by Daniels, J.
“Hey, baby. You all packed up?” He opens my door for me and I hop out, waving to Reed who Tessa is making her way toward.
I take his hand and let him lead me to the back of his truck. “Yup. Everything’s in the Jeep. Your sister’s not too happy about it.”
He stifles a laugh as he drops the tailgate down. “Like that would stop me from moving you in with me. Here. Up you go.”
I climb up into the back of his truck, spotting the pillows and the blankets spread out for us. I turn to him with a wistful smile. “Am I getting lucky during this concert?”
He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my bare shoulder. “I’m always prepared, angel. My girl seems to be a bit insatiable lately.”
“You’re like a dirty little boy scout,” I add, hearing Tessa’s laugh get louder behind me. I turn in Ben’s arms and spot her walking over toward us with Reed.
“Hey. I’m really glad you guys worked your shit out. You sucked as friends,” Reed says through a teasing smile.
I flip him off over Ben’s shoulder and he throws his head back with a laugh. Just as Tessa opens her mouth to speak, another truck pulls up alongside Ben’s and catches her attention. “Oh perfect. He couldn’t have gotten lost on the way here?”
Ben’s chest shakes with laughter against my back as his hands splay across my abdomen. “We’ve been here a thousand times. I doubt he’d get lost.”
Tessa’s body goes rigid suddenly and I turn my head to see why. Luke isn’t the only one emerging from his truck. A tall, leggy blonde is at his side as he joins the group, stopping just a few feet short of Tessa and Reed.
He shifts his gaze from Tessa to Ben and myself. “Guys, this is Brandie. Brandie this is… everyone.” She waves her delicate hand, the one that isn’t currently roaming freely over his chest. Luke wraps his arm around her waist. “We’re going to head closer to the stage. We’ll catch up with you guys later.”
As he walks away with little Miss Handsy, Tessa slams the tailgate of the truck up and startles the three of us. “Well, she seems lovely. He’s really scraping the bottom of the barrel now, isn’t he?”
Reed shrugs once. “I don’t know. She’s pretty hot.”
She glares at him and he steps back a bit. “Yeah, she’s really got that street corner look down. And could her name be any more whorish?”
“You’d think that if her name was Mary,” Ben says. “Stop being jealous, Tessa. You broke up with him.”
She waves him off and grabs Reed’s hand. “Whatever. Let’s go get several hundred beers. You guys want any?” she directs toward us, her face still tense with bitterness.
“I’m good,” I say, looking back at Ben who is situating the pillows and spreading the blanket out.
“Me too,” he adds.
Tessa and Reed disappear into the crowd. I turn around just in time to see Ben reach through his back window and pull out a picture frame. He smiles at me and sits down on the blanket with his back against a pillow. He reaches for me with his free hand. “Come here, angel.”
“Whatcha got there?”
He pats the spot between his legs and I sit with my back against his chest, drooping my arms over his legs. He places the frame in my lap. “Don’t cry,” he whispers against my ear.
I tilt the frame up and look at the drawing. Three figures, undoubtedly drawn by Nolan, depicting our family. My family. He even labeled me as Pwincess Mia Mommy. And the tears come instantly. I can’t help it. “Your artistic skills are horrendous.” I reach up and wipe underneath my eyes as he laughs against me. “God, he is the sweetest, isn’t he? Can we hang it up at your house?”
“Our house,” he corrects me. He presses his mouth to my hair again. “Don’t cry, baby.”
I open my mouth to tell him I can’t not cry at seeing our first family drawing but he wipes every word from my vocabulary when he places a small box in my lap. You know, the kind of box that every girl recognizes. I gasp softly, holding the frame tightly against my chest while my eyes stay glued to the box.
His steady hands open it. “Do you know how much I love you?”
I nod and clutch the frame harder, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. I blink them away and focus on the ring that he’s holding between his fingers. “As much as I love you,” I choke out.
“No, angel. No one has ever loved anyone as much as I love you. I got you beat there, I’m afraid.” He motions for my hand and I place it in his, allowing him to slip the ring on my finger. “You’re my best friend, Mia. I want you every day, for the rest of my life. I will always cherish every moment you give me. Marry me, baby.”
I’m nodding and whispering “yes” before he even finishes. And then he’s turning me and cradling me against his chest, worshipping me with kisses all over my face. “Thank you,” I say against his lips.
I feel them curl up into a smile. “For what?”
I kiss along his jaw up to his ear. “For being at the bar that night. For being the guy that you are. For giving me Nolan.” I pull back and cradle his face in my hands. “Can we have more babies?”
He brings my hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it. “Can we start right now?”
And then I’m on my back, his body covering mine. I laugh against him as he brushes my hair away from my face. “We’re in the middle of a field.”
“Don’t care. Nobody can see us anyway. Look how high up we are.”
“Yes, but I’ve been told I’m rather noisy,” I tease as he kisses my neck. He grunts once and nips at my sensitive skin there. “I love you.”
“Love you.”
“I want lots of babies.”
His head comes up and he smiles widely. “Lots.”
He shifts his weight and lays his head on the pillow, pulling me so I’m lying against his chest. And we stay like that long after Tessa and Reed return. Long after the concert starts and ends. Until we’re the only vehicle left in the field. He makes love to me under the stars, his tenderness breaking into a wild frenzy when we both need it. It’s perfect. And I’m right where I belong.
