Undeniable Love - Journey of Love Book 2 (37 page)

Opening the door, I smiled.
This ought to be interesting.
“Hey, Tristan, sorry I’m late. I got a late start.”

Behind me I heard Ryn. “Chris! Oh my gosh this so great!” Taking Chris’s bag, I motioned for him to head in. He was familiar with the house since he had come with us to the coast every summer since sixth grade.

Walking in, Dodge stood and introduced himself. Okay, so far so good. Lark jumped up and gave Chris a hug as he said, “Jesus H. Christ. It’s been awhile.”

Azurdee gave Chris a hug. When Chris turned to Sierra, he paused for a brief second. I was pretty sure no one saw it. Sierra’s eyes lit up, even though she tried to play it cool. One peek at Dodge and it didn’t appear he noticed anything.

Slapping Chris on the back, I asked, “You hungry?”

“Yes, man I’m starved.”

Chris and I headed into the kitchen to grab him some pizza. Standing in the kitchen talking to him, I couldn’t help but notice Sierra kept looking in here.

Everyone started getting tired around one in the morning. After saying good night to everyone, Ryn and I headed to our room.

As we laid in bed, Ryn started chuckling. Looking over at her I asked, “What’s so funny?”

Turning on her side, she rested her head in her hand. “Sierra, Dodge, and Chris. This should be an interesting few days.”

Letting out a laugh, I nodded my head. “Interesting is one word you could use.”

Pulling her onto me, I rolled onto my back. “You tired?”

Giving me that sexy smile of hers, she nodded and pouted. “I am. As much as I’d love to make love, my body is longing for sleep.”

Rolling over and placing her back onto the bed, I kissed her softly. “Sleep good, baby.”

Pulling her into my side, we both quickly fell asleep.

The last two days had been a blast as we all just hung out and relaxed. Ryn seemed to really be enjoying herself. I decided we were going to have to do this more often. Sierra and Chris hit it off, just like I thought they would. They were currently sitting next to each other talking about the damn dog boarding business.
What is it with girls and dogs?

Walking out onto the deck where everyone was, I carried a bottle of champagne and five glasses. Setting the champagne down onto the table, I looked around at everyone. Ryn was smiling and laughing as Lark told a story about a time he was in the Marines. This was the perfect time.

Walking up to Ryn, she looked up at me. She was breathtaking. The most beautiful woman I had every laid my eyes on.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the ring box as I got down on one knee. Ryn’s eyes instantly began watering. Azurdee and Sierra both let out gasps and placed their hands over their mouths.

Smiling, I took Ryn’s hand in mine as I looked into her eyes.

“Ryn, when I close my eyes and picture my life, I picture you standing looking out over the ocean and my hands on your pregnant stomach.”

Tears rolled down, Ryn’s face and I fought like hell to keep my composure in front of everyone. Swallowing hard, I kept talking.

“When I’m holding you, Ryn, I’m holding my entire world. I’m nothing without you, baby. You’re the best part of who I am.”

Ryn began crying harder as I took the princess cut diamond out of the box and held it up. “Ryn, will you marry me?”

Her hand was shaking as she nodded her head frantically. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Dropping to her knees, Ryn wrapped her arms around me as everyone began standing up and saying their congratulations. I’d been nervous as hell to ask Ryn to marry me in front of our friends. Seeing the happiness in her eyes would be something I would never forget. I wasn’t sure how long Ryn and I held each other before we stood. Lark was the first to hug Ryn.

Azurdee and Ryn both started crying again when they hugged. Sierra came walking up and gave me a hug and whispered, “It’s about time.”

Dodge and Chris both shook my hand and gave Ryn a kiss on the cheek.

Clapping his hands together, Lark said, “This calls for a celebration.”

Smiling, I looked at Ryn. She walked up to me and kissed me gently on the lips. “You want to go out, baby, and celebrate?”

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we are.”

Looking around I said, “All right, let’s party.”

GLANCING DOWN AGAIN, I LOOKED
at the ring on my finger. Smiling, I looked at Tristan. He hadn’t let go of me since we walked into the dance club. He either had my hand in his or had his arm around my waist.

Looking up, I noticed Dodge staring out to the dance floor. Following his gaze, I saw Chris and Sierra dancing. “Freak Me” was playing and Chris and Sierra were for sure getting their freak on. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris ended up in Sierra’s bed tonight.

I knew Sierra secretly wished for Dodge to make some kind of move, but he ended up dancing with some red head almost as soon as we walked into the club. I saw the hurt move across Sierra’s face. But as soon as I saw it, it was gone and her attention was turned to the man who had been making a move for the last two days.

“You want to dance, baby?”

Giving Tristan a smile, I nodded and let him lead me to the dance floor. The beat of the song moved through my body as Tristan took me into his arms. Tristan was an amazing dancer. He pulled me closer and began moving his hands over my body as I melted into his body. The last few days had been amazing. I never wanted this time to end.

“Tell me what you are thinking right now,” Tristan said in my ear.

