***
Dakota
“Are you sure I look okay?” Harper says, smoothing out her fitted black and silver dress. Dakota, who is dressed in a black sweater, blazer, and slacks, can’t take his eyes off of her and suspects he won’t be able to all night.
“You look better than okay, and I promise when we leave here I’ll show you just how much.” Harper blushes, still not used to him talking to her that way. She loves this side of him, though, and she would never tell him to stop. Casey makes a gagging noise at the two lovebirds, interrupting their moment. Dakota gives her a dirty look as she stands behind them in a simple black dress, silver leggings, and black platform-style shoes. Dakota rings the doorbell and Jennifer answers.
“Hey!” she yells excitedly. She embraces Dakota like an old friend. “It’s so good to see you, Dakota,” she says. Her face is slightly red and her voice is an octave or two higher than normal. Dakota figures she’s already a little buzzed. She escorts them both into the house, which is filled with people.
“It’s good to see you too, Jennifer. This is my girlfriend, Harper,” he says, smiling. Harper puts out her hand shyly, but Jennifer goes in for a hug.
“Oh my God. It is sooo great to finally meet you,” she says as she squeezes Harper tightly. Harper embraces her, chuckling slightly. “Dakota told me so much about you. This guy loves you. Seriously. He’s obsessed,” she says when they break apart.
Harper chuckles and looks at Casey, who is smiling, amused at the scene unfolding before them.
“Well, I’m pretty fond of him too,” she says. Dakota looks down at the floor, smirking. “This is my best friend, Casey,” Harper introduces. Casey shakes Jennifer’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Casey says nicely. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Oh, no problem. Rick and I love meeting Dakota’s family.” Casey looks over at Dakota, and he smiles reluctantly at her. Casey looks at Harper and rolls her eyes.
“So, okay,” Jennifer says and takes a breath. “Make yourself at home. There’s tons of food in the kitchen and chilled drinks in the living room. You can mingle, you can dance, you can do pretty much whatever you want. Dakota, Rick is in the living room with a few of his friends from work if you want to go say hello, and girls, if you want we can get some wine and find a spot and chit chat.”
“Yeah, sure, I would love to hear about your wedding plans,” Harper says. Jennifer smiles widely and nods. Harper squeezes Dakota’s hand, and they head in opposite directions.
***
Jamie
“Why did we decide to come here again?” Mason says as he and Jamie stand by a huge keg filling up red plastic cups for themselves. Jamie glances at Bianca dancing with Adam Miller, the fullback from their high school football team.
“I should go cut in, right?” Jamie says, ignoring his friend’s question. The party is in full swing around them. People break off in crowds of eight to ten talking, dancing, laughing; some are off in pairs making out.
“You should definitely go cut in,” Mason says.
“But what if she doesn’t want me to cut in?”
“Why wouldn’t she want you to cut in?”
Jamie leans up against the nearest spot on a wall. Mason stands next to him.
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. How do I possibly find out if she’d be okay with me cutting in?”
Mason shakes his head.
“I don’t want to think this much about it. I really don’t, dude.” Jamie sighs deeply. He takes a large swig of his beer. It goes down smoothly, and he admits he likes the taste better than he thought he would. It was the Andrews’, though. He imagines even their kegs were the best kegs in the entire state of Virginia. Jamie looks at Mason and sees that he is staring off into space for the fifth time in an hour.
“Why don’t you go talk to Amelia?” Jamie asks.
“Because I don’t want to kill her boyfriend after he throws a tantrum once he sees us,” Mason answers smoothly and then takes a swig of his beer.
“But she’s all alone, and Tanner isn’t anywhere to be found.”
“Oh, he’s found,” Mason says, shifting his head over a little to look at the dance floor.
“Oh,” Jamie says as he sees Tanner dancing pretty suggestively with one of their classmates. Jamie downs the rest of his beer and throws it on the floor with the rest of the discarded cans, cups, and bottles. He couldn’t care less about the rules of littering in Tanner Andrews’s house.
