Wrecked: A Stepbrother Romance Novel (15 page)

When he fished out a small jewelry box and held it up, the reality of just how much he’d been thinking about it hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had my fair share of forever thoughts about Brandon—especially when he held me in his arms at night—I was just completely shocked that he had been thinking about the same thing.

“Vanessa, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long damn time and I never want to be without you again. Will you marry me?”

Then he flipped open the lid of the box to reveal the largest diamond I’d ever seen in person. I couldn’t even fathom how much it must have cost, but I was well aware that the price meant very little to a man of his means. I was so hypnotized by the sparkling ring that I became lost in my thoughts, and Brandon’s hopeful expression started to waver.

“If it’s not enough, I can get you a better ring. I only picked this one because it made me think of you.”

Startled out of my diamond-induced coma, I looked up at him with wide eyes and rapidly shook my head from side to side. “No, no. It’s absolutely perfect. I’m sorry, I was just... mesmerized.”

Some of the nervous tension drained from his face and he gave me a half-smile from when he was still crouched, waiting for the answer that I still hadn’t given. I nearly slapped a hand on my forehead, but instead opted to lean down and wrap my arms around his shoulders.

“
Yes
,” I mumbled into the crook of his neck, wavering slightly when I felt his free arm come up to wrap around my back and pull me down to him. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Brandon laughed out and fully pulled me down, rolling us over until he was on top of me in the sand. He carefully pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto my finger, his smile more light-hearted and happy than I had ever seen before.

“I love you so much,” he said reverently, placing a soft kiss to the massive diamond, then my knuckles. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“You already have,” I admitted softly, leaning up to press a kiss to his scarred cheek. “And I promise to do everything in my power to not fuck this up.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that. Things have changed.”

“For the better?”

The smile he directed at me was filled with pride. “Definitely.”

We kissed until the sun went down, then moved inside to spend the better part of the night making love and talking about the future.

At one point, Brandon off-handedly mentioned that my love for cooking would make an excellent career in a city like New York, presuming I knew the right people. I somehow sensed that there was more he wanted to say, but when he distracted me with another round of kissing, I took it as a sign that he’d already said more than he intended to.

I looked forward to whatever surprise he was obviously planning for me, and hoped that I’d soon be in the position to give him something in return. Though the way he held onto me like a lifetime when we finally decided to go to sleep told me that all I needed to give him to ensure his happiness was myself.

I fell asleep while brainstorming ways to show him that the same was true in reverse.

“
I
can honestly say
that I never thought I’d see New York again,” Brandon said with a sigh as he gazed out the window at the city. “I suppose I can at least admit that I’ve missed seeing it from this angle.”

My gaze stayed on his face as he continued to look down at the city we were rapidly approaching. There were myriad emotions written there, but I was a little surprised not to find even the smallest amount of wistfulness.

“You didn’t miss it at all?”

Brandon shrugged. “Not really. For as populated as it is, I’ve never felt more lonely than I did when I lived in the city. And that’s coming from someone who lived alone on an island for years.”

This was news to me and a part of me began to feel guilty for forcing him to come back here. I always assumed that he enjoyed the city as much as I did and I felt like an ass for not even bothering to ask.

“But I suppose that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown, not following his train of thought.

When he turned to me, the scars were tugging harshly from the crooked smile on his lips. I smiled back instinctively, even though I had no way of knowing what he was thinking.

“It’s different now. I won’t be lonely because I’ll have you.”

His smile was infectious and knowing that I was the cause of it made me giddy. I leaned in for a kiss, then nuzzled my nose against his cheek as I whispered, “
Forever
.”

Brandon turned his head, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Mr. Jensen?” the flight attendant said softly, smiling nervously as she interrupted our kiss. “We’re about to begin our descent into New York. It’s time to fasten your seat belts.”

“Of course,” Brandon said with a small smile, even though he refused to look directly at the woman.

“Thank you, Janet,” I said pleasantly, watching as she walked up to take her own seat before I turned to raise an eyebrow at Brandon. “You couldn’t even look at her?”

He lowered his voice as he said, “Did you see her reaction when I stepped on the plane earlier? She’s terrified.”

“In case you weren’t already aware,” I started, then broke out with a growl as I struggled with the stupid seat belt. “You’re intimidating for a hell of a lot more reasons than your scars.”