“I’m thinking about life after this weekend.”

Giving me a smile that melted my heart, Tristan placed his lips back to my ear. “Slow. Life is going to be slow. I want to enjoy every single second with you. Every night I want to lie in the back of my truck and look up at the clear sky full of stars. Every morning I want to wake up with you in my arms as we listen to the world come alive.”

Moving my lips along his jaw, I said, “Hmm . . . cowboy take me home and make love to me.”

“Gladly.”

Walking back over to the bar, Tristan told Lark and Azurdee we were heading back to the house. Lark gave Tristan a thumbs-up as Azurdee stood and gave me a kiss on the cheek and then Tristan.

The rest of the evening was spent with Tristan making slow passionate love to me as he whispered in my ear how much he desired me.

This night would forever be the most romantic night of my life.

Standing at the water’s edge, Tristan held the bottle in his hand. We had put both our letters into the bottle and Tristan had sealed it the same day we wrote them. We had both agreed to throw the bottle into the ocean at sunrise. This was our last day at the beach and the first official full day as an engaged couple.

The sun was beginning to rise as Tristan and I stood in front of each other. “Are we supposed to say something?” I asked.

Tristan looked out over the water. “Um . . . like what?”

Giggling, I said, “Maybe we just kiss and then give it a toss.”

“I like that plan.”

Taking a step forward, Tristan began screaming out, “Ouch! Shit! Oh, what the hell?”

I jumped back and looked at him. “What’s wrong? Tristan. What’s wrong?”

Tristan was jumping around on one foot as he kept screaming out. “Fuuck! Get it off. Get. It. Off!”

Trying to see what was wrong, I bent over. “Stay still, stop jumping around!” I yelled out.

Then I saw what was wrong. In that moment I felt something hit my foot and I screamed bloody murder. “Crab. Holy shit you have a crab on your toe.”

I began jumping as I tried to look around. The sun was rising and I was able to see around my feet.

“Why are you jumping? It’s on my foot!”

Tristan began trying to shake the crab off of his foot as I busted out laughing.

“Ryn! It’s not funny. Get it off.”

Tristan started hitting the crab with our bottle. “Stop! Our bottle. Are you insane? You’ll bust our bottle!”

“It hurts. Ryn, grab it. Get it off!”

Taking a step back, I looked at the giant crab gripping onto Tristan’s toe. There was no way I was touching that thing. “Hit it with the bottle. Just hit it with the bottle!”

Tristan held up the bottle and was about to swing when the crab let go and scurried off.

Jumping up and down, I began yelling out. “Yay! He let go!”

Tristan dropped to the ground as I continued to celebrate. Looking at me, he wore a frustrated expression. “Um . . . I’m in pain here, Ryn.”

Flopping down in front of him, I grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his lips. Pulling back, I spoke against his lips. “You saved our bottle. My hero.”

Smiling, he pushed me back and put most of his weight on me as he kissed me. The waves came in and barely washed up around us as our tongues found the perfect rhythm.

“Get a room!” someone said as I saw three sets of running shoes pass us by. Looking up Tristan yelled, “Hey! We are newly engaged! Give us a break.”

The jogger must have turned and faced back to us as he shouted, “All the more reason to get a room!”

Laughing, Tristan shook his head as I chuckled. “Are you ready, baby?”

Smiling, I said, “I’ve never been more ready.”

Tristan stood and then helped me up. Looking out over the water, he asked, “Do you want to throw it or me?”

“No, you throw it. I won’t be able to throw it that far and I don’t want it washing back up.”

Tristan raised his arm and was about to throw it when I yelled, “Wait!”

“What?”

“Maybe you should go out a little further and then throw it.”

Tristan furrowed his brow and then looked out over the water. He probed the water as the expression on his face turned serious. “You want me . . . to go out into the water . . . where the crab is?”

Attempting to hold back my laughter, I nodded my head. “Uh huh. Yeah, just walk waist deep in . . . and toss it.”

Lifting his chin and perking up his shoulders, Tristan nodded his head. “I’ve got this.”

Slapping his back a few times I said, “Of course you do, baby.”

“Yeah.” Taking a step into the water, Tristan paused. Glancing over his shoulder at me, he gave me a weary smile. Using my hands, I prompted him on in a shooing manner.

“Go on. You’ve got this.”

Slowly making his way into the water, he walked until he was waist deep. “Perfect! Baby, throw it as hard as you can.”

Tristan screamed and jumped. And when I say screamed, he girly screamed. Reaching back with his arm he threw that bottle as hard and as far as he could. I smiled as I watched it soar through the air.

Jumping, I let out a victory call.

The next thing I knew Tristan was running out of the water as fast as he could. “Fucking crab! I’m never gonna be able to swim in the ocean again.”

Stomping off toward the house, I turned and watched as the sun’s rays danced across the ocean waves. I’d never felt so happy and so at peace. This was it. The start of our new life together. Looking down at my beautiful ring, I let the one lone tear fall.

There was no doubting it. Our love was undeniable.