Love Me by Christmas

by Silvia Rojas

  My eyes widened in realization. The costumes. The speech. It was all leading up to this. But… he wasn’t really going to… No...

  I gasped in disbelief. “Allen…?”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny black box. He held it up for all to see before he opened it, revealing a beautiful diamond band. It glittered in the light, like a miniature star he was able to cradle in his palm.

  I was lost for words, staring at it in a state of shock. Part of me thought that this was all a dream.

  “Essie…” He took my hand once more, squeezing it between his fingers. “Will you marry me and make me the luckiest man in the world?”

  His question made the whole world stop. My heart thundered in response.

  I felt like I was going to pass out at any second. My head felt so light and airy.

  He looked up at me, expecting an answer but it was like I had forgotten how to speak. The whole room waited.

  My heart beat even faster.

  The word ‘yes’ was lodged in my throat like a boulder. I just couldn’t get it out.

  Ebony nudged me, pulling me back into reality.

  I nodded my head, tears welling up in my eyes. Abruptly, I launched myself forward, falling into his arms. We collapsed into a heap on the ground, tangled in each other’s arms. I kissed him with all the passion I couldn’t express in words, my heart soaring with joy.

  Eventually, we pulled away, our faces only inches apart.

  “So…?” he asked.

  “Yes!”

  THE END

  Against All Odds

  Chapter 1

  “Dammit,” Trish said to herself as she tried to move her hand against the tire. Of course, this would totally happen when she was all alone, and now she had to figure out how the hell she was supposed to get out of here.

  Her phone was dead. She couldn’t call a towing company and she didn’t have a means to charge it. She could try to go back to the buildings nearby, but everything looked closed. So, there she was, trying to change this damn tire, but she kept accidentally missing the little screws to put it back on.

  “Come on, this is just getting stupid,” she said to herself.

  There was a small noise, and immediately, Trish whipped her head around. Was it a bad guy? Was it someone that she could trust? She didn’t even know. It definitely was making her feel slightly ill at ease. She knew she could take care of herself, but there was always that shadow of a doubt in her mind as she thought about it.

  “Who’s there?” she asked loudly. She needed to find her knife, in case if things get out of hand. However, the person that came out from the darkness was completely different than what Trish expected, and when she looked at him, immediately, she felt a strange attraction to him. She pushed her black hair towards the back, the little strands that kind of hung there immediately whipping her in the face.

  This guy was cute. She noticed that he was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome with pale skin, black hair, and adorned in all black. But he was definitely different from the type of person she’d expect to meet out here.

  “Sorry for scaring you,” he said.

  She relaxed. This guy was pretty cute. Immediately, she got up, looking at him and studying him.

  “You seem different from what I expected to run into in the middle of the night out here in a parking lot,” she said, her guard still up.

  “Well, I was in the area. I noticed you had a flat tire. Want some help?” he offered.

  Trish normally didn’t accept help from others. She was always the type that seemed to be headstrong, independent, and took price in her ability to take care of herself. But of course, this guy was also pretty damn cute, and it made her interested in him almost immediately.

  “Sure. I mean, it might be better if I got a bit of help. I kind of know what I’m doing,” she said. Of course, that was a lie. She knew how to change a tire. She just liked the guy.

  He went over to the wheel, and almost in a flash, he sorted that out. She watched as he skillfully put the tire on, taking the one that was flat out of the way.

  “I’ll toss that later,” she said to him.

  “Fine by me,” he replied.

  When he finished, he looked at her again with a smile, and she saw a tiny bit of grease on his face. It was cute, and she had to admit, he was actually quite attractive.

  “Thanks for doing that. I’m Trish by the way,” she said, extending her hand. The man was hesitant, but then he took her hand, accepting the handshake.

  “Remy. So what are you doing all the way out here?” he asked.

  “Well, I was out at one of the bars nearby, but obviously it’s late, and everyone went home. I was about to do the same until I got a flat tire. Thanks for sticking around,” she said.

  “You’re welcome. It’s not every day I run into a cute girl like you,” he smiled.

  Trish blushed. Normally, guys didn’t compliment her like that, but she enjoyed it.

  “I do appreciate it. So why are you all the way out here? Kind of random,” she pointed out.

  There was a pause, and then, he got up.

  “I actually realized I need to go do something. If you want, maybe we can meet each other again. I’ll see you around,” he said.

  “Wait—”

  It was too late though. Remy was gone. Trish stood there, trying to process what the hell just happened. He seemed super sweet, but then he just ran off like that. It was weird.

  Oh well, it was probably high time she got out of here. She started her car, driving over to the small apartment her sister and her shared. When she got there, Megan looked at her with worry.

