“Nothing,” he smiles. “Just happy you came with me.”
“Of course I did. Can’t have you goin’ STAG to your brothers weddin’,” I smirk. “Plus, I really just came for the best part.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Slutty weddin’ sex,” I whisper.
“Bella…”
“You got a room here, didn’t ya?” I ask pulling him towards the lobby of the hotel.
“I did, but I-”
“What Johnson?” I say putting my finger underneath his tie. “You don’t want to see what this dress looks like around my waist,” I whisper, running a hand down the dip in between my cleavage.
“I do, I just-”
“Then stop talkin’ and start walkin’,” I whisper, smacking his butt.
He walks towards the elevator and I see the wheels turning in his mind.
“Baby, what is goin’ on? I can hear you thinkin’ from here,” I say running my hand down his back.
He presses the button for the elevator and the doors open and we step inside as the doors close.
“I just...I fucked up Bells. I-”
The elevator doors open cutting off what he was going to say. We walk out in the hall and he reaches into his pocket for his key.
“What do you mean, ‘I fucked up Bells’?” I say panic lacing my words.
He shakes his head opening the door and I follow him into the room and my jaw drops. The floor is lined with red rose petals, making a path to the back room. I walk further inside and there is a table set for two with candles and a bottle of wine. I turn back and look at Damon and he is shaking his head.
“I know it’s not your first time, but I remember at the bar you said you wanted-”
“Rose petals, and a home cooked meal,” I whisper.
“Which is probably not very good because I can’t really cook. The bath...well that’s probably cold by now, but I can drain it and fill it again.”
“Damon…”
“And we can’t forget this,” he says coming up behind me, letting a black lace teddy slide down my body to my hands.
I fist the material and turn around towards him.
“I already have room service coming tomorrow morning with a breakfast fit for a queen but I’m sorry Bella. I misjudged all this and I thought-”
I cut him off wrapping my arms around him and crash our lips together. My hand goes up to his chest, feeling his heart beating rapidly and I smile.
“This is beautiful baby, I don’t know why you’re apologizin’.”
“Because it’s fast, like you said, and I didn’t ask your dad. It honestly slipped my mind. I wasn’t scared of him, I mean not really, I just...I just bought the ring and then had this whole plan and forgot about the most important part-”
“Nico proposin’ to Lacey was...you were talkin’ about you?” I whisper, my hand going to my mouth.
Damon gives a short nod, a small smile creeping on his face as he reaches into his pocket for a small black box, dropping down to one knee.
“I have a whole speech I wrote down in case I forgot I...just give me a second.”
He reaches inside his jacket pocket again, his hand shaking, and I already feel a tear escape down my cheek. He lets out a breath and starts to read from his paper.
“Bella June Gavinwood. I can honestly say I have never felt this way about another human in my entire life. You make me feel like nothing bad can touch me, like I can literally do anything I want with you next to me, as long as you’re next to me. I have fallen for you over and over again and no matter how many times I fall, every time it’s different. I fell in love with your strength, getting your first tattoo. Your braveness, jumping out of a goddamned airplane,” he laughs. I laugh too, tears welling in my eyes.
He throws the paper to the floor and his gaze stays locked on mine.
“I fell in love with your tenderness, watching you with Avery and making me want to give you children one day, so I can fall in love with that side of you too. I fell in love with your fire, when you told me to fuck off when I hurt you. I fell in love with your protectiveness, when your father and your brother tried to beat the shit out of me.”
We both laugh again, and he shakes his head.
“I can go on and on for days angel, because every single thing about you I am in love with. So please, I know this is fast and it’s crazy and I totally fucked up by not asking your father, but I will. I’ll ask him and I’ll do this all over again when he says yes, hopefully when he says yes. Please Bella, marry me? I want your first time putting on that beautiful white dress to be your last angel. Give me forever.”
I drop down to my knees, cupping his face and I nod, laughing as the tears stream down my face and I see a shine in his.
“Yes, you crazy man. I love you so much.”
I kiss his lips as I feel him slip the ring on my finger and I look down, my breath catching in my throat.
“This is beautiful Damon, my God.”
“I had some help,” he admits.
“For once I don’t mind,” I laugh. “She did good.”
“By the way. I know you said living together first would be ideal, I uh...I actually am heading to Houston.”
“Houston? You know you'll be playin’ with my brother, right?” I laugh.
He nods laughing too.
“I got traded. I’m selling the Florida house and my parents are moving by Max. I’ll only be three hours from you when you’re in Louisiana. I’m gettin’ closer angel, closer to bein’ with you all the time. I wanna get a house there, in Louisiana. That's gonna be home base, surrounded by family.”
“I...really? You want that?”
“Of course I do. I want our kids to be near their grandparents, and crazy aunts and uncles and cousins.”