“How about this…” he says, leaning in to his friend. Mason smiles amusingly.
“Yeah?” Mason says.
“I’ll go talk to Bianca, you go talk to Amelia, and then we meet back here at the end of the night to brag about whatever awesomeness occurred?” Mason thinks for a second and chuckles slightly at his friend’s buzzed state. He counts in his head, remembering the cups of beer they each had. Three cups in a matter of two hours. They should probably slow down.
“All right,” Mason says. “But no more beer for a little while. Deal?”
“Deal. Ready?”
Mason nods. “Break.” They both fist pump and head off in diagonal directions. Jamie walks toward Bianca as she sways from side to side; Adam is nowhere to be found. She smiles big when she sees Jamie coming toward her.
“Hey, Jam. Are you having fun?” Bianca asks when he reaches her. Jamie looks at her for a second. “What?” she says, smiling back. WWDD. What would Dakota Do? he thinks.
“No, I’m not having fun,” he says.
“Well, you are a little buzzed, so I imagine it can’t be that bad,” she says, nudging him in the ribs.
“You haven’t hung out with me at all tonight.”
“I thought we were all mingling and getting to know people.”
“I don’t need to know anyone,” he says, stepping closer so they’re facing each other.
“Yes, you do, Jam. You need to be friends with your classmates.”
“I am. Mason’s my best bud. I’m good.”
“Jam.” Jamie puts his finger over Bianca’s mouth, silencing her.
“Stop lecturing me and dance with me, Bianca Bradley,” he says softly, staring directly into her eyes.
“I promised Adam that I’d dance with him when he came back with my drink.”
“I don’t care what you promised Adam,” he says. “I want to dance with you, right here, right now.” Bianca feels her face burn and her head swim as she takes in this new bolder side of Jamie. Bianca lets him slip his arms around her waist as a slow song comes on…the first of the night. She wraps her arms around his neck and allows him to take the lead as they sway to the beat of the song. Jamie pulls her close, making sure there isn’t any space between them.
“Why aren’t you having fun?” Bianca asks.
“I don’t like seeing you flirt with other guys.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bianca says.
“Yes,” Jamie says.
“Why? Do you think they’re going to take advantage of me or something? I can take care of myself, you know.”
Jamie nods his head. “I know you can take care of yourself. That’s not it.”
“Then what?” she says. Jamie opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted when Adam comes back with Bianca’s drink.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt here,” Adam says politely. Bianca looks at Adam, but Jamie doesn’t take his eyes off of Bianca.
“Hey, Adam, it’s okay. We’re just about done,” she says, unlocking her arms from around Jamie’s neck. Jamie doesn’t move his arms from her waist. She turns toward Adam, but Jamie pulls her back, their faces inches apart. Adam’s eyes narrow.
“Um, Bianca, I’ll just wait for you over here,” he says and walks away awkwardly.
“Jamie Montgomery, what has gotten into you? I told Adam I would hang out with him.”
“Fine,” Jamie says. “But…when it’s about to be midnight, make sure you’re standing next to me,” Jamie says.
“At midnight?”
/>
“Yes, at midnight,” he says and lets her go. “In the meantime, Adam’s waiting for you.” Bianca nods and walks toward a patiently waiting Adam. Jamie slides his hands in his pockets and watches her walk away.
Chapter Fifteen
Mason
“Thirsty?” Mason asks Amelia as she stands against a wall looking at her phone. Amelia looks up and smiles at Mason. She nods and takes the red cup from his hand.
“Thanks,” she says. She takes a long swig and glances at the dance floor where her boyfriend is whispering in the ear of one of her supposed cheerleader friends.
“Why do you stay with him?” Mason asks. Amelia looks at him. Her face looks like it might contort in anger, but then she exhales and shakes her head.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I ask myself the same thing almost every day.” Mason hears her voice break slightly. He grabs her arms gently and pulls her into a nearby corner where no one can see them. He places a hand on the wall, their faces inches apart.
“You can do so much better than him, Amelia,” he says softly.
“Yeah? Like who?” she says.
