  “We will. As long as we’re together.”

  “Yeah, even apart, we’ll be okay. We can FaceTime and Netflix.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  “Yeah, and we’ll get together on my weekends off, and it will work.” She loved how confident he was, how he was certain it was all going to work. She felt the same way.

  Completely.

  Moving his lips along her hair, he whispered, “Can you believe it?”

  She looked at him. “Believe what?”

  “That we’re here. At the beginning of the week, I thought you’d poison me. I wanted you so bad, but I didn’t think you’d want me.”

  “I always wanted you, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was what happened.”

  “But that’s behind us.”

  “Yeah, and I hope it stays there,” she said, but something must have flickered in her eyes because his brows pulled together.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “No, something is wrong.”

  She hadn’t even realized she was thinking about it until she spoke. “My parents kicked Skylar out. Apparently, she doesn’t want to get help.”

  Looking away, he nodded. “Well, there is no helping her if she doesn’t want to help herself.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Oh, well, don’t worry about that. We are moving forward, together.”

  “Together.”

  He was holding back, though, and she didn’t like the way he changed the subject so fast. Instead of calling him on it, she gazed into his eyes. They were so dark, not their usual light caramel. His heart was in his eyes, and it was beautiful to witness. She knew he was hers. All hers. “You make me happy, Mekena. Truly.”

  Smiling, she leaned her nose to his. “I feel the same way.”

  His eyes turned frisky, full of mischief. “Even when I do this?”

  He scrunched up his face, and she heard it before the room was filled with the most revolting smell. Relaxing his face, Markus just grinned, looking proud as Mekena glared. “Markus!”

  “Chicken! It’s the chicken!”

  Laughing, he covered her body with his as she tried to push him away. But really, she didn’t want him to go far.

  Farts and all.

  “So you have no clue what’s going to happen?”

  Mekena looked up at the ceiling as she stood in the offices for the Assassins. Her meeting with Elli Adler wasn’t for a few more minutes, but she needed a pep talk. Markus was at practice and then he had an appointment with the team’s therapist, so she couldn’t call him. That left her best friend, who sounded as if she was in the middle of World War III. But Mekena needed her. She wasn’t feeling as confident as she had the day before when she was in bed with Markus and he was promising her the world.

  The anxiety was eating her alive.

  “No, I mean, I think I got the job, or she’s made it seem like I got the job. But what if I get in there and I don’t have it? What if she just assumes I’m gonna take it and gives me a shitty salary?”

  Ashlyn screamed and then there was a crash. “I swear this kid has Jace’s temper,” Avery muttered and then cleared her throat. “Well, I mean, you’re going to take it no matter what, right? Like, you want to be with Markus, in Nashville?”

  “I know. But what if I do take it, and then he gets sent back to the Ninjas?”

  Avery made a sound of distress. “Yeah, this is a mess that neither of you really planned out, I think.”

  That wasn’t what she wan
ted to hear, especially when Libby’s words still weighed on her heart. When it was just Markus and her, things were easy, she threw caution to the wind and was ready. But now, out in the real word, she needed to know what was going to happen. She needed the certainty and she hated that. Where was the carefree Mekena? Why was she so scared?

  Closing her eyes, she tried to get it together as she reminded herself, “Well, we did talk about it. We said we’d be together no matter what.”

  “How sweet,” Avery teased with a laugh. “I’m just kidding. That’s good. So you both know this might not be easy, that there is no certainty.”

  Mekena nodded, trying to feel confident in what they had promised each other, in what she knew to be true. But still, she wasn’t. “I’m scared, Avery. I’m scared that I threw myself into this and it won’t work.”

  Avery laughed. “Mekena, that’s love. It’s like a game of craps. In the end, what do you want?”

  “I want him. I want us.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “The world. Everything. And my sister is on my mind a lot, and it’s driving me crazy.”

  Avery made a sound of disgust. “Why are you worrying about her?”

