“No, mostly because you’re driving, and I want to make it to your parents’ home safe.” She paused, her lips quirking into a smile. “Thank you for trying to get my mind off the fact that I’m going to throw up.”
Marcus frowned. “You said you thought you were going to throw up. Are you actually going to throw up now?” he said, looking for a place to pull over.
“I’m not truly going to throw up. At least, I don’t think so.” She put her hand on her stomach over the squirrel top.
His lips quirked again.
“Stop fucking thinking about squirrels.”
He burst out laughing, and she joined him, both of them shaking their heads as he took the next turn.
“I’m just nervous. This is your family. Your parents. Your sisters and their men. It’s scary.”
“You’ve been over to my house as many times as I’ve been to yours.”
“It doesn’t always feel like that. Maybe that’s because I’m self-centered.”
“Shut up.”
“You shut up.”
They laughed again, the tension easing.
“I just don’t want to make a bad impression.”
“They know you. You’ve slept over at my parents’ house when I wasn’t even there.”
He could tell she’d narrowed her eyes at him even if he wasn’t looking. She always did with this particular story. “We were in middle school, and I was supposed to do my astronomy project with you and stay the night. Only you forgot and decided to have a slumber party at your friend’s house. You know, with the boys. Instead of inviting any of the girls.”
“Boy-girl slumber parties weren’t a good thing back then.”
“It was never a problem with us before. But I showed up, my sleeping bag under my arm, and my tiny little telescope ready to go. And your mom took one look at me and promptly cursed your name.”
“That sounds like my mother,” he said, rolling his eyes as he took the next turn.
“Well then, your mom had me come inside, and your parents, along with your sisters, played with me in the back yard and helped me with my astronomy lesson. My parents were all ready to come and pick me up and apologize for the confusion. Mostly because my dad had talked to your dad, but our moms hadn’t really talked to one another about the plan.”
Marcus snorted. “And that meant that the dads got in trouble, too. After all, they aren’t supposed to plan things without putting it all on the calendar.”
“You know it,” she said, smiling. “But it was one of the best times. Your dad knew all about astronomy, and we had this program on your old computer that helped us figure out the constellations that we couldn’t determine from the book. It was a blast. I wish you would’ve been there.”
“I was going over to the guy’s house to go talk about girls. You know, about how gross they were.”
“You were in middle school. Were girls really gross then?”
Marcus shrugged. “Maybe not. But we were pretty gross.”
“That is true.”
They pulled into his parents’ neighborhood, and he parked right in front of the house, turning off the engine but not getting out yet. He undid his seatbelt and turned a little so he could look directly at Bristol. “Everything’s going to be fine. You and me? We’re getting this done.”
“Getting this done?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.
Marcus winced.
“I mean, they love you. We’re going to go in there, we’re going to have some dinner, and they’re most likely going to grill me. Not you.”
Bristol snorted. “You are the baby. The perfect one. They’re not going to grill you.”
“You act as if you’ve never met my family.”
“Didn’t we recently go over the fact that I do know them?” she asked him, leaning forward.
Because he couldn’t help himself, and he kind of liked this new part of their relationship, he leaned forward and laid the gentlest of kisses on her lips. “Let’s go inside. They’re not going to wait for long.”
The tap on this window scared the crap out of both of them, and Bristol yelped, while Marcus laughed.
“Apparently, we don’t have to wait long at all.”
“Here they are.”
He turned to see Vanessa standing outside the car, tapping the glass. She had a wide grin on her face, even as she shook her head.
He and Bristol got out, and Jennifer and Andie on the other side of their car hugged Bristol close.
But he didn’t have anything to worry about. Right? His family loved her. Just because he was a little nervous about what they would think about how quickly everything was happening, didn’t mean that they would treat Bristol wrong.
They might grill him, but he probably deserved that. After all, this was out of left field.
But in the end, he didn’t want to hurt his family, especially his mother, by going back on the promises they had made.
“Look at you, making out with your fiancée instead of coming inside.” His sister kissed him on the cheek and then smacked him on the arm.
“Did you bring what you were asked to?”
Marcus nodded and then went to the back seat of his car to get out the two bottles of wine and the cookies.
“Bristol and I made them ourselves.”
“You guys bake together?” Andie asked, clasping her hands in front of her. “How cute.”
“Are they edible?” Jennifer asked and ducked out of the way of Andie, trying to elbow her in the gut.
“Hey. I’m not making fun of you. I’m making fun of our baby brother. That’s always been allowed. Now that he actually has a woman that we all like and love doesn’t mean I can’t make fun of him still.”
“They are totally edible,” Bristol said, laughing. “And thank you for thinking that if they weren’t edible, it would be his fault instead of mine. Because we all know that he’s the one that knows how to cook and bake. I literally burned a pan trying to boil water once.”
“You were practicing and forgot to turn off the burner. It happens.”
“And you constantly read and listen to books while you cook, and you don’t boil shit over.”