“Like me, Amelia,” he says.
Amelia looks at him for several seconds. She opens her mouth to say something but then closes it. Mason places his hand on her waist and caresses it softly. Amelia winces. Mason’s head snaps from her face to her waist. He does it again but presses in this time, and Amelia whimpers slightly. Mason looks at her. His mouth is open slightly. He knows exactly where this is going. Amelia closes her eyes, and he lifts her shirt slowly to reveal a bruise about four inches wide. He looks back up at her and sees slow tears falling from her closed eyes.
“Mason,” she says softly.
“I could kill him,” Mason says, his voice uneven.
“I don’t want you to do that.”
“But it would feel so good,” Mason says.
“He just…he doesn’t mean it. He always apologizes right after. He just…he gets angry,” she says, finally opening her eyes to look at him.
“You don’t deserve it no matter what he’s angry at or why. He’s a coward. Cowards do this and you deserve a man,” he says. Amelia licks her dry lips. She wipes her tears.
“It’s hard. I don’t want to be this girl. I don’t want to be the girl who lets her boyfriend kick her ass and doesn’t leave him and be with the better guy. I want to be the girl who breaks up with her douchebag boyfriend, goes to the better guy’s house, and rocks his world until the sun comes up.”
“Am I the good guy in this situation?” Mason asks. Amelia bites her lip and nods wholeheartedly.
“Yes,” she says.
“Do you want to be with me?” he says.
“Yes. But…”
Mason shakes his head to silence her. “Sometimes people just need some help to realize how strong they really are. I’m going to help you, and then we’re going to have a long conversation and possibly a demonstration afterwards of this whole rocking of the world thing.”
Amelia laughs through her tears as Mason grabs her hand, and they walk toward Tanner Andrews on the dance floor. Tanner pushes a girl from his lap and stands up as they approach. He glances at their hands entwined.
“What the fuck is this, Amelia?” Tanner says, his words slightly slurred. Mason jabs him in the chest with his index finger.
“Hey, don’t talk to her. Talk to me,” Mason says. Tanner looks at Mason, his face livid.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“You don’t talk to her. You don’t go near her. You don’t even look at her. You understand?” Mason says, conviction in his voice.
“Listen, asshole, she’s my girlfriend. You don’t tell me anything. Amelia, come here,” Tanner says. He holds out his hand. Amelia looks at his hand for a second, she looks up at Mason, and then she looks back at Tanner again.
“No, Tanner. I don’t want to be with you anymore. I’m sorry,” Amelia says. Tanner grabs her free hand. Mason pushes him back, and Tanner stumbles backwards, catching his footing only by the grace of his athleticism.
“Amelia, what are you—” At this point the DJ has stopped the music and all eyes are on the three of them.
“Don’t ever touch her again!” Mason yells at him. “You stay away from her or I will kill you, Tanner Andrews.” Amelia stands next to him, tears welling up in her eyes as Mason defends her honor. Tanner stands there, his chest heaving. They stare at each other for several seconds, and then Mason walks away with Amelia attached to his arm. Jamie and Bianca both look on from opposite ends of the room, and they follow Mason out of the party.
***
Dakota
“Well, well, well…look who decided to grace me with their presence,” Dakota teases as Harper wraps her arms around his neck. She smiles at him, her face tinted red from the amount of wine she has consumed. She buries her face in his neck, and Dakota hugs her tight. The party is still going strong as they creep up on the two-hour mark until the new year begins. People are talking and laughing around them, but they don’t notice anyone else as they sway in their secluded corner to the music.
“God, I love you,” Harper says. “I love you so much it hurts sometimes.”
“Hurts? I don’t want you to hurt,” Dakota says, smirking slightly.
“No, in a good way. Like…” She sighs. “There’s this ache in the pit of my stomach and sometimes in my chest when you’re gone, and then when you come back to me it stops, and I just feel so good that when the ache comes back again I welcome it because I know what it will feel like once it’s gone.” Dakota puts his face in her hair. It smells like strawberries. It always smells like strawberries.