  “Where were you?” she asked her.

  “Sorry, my phone died. I had a flat tire too. But I got some help,” she told her.

  “From who?” Megan asked, quirking her eyebrow slightly.

  Immediately, Trish wondered if she should tell her sister. She loved Megan, but Megan was always a bit overbearing. She did have her reasons, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t slightly annoying at times.

  “Remy. He was a guy that was out in the parking lot. He seemed to see that I was stuck and he helped me out,” she told her.

  “You have to be careful. That’s how guys prey on girls, Trish. You’re an adult, and I won’t try to force you to do something, but you need to be smarter about this. I’m glad that you’re okay, but this dude sounds like bad news,” Megan told Trish with concern.

  “I get it, Megan. He didn’t seem bad at all. I mean, he did help me out, so I guess it might just be because he’s a bit different,” Trish told her.

  “I guess. I wouldn’t see him though. I don’t like the sound of him,” Megan admonished.

  Trish rolled her eyes, heading to her room to go to bed. She understood that her sister cared a lot about her, and it was for her own good, but seriously, she could be so controlling at times. However, as she got ready for bed, Trish wondered what Remy was up to. Was he okay? He seemed a bit out of sorts after they talked. He didn’t even tell her what he was doing out there. Oh well, guess it was just one of those fluke meetings or something.

  The next day, Trish went to the restaurant she managed, thinking that nobody of importance would show up today. It would probably be just another generic day, but then, about halfway through her shift, Trish noticed a familiar face come in.

  “Remy,” she said to herself.

  Immediately, Trish told the other servers that she wanted to take care of his order. They happily allowed her, and without hesitating, she walked over to him, grinning from ear-to-ear.

  “You again,” she said with a smile.

  “Hello. I’m glad we ran into each other again. I heard about this place from a friend of mine. They said it was good. I never imagined you’d be here though,” he told her.

  “I’m actually the manager here. Let’s have a seat, I’ll take your order and we can chat,” Trish told him. Than
kfully, the restaurant was a bit slow right now, and her normal staff could handle few remaining customers. When they sat down, she could see the slightly nervous look on his face.

  “You don’t have to be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,” she said.

  “I know. I just worry that I might. Plus, I’m not totally keen on crowds. This is the first time I’ve been around people in a bit,” he admitted.

  That was strange. Trish didn’t expect him to be so different.

  “So you’re not very social?” she asked.

  “Not really. You’re the first person I’ve talked to in a bit. Besides my friend. I don’t really do well with other people unless I…know them, in a sense,” he said.

  He was definitely different, way weirder than she thought that he would be.

  “Well, I hope that I don’t scare you off or anything,” she told him with a smile.

  “I don’t think that you will. If anything, I worry that I might scare you,” he told her.

  Why in the world would he worry about that? It would take a lot to scare her away, that’s for sure.

  “You’d have to do a lot of damage to do that, you know,” she teased.

  “That’s good. Say uh, can we maybe see each other tomorrow evening?” he offered.

  Wait, for real? He wanted to take her out on a date? This made it even better. In truth, Trish wondered if she was making the right decision. Something about him did seem dangerous, and normally, she didn’t feel so strongly for another person, but this man, this man in particular, was drawing her in, and she wanted nothing more than to let it continue.

  “Sure. Let’s do it,” she said.

  The two of them exchanged numbers, and Trish felt as if she was on cloud nine. However, that night after Trish got home, Megan couldn’t hide her concern.

  “You seem happy,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’m actually really happy,” Trish told her sister.

  Megan looked at her, immediately worried about that.

  “Okay, spill. What just happened?” she asked.

  That’s when Trish noticed it. Her sister was worried about her. Trish knew her sister wanted to protect her, but she didn’t want Megan budging into everything.

  “Well, remember that guy that I met last night? Remy,” she told her.

  “Yeah, the one I told you to stay away from,” Megan snapped.

  “I know you did. But he came to the restaurant today. He asked me out. We sat down and chatted. He is a bit weird, but he’s actually really sweet. I kind of do want to go out with him,” she told her sister.

  “Kind of? You might get hurt. I mean, you don’t really know this guy, how do you know he’s not some creepy dude that’s going to kill you or something. Can’t you tell that this is a bit odd?” Megan worried.

  “I mean, I know that this is something different, but he seems like a good person,” Trish was getting tired of defending her choices.

  “But you don’t even know him! Even you feel like this is weird. Listen, I’m trying to help you out, Trish. You’re my sister. I love you a lot. I don’t want you getting hurt,” she told her.

