by Maree Green
“Okay,” I conceded, wrapping my arms around his neck. “They’re pretty nice.”
He chuckled, pulling me in for a kiss. “That’s only because you’re nice. If you weren’t, you’d be on the floor in tears right now.”
I rolled my eyes, but he was probably right. That was what friends and family were for. They all looked out for one another’s best interests. “I’m still worried about meeting your friends, though.”
Josh gave me a look that told me I was crazy. “Liv, you’ve already met half of them. Actually, more than half. And I’m sure they already love you based on what the other half have already told them.”
I scrunched my brow and shook my head, reaching for my bag. “That was way more confusing than my brain can handle right now.”
Josh gave me a crooked smile. “Do you want some brandy?”
Throwing a flip-flop at him, I tried to ignore his teasing. Offering me brandy had been his new tease since I’d gone and run my mouth at the BAFTAs. “Just get changed, you clown.”
Stripping off his shirt, he grabbed a clean one out of his bag and drew it on. “Done. Now what?”
I gawked at him for a few heartbeats before shaking my head. “You think you’re smart, don’t you?” Grabbing the hem of my dress, I pulled it up over my head and dropped it on the floor, then I picked up a light blue maxi dress out of my bag and slipped it over my body. “Done.”
We stared at each other challengingly for a while before Josh burst out laughing and pulled me into his arms. “You have no idea how perfect you are for me.”
With my face pressed against his neck, I smiled. Nothing made me happier than hearing that.
Kissing my forehead, he took my hand and stepped toward the door. “Let’s go see if anyone’s arrived yet.”
As we moved down the stairs, happiness settled in my heart. I almost laughed as I equated it to the feeling of brandy warming my veins. Pulling Josh to a stop on the stairs, I turned him around to face me, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. With him on the step below me, we were practically the same height.
I grinned as I looked him over. “At the risk of sounding like a crazy fan, I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you that I love you. Just a little bit.”
His mouth curved up crookedly. “Just a little bit?”
I narrowed my eyes seriously and nodded. “Yeah. It’s just a little niggle. Nothing too crazy or anything.”
Throwing his head back, he laughed and pulled me into his arms. “I’ll take it,” he said, swinging me around and carrying me the rest of the way down the stairs. “Maybe I can get my friends to convince you to love me a little more.”
I giggled in his arms. No one could convince me to love him any more than I already did, but over the course of the night, I did fall in love with his friends.
I’d been impressed with the devotion I’d seen from the guys since I’d met Josh, but as a group? I’d never seen one tighter than these guys were. The bond they had was incredible. As I sat, watching the way they laughed and joked, teasing Josh with such a lack of stars in their eyes, I’d never felt more at home in my life.
“They’re pretty incredible, aren’t they?”
I turned to see Emily smiling at me. I’d discovered early on in the night that she was the only other girl who hadn’t grown up with Josh. She’d laughed about the fact that we were the outsiders, but I knew she cared about it as little as I did.
I shook my head in amazement. “It’s honestly the nicest thing I’ve seen.”
“What’s nice?” Jess said, dropping down in the seat beside mine.
Josh had mentioned when I’d been introduced to everyone, that Jess and Emily were roomies at college. That was another thing I found remarkable. I loved the way they all seemed to stick together.
Looking over Jess’s head of gorgeous red curls, I sighed. It seriously was the most beautiful color of hair I’d ever seen. “How close you all are.”
“We,” she said, lifting one side of her mouth. “You’re included now too, Liv. Same as Boots here.”
Emily rolled her eyes, but she was smiling just the same. “Then why hasn’t Captain Smooth been given the same courtesy?” she asked Jess, raising a questionable brow.
I looked over at Wyatt, Jess’s boyfriend, and pressed my lips together to stop myself from saying anything. I’d been kind of thinking the same thing over the course of the night, but I was too new to go asking such personal questions.
Jess nudged Emily with an elbow. “Leave Wyatt alone. He’s nice.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t nice, Jess,” Emily said, giving Jess a pointed look. “You just deserve more than what he gives you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, laughing it off. It was obvious from their body language that this was a recurring discussion.
A shadow appeared over Emily’s shoulder before I saw Aiden lean in and kiss her on the cheek. “Hey, kitten. Are you having fun?”
I smiled at them warmly. There were only a handful of couples amongst their group, but the playful affection between these two really warmed my heart.
The sudden absence of music had me looking up to the front of the room, finding Josh, smiling out at his friends. Everyone quieted, waiting to see what he was going to say.
“Hey, everyone. Thanks for coming to see me tonight,” he said loudly, trying to get his voice to travel. “I know I don’t get to drop in very often these days, but it’s nice to know you all can be here when I do.” He exhaled heavily before his gaze landed on me. “Liv, do you want to come up here?” he asked, waving his hand.
I knew what he was up to, and I couldn’t stop the smile from touching my lips as I made my way up to him.
Taking my hand, he smiled down at me. “Liv and I have some news we’d like to share with you all, before it’s announced to the media next week.”
Curiosity and excitement sparked around the room. I knew they’d have no idea what he was talking about, but that was what made it nice.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard of my good friend, Lucas Cantrell,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Well, he, Liv, and I have started a production company, called Blue Eagle Films, and next year, we’ll be starting production on our first feature film, In the Name of Love.”
Cheers erupted around the room and everyone clapped. I knew Josh was dying to tell everyone it was my story that he’d be producing, but we’d made an agreement to keep my identity out of the project at this point in time. I’d even decided to publish the book under a pen name. And I was happy with that.
“Also,” Josh said, grinning at me evilly, “I’m not sure how many of you have heard, but, after months of watching Dean plead and grovel, Liv has finally agreed to anonymously feature in the song the guys have written for The Silver Gate.”
“Hallelujah!” Dean yelled from the back of the room, making almost everyone burst out laughing at his dramatics.
I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure with that one, but after listening to Dean almost cry over the fact that he’d auditioned dozens of female voices, and none of them even came close to sounding as emotional as he needed it to be, I’d caved. Again, I just didn’t want my name associated with it.
“There’s one more thing,” Josh added, bringing me out of my thoughts. I frowned, confused. I didn’t know what other news he possibly had to tell. “In a couple of days, on the fourteenth,” he said, grinning down at me. “It will be Liv’s birthday.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. He was so getting in trouble for this. “So, I thought I’d take this opportunity for us all to wish her a very happy day.”
As a large cake was brought out from the kitchen, candles already burning, everyone started singing. Looking up at Josh, I gave him an evil glare, but as he took me into his arms and pressed a sweet kiss to my lips, I melted, just as I always did.
“Happy birthday, beautiful,” he whispered. “All the best wishes that are mine to give, are all for you. I love you.”
Tears blurre
d my vision and I laughed, happier than I ever remembered being. “All my wishes involve you,” I said so only he could hear. “So I think we should share them.”
As Josh’s friends started their three cheers, I pushed up onto my toes and kissed him. Then, with hands linked together, we turned and blew out the candles as one, all our wishes floating up for the universe to grant another day.
And I had no doubts they would all come true. Because, even though I was a realist, I was still a true romantic, and I knew, with every heartbeat, I’d found my HEA.
THE END
About Maree Green
Maree began writing as a hobby when she and her oldest son discovered the genius that is Harry Potter. As he grew, so did her style of writing, slowly progressing from stories of youth to YA, and then to NA.
The decision to start taking her writing seriously was an easy one. She loved daydreaming, and if she could do it all day and call it a job then she was taking it.
When she’s not writing, she can be found playing taxi driver to her children, reading, or if the kids are lucky, doing those horribly domesticated things like cooking and cleaning…
She currently lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, Australia.
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