“You sound like a character from a romance novel,” Dakota teases.
“It is what it is,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.
“You’re drunk,” Dakota says, chuckling.
“Do you feel the same way?” Harper asks, ignoring him. “Do you love me as much as I love you?”
“More, babe. More than you could possibly imagine.”
“I’ve never felt like this before. I mean, you are it for me, Dakota. You are so it,” she says.
“You’re it for me too, Harper.”
“I don’t ever want to be with anybody else,” Harper says. “Ever.”
Dakota chuckles, shaking his head. “You are so drunk, Harp.”
“But I’m telling you the truth. I’m telling you the complete truth. Just hearing Jennifer talk about how much she loves Rick and how happy they are and how amazing their life is, I just keep thinking about how I want that. I’ve always wanted that, and now all I can think about is how I want it with you. I want everything with you.”
“You want everything with me?” Dakota asks. He pulls back from her hair to look at her face.
“I want everything with you,” she says sincerely.
“I want everything with you too,” he says. Harper kisses him for what seems like hours until Jennifer interrupts them.
“Hey, lovebirds,” she says, giggling like a schoolgirl. Dakota and Harper break apart, laughing.
“Guess what?” she says.
“What?” Dakota asks. Jennifer takes Dakota’s hand and pulls him toward a sofa where Rick and Casey are also sitting. Jennifer plops down next to Rick, and Dakota and Harper sit next to Casey.
“Sooo, I was just talking to Rick, and we decided that you and Harper and Casey have to be at the wedding.”
“But it’s so last minute we wouldn’t want to ruin your plans,” she says.
“No, no, it would be no problem at all. We would love for you to come, and Casey, you can bring a date if you want. I just feel like it wouldn’t be the same without you guys there now. Dakota’s so important to Rick, and you guys are so important to Dakota. I mean, it just makes sense.” Rick nods his head.
“It would. It would make sense. So come,” he says, smiling.
“We would love to,” Dakota says, twining his fingers through Harper’s.
; “Thank you so much,” Casey says. “This is really sweet. I totes see why you are marrying her, Rick. She’s amazing and she’s a tank. Twelve shots of strawberry vodka and she’s still walking around like the perfect host.” Jennifer throws her fists in the air in triumph, and they all burst into laughter.
“Well, it’s a small world, isn’t it?” Jennifer turns around, and behind her stands Aiden Daughtry with a bottle of expensive champagne. Dakota, Harper, and Casey’s jaws drop to the floor. Harper gets up from her seat.
“Aiden, what are you doing here?” Jennifer’s eyes narrow in confusion.
“This is my boss. I invited him. How do…how do you guys all know each other?” Jennifer asks.
“He’s my…he’s an old friend,” Harper says, scratching her head.
“He’s Jamie’s dad,” Dakota says, looking at Rick. Rick’s mouth forms an “O,” but no sound comes out.
“Wow,” Jennifer says, running a hand through her already tousled hair. “So no introductions needed then. That’s so weird.”
“Weird isn’t the word I would use,” Casey says.
“And what word would you use?” Aiden asks, removing his coat. Casey takes a swig of her wine and doesn’t respond. Jennifer takes his coat and pulls Rick with her to put it away upstairs.
“Um, so just make yourself at home, Aiden. Drinks and food. Mingle. Okay?” she says and rushes away awkwardly with her husband-to-be. Rick mouths an “I’m Sorry” to Dakota as he follows her. There is awkward silence for a little while, and then Dakota speaks up first.
“So, you work with Jennifer?” Dakota asks. Aiden nods.
“Yes, she’s my assistant and one of my best editors. She knew I was going to be alone this New Year’s so she invited me,” Aiden says. “How do you know Rick?”
“He was my almost brother.”
Aiden chuckles. “What do you mean by that, Dakota?”
“Oh, his parents were my foster parents for a year, but then I got placed somewhere else and we lost touch. Turns out he’s Jamie’s teacher.”
Maybe Forever (Missing Pieces Book 1) Page 10