  “I don’t know. I want to hate her, I do, but I’m worried. Libby said that Mom and Dad kicked her out because she wouldn’t get help. Which is great, and I hope it woke Skylar up. But when I brought it up, Markus shut it down, and I’m worried it’s giving him flashbacks or something. He says he’s over it, he’s moving on. But what if he isn’t? What if it will always be something we can’t talk about…and it’s my family. I mean, I want to have them in my life—not Skylar, but at least my parents—and I don’t think I can because she’ll always be an issue for us. I called my mom to check on her, and she kept me on the phone for an hour, talking about Skylar. She’s a mess, and I feel for her, but I hate my sister.”

  “Which is understandable, Mekena, and your mom should take it easy. She knows what happened.”

  “I know, and I tried to tell her that. She tried, but it’s so hard. It’s such a shitty situation. And then there’s his family. I hate them, yet he wants them back in his life. It’s logical, they’re his family. They were just so horrible to me. I’ve never in my life been called white trash until I met them. Nothing like feeling like you aren’t good enough for a guy until his parents tell you. Ugh! There is just so much that is freaking me out at this very second, and all I want is to be back in that bed with him with nothing else to worry about.”

  As Avery cleared her throat, Mekena swore she could see Avery roll her eyes. “Why are you doing this to yourself? You have a meeting in minutes, and you’ve got yourself so fucked up.”

  “I’m freaking out, Avery. I am.”

  “I hear that. But, Mekena, what do you want? Do you want to be with Markus?”

  “I do,” she said immediately, feeling it with everything inside of her. “And when it’s just us, I know that, he knows that, and everything else doesn’t matter. Not our families, not the distance that could plague us, or anything else. We don’t care. We want to be together, so we’re going to be together. But then I get away from him, and I start to worry.”

  “You have to talk to him about this.”

  “I know, but I don’t want to stress him out. He’s dealing with his own stuff.”

  “If this is going to work, you guys are going to have to work through everything together. It can’t be his stuff and yours. If you want this to be what I assume you want it to be, then it’s y’all’s stuff, and you gotta figure it out together.” Avery paused for a second. “Wouldn’t you want him to come to you and talk about whatever he is feeling about the Skylar thing?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then why can’t you go to him about his family or yours? He is a really great listener, Mekena, and he is very understanding and helpful. I’m sure you guys can work out any of your insecurities because, the thing is, you guys won’t make it if you’re not confident in y’all—outside of that bedroom.”

  Biting into her lip, Mekena sucked in a deep breath, knowing Avery was completely right. “Did I rush into this?”

  Avery laughed. “Yeah, but it’s meant to be.”

  “It is?”

  “Yeah, and y’all are gonna be fine. It’s all gonna work out.”

  “It will?”

  “It will,” Avery said once more. “Because it’s time for some good for you two. After everything Skylar did, and then the two years of hell you two put yourselves through, it’s time. Things will work out, and you’ll live happily ever after.”

  “You think so?”

  “I know so,” she said confidently and then she laughed. “Don’t you think so?”

  Mekena’s lips curved as she thought of his smile and how she couldn’t think of a day going by without it. Even if it was over a phone, she needed it. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Good, it will all work out. We will all be happy! Or at least that’s what I gotta tell myself because I’m pretty sure Jace is on his way out, and I can’t blame him. This terror of a child makes me crazy, and I’m crazy on him.”

  Mekena rolled her eyes. “Jace isn’t going anywhere.”

  “I know. But when I say it, it scares me a bit and makes me appreciate him even more.”

  Mekena laughed. “That’s weird.”

  “Yeah, I’m not exactly sane.”

  “Is anyone?”

  “Nope,” Avery decided, and then another screech came through the line.

  “Jesus, she is mad.”

  “I tried to give her a banana.”

  “She doesn’t want it. Jeez, Mom!”

  “She asked for it, and when I peeled it, she freaked.”

  “Oh. Well, she takes after her mother.”

  “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

  Snickering, Mekena felt better. “Thanks for being there, Avery.”

  “Anytime,” Avery said, a smile in her voice. “I want you to be happy.”

