by A. D. Ryan
To my bestie!
Don’t be mad! I couldn’t resist after seeing how much you loved it when we went shopping!
Love,
Willow & Brandon
I knew without even having to open it what was inside, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little excited. I tore the ribbon off and saw the purple organza dress from our dress-shopping excursion. After grabbing a strapless bra and a matching pair of panties, I quickly dropped my towel from around me and got dressed. I was definitely feeling a little more party-ready, and my sour mood was fading more and more.
When I re-joined the party, all eyes were on me. An unsettling feeling wormed its way into my veins, but flitted away just as quickly when Jensen’s eyes widened and travelled over me appreciatively. I crossed the room and took his hand, smiling up at him.
“You look beautiful,” he said, lacing our fingers together and pulling me toward him. Leaning forward, he captured my lips with his in a soft, yet still passion-filled kiss that set my entire body on fire and curled my toes.
When our lips parted, I looked around at everyone mingling and smiled. Then I noticed my dad’s absence. “Where’s Dad?”
“He went to shower, too. He should be back soon,” Jensen informed me. “So … Exactly how much trouble am I in?”
I contemplated his question for a moment. “Well, I specifically said no party, cake, or gifts, and I got all three.” I took in his expression, noting that he didn’t seem overly anxious about how upset I might be. “But, I have to admit, it’s nice to have everyone together and getting along. So, barring any mishaps, I’d say you might get off easy.” Jensen’s eyebrows waggled suggestively, and I realized that I maybe should have rephrased what I said. Thankfully, we were pretty isolated, and no one else (Kyle) overheard me.
“I may have to take you up on that challenge a little later,” Jensen said softly, his eyes drifting up behind me as Dad entered the room.
I turned to see him head straight for Jensen’s parents, who were talking with Tom and Jeff. I smiled at my dad, silently letting him know that I wasn’t upset with him for being in on the whole thing. He seemed relieved.
“But first,” Jensen whispered, drawing my attention back to him. “I’d like to give you something.” Slowly, Jensen started to pull me through the room and toward the patio doors.
As we walked, I noticed everyone’s eyes on us, turning in our direction as wide smiles formed on each and every one of their faces, only making me more and more nervous. “No,” I argued, unsure what to expect. “You’ve already given me so much. This party is more than enough.”
Laughing softly, Jensen slid the patio door aside, and I found myself stunned into silence. The entire backyard was decorated with white twinkle lights that must have taken hours to string up in the trees. There were vases of flowers on the patio, and off to the right was a—
“You bought a hot tub?” I exclaimed, my eyes focused on everything but him as he released my hand.
“No, I rented a hot tub, but that’s not what I wanted to give you.”
Slowly, I turned around and gasped when I saw Jensen down on one knee.
Chapter 21. Things Aren’t as They Seem
I wasn’t entirely sure how much time had elapsed; all I knew was that Jensen was down on one fucking knee. Was he crazy? Had he lost his mind completely? We’d been together for a month. Four weeks. Maybe thirty days—give or take.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
Frantically, I searched his eyes for answers—only to find absolutely nothing. What was I supposed to think, though? What other reason could he possibly have for being down on one knee? My palms were sweating, and I wiped them on the flowy skirt of my new dress as my brain finally registered the furious pounding of my heart in my ears. I could feel my chest tightening the more I thought about what Jensen was about to do. We weren’t ready for this. I wasn’t ready for this.
What I was, was on the verge of full-blown panic attack.
Swallowing what little saliva was in my increasingly dry mouth, I looked back to the house to find every one of my party guests waiting. Expectant smiles adorned every single face. They all knew this was going to happen, and I had been completely oblivious. Did Jensen think that this would guarantee an affirmative answer? Would it? I suddenly wasn’t sure what I would do when the words finally left his mouth.
Slowly—or maybe it was quickly—I turned my eyes back to Jensen. The smile on his face was still wide and confident.
