The UN Series Complete Box Set (38 page)

I look back down at my phone and take a deep breath, pressing send. I need to get this over with. I feel a pain in my chest when the answer machine picks up. Even after all this time, I still have hope that she will answer.

“Hey, Mom. I hope everything is going well. I miss you. If you get time, I would like to hear from you. Hope you have a good week. I love you.”

I hang up, and stare at the counter. I don’t know why I continue to call her on my birthday. Maybe it’s that every year on this day, I hope she will take pity on me and answer. I don’t know why I’m still depressed about it. You would think I would be used to it by now.

My phone rings, and for a second my heart beats faster, thinking it’s my mom returning my call, but I see it’s Vivian and smile.

“Hello, Vivian,” I greet her as I walk out of the kitchen to go get dressed for the day.

“Good morning, honey,” she says cheerfully. “Happy birthday!” She is always in a great mood. It’s infectious.

“Thank you.” I open a drawer to get my underwear. I was so surprised when Slade made room for my stuff. He continues to treat me great.

“So, I wanted to have a girl’s day. I want to take you and Holly to the spa, then come back to the house so we can all get ready together for your dinner tonight. I mean, if you want to. It’s your day.”

“That sounds like a fantastic idea, Vivian. Thank you.” I walk in the closet and pull out my dress that I bought to wear tonight, along with the matching purse and heels.

“Awesome. You girls want to meet over here at, say, twelve?”

“That will be perfect.”

“Okay, see you then.”

After she hangs up, I sit on the bed and take a deep breath. I still hold the check in my hand that I need to put in the mailbox. I can’t help but wonder if this is how the rest of my life will be. Will I never talk to my mother again? Ever?

I have to quit thinking about it. I’m no longer alone. I have a great boyfriend who always makes me feel special and wanted, and I have some great friends who want to spend the day with me.

I stand up. Today is
my
day. I’m going to have fun,
and probably end up drunk!
, while hanging out with the ones I love. The ones who actually want to spend time with me.

I get dressed and grab the check along with my purse, then start to walk out the front door.

“Crap!”

I run right in to Holly as I’m walking out the door.

“Sorry,” she laughs. “Where were you going in such a hurry?”

“I was on my way out to the mailbox.”

“Well, Vivian called me and said you were happy about our girl’s day. I figured I’d just come get you. That way, you and Slade won’t have two vehicles at his parents’ tonight.” She walks inside the house.

“Good idea, but what are you doing? Let’s go.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Where’s your dress? Purse? Heels? We’re not going to come back here. After the spa, we’re going to get ready at The Long’s house. We’ll drink wine and visit until the guys show up.”

“Crap.” I shake my head. “Sorry, I’m not thinking very clearly today.”

She gives me a sad look. I know she thinks it has to do with my mother, and honestly, it does. I walk back towards the bedroom.

“Don’t forget your makeup!” she yells to me from the hallway while I’m in the bedroom.

Geez, I would have forgotten that.
I stop what I’m doing and close my eyes.
Come on, Sam, you’ve got to get it together.
I release a breath and open my eyes with a clear vision. For the first time in four years, I find myself smiling again on my birthday.

*****

The day has been amazing. I have never felt so pampered in all my life. My skin is as soft as a baby from my head to my toes, and I feel like I’m practically glowing with the beautiful spray tan Holly talked me into. I prefer to lie out in the sun, or lay in a tanning bed so that I don’t look orange, but there is nothing orange about me right now. It looks like I’ve been out in the tropic sun for hours. Perfect. My nails and toes are painted a soft pretty pink color to match my dress, and my hair has been professionally washed, dried and curled in huge curls just how I like it. They even gave it a bit more lift at the crown than I usually do. It looks amazing.

The three of us are now in Vivian’s huge bathroom,
the size of my entire house!
, doing our makeup before we get dressed.

“Here, girls,” Vivian says as she walks in the bathroom with three empty wine glasses in one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other.

I laugh. “Slade will get mad if I’m drunk before we even leave to go out.”

“That’s one of the things I love about you, darling,” she says as she fills a wine glass extra full and hands it to me.

“What’s that?”

“That you do whatever
you
want, and not what my son wants.” I feel a big smile creep across my face.

“Well, I’ve never been one to do what others want me to do.”

All three of us laugh, and Vivian raises her glass. “To Samantha on her birthday. I had a great day with you two girls. We should make it a tradition and do it once a month.” I know what she’s doing, she’s wants me to feel wanted, a part of this family, and I find myself still smiling. The thought of having a girl’s day once a month makes me happy. “Happy birthday, Samantha.”

We clink our glasses and take a long drink of our wine.

“Thanks, girls. Today has been….” I pause to take a deep breath. It’s hard to comprehend how these people could love me so much after not knowing me for very long. “Wonderful. I had a great day with you girls today, and I would love to have a girl’s day once a month.”