  Trish thought about it for a moment. Maybe she really should listen to her gut feeling.“I know, sis. I mean, maybe this might be a bad idea.”

  “I think it is. Especially since you don’t know anything about the guy. Or where he’s taking you. He could be a killer or something. I just…I worry, you know,” Meganfelt relieved that her sister could finally see the potential danger.

  Trish knew this. Her sister was very careful about this sort of thing. It made sense that she was scared, but at the same time, Trish wanted to take a chance.

  “I’ll think about it. I mean, I don’t want to say yes or no until the time comes,” she told her.

  “Fine. Do what you want. I’m not fighting you,” her sister muttered.

  With those words, Megan left the room, and Trish felt bad about the whole thing. She knew that her sister meant well, but she was being way too overprotective of her. She didn’t like the fact that her sister was always babying her, making sure that she didn’t step out of line, keeping her on the right path. She knew that her sister was practically a mother to her since their parents died, but in a sense, Trish didn’t want to just live under her thumb.

  That night, Trish knew she had a lot of thinking to do. However, the next morning, she woke up, seeing her sister on the couch.

  “Ugh,” Megan whispered.

  “What’s the matter?” Trish asked with concern.

  “I’m sick,” she said, coughing hard. Megan looked pretty bad, but that’s when Trish noticed it: the thermometer in her mouth said 98 degrees. It was right at body temperature.

  “I see. Well, I think I’m going to go out tonight,” Trish told her.

  “But why? Can’t you take care of me?” Megan asked.

  “Well, I’d think about doing it even more if you were actually sick, and you weren’t just trying to pull a fast one on me. I know what you’re doing, Megan, and while I get that you want to be the protective mother figure to me, I can make my own decisions. I’m a big girl,” she told her.

  “But Trish...”

  “I’m getting ready for the date later. I don’t need you holding me back,” she said to her.

  Megan did realize that her ruse wasn’t doing anything. Trish was her own person, and that’s what Trish decided to do. She couldn’t believe that her own sister was working so hard to force her away from this guy. Sure, he was a bit different, and she didn’t really know him, but this was also getting stupid. Her sister needed to learn that she was an adult, with her own aspirations, and her own desires. She didn’t need to be babied.

  As she got ready for the date, Trish began to think about things, things she normally didn’t think about. What would happen if her sister wasn’t bossing her around anymore. Trish would love it if she could just go away for a bit. She was sick of her always trying to boss her around like Trish was some sort of animal she could control. Well that wasn’t happening tonight.

  As she finished up the final touches of her outfit, annoyance set in. She was her own person, and her stupid sister needed to realize this. as she stepped out the door, Megan looked at her again, groaning in pain once more.

  “Cut the crap sis. I’m heading out, and you’re not going to stop me. I just want to see what it’s like, and I’m not going to let you control every aspect of my existence,” she told her.

  Before Megan could say anything, she walked off, heading straight to her car and feeling a bit excited about this. What would happen now? She honestly didn’t know, and she had a feeling that this would soon become an interesting night, an interesting night indeed.

  Chapter 2

  Remy sat in the parking lot in his car, thinking about what to do. He was right there, and he knew that Trish would be here soon enough. He liked her a lot, but there was just too much on his mind to give her an accurate answer, way too much for his own head to process.

  He liked her a lot. She was headstrong, confident, independent, and he could tell that this was definitely something that he wanted. But at the same time, he did have to think about the pack, and recent events that happened.

  He didn’t even know how to tell her about that, and he definitely was scared of getting her involved. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her or anything, it was the fact that this could open the door to many problems, various issues that he had to put into perspective, and various parts of himself that he didn’t really want to deal with.

  Earlier today, he did talk to Ember about it. Ember was his best friend, a member of the pack he was in, and he seemed enthralled by it, but the recent events, and even the fact that he was also to tell her the truth might make it worse.

  The one that he did remember were the recent events that he had to see. It was right in front of him when it happened. Vinn was one of the members of a nearby pack that he did respect, however, he was also
a fledging shifter. During one of the full moons, his mate Simone was around. Simone hadn’t fully changed yet, and she didn’t know the nuances of a fledging werewolf, and because of that, it ended up creating a bad situation. Vinn went crazy, and Simone was unfortunately killed by the man.

  That would’ve been the end of it, if Frake didn’t exist. Simone wasn’t a shifter yet, but her brother was, and while they weren’t close, it did affect him quite badly. Frake was one of the alphas of the pack that was near Remy’s, and when all of that happened, immediately Frake went mad, going crazy and killing Vinn and some of the others. This then started to throw the rest of the packs out of balance.