by Vixen Kane
She’s beautiful tonight. I can tell she had Lexie help her get ready because she’s got that smoky eye thing going on that looks sexy as fuck. It doesn’t quite hit the level of gorgeous she is when she’s just woken up, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have gotten to see her like that, but she tried. And I can only assume she tried for me.
She came.
Tristan nudges me, and I glance down at the questioning look on his face and remember I’m supposed to be speaking right now.
I clear my throat. “And I vow to live up to those standards to the best of my ability, and I uh…”
I make out people tossing each other glances in my peripheral, but I can’t take my eyes off Valerie. Her smile falls, and she shakes away Lexie when she tries to whisper in her ear. She stares at me with as much intensity as the first night we had sex. The night I told her about her ex and my apology that followed. She forgave me then. Just like that, after years of living with the humiliation, she forgave me. I’m pretty sure she’s forgiving me now.
But I don’t deserve it.
“Actually, I want to say something about one of those quests Connor mentioned.”
Connor leans toward me and whispers fiercely, “What are you doing?”
I look to him and give him a reassuring nod, and he backs off.
“As you may know, I was given challenges the last couple months before I could be officially made president.” You could’ve heard a toothpick drop in the room. “Well, one of those challenges, the hardest one, was to make a girl fall in love with me. What made it so hard was that this particular girl hated my guts… for good reason.” A few people laugh, thinking I’m about to make a joke or share some funny anecdote, but I’m dead serious as I stare at Valerie, who looks like she’s trying to decide if she should bolt.
“She did fall in love with me, which was shocking in and of itself, but what I couldn’t have predicted was that I would fall in love with her as well.”
The light catches a sheen on Valerie’s cheek, and I realize she’s crying. Then I notice Lexie tugging on her arm.
“I won that challenge, but not without cheating. Lying. Hurting the person I’ll fucking die if I hurt again.”
Murmurs spread throughout the room, and Valerie wipes the tears away and lets Lexie lead her through the crowd. People turn to stare at her, realizing she’s the one I’m talking about. For a second, my heart stops because I think I might have just humiliated her again. I don’t know. But I know I can’t let her walk away from me a second time.
I turn to Connor. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it.”
I raise Tristan’s hand up and quickly announce to the room. “Ladies and gentlemen, your next president of Delta Gamma Phi!”
People clap and cheer, but you can sense the confusion in the room. I don’t care. I jump from the pedestal and toss the goblet to the floor before charging toward the door. People move out of my way like they’re afraid I’ll run them over if they don’t, and they’re probably right.
I barge outside, looking frantically for Valerie’s car or her silhouette walking down the road. I don’t see her, but a soft voice to my left makes me jump.
“Seth.”
I turn that way, and every muscle in my body relaxes as I see her there by the railing, her arms over her chest from the slight chill. Lexie is nowhere in sight.
“Val, I—”
“That was quite the speech.”
I walk up to stand next to her, going slow because I’m afraid anything more will scare her off. I lean against the post and face in front of me, not able to look at her. My heart is beating so fast right now, I have no idea what to do or think. All I know is I don’t want to screw this up.
“I embarrassed you just then, didn’t I? Again…”
“Would it be us if you weren’t humiliating me in some way?”
I flinch, but when I realize there isn’t any anger in her tone, my face relaxes and I turn to her. There are tears in her eyes, but they don’t look like the ones I’ve made her cry before. There’s even a smile on her face.
“Thank you,” she whispers, placing her hand on mine.
The weight I’ve been carrying lifts, and I lean toward her, close enough that our shoulders brush, and I close my eyes.
“Val, I’m so sorry for everything.”
“I know.” She cups my cheek, and I open my eyes. “And I forgive you.”
She kisses my lips and pulls back to rest her forehead on mine. I feel like I’ve been living in hell since she stomped out of the kitchen, but those three words put out the fire around me. Voices from inside carry out here, but other than that, it’s quiet. Peaceful.
“You know these past few months all I wanted was to be normal. Go to a party. Hang out with friends. Anything but stay in my dorm every night studying.”
“And you got me instead.”
She pulls back, and my eyes open to see her soft lips pulled into a smile. “You’re a hell of a lot better than normal.”
I smile back and lean in for a kiss. Her cherry lip gloss tastes sweeter than ever, and with her warm mouth pressed to mine, I’ve never felt more full.
The challenge doesn’t matter.
The presidency doesn’t matter.
Only she does.
I break the kiss and look into her eyes, never needing to say three words more in my life.
“I love you.”
She smiles and wipes the corner of my lips.
“I know.”
Epilogue
Valerie
Three years later...
“Wait here.”
Seth’s lips press against my forehead before the front door of our rental house slams closed. I’m itching to take the blindfold off, but he made me promise I wouldn’t. Everyone just left after celebrating my graduation, and I’m ready to curl up with him and relax.
We’ve been in the house for a year and a half now. After Seth turned the presidency of Delta Gamma Phi over to Tristan, he also left the fraternity. He finished his degree in engineering, and I was at his graduation, along with his family and mine.
After he graduated, we decided to move in together. Partly because it was the natural next step in our relationship and partly because who the hell wants to live in a dorm? Living together has been more than I could have imagined.
The screen door creeks, and hands grip my shoulders. I know it’s Seth because his scent reaches me before he does.
“Ready?” he whispers in my ear.
“What if I’m not?” I am but another thing I’ve learned is that it is extremely fun to tease him.