They both give me a hug.

“Enough of this mushy stuff. Let’s get drunk while we get ready,” Holly says, making me laugh.

“I agree with that.”

We lift up our glasses and take another drink.

We get to work on doing our makeup. I look over at the two women who have become very important in my life and I vow that I will still see them and treat them as my family when Slade decides to walk away from me.

Vivian walks up behind me while I look in the mirror. “That dress is gorgeous.”

“Thank you. It took us three hours to find one I liked.” The top part is V-shaped in thin, baby pink material, along with the bottom half. The skirt is very short, but it flows out and curls a tiny bit at the ends. The top and bottom are separated by a thick silver sequence band of material that wraps all the way around to the back where it ties into a bow. The back also has the silver material that crisscrosses over my shoulder blades. I have a silver matching purse, along with a pair of six inch silver glittery pair of open toe high heels on.

“Slade is going to have a heart attack. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides not to take you out. He won’t want anyone seeing you but himself,” Holly laughs. She is already pretty tipsy. Actually, we all are. Even Vivian.

“Yes, I agree with that,” Vivian says to Holly as we all take a drink.

“Hello.” There’s a knock at the door as Mark comes through. “Wow. You girls look beautiful.” I watch him as his eyes gaze at his wife up and down. You can see how much he loves her.

He reminds me of Slade. They have the same blue eyes and dark spiky hair, and they both have that panty dropping smile. I bet the girls went crazy over him. Vivian is giving him a very hot ‘come and get me look’. She does look breathtaking in her low cut, floor length black dress that ties around her neck.

I look over to Holly who is wearing a gray dress that is just as short as mine. It is form fitting with a heart shape top and a white jewel that hangs between her breasts.

Micah is going to have a cow.

Mark clears his throat. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know the guys are here. We’ll be downstairs waiting on you beautiful ladies.”

He closes the door and we all start laughing.

“Damn, that man still gets me hot and bothered,” Vivian says as she downs the rest of her wine.

Holly and I laugh. “Well I think it’s safe to say you do the same to him,” I say as I take a drink of my wine.

“You have no idea.” She winks at us.

It’s time to get out of this room and down to the guys before we start having a conversation I really don’t want to have.

“Is everyone ready?” I ask as I pick up my purse off the dresser.

“Yep.” Holly giggles.

“Yes.”

I take a deep breath and open the door. “You two go ahead. I’m going to use the restroom real quick. I’ll be right behind you.”
I need a few moments alone.

I walk out of the bedroom and stop at the end of the hall. I peek around the corner to get a glimpse of Slade.

I shake my head smiling. He is unbelievably sexy. He has on a dark pair of jeans with a dark gray button up shirt, and the sleeves are rolled up, showing me his forearms. I look away, leaning back against the wall in the hallway, taking in a deep breath.

I can do this.

These people have become my family, and they want to show me what a birthday is supposed to be like.

I close my eyes and start to count to ten.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

SLADE

The three of us are standing around, talking to my dad in the living room, when Micah speaks.

“Wow. You look beautiful, babe.” We all turn to watch Holly and my mom walk into the living room.

“Where’s Angel?”

“She will be right out,” my mom says, then laughs.

Is my mom drunk? Fantastic. Which means Angel is probably drunk.
We will have to cut the night short. It is her birthday though, so whatever she wants to do is fine….

“Hey, baby.”

I was so busy thinking about tonight that I didn’t even hear her walk up behind me. I turn around to face her, and I think my heart stops. She is breathtakingly gorgeous.

“Angel,” I breathe, “you look…stunning.” Even that word doesn’t come close to explaining how magnificent she looks.

She spins around once to show me all of her dress. “You like it?” She nibbles on her perfectly pink lip glossed lip.

“I love it.”

I go to put my hand in her hair so I can bring her to kiss me, but stop myself. For the first time since I’ve seen her, I don’t want to run my hands through her hair. It looks perfect, she looks perfect, and I don’t want to mess anything up.

She wraps her arms around my stomach and steps up to me. She brings her lips to mine, but I pull my head back.

“You don’t want to kiss me?” she says, the shock evident in her voice.

“I don’t want to mess up your hair or lipstick, Angel. You look too gorgeous to even touch,” I whisper.

“Baby,” she giggles, “It’s just makeup. I can fix it. Plus, you’ve already seen me, and you’re the only one I want to look good for. I don’t care what I look like for anyone else. Now, kiss me.”

I slip my hand in her soft curls, and hold it gently as I tilt her head back. I bring my lips to hers, giving her a sweet tender kiss with just our lips. I feel her tongue run the length of my upper lip, and I moan as I open up my mouth for her. She takes my upper lip into her mouth and nibbles on it.