“Look at you guys, fighting but not really fighting.” Andie danced from foot to foot. “You are so cute. Now, come on in because you know Mom and Dad are watching us from inside.”
Marcus looked over at the house, and indeed, his parents were waving from the window.
“Oh right, it’s damp out here. I bet your dad doesn’t want your mom out, just in case.”
Everybody looked at each other and smiled softly while Bristol winced. “I’m sorry.” He reached out and rubbed her lower back.
“No, we bring it up often. We worry about her to the point that we annoy her. That’s what makes us family. So, make sure you annoy her, too. Because you cannot be the favorite among us.”
“I thought Chris was the favorite,” Marcus said dryly, speaking of Andie’s husband.
“He is.” Andie sighed.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “The husbands are in the house, mostly because we asked them not to come out so we could bug you.”
Vanessa added, “It took all of their willpower, and our clear restraint to make it happen. So, we need to go in. Let the grilling commence.”
“Be nice to Bristol,” Marcus said.
“Bristol’s safe. We love her, and we’re excited to see her part of the family. You on the other hand… You’re the one that we’re going to grill.”
With more ribbing, they made their way into the house, where his mother was already hugging Bristol tightly as his father took her bag and hung it on the hook by the door.
“You’re here,” his mother said and kissed him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, inhaling the scent that reminded him of home and the woman who had always been with him no matter what.
When he had almost lost her, he’d thought he had nearly lost a piece of himself. Maybe he had lost part of hims
elf along the way anyway.
But having her there, having her so fucking happy? He was finding his way back.
And as he looked over his mother’s head at Bristol, he figured that maybe he was finding more of his way with her.
It should scare him, but it didn’t. Bristol had always been there. Now that he was allowing himself to think about who she could be with him beyond what they always had, everything that he had hidden for so long was now bubbling up to the surface, ready to erupt.
It had only taken an accidental misunderstanding and a promise that some people would never comprehend for it to happen.
They ate, drank, and laughed. Nobody grilled him, or her. Didn’t make any sense to him. They should be interrogating them. They should be wondering how the hell they had decided to become engaged out of the blue, but nobody was asking. Maybe they were too afraid that if they did, the bubble would burst, and everything would go back to the way it was. But it couldn’t go back to the way it was. Marcus wasn’t sure he would let it.
“So, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Bristol said, taking out her hair clip and rubbing her scalp.
Marcus set down the empty Tupperware, not that the cookies were all eaten, and took out his wallet and keys, toeing off his shoes. It felt as if they were coming home after a long day, where they lived together, and this was their future. It was a glimpse of it. They hadn’t nailed down where they would live or when their wedding would be, but they would get there. He figured they would do this dating thing for a while and just be. And then the rest would come. Because if he stressed himself out too much, trying to figure out exactly what was going to happen, it wouldn’t work out.
“I don’t think it went bad at all. For you.”
“Simply because your sisters cornered you while their husbands laughed didn’t mean it went badly.”
“See, I don’t know how I ended up on the outside of this because my sisters are on your side. They love you. Because you’re a woman. And then my brothers-in-law are on your side because you’re going to be part of the family. How did I end up on the outside of both versions?”
Bristol laughed and put her hands on his chest. “You know you’re not on the outside. Not with my family, and not with yours. And the fact that they were giving us space to figure this out is a little shocking and quite worrying.”
Her words echoed his thoughts, and he nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Yeah, I think they all know something’s different. But they’re letting us figure it out on our own.”
“Which doesn’t always happen with our families.”
Marcus snorted. “Yeah, not even a little. That should worry me, but I don’t want to focus on it too much. You know?”
Bristol nodded and then went up on her tiptoes to kiss his jaw.
He grinned and slowly slid his hands down her sides to grip her butt. She smiled.
“Well, hello there, Mr. Marcus.”
“You’re right. This squirrel shirt does give you curves.”
She punched him in the chest.
“How dare you?”
Marcus snorted. “If that little fist of yours had done any damage, maybe I’d be a little offended.”
“My hands are insured, mister. These babies are my livelihood. I’m not going to hurt them by punching you.”
“At least, you didn’t tuck your thumb in.”
“Of course, I didn’t. My brothers trained me. And those self-defense classes I took.”
“I forgot you took those,” Marcus said, his voice lowering.
“Liam made me take them before my first tour. Remember? Before my birthday.”
Marcus let out a breath. “I remember. The birthday that seemed to change everything.”
“Yeah, but for the better, right?” she asked, her voice low.
Marcus didn’t know what to say, because he thought so, but what if he was wrong? What if this was only the beginning of the end?
He let that dreadful thought slide through him, and instead of answering, he pressed his mouth to hers and moaned.
He kissed her, putting everything into it, putting himself into it.
There would be a time soon that kisses and touches wouldn’t be enough. They would have to face what their future held.
But for now, this wasn’t it.
For now, they would breathe, and they would just be.
The future could come in the morning. And they would face it.
He hoped to hell it would be together, though.