I cleared my throat, my eyebrows finally showing some small semblance of emotion—which emotion, I still wasn’t entirely sure. “What are you doing?” I hissed, my voice raspy, trembling through every word.
The smile fell from Jensen’s face, his own eyebrows pulling together in confusion. “I wanted to give you something.”
My head started to shake in small, quick movements as I prepared to tell him I wasn’t ready. We needed more time; there was still so much we had to learn about each other. Hell, we had just moved into the same room together. Why couldn’t he just enjoy that one small step forward? Why did he always have to leap right after?
“Stop. Please … Jensen, don’t do this …” I pleaded softly, hoping that I wouldn’t have to out-right tell him no. I loved him—I did—and I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him; to marry him and give him his three kids. I’d even consider his original five if I had more time. But not yet. Our foundation wasn’t as strong as I knew it could be with a few more months—or years—under us.
Jensen reached around into his pocket, his eyes still locked on mine and registering his confusion with my pleas. “Madison,” he started, his hand reappearing from his pocket, closed around something.
“Don’t,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes because I hated doing this in front of everyone. I also didn’t want to say yes and have him wonder if I only did it because people were watching. “Please.”
“Madison,” he repeated, holding his hand out in front of him. Slowly, his fingers began to open. My eyes were locked on his hand, waiting to see some extravagant ring being presented to me.
Unable to tear my eyes away from his hand, I dropped to my knees on the cool wooden porch in defeat and awaited the inevitable. You know that saying, “a watched pot never boils”? Well, a watched hand never opens. Time actually seemed to slow even more as I came face-to-face with …
“What the hell?” I asked, my eyes focusing on the contents of his hand. It wasn’t a small velvet box with a ring inside. A confusing pang of disappointment swelled within me, but I quickly pushed it aside because, ultimately, I didn’t have to turn him down. So, instead of focusing on how I wasn’t being proposed to, I stared quizzically at the small, reddish … dog biscuit?
That’s when I heard it; the quickened steps of padded paws hurdling up the few steps to the porch before a long snout planted itself firmly in Jensen’s palm. He wrapped his arm around the little fur ball, lifting it and coaxing my eyes to follow. The look in his eyes as they held mine was pure excitement as he held the German Shepherd puppy to his chest.
“Y—you got me a puppy?” I stammered.
“Us,” he corrected me with a sly smirk. “I got us a puppy.” He held the sweet puppy toward me, its squirming body trying to break free of his hold.
I complied and scooped the dog up in my arms like a baby, allowing a smile to form on my face. “We have a puppy,” I whispered, looking down into the deep brown eyes of our first pet. He continued to wriggle and squirm in my arms, and I laughed when he stretched and licked my cheek. “What’s its name?”
“Well, I hadn’t named him yet. I figured since I picked him out, that you could name him,” Jensen offered, moving forward until his knees brushed mine.
Looking down at the puppy as he moved his head back and forth between Jensen and me, I tried to figure out who he was. I always felt like naming an animal was more pressure than it should’ve been. Before, when I named an animal, it was just me that had t
o live with it if I didn’t like it; but now I had to worry about whether or not Jensen would agree.
It was then that I realized there was really only one name for this sweet little ball of fur. “Bones,” I said, moving my gaze back up to meet Jensen’s. “His name is Bones.”
Jensen laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly as his smile reached them. “I think it’s perfect.”
I was quickly reminded that there were other people still lying in wait just beyond the threshold when a small voice spoke up. “Bones?” Willow inquired. “He doesn’t look too skinny. Or is it because dogs like bones?”
I giggled, standing up while still holding Bones in my arms. Jensen quickly jumped to his feet before assisting me so I didn’t fall over. “No. Bones McCoy.” Willow still didn’t seem to connect the dots as Jensen and I made our way back into the house.
Kyle laughed loudly, stepping forward to scratch the top of Bones’ head. “Dammit, Jim,” he said in an uncanny impersonation of DeForest Kelley. “I’m a puppy, not a doctor!” Everyone laughed, and Willow simply groaned, finally understanding that this was another Star Trek thing.