I wrap my other hand around her back, pulling her body as close to mine as I can. I hold her head steady with the hand in her hair as my tongue explores her mouth. She tastes so good. Her lip gloss tastes like bubblegum and sweet wine lingers on her tongue. Our tongues continue to do a soft and sensual dance as I hold her to me.

She slows the kiss down, and I pull away. “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She lifts an eyebrow.

“Angel,” I sigh as I place my forehead on hers. She has no idea what she does to me. I love this woman with everything I am. She is going to drive me mad.

“Are you guys going to join us?”

I pull away from Angel to look back over my shoulder. Josh is standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, and a huge smile plastered on his face.

“Of course,” Angel answers cheerfully and walks away from me, heading to the dining room.

“Thanks,” I nod my head to Josh. I was about to tell her I loved her.
And it would have ruined her birthday...probably.

“No problem. Come on, let’s go drink to your girl on her birthday.” He slaps me on the back as we follow Angel.

I smile as I walk into the dining room and see Angel smiling and visiting with everyone. We laugh and tell stories of our childhood while we eat dinner. And of course, the girls turn the conversation into another wedding planning event. Poor Micah. Every time Mom or Angel mentions something, I watch his eyes get bigger and bigger.

Once we finish eating, my mom brings out a red velvet cake.

“Happy birthday!”

My mom starts singing as we all follow along. Angel has the biggest smile on her face. She has had several glasses of wine since we sat down to eat dinner. I have no idea how many she had before that. Every two minutes, my mom is asking to refill her glass. She doesn’t like drinking alone, and usually Angel downs her wine, but tonight she’s sipping it.

My mom places the cake in front of her as we all sing happy birthday to her. Angel closes her eyes for a few seconds, then opens them and blows out the candles. Everyone claps and hollers. I pull her face to mine and give her a little kiss.

“Happy birthday, Angel.” I look into her green eyes, and I can tell they are starting to get heavy. I laugh.

She pulls away from me, laughing as well. “I just want to say thanks to everyone for making this day the best birthday I have ever had. You all mean so much to me and I consider you all family.” She starts to get a bit choked up. “I don’t know what I would do without all of you.” She reaches for her wine glass and downs what little bit was left in it.

“Present time!” My mom claps her hands together happily, trying to change the mood.

Angel shakes her head. “You guys didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Of course we did, silly,” Holly laughs.

“Me first!” Josh says, sounding like a kid. We all laugh at him. “I saw this and thought of you.” He nods his head as he gets up and places a box in her hands.

“Pink?” She sounds surprised. “You bought pink wrapping paper?”

Josh shrugs. “Hey, I have come to realize you love pink.”

She unwraps the paper and pulls a bright ass pink shirt out that has a number eight on the back. She squeals. “Thank you! Thank you, Josh. I will wear it next week for sure.” She turns it to me, and I see it’s a St. Louis Rams shirt. I nod my head.
Good gift.

“Us next.” Holly hands her a tiny square box that looks to be a gift card of some sort. She unwraps it and starts thanking them immediately. She shows it to me, and I see it is a gift card to Amazon for fifty dollars. “Shit! That will buy a bunch of books!” I nod my head to Angel as she says thank you to Holly and Micah.

“Angel,” I whisper in her ear. She turns her beautiful face to me with a smile on it. “Will you come with me?” I reach my hand out for her to take it. She nods her head as she places her hand in mine. “We’ll be right back.” I stand, pulling her to stand with me. I place my hand on her back over the silver bow and guide her to the back door of the house.

We step outside and she gasps as she sees the huge pond my parents have in the back yard. It has a white bridge over it so that you can walk from one side to the other.

“Have you never been out here?” I ask as I walk us towards the bridge.

“No,” she shakes her head as she looks around in awe.

“I used to come out here a lot. I would sit on the bridge and do my homework or just do some thinking.” I walk us to the top of the bridge then turn to look at her. “You are gorgeous, Angel. I could never tell you that enough.”

She looks down as she blushes.

I run a hand through my hair. “I wanted to give you your other present out here with just the two of us, under the moonlight next to the pond.”
Fuck, when did I get so fucking mushy?
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and square my shoulders. I sound pathetic, like one of those love-struck, pussy whipped boys.

When I open my eyes, all the air leaves my lungs. The reason I have become so mushy is standing in front of me with that beautiful sexy smile on her face. I no longer want to be that macho man who fucks around and treats a woman like they mean nothing. I want to be romantic and make her the happiest woman in the world because this woman is the most important person in my life.

I smile and pull the black velvet box out of my jeans pocket. My hand shakes as I hand it to her. Her eyes are glued to it. I think she is just as nervous as I am. She pulls it open very slowly and gasps, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth when she sees what’s inside.

