Authors: Ashley Johnson
“I’m going to get you a towel and a change of clothes so you can clean up. I’ll be right back.” As he walked out of the bathroom, I just watched him and silently thanked God for sending this amazing man to me.
Luke came back in with one towel like he said he would and noticed my lip pouting again. “What’s wrong Mace?”
I pointed to the blue and yellow stripe towel that he held in his hand. “You only have one towel. Don’t you want to shower with me?”
“You’re drunk aren’t you Macy?” He began chuckling in that sexy way that only he can.
I sauntered over to him and lightly tugged on the collar of his shirt.
“I am not drunk Mr. Nolan. I simply know what I want.”
I gazed into his green eyes as he
smiled a smile that melted my heart. His hand brushed against my cheek as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ears. I couldn’t help but blush ten shades of red as he continued to smile “Ms. Nolan, I’m glad you know what you want.”
He followed my lead as I pulled him into the bathroom and shut the door.
He pushed me against the wall and crushed his lips to mine. I let out a small moan remembering we weren’t home in our apartment. He tugged at the hem of my shirt as I raised my arms to take it off. My breathing became ragged as he began to caress my breast. My hand reached down his shorts and I held him in my hand gently stroking listening to him whimper with delight, moaning at how good it felt. Next thing I remember, he carried me into the shower and the water washed over our bodies as he slid inside me.
Thirty minutes and some amazing sex later, we were lying in the bed. My head lay on his chest in the most comfortable way. He kissed my head and I let out a gentle sigh. “What’s going on in your head Mace?”
“Not much of anything besides the fact I’m the luckiest girl alive. I still can’t believe you asked me to marry you. Gah, I swear all my dreams just came true! I’m just glad you brought me here today and I got to meet your parents. Thank you for showing me part of you, that means so much to me.”
“If I weren’t serious about us, I wouldn’t have brought you here sweetheart. I love you more than anything and I
can’t wait to marry you and make you my wife.”
I can admit that I’ve thought about forever with Luke before. Especially right after he asked me to move in, but then I didn’t think it was fair because I still had occasional thoughts of Trevor
, especially since he texted my phone and called me. Now that he was far from my mind, I couldn’t help but think about how anxious I was to marry Luke. The stability that came with him was more than I could ever ask for. He was my rock and without him, I wasn’t sure I could stand.
“I love you too.” Those were the only four words I could manage to get out and I held onto him as tight as I could. My eyelids were beginning to feel heavy and the last thing I remember saying before I fell asleep was, “Forever
is going to be nice.”
For a brief moment when I opened my eyes, I almost forgot we weren’t in our home. The reality hit me when I noticed the swimsuit model to my right. I wanted to flip her awesome body off but I was too tired to do so. I rolled over and noticed Luke was already up. Geez. Why didn’t he wake me up so I didn’t have to face the awkward walking into the kitchen alone?
I slid my shorts back on but kept the t-shirt on as I made my way to the kitchen. The aroma of coffee and bacon hit my nose and I knew the awkwardness would be worth it. My stomach was growling and all I wanted was to eat something.
Sherry was the first to greet me. She was sipping on a cup of coffee reading the newspaper.
“Good morning doll, did you sleep well?”
“Yes ma’am. Thank you again for letting us stay the night.”
“Anytime Macy. You two are welcome anytime.” Sherry was sincere when she told me that. I could tell by the way her eyes smiled.
Ra
ndy’s eyes held the same smile as he looked at me and replied, “Macy, you don’t let him wait so long to bring you back here. Like Sherry said, you two are always welcome here no matter what. And if he won’t bring you, then you can come and visit us.”
Those words meant the world to me. Randy just didn’t realize it. I gave him a warm smile as I replied, “We definitely won’t wait as long next time. I had no idea you guys lived here until yesterday and now that I know, you’ll be seeing more of us.”
Both Sherry and Randy warmly smiled at me as I felt myself becoming more and more at home.
Luke came walking up to me with a cup of coffee
and I couldn’t help but smile. God bless this man. He’s sexy and he makes me coffee in the morning. He’s definitely more than just a keeper. “I made it just how you like it.”
“Good to know I have you trained well.” I grinned as I graciously accepted the cup and took a sip. Sherry and Randy began laughing and soon we all were.
Once I stopped laughing I kissed his cheek then went to sit at the table. As I walked by I overheard his mom tell him, “She seems like a good woman. I like her son. Hold onto her, don’t let her go.”
I also heard him tell her, “I don’t plan on it.”
All kinds of happy thoughts were swimming through my head after hearing that. His mom approved of me. She liked me, really liked me. Was I really more than enough for him? Obviously so because he proposed to me last night. Oh gosh, just thinking of it makes my cheeks flush several shades of pink and the infectious grin won’t go away. The thought just made me all giddy inside. I continued to sip on the coffee and began eating when the food was placed on the table.
Sherry looked at me as I took a sip of coffee and asked, “So Luke hasn’t told me how you two met.”
I swallowed the hot coffee quicker than I meant to. My throat probably had third degree burns now. I tried not to let the pain show on my face as I coughed attempting to soothe my throat.
Luke noticed
my apparent issue and spoke up, “We met at Gills in Bakersville one night. I decided I should keep her around after that.” He smiled and patted my thigh under the table. I giggled at his touch and felt my insides tingle at his words.
Sherry and Randy smiled. I hoped they didn’t think any less of me. I was not the bar hopping whore I used to be. Although in my defense I never was a whore I just drank a lot
so that would make me a bar hopping alcoholic. Trevor was the first guy from the bar I ever got involved with. I really didn’t plan to ever get involved with anyone ever again, let alone someone from the bar but well I couldn’t really help this one. It was just too right.