Chapter 13
“I thought you had the day off?” Ronin asked as he walked into Marcus’s office. Marcus lifted his head and pulled off his reading glasses. He didn’t need them all the time, but when he spent his working hours looking at minuscule text, his eyes strained a bit. Plus, they had blue light blockers for his computer. The fact that Bristol seemed to like them on him was a plus.
He held back a smile, thinking about her. She’d always been on his mind, only in a far different way than she was now. The idea that he was allowed to think of her this way? To want more? It should worry him. But it didn’t.
He fucking loved it.
“What?” Marcus asked, pulling his thoughts away from Bristol and precisely what they meant to one another.
Ronin snorted. “I asked why you were here since I thought you were off today. And look at you, diving into work, getting distracted, and from the look on your face at that last moment, you weren’t thinking about work at all. Bristol?”
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose, mostly because he hated wearing glasses for too long, and pushed away from his desk, stretching his back.
“I’ve been focusing on work today, but I was only going to take the afternoon off, not the whole day.”
“That doesn’t put you over hours?” Ronin asked, coming to sit across the desk.
“We’re always over hours,” Marcus said with a laugh. “That’s why we don’t get paid by the hour.”
“Touché.”
“But anyway, I was in the middle of this one part yesterday, and I wanted to come in and finish it. But I’m heading down to Denver in a little bit, so don’t worry, I won’t bother you for long.”
“That’s not why I’m here, and you know it. You’re not bothering me at all, dork.”
“Hey, we’re at work, don’t call me a dork.”
Ronin just smiled. “Maybe. I’m on break, and you’re heading out soon, so…two seconds?”
“Okay,” Marcus said a little cautiously.
“When’s the wedding?” Ronin inquired, and Marcus snorted.
“Aaron?” Marcus asked, and Ronin shrugged. “Yeah, he came in for a couple of texts we have that he can’t get online and was talking to me about it. Why didn’t you tell me you and Bristol were engaged?”
“I think it’s mostly because it doesn’t feel real,” Marcus said honestly, the words falling from him before he even thought to dial it back.
“Is there something wrong?” Ronin asked, a little cautious. “Do you want to tell me exactly what’s going on?”
Marcus shook his head. “No, that’s between Bristol and me. Is that okay?”
Ronin tilted his head and frowned. “You know part of my past. Right?”
Marcus nodded, knowing that it wasn’t a secret, but not something that Ronin talked about often. After all, Ronin hadn’t always been a librarian. The other man had seen things that nobody should see. Had gone through shit that had taken so much from him. But now Ronin was here and looked happy. For all that Marcus could tell.
“So, you know part of what I went through, and because of that, you know that sometimes you have to face what’s right in front of you and lean on those near you to get through.”
“Yeah, I know,” Marcus said softly.
“I think Bristol is perfect for you. She makes you smile every time you talk about her. She’s hilarious, talented, and of course, hot as fuck.”
Marcus was happy that Ronin had shut the door earlier
because this wasn’t the best place to talk about things like this.
“You know the pearl-clutching patrons aren’t going to be ecstatic if they hear you talking like that.”
“For a progressive city such as Boulder, they sure as hell don’t like the queer guy behind the desk as it is,” Ronin said, rolling his eyes. “They can deal with my language.”
“Yeah, they can. And as for Bristol? We’re taking things slow.”
“You’re engaged, not too slow.”
“We can take it slow and still be engaged,” Marcus said, knowing that wasn’t entirely correct. But he was still figuring shit out, after all.
“Go get to your appointment in Denver. We’ll be here when you get back. And I better be invited to the wedding.”
Marcus pushed back from his desk entirely and stood up. “You know you will. And the guys already want you to come to our guys’ night or whatever.”
“Is it going to involve lifting? Because I can do that, but I’d rather go for wings. Wings sound great.”
“And now I’m starving. Thank you for that.”
“I try. Now, back to work. The book club’s coming in today.”
Ronin didn’t have to elaborate. Many clubs came in, and they loved them. However, there was one book club that Marcus hated. They were rude, cranky, and demanding. And they didn’t seem to like books at all. They mostly wanted to judge and to lord over them. But it wasn’t like he could kick them out. Not when his bosses loved the ladies, and one of them was their cousin. So, Ronin and Marcus dealt with it. It was one of the small things that made his job not the best at times. But still worth it.
He wasn’t headed home. Instead, he went to Bristol’s house to pick her up. He had made this appointment down in Denver nearly a year ago and had planned to go alone. He had honestly thought Bristol would be on tour by now. Instead, she was going with him.
He tried to let that little clutch finally go away at the thought of her on tour. She was allowed to do that. It was her fucking job. Just because he felt like he was going to miss her even more now than before didn’t mean he had any say in the matter. They’d figure out a plan. He had enough time off that he could visit her around the world. Or, there was such a thing as a phone. With the invention of video calling, you were never too far away from someone. At least, that’s what he told himself when he got stressed out about the idea of it.
Embraced in Ink Page 13