Brandon rolled his eyes at my remark and reached over to properly fasten the belt for me. I was frustrated in general from getting up so early for the flight and despite how excited I was to return home, I was having a hard time shaking off the bit of sourness left in my mood.

“Listen, it’s going to take me some time to get accustomed to dealing with people again. But I’ll warn you right now—There’s a possibility that I’ll never be fully comfortable in public again. Are you going to be okay with that?”

I frowned as I considered it, trying to picture myself going out alone to do things Brandon wouldn’t be comfortable doing. It wasn’t exactly a happy thought, but one I ultimately felt I could live with as long as he was waiting for me at home.

“I think I can live with that,” I finally said, accompanying my words with a single nod of resolution. “Now, onto something else. Are you
sure
you’re all right with staying in my place for the time being? It’s definitely not the penthouse suite and I’m worried the that stairs are going to be rough on your leg.”

“I can live with that,” he parroted back, grinning all the while. “I’ll deal with the stairs. Beside, it’s only for a few weeks. My place just needs some minor renovations—hell, it needed them long before my accident. I just hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet.”

“Better late than never,” I said, grimacing at the end when the plane took a sharp dip and my stomach lurched.

Brandon’s hand covered where my own was gripping the armrest and he pried my fingers off, interlocking our hands together and twirling the engagement ring around my finger. The distraction was entirely welcome and I looked over at his face with a smile as large as his own.

“Agreed.”

“
Y
ou ready for this
?” I asked when the car pulled up in front of my apartment building.

When I informed my mom that I was returning to the city with Brandon, I knew there was no way of avoiding the fact that her and Harold would demand to see us as soon as possible. After getting the okay from Brandon, I went about arranging the meeting.

Since my mom already had a key to my apartment and they had a long drive to get to the city, I offered for her and Harold to come up a day early and spend the night in my place. It was the most logical way to do it and there was the added bonus that we would be in a private setting when they finally saw Brandon’s face. Something I knew he greatly appreciated.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Brandon conceded with a sigh. “At least they’re already aware of the scars. I’m hoping it’ll soften the blow.”

The driver was dragging our luggage to the curb and I took a moment to stop Brandon in his tracks by putting my hands on his cheeks and forcing him to look me in the eye.

“Just remember that whatever reaction they have is because they love you. People are going to be shocked—it’s just the way it is. But mom and Harold are probably going to be really upset, too. Imagine if the scenario was reversed. What if it had been one of them in an accident that they didn’t tell you about and then you saw them years later covered in scars? How would you feel?”

His expression was nothing short of pained and he hung his head low with shame.

“When did you become so smart?”

“I’ve always been smart. I was just good at hiding it.”

His laughter was loud and genuine before he raised my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my palm. The driver cleared his throat from behind Brandon, then politely informed us that the car had been emptied. After tipping the man generously, Brandon and I walked up the steps to the building and then started up the staircases to my apartment.

“
Fuck
. You weren’t kidding about these stairs,” Brandon breathlessly joked when we reached the second floor landing.

“Do you need to stop?” I asked, turning back to him with a frown. “This is the last flight, I promise.”

“Let’s keep going. We’ll stop up there so I can catch my breath before going inside.”

The unsaid words were loud and clear.
‘It’s already bad enough as it is, I don’t want to make them worry even more.’
I turned on my heel and headed up, stopping in the landing and looking back with a finger over my lips.

“Quiet. The walls aren’t thick in this place,” I whispered when he reached the third floor and dumped his suitcase to the side before he began to stretch out his leg.

“That’s bad news for your neighbors,” he stage-whispered back with a saucy wink.

I rolled my eyes, but was happy to see that he wasn’t as nervous as I expected him to be. I knew he was worried about their reaction to seeing his face, but overall, he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. It gave me hope that this would go more smoothly than I had envisioned.

“All right, I’m good. Let’s do it.”

With that, I dug the keys out of my pocket and led him to my door. As I put the key in the slot to unlock the first lock, the sound of the deadbolt being forcefully unlatched from inside echoed in the hall. Brandon froze beside me as the door was pulled opened and my mom rushed out, closely followed by Harold.

The freeze frame effect lasted for only a split second before my mom burst into tears and threw herself at Brandon, hugging him like her life depended on it. Harold hastily wiped at his eyes before joining my mom— wrapping them both up in a fierce hug. I stood at the back and watched silently, only opting to join in on the group hug when my gaze clashed with Brandon’s and I noticed his eyes were glassing over with unshed tears as well.