Randy smiled and touched Sherry’s hand. “That’s ok son, you know your mother and I met at a ZZ Top concert.”
I tried not to laugh. Somehow I could imagine them going to concerts when they were younger. I could almost picture a meeting like that and how random but perfect it was. I bet they were a blast to hang with back then just like they are now.
“Yeah, Randy was drunk and just walked up to the spot my friends and I were hanging at and he sat in my chair and refused to get up. He even smoked most of my pot. I was mad, but
there was just something about him. We were inseparable after that.”
That was probably one of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard. At least I know if Luke and I ever had kids our story was nowhere near as crazy as that.
We could always tell them grandma and grandpas story and have a good laugh.
Randy spoke up
attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction. It’s not like they had a story of really being ashamed of but you could just tell by his face that he’d heard enough of it.
Luke cleared his throat in an attempt to change the subject and grabbed my hand. “Mom, Dad, I wanted to tell ya’ll that I asked Macy to marry me last night. It was spontaneous but well, I can’t help it. I’m in love with this girl and she makes my world spin around.
My face flushed a little more because I wasn’t realizing we were announcing it this morning. Sherry eyes suddenly lit up as what he just said sunk in. “Congratulations! Oh honey come here and hug me!”
Randy stood up and hugged us both and I suddenly couldn’t be too frustrated for him announcing the news without me knowing.
“Thank ya’ll, I was really taken by surprise.” And I really was but it was totally worth it.
“Welcome to the family Macy, we’re more than pleased to have you.” Randy couldn’t help but hug me again
and I smiled. “How long you guys staying? We should celebrate.”
“We’re probably going to head back soon Dad. Macy’s best friend is getting married in a few weeks and she called this morning with a wedding emergency.”
This was news to me. Of course, I hadn’t had my phone on me and I sure wasn’t answering any of her calls or texts. I glanced over at Luke with a questioned look on my face.
“She called you this morning?”
“Yeah, she said she’s been trying to reach you but you must not have your phone on you.”
“What kind of emergency does she have going on?”
I was dying to hear what this could possibly be. Knowing her she called and completely made it up to get me to talk to her so she could beg for my forgiveness. This was surely just a sleazy plan to get me back into her wedding and I was not planning on caving. I really hated the fact that she had Luke’s number.
“She said something about Oreo got ahold of some of the ribbons that you tied and tore them up and she needs help redoing them.
I told her we’d be home in the next hour or so and she may stop by.” He cringed as he finished the last part. I’m guessing he saw my facial expression and knew I wasn’t happy. I was going to ring her neck and the dog’s neck. This was some crap.
What the hell. Silently, I kicked myself
again in the ass for having given her Luke’s number in case of emergency. She had to be lying, that’s the only logical explanation I could think of. This really had to be some sort of sick joke.
I plastered the best fake smile I could on my face and replied, “I’ll call her as soon as we get home.”
Oreo was a rowdy dog; I know this because she had chewed up at least one of my favorite pairs of shoes when I still lived in the apartment. After that happened, I never forgot to shut my door again when I left. And anything I had lying around in the kitchen or living room was placed to where she couldn’t reach it. She was still a puppy so it was a possibility that the ribbons I worked so hard at tying were no more. I supposed I wouldn’t know until I actually called her back.
We stayed another thirty minutes just talking with Randy and Sherry. This was the most relaxed and laid back I think I’ve ever been and I wasn’t ready to let that go and have to resume normal everyday life.
Here, there were no remnants of the past waiting to be brought back up and thrown in your face. That was my favorite part of being here. No one knew me or the baggage I carried around. I could be just me.
“You bring Macy back you hear me Luke?
And soon because we’ve got a wedding to plan” Sherry leaned into Luke and gave him a hug holding him for a good minute.
“Mom I will don’t worry about that.
You women can knock yourselves out with that.”
She hugged him
once more then embraced me. Her arms wrapped around me just as tight. “We’re so excited for ya’ll! Make sure he treats you right.”
“He does, I promise. He’s perfect
to me.” Smiling came easy because it was the truth. He was nothing but pure perfection from the moment we met. This was the one thing I could tell honestly.
We said our goodbyes and hugged some more. They stood outside waving as we drove off leaving the salty air behind.
I missed that air already, dammit.
I reached in my purse for my phone and turned it on. Notifications popped up left and right. Geez, and they were all from Halley. I held my breath as I read every single one of them but none were from Trevor. I let the breath out and began breathing normally again.
They were all really from her.
I opened the latest message and without reading whatever she sent I typed, “On our way home. You bringing the stuff over?”
Instantly she replied, “Oh, now you can answer me? Please reconsider.”
“Reconsider what?”
I replied almost as quickly as she did.
“Don’t play stupid Macy. You know what I’m talking about.”
Unfortunately I did know what she was talking about. She wanted me to reconsider being in her wedding. Walking with Trevor and all that happy shit. No thank you. I rolled my eyes as I typed the answer she wasn’t going to be happy to read.
“My answer is final. Don’t push your luck.”
“Whatever I’ll be there in a few.”
I turned the phone back off and closed my eyes the rest of
the way home bringing myself back to yesterday and last night where I was probably at the most peace I’ve ever been in a long, long time.
Chapter 6
Yesterday and last night were some of the happiest moments of my life. Clarity seemed to find its way into my hectic life. I always knew I loved Luke, from that moment in his apartment the night he brought me home. Of course I didn’t blurt it out right away that would have been crazy. Knowing that I loved him was no issue. The issue was Trevor slowly trying to creep back in and the feelings that surrounded that. He was the first guy I ever really loved and gave my heart to. I had let him in and showed him the real me. All my walls had been torn down just for him, that was a huge deal for me. We were engaged to be married for crying out loud and were supposed to have a baby. I just hated that those feelings were coming back up.