Where I always will be.
Epilogue
Ben
Mia: Meet me at our spot.
I stare down at my phone, reading the text message for the second time. Our spot. What spot? As far as I’m concerned, every spot I’ve taken Mia to has become our spot. And we’ve racked up a lot of spots over the past four months. I go to reread her text again when my phone beeps.
Mia: The bar, Ben.
I shake my head with a laugh.
Me: I would’ve figured it out. What have I told you about doubting me?
Mia: Just hurry up before one of the other men in here takes me home.
Me: Mia…
Mia: Kidding. Hurry though.
I’m in the parking lot within ten minutes, pulling up next to her jeep. It’s about as crowded as it was the night Mia became mine, but I spot her on that same stool she occupied all those months ago. I don’t go to her though. Instead, I go to the side of the bar where she can’t see me and watch her without her knowing. She’s tapping the bar anxiously with her fingers, looking over her shoulder every few seconds toward the door. Her hair is down and she’s wearing a shirt that has my eyes going from her chest to her face and back again. I motion for the bartender.
“Can you send one of those purple drinks to that girl right there for me?”
He nods and gets to work on her drink while she pulls her phone out with a scowl. My phone beeps.
Mia: I mentioned today, right?
Me: You’re so fucking beautiful. Do you know that?
Just as my message goes through, the bartender sits the drink down in front of her. She smiles at him, looking at the drink and then glancing at her phone. Her eyes immediately find mine across the bar and I make my way to her. My hand brushes along her back and I claim my spot.
“You looked thirsty from where I was standing. Thought I’d help you out,” I say with a smile.
She pla
ces her one hand on my knee. “I need to talk to you about something.”
I tilt my head and push her drink closer to her. “And what is that?”
“We need to move the wedding up.” She grabs the straw between her fingers and dunks it in and out of her drink.
“Why? I thought you wanted a summer wedding? I mean, I’m all for stealing you away right now and making you my wife, but you seemed pretty dead set on the date.”
She smiles and pushes her drink away, motioning for the bartender. He stops in front of us and gives me a friendly nod before looking at her. “I’m sorry. Can you make this nonalcoholic? I can’t drink this.”
“Sure thing,” he says, taking her glass away.
She hits me with a smile and grabs my hand, laying it across her stomach. “Ben.”
“Hmm?” I’m still trying to piece together why she suddenly doesn’t want the drink that she so eagerly consumed our first go around. It takes me a minute to focus on my hand. My eyes meet hers and she smiles. And then it clicks. “Baby, are you pregnant?” The hope in my voice dominates over the sudden anxiousness that begins to brew in my gut.
“I really don’t want to be the size of a house when I’m walking down the aisle to you. So, I was thinking maybe a spring wedding instead? I’d be five months by then.”
“Angel.” I’m on my knees in the middle of the bar, pressing my face against her stomach. “Please tell me I’m not hearing you wrong.”
She giggles against me and turns my face up. “You’re not hearing me wrong. Nolan’s going to be a big brother.”
My senses are flooded with a need to protect this woman and my baby that she’s carrying. “We need to get out of here.”
“Why? This is our spot.”
I shake my head and stand, grabbing some money out of my wallet and paying for the drink she won’t be consuming. “There’s people smoking. And it’s really loud.”
She laughs and puts her hand in mine, allowing me to lead her outside. “Babe, I don’t think the noise level in here is going to hurt the baby. He’s barely the size of a peanut right now.”
I stop in the middle of the parking lot, spinning around. “He?”
She smiles up at me and places her hands on my chest. “Just a gut feeling I have. It’s too early to tell.” I wrap my arms around her, staring down at the woman that I’ll give my life for. “You’re going to put me in a bubble for the next nine months, aren’t you?”
I kiss her forehead, pulling her against my chest. “I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” I say. And she doesn’t argue with me. She allows me to hold her right where we stood that night. Before I knew she’d change my life. Before I knew I was holding the woman I was going to marry.
My future. My forever.
All mine.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thank you to my family for your continuous support. To my ridiculously amazing husband. You, YOU are my favorite thing in the entire world. I’m a bit crazy about you. Heads up.
Thank you to Rahab Mugwanja for making me better. I owe you a margarita the size of your head.
Thank you to all the amazing blogger friends I’ve made so far. SERIOUSLY, I can’t even express how much you all mean to me. Beth Cranford, Erin Thompson, Kylie McDermott, Smexy, Lisa Jayne, Maree Hunter, Karrie Puskas, and countless more. Did I just name drop? Oh, fuck yes I did. You all have showed me so much love ever since I published Sweet Addiction and I will never be able to thank you enough. To Give Me Books for everything you’ve done for me. I heart you girls. Now, all of you come to Maryland so I can hug you. Now. Do it.
Thank you to R.J. Lewis for always being there. Even when I’m stressing out. Even when I’m really stressing out. My cell phone bill has reached a new high due to our international text messages and I love it. However, if I don’t get a new book from you soon, I might become hostile. :)
A special thanks to Trish Tess for showing me so much love. You, my little friend, are the sweetest.
And finally, to the best readers a little indie author could ask for. Thank you for taking a chance on me and for all your kind words. Your support means the world to me and I wish I could hug each and every one of you.
Thank you again.
J.
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