“You guys are in serious need of a nerd intervention,” Willow teased.
Once we were back inside, Jensen excused himself from my side. Bones continued to squirm in my arms, so I set him down. Happily back on his feet, he went from person to person looking for affection. As I watched him, everything still seemed kind of surreal; Jensen throwing all of this together really went above and beyond. While his total disregard for my wishes originally irritated me (but only a little), I couldn’t deny the fact that I was starting to enjoy myself.
“Here, Madi,” my dad said from behind me, tapping my shoulder with something to get my attention.
I turned around to see him holding out a small box topped with one of those shiny, green stick-on bows. “Dad, you know the rules better than anyone.”
“It’s not for you, kiddo,” he said as I took the top off the box to find a brown leather collar with an engravable nameplate. Our phone number was on it, but the spot where our puppy’s name would go was left blank. “It’s for the dog, so I’m not breaking any rules here.”
Arching my right eyebrow, I challenged my father. “You know, this whole ‘technicality’ thing that you and Jensen have going on right now is kind of losing its luster,” I joked before looking at the collar again and smiling. “It’s great. Thank you.”
Jensen’s hand found the small of my back just then, and a glass of red wine appeared before me. “Thanks,” I said as he pressed a tender kiss to my temple. “Did you see what Dad got for Bones? I’m going to have his name added to it as soon as possible.”
“It’s great. Thanks, Wayne,” Jensen said, acting like it was a gift for the both of us, not just for me. I was starting to feel like he really thought that all of these little technicalities would save him from a huge lecture later.
Oh, who was I kidding? He was probably right.
As we stood there, Bones came over and started sniffing at my ankle until I knelt down to pet him. Through my periphery, I saw Jensen drop down next to me. “So,” he said quietly, reaching out and petting Bones’ belly when he flopped to the floor clumsily and rolled over. “If you weren’t expecting a puppy …?”
Oh shit. He didn’t have to finish his inquiry for me to know what he was getting at. In fact, I was pretty sure he knew already, he just wanted to tease me a little more. Yeah, on my birthday. What a prince.
Keeping my attention on the dog, I forced a quiet laugh. “I don’t know what I was expecting,” I lied.
Jensen knew me better than that. “Bullshit,” he challenged, nudging me gently with his elbow and almost causing me to topple over since I was only balanced on the balls of my still-bare feet. Before I wound up on my ass, though, his left hand wrapped around my arm while his right gripped my waist, catching me and offering me an apologetic look.
Once I was balanced again, his right hand moved up the length of my back as I turned my head to finally look at him. “I thought …” I let out a gust of air, totally embarrassed about what I was about to admit—especially since that wasn’t even close to what he had planned. “I thought you were going to propose.”
The look in his eyes told me I was right; he already suspected as much. That didn’t stop the smug smile from crossing his face, though. “And you were going to say no?” he asked, pretending to be offended. At least, I hoped he was only pretending. “In front of all these people?”
I could feel my face warm, and I had to look away. Even though I knew deep down he was teasing, I was terrified of hurting him. He must have been able to pick up on it, because he placed his forefinger beneath my chin and gently coaxed me to look at him.
“Hey. I’m only joking.”
I shrugged, offering him a small smile. “I know. I just … I didn’t want to hurt you. And it looked so much like you were.”
“Baby,” Jensen said, pushing himself to his feet and pulling me up with him. Bones whimpered, rolling back onto his belly before getting up and running off to find someone else to pet him. Taking my wine and setting it on the end table, Jensen turned my body to face his, cupping my face in his hands. “I love you. But I’m only just getting my life back on track after … some incredible misfortunes. We’re just not there yet.”
“I know,” I assured him, feeling relieved to know that he was in exactly the same place as I was. It made it easier to breathe again, not having to worry about him surprising me with an engagement ring any time soon. “Which is why I was so scared.”
Something must have occurred to him right then because his smile widened. “Although, I bet I’d have gotten myself out of trouble if this had been an engagement party as opposed to a birthday party.”