There in the hallway of my crappy apartment building, the four of us truly reunited for what felt like the first time since high school. Even with the tears we all seemed unable to hold back, my life had never felt more complete.

W
e laughed
and cried in the hallway for a good twenty minutes before it died down to only the occasional sniffle and we decided to move the group inside. I dropped my luggage to the ground without ceremony and chuckled when I saw Brandon follow suit—too busy looking around my apartment with curiosity to care about his luggage.

With the exception of his laptop bag, of course. That he clung on to until he found a table he deemed safe enough to hold it for the time being. I was content to watch with amusement as he tried to make sense of his new, small surroundings after spending so much time in such a large house.

But while I was watching Brandon with an amused smile, my mother had apparently straightened herself up and was watching me with a raised eyebrow. I didn’t even notice her scrutiny until I heard her surprised gasp followed by a muffled, “
Oh my goodness
.”

I turned to her with a questioning frown, only to realize she was covering her mouth with her hand and staring at something on my jeans.

Wait. Not my jeans.

“Okay, mom? Don’t freak out,” I said calmly, holding up my hands and wincing when her eyes followed the path of my left hand. Why I hadn’t thought to take the engagement ring off until we had a chance to tell them was beyond me, but I was certainly kicking myself for it now.

“What’s going on?” Harold asked, watching as my mom began to point at me.

“They—Oh my goodness, I
knew
it! I
told
you, Harold!” she exclaimed, looking away from me to scowl at him as she slapped him on the chest. “You owe me twenty bucks!”

“Twenty bucks?” I asked incredulously, looking to Harold for answers but seeing nothing but confusion on his face as he shook his head and helplessly raised his hands.

Mom rolled her eyes. “You remember that bet we made when the kids were in school? I won! Look at what’s on her finger!”

Brandon had taken interest in the spectacle now, moving to stand beside me as Harold inspected my hand. His eyebrows raised high up his hairline, shock registering clear as day on his face.

“You two—”

“Are engaged,” Brandon finished for him, then turned to my mother to ask, “What bet?”

Mom smirked. “Oh, come on. I know puppy love when I see it and you two were absolutely smitten with each other. I knew something like this would happen eventually.”

“Well, I didn’t see it so when your mother offered up a bet, I took it.”

“But
I
won!” she exclaimed triumphantly.

“I can’t believe you even remember that,” Harold grumbled as he reached for his wallet and started digging through it. “But I’m nothing if not a man of my word.”

My jaw went slack with disbelief as I looked between the two of them. I hadn’t been expecting an angry reaction to the news that Brandon and I were together—our parents were far too nice for that—but this was
far
from what I could have even imagined.

I turned my head to look at Brandon and gave him my best
what-the-fuck-is-going-on
look, but he only shrugged, smiled, then draped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me flush against his side.

“I’m glad to see you aren’t taking this poorly.”

“Oh I saw this coming a mile away. Well, until you disappeared anyways.”

“I might not have seen it back then, but I fully approve if it means you’re not going to be disappearing again,” Harold said pointedly, glaring at his son in warning. “I don’t think I could handle going through that again.”

Brandon’s smile faded to a sad one and he said, “It won’t happen again, I promise. And I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgiven, sweetie,” mom said as she crossed the room to put a hand on both of our cheeks. “You two... I can’t even...”

She trailed off when the tears started to fill her eyes again and I noticed Harold shaking his head from behind her. He approached with caution and placed his hands on her shoulders, mouthing a silent apology towards us before he guided her down the hall to the bathroom so we could have a moment of privacy.

“That went pretty well,” I said after I heard the bathroom door shut.

“Minus the crying.”

“Yes, minus the crying. But still far better than I expected. What do you think?”

He was staring blankly down the hall, his brow furrowed together tightly like he was deeply considering my question. A small part of me began to worry that he had noticed something I hadn’t, until he finally answered my question.

“I think I’m going to offer my contractors a large bonus if they can finish the renovations in less than two weeks. Those stairs are going to fucking kill me.”

My laughter at his out-of-the-blue comment was loud enough to bring my mom and Harold back out of the bedroom to see what was going on. By that point, Brandon had joined in as well and I was willing to bet that the picture we made was absolutely insane—standing in the kitchen, doubled-over and clutching at our stomachs as we laughed like hell.

Insane or not, it was
exactly
where I wanted to be.

And I fully intended to stay right here, with him, until death did us part.