He growls and I can feel it all the way to my toes. They curl in my white-heeled sandals, and heat swirls in my belly.
“You keep that up and you can kiss your plan goodbye.” I smile, knowing that my words are doing to him what he did to me.
“Mmm, I could make time for that.”
His lips press against mine, and I’m instantly swept up in his taste, his touch. As much as I want him in this moment, I know that he’s been planning whatever this is for a long time, and I wouldn’t dream of ruining it for him. I’m not giving up either, so I place my hands on his chest and push him away from me. He groans at the break in contact, but he grips my arm with one hand while he links his fingers with mine.
“C’mon.” He starts walking, and I’m forced to walk with him.
My steps are tentative as he guides me out of the house and down the walkway to the car. It’s late, which means that there’s nothing but darkness behind the blindfold. When he helps me slide into the passenger seat the smell of lilies rushes into my nostrils, and I wonder if they’re purple like the ones he gave me years ago.
“No peeking.” He shuts my door, and I assume he sprints to the driver’s side because it’s only a few seconds before the sound of that door opening reaches me. After a slam, the engine roars to life, and his hand comes around the back of my neck. His nose touches my skin, and his lips trail a path to my ear. “The blindfold is
making me really hot.”
I giggle as only a teenage girl would do. Only Seth can make me feel like the sexiest woman in the world and like a horny teenager all at the same time. And I love him for it.
The ride to wherever he’s taking us is silent, which is okay. We don’t always need words. He hasn’t let go of my hand the entire time, and every few minutes he picks it up and places a kiss on my knuckles. His way of talking without words, I suppose.
The vehicle slows, and suddenly, the ride becomes bumpy. I have an idea of where we are, but I won’t put voice to it. I wouldn’t dream of ruining this for him.
When Seth helps me out of the car, he spins me around, presumably to be facing the right direction.
“Do you trust me?” He picks up both of my hands and places them against his pecs.
“You know I do.”
“But do you really trust me?”
“Seth, what is this all about? It’s been fun, but now you’re kinda scaring me.” I shiver as a breeze wafts over my skin. I’m still wearing the white sundress Seth insisted I wear to the graduation ceremony, which provides little barrier against any kind of wind.
Seth huffs out a breath, and in my mind’s eye I can see the creases on his forehead and his clenched jaw. “The rest of the journey is a bumpy one, and I really don’t want you to take the blindfold off, but if you don’t trust me to guide you then I will.”
“Our relationship was built on bumpy, and we’re better for it.” I smile knowing it will ease his mind. “I trust you.”
Seth doesn’t waste any time and starts to urge me forward. It’s a slow walk, but after what feels like an eternity, my feet land on something solid. Seth’s body heat leaves me, and I panic for a minute wondering where he’s gone. Then Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ fills the air, and what was once pitch black behind the blindfold suddenly brightens. He hasn’t taken it off, but there are little pin pricks of light visible.
“Can I take this off now?” I reach up to the edge of the blindfold, but Seth’s hands catch mine to stop me.
“Not quite yet.”
The thud of something heavy hitting wood causes me to jump, and Seth’s laugh cuts through the air.
“Okay. Now you can take it off.” Seth’s voice sounds like it’s behind me, and I automatically try to spin around, but he holds me firm at the waist to stop me.
I slowly slide the blindfold over my head. The silk cloth slips from my fingertips just as I bring my other hand to my mouth. Tears gather behind my eyes, and I don’t even try to stop them from spilling over my lashes.
I’m standing in front of the pond where Seth took me when we first got together. There’s a dock under my feet, the same one we had sex on for the first time. There are mini lights strung up in the trees surrounding the pond, and they’re shimmering off the water.
Seth must have put the music on repeat because the same song starts over again. To my left is a small table with purple lilies in a vase and two place settings. There’s also a bucket of ice with a bottle of wine poking out as it chills. The chairs are draped with what appears to be white linen. To my right is a cooler, which I realize was the thud I heard and what likely contains food.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, taking it all in.
“You like it?”
I whirl around toward the sound of Seth’s voice, and my eyes widen when I see him down on one knee with a box in his hand. I’m incapable of speech, so I frantically nod.
“Valerie, I will forever be sorry for a challenge I accepted for all the wrong reasons, but I will never regret that it brought us together. You wanted to be normal, live life to the fullest. For the last three years, I hope that I’ve helped you do that. And I want to be the one you experience everything life has to offer with.” Seth takes a deep breath, and I swipe at the tears on my cheeks. “You have taught me what it’s like to love and be loved. You make me a better man than I could ever be on my own. You and I together didn’t make sense. Not at first. But now, you and I apart makes even less sense. I don’t ever want to know what life is like without you.” Seth pauses and opens the box in his hand. “Valerie Tilson, will you marry me?”
My throat is closing up but in the best possible way. I blow out a breath and try to calm my emotions so I can answer him. He looks at me expectantly, and his face starts to fall when I don’t speak.
“Yes,” I manage to push out.
“Yeah?” His smile is slow to form as my answer finally sinks in.
“Yeah.”
Seth takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto my finger. As I’m holding my hand out in front of me to admire it, his arms wrap around me, and he picks me up and spins me around.
As we’re twirling under the perfect night sky, I realize something.
Life with Seth Carnes will be anything but normal.
And I’m good with that.
About the Author
Vixen Kane is the author of nail-biting romance. Whether that be steamy, taboo or suspenseful, she loves writing it and sharing it with the world. Vixen doesn't shy away from much, and all of her books are guaranteed to deliver an HEA.
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