“Slade” I close my eyes as she sighs my name.
Will I always have this reaction to her?
Fuck, I hope so. “It’s beautiful.” She still hasn’t taken her eyes off of it. “You shouldn’t have.” She takes her hand over her mouth and runs her hand over picking it up. “It’s so beautiful,” she repeats.

When she told me the story about her tattoo she got for her dad, it gave me an idea. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, my heart was empty until she came along, and I wanted to give her something that symbolized how she made me feel.

“I wanted you to know that when I told you I would wait, I meant it.” She looks up at me. “I wanted to prove it to you, Angel.” I take the box from her hand and remove the piece of jewelry. “You have my heart, Angel, now and for always.” I lean down, giving her a slow kiss as I taste her tears. “May I?” I ask as her mouth pulls away from mine.

She nods and turns around, pulling her hair to the side for me. I clasp it around her neck and turn her around so I can look at it on her. “I had this made for you Angel.” She reaches up and runs her fingers over it. It looks so beautiful around her neck. It’s a platinum heart shape necklace filled in with a variety of diamonds. “I wanted to give you my heart because, for the first time in my life, I feel complete. You have changed my life, and I could never thank you enough for what you have given me.”

Tears fall from her eyes, and I bend down to kiss them away. I don’t want her to cry. I just want her to know how I feel about her.

“I love it baby. I love it.” She looks in my eyes, and it’s almost like she’s telling me she loves me. She brings her body to mine. “I love it,” she repeats before she kisses me. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Angel.” She deserves so much more, and I’m going to give it all to her when she’s ready. “Come on. We should get back inside.”

She nods as I lead her back into the house. She stops me when we walk inside. “I’m going to go freshen up real quick. I’ll meet you back at the table in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” I kiss her forehead before she walks off.

“Where is Samantha?” my mom asks as I walk into the dining room.

“She went to the restroom. She’ll be right out.” I take a drink of my whiskey.
Fuck, how does Dad drink this shit?

“Is she okay?” Holly asks.

“She’s great,” I nod. I smile as I see her enter the dining room with my heart around her neck. It looks as beautiful as she is. I’m just glad Josh was able to get it done with the short notice I gave him.

“Thank you everyone.” She stands next to me behind her chair. “For the dinner, for the gifts, and for a perfect day that I will never forget.” I look down to see her knuckles turn white as she grips the chair. I can tell she’s getting emotional.

My mom gets up from her chair and walks over to her, pulling Angel away from her chair. “You deserved it. We love you, Samantha. Don’t forget that.” My mom pulls her in for a hug, and it tugs at my heart. Who could not love this beautiful angel?

Even though it’s her birthday, I’m the one who received the best gift anyone could ask for. She is standing in front of me in a little pink dress with silver glittery fuck me high heels and my heart around her neck, making me the happiest man in the world.

“We’re going to get out of here, Mom.” I stand up from my chair. “Thanks so much for everything.”

We all say our goodbyes and head to the bar.

*****

Fusion Nightlife is already busy when we arrive. I tighten my hold on Angel’s hand as we make our way through the crowded people over to the bar.

“What do you guys want to drink?” I notice Angel is having trouble standing. I think I will get her a bottle of water.

“I’ll take a Long Island!” Angel yells over the music.

Of course she will.
I just nod to her.

Angel lets go of my hand and turns to Holly. “Hey, I need to use the restroom. You need to go?” Holly nods, following her off to the restroom.

I feel around my pockets and come up empty. “Fuck!”

“What?” Josh yells while he and Micah follow me outside to my truck.

“I forgot my wallet.” I jump in the truck, digging around in my center console, when I hear Josh and Micah both say shit. I find my wallet and jump out of my truck. I turn around to walk back towards the entrance, but come to a dead stop.

Fuck!

“Hi, Slade.” Mindy, a girl I hooked up with once, is standing in front of me. I had met her at a party that Josh and I went to. The only reason I remember her name is because not only did the sex suck, but the bitch was fucking crazy. She had stalked me for weeks after we’d hooked up. She would show up at my parents’ house and hang out, waiting for me to come home.

“What do you want, Mindy?” I take a look at her and notice that her dark green eyes are bloodshot, meaning she must be drunk.
Great.

“I just saw you walk outside and thought I would come and say hi.” She smiles and it makes me nauseous.

I nod and walk around her. “Come on, guys.”

“Having a guy’s night out?” she asks from behind me as I walk back to the door.

“No.” I turn and look at her. “We are out celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday.” I smile proudly when her face drops. I turn around and walk back into the club.

“Hey there, sexy.” I feel two familiar hands wrap around my stomach from behind as I pay for our drinks.

I turn around and grab her face, bringing her lips to mine and giving her a soft peck. “Hi, Angel.” I smile as she laughs.