  “Me too, and he does it for me. We’ve been great the last couple days. The hotel is okay, but as soon as I know if I have the job, we’re going to look at some apartments and then we’ll move in.”

  “See? You’ve got a plan! You’re just an overthinker, and Lord knows you don’t rush into anything, so I’m sure this is all a little much. But it’s gonna be fine. It has to be.”

  Mekena nodded, feeling ten times better. “You’re right. Thanks.”

  “Anytime. Now go get ’em, killer!”

  Mekena laughed. “Okay, don’t feed Ashlyn any more bananas.”

  Avery stopped laughing. “She’s eating it right now, Mekena, I’m not even fucking with you.”

  Holding in her laughter, she glanced at the time to see that Elli would be out to get her any second. “Eh, I’m sorry? But I gotta go.”

  “Okay, I’ll just be here, confused about the psychotic two-foot human who is taking over my household.”

  Laughing out loud now, Mekena said, “Good luck.”

  “Yeah, I need it.”

  Hanging up, she went to turn off her phone, a grin on her face when she noticed she had a text message. Opening it, she saw it was from Markus. It was a picture of him with his thumbs up, along with the rest of the team behind him, all with their thumbs up and cheering on the ice. Under the picture, it read:

  Markus: Good luck babe! The team is rooting for ya! Love you.

  Her grin grew as she giggled softly.

  He was just amazing.

  “Mekena.”

  Looking up, she found Elli Adler in the doorway, and for the first time, Elli wasn’t wearing a flashy outfit. Instead, she wore tight black slacks with a sheer white dress shirt that was tucked in with a thick black scarf. But then Mekena’s eyes fell to her sky-high leopard print pumps, and she smiled. Leave it to Elli Adler to find some way to be eye-catching. “Let’s get you in here, talk through some paperwork, and get you on the team! You have a passport, right?”

  “I do,” Mekena
said, standing and smiling really hard. Maybe too hard. Relaxing a bit, she heard Avery’s words again and smiled for real.

  “Let’s do this.”

  As Elli flashed her signature grin, Mekena started for her, her portfolio in her hands and her heart pounding in her chest.

  Because this was the start of all her dreams.

  And she just prayed so damn hard that they would all include Markus.

  Wren Lemiere looked up from her notes to Markus, and he drew in a quick intake of breath. While he had rehashed everything that happened with Skylar many times before with his friends, with the team’s therapist, it was different. She didn’t know him, and a part of him worried she would tell the Assassins and they’d cut him again.

  “You can’t tell anyone about this, right?” he asked, his heart pounding, and she shook her head, smiling lightly. She was a pretty woman. Long brown hair that went down her back to her waist and a pixie-like face with dark green eyes. She was short too, all in a petite package. If he weren’t already head over heels in love with Mekena, he would have found Wren very attractive, but he was, though he did think the doctor was pretty.

  “No, Markus, I can’t.”

  “So I can’t get fired?”

  She laughed, though not in a condescending way, almost like she thought he was joking. “No.”

  He let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, cool. So do your stuff. Shrink me.”

  “Actually, I want to hear more from you.”

  But Markus shook his head. “I’ve told you everything. I’m one of those people who needs a plan. I need you to shrink me. Give me what I need to do.”

  She smiled widely at that. “Okay, from what I’ve gathered, you want to move on, which is great. Some people don’t. They dwell and self-destruct, but I don’t get that from you. I see that you want to live your life, that you want to push everything behind you, and a part of me thinks you’ve accepted what has happened.”

  “I have,” he agreed. “I mean, I’m mad, but it’s not like I think of it every day.”

  “Which is good.”

  “Yeah, I mean, my thing is, I don’t want this to hinder me. I don’t want this to come back and knock me on my ass, and in the end, hurt my girlfriend.”

  She nodded. “Which is another thing I’ve taken note of. You mention Mekena a lot, as in you don’t want her to ever hurt. But I don’t think you’re allowing yourself to worry about you. You’re so worried about hurting her, that you aren’t allowing yourself to heal.”