Unable to keep myself from laughing, I used both hands to push him away playfully. “Oh, you think so, do you?”
“Hey, I didn’t make the rules,” he said, trying to defend his actions as he pulled me into his arms.
I instantly stopped trying to push him away, instead wrapping my arms up around his neck. “No. But you sure as hell did a good job breaking them.”
“Good job, huh? So, that means you’re happy with this turn of events?”
I hummed, stepping up onto my tiptoes to place a feather light kiss on his lips. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that just yet.” I lowered my voice to just above a whisper, purposefully keeping my lips a hairsbreadth from his. My desire for him rose slowly as his grip tightened around me. Had it not been for Kyle’s boisterous laugh, I probably could have gotten carried away.
Kissing him one more time, I smiled and pulled my face back to look into his eyes. “Let’s see how the rest of the evening goes, shall we?”
Jensen was about to answer—with something cocky, I was sure of it—when I felt Willow’s tiny hand wrap around my right wrist, forcing my arm from Jensen’s neck. “You can’t hog her, Jensen. You get to see her every day.”
Chuckling, Jensen released me from his embrace, his hand sliding over my ass as Willow led me away. There was no way it was an accident, either—not with the way his eyes followed me as she pulled me to the kitchen where the rest of the women had congregated. It would seem that I was a little too wrapped up in Jensen because I hadn’t noticed the crowd in the living room thin.
Lilah, Janet, and Jillian were all standing around the island picking at the trays of food that had been laid out. There was a little bit of something for everyone; crackers and cheese, fruit, veggies, some kind of pâté, and even a variety of finger sandwiches.
“Madison, sweetheart!” Janet greeted me excitedly, taking my hand once I was near and pulling me into her side before wrapping an arm around me. “Are you enjoying yourself, dear?”
Nodding, I mirrored her hold on me and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “I am. I’m so glad you’re all here.”
Willow joined us at the island within a few seconds, and in her hand was a bottle of Patron. Flashbacks to th
e night of Lilah and Kyle’s rehearsal dinner flashed through my mind—as did the memory of the next morning’s hangover—and I groaned.
“Will, I don’t know if—”
She wouldn’t let me finish as she scooted away and hopped up onto the counter behind me. Short girl problems. She was probably digging around to find shot glasses. There was really no use fighting her, because I knew that once I did she would pull out the “Aw! But we never do this anymore!” card, and I would feel obligated. This just saved me the grief.
“Shot glasses are on the top shelf, buried way in the back,” I told her before removing my arm from Janet and opening the fridge. If Willow brought Patron, I was willing to bet she bought a few limes too. I found them sitting on the top shelf next to the milk and grabbed them, the cutting board and knife, as well as the saltshaker.
After returning to the island, Willow hopped down and brought the glasses over, setting one in front of each of us. I looked over at Janet, kind of shocked to see that her eyes were sparkling with what looked like excitement.
Was she going to do shots with us? Awesome.
I cut the limes into wedges and left the pieces on the cutting board, pushing it until it was central to us all as we circled the island. “Okay, ladies,” I announced, grabbing the bottle and pouring shots. “Bottoms up.”
All together, we licked the salt from our hands and slammed our shots. We each grabbed a lime wedge and bit into them before setting the remains off to the side.
Before any of us could recover, Willow was quick to pour another round for everyone. Laughing, Janet salted her hand again before passing the shaker clockwise around our little group. Never in a million years would I have imagined standing in my kitchen doing shots with Jensen’s mom. Even more surprising, was how much I was enjoying it.
Conversation flowed, and soon everyone took turns sharing how they met their significant other—I gave the abridged version for Janet’s sake. First, Willow chimed in about how her crush on Brandon when we were all teenagers evolved into an epic love story. Willow had been convinced that her feelings for him were unrequited, but I knew Brandon returned her feelings tenfold. No matter how many times I tried to tell her as much, it wasn’t until he finally asked her out that she finally believed me.