“Can we start lookin’ soon? If I have to hear Lace and Nico goin’ at it one more night, I'm gonna lose my damn mind.”
He laughs and kisses my forehead.
“Whatever you want angel.”
“I think...I think this is gonna be my last year playin’,” I blurt out.
“What?” he asks questioningly.
“I want that too, a family with you Damon. I never thought I’d give up the game, because I never thought I would have a reason to. I do now,” I say cupping his cheek.
“Whatever you want to do Bella, I’ll be right by your side.”
“Thank you...for making me happy again Damon.”
“I will always make you happy Bella. Now come, another first. My first time making love to my woman, while she’s wearing nothing but that ring I put on her finger.”
Damon
“Well I can definitely put this on the list of firsts,” Bella huffs.
“Don’t move,” I say quietly, my tongue hanging out of my mouth as I concentrate.
“I feel really awkward and I’m very bored,” she laughs.
I look up at her and smile, sitting back in my seat as I stare at her. She is laying on top of the hotel bed, naked, draped in the red satin sheets I brought. I’ve had a boner for the last fifteen minutes. I push my glasses further up my nose and put my paint brush down, my arms crossing against my bare chest.
“You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever painted angel, you know that? Hold still, I’m almost done then you can come and have a look.”
I lift my paintbrush back up and blend the black shadows underneath her bent thigh. I’ve never painted a person before, really just fucked around when I felt like it, but right now the silhouette of a naked Bella has quickly become the best thing I have ever painted.
“Ya know baby, you’re really cute when you’re all concentrated like that,” she says sexily.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. You also look sexy as fuck in those glasses,” she says her voice getting huskier.
“Now you know how I feel when you wear yours,” I smirk.
I look up to the bed and she is crawling towards the edge, the red sheet wrapped around h
er, her curly hair sticking out every which way from our love making. She walks slowly towards me, dropping the sheet on her way and bends down in front of me, kissing me softly on the lips.
“Let me see it Picasso,” she whispers.
I push my chair back to let her see and she gasps, putting her hand up to her naked chest.
“Damon this is gorgeous. The shadows, the features on my face, my ring,” she smiles and looks over her shoulder at me.
“Nothing compared to the real thing angel, come here.”
I reach for her and she backs up, dipping her finger in one of the paints on the side of the easel. She walks forward and runs a blue finger down my chest and I laugh, shaking my head.
“You really want to start a war you are not going to win Gavinwood?”
She nods her head dipping another finger in the yellow paint smearing it on my face and I reach for her, but she runs to the other side. I reach into the purple, throwing some at her and it lands square on her face.
“Damon!” she squeals.
I run around the other side of the easel, but she runs back, dipping a hand in the green and throwing it at me. It lands on my chest and I laugh shaking my head.
“These paints are a pain in the ass to get out you troublemaker.”
“I thought you liked me bad,” she whispers as she walks closer to me.
She pulls my towel, dropping it to the floor and my erection bounces against her belly. She wraps a hand around the back of my neck and crashes our lips together. I feel her hand run down my bare back and she squeezes my ass and smiles against my lips.
“I have a pink handprint on my ass, don’t I?” I ask shaking my head.
She laughs trying to run away from me, but I grab her, flipping her over my shoulder, dipping my hand in the orange and smacking her bare ass with it. She squeals as I throw her onto the bed and pin her hands to it.
“Clean or dirty angel, you decide.”
“Oh fiance, if you don’t know the answer to that then you shouldn’t have put this ring on my finger.”
“Dirty it is future Mrs. Johnson.”
Epilogue
Bella
Three months later…
Damon links his hand through mine as we walk up to my mama’s house.
“You ready for this to be official?”
“Oh baby am I ever. I can’t wait to live in our new house,” I smirk.
“Mmm. One more day. It’s almost ready.”
“Nico comin’ today?” I ask.
“You know he doesn’t let Lacey leave his five foot radius. Of course he’s comin’.”
I laugh and the front door opens and we’re greeted with chaos.
“Yes, you’re here. Get in the kitchen, my mama is goin’ crazy and I’ll kill her if I go in there. Big guy, I could use you out back,” Lacey says grabbing Damon by his shirt.
“Speak of the devil,” I quip.
I laugh as she takes him out to the backyard, and I walk into the kitchen seeing my aunt scrambling around the island.
“Bella! Okay, can you cut up all these cheeses and set them on the platter. Your daddy called and they’ll be here in a half hour.”
“What! Y’all should have told me to come earlier. I thought we had at least an hour!”
“It’s okay, we got this. Just cut up all that stuff and the guys are out back settin’ up. Everyone’s out there, I needed the space in here without the clutter.”
“Okay.”
I grab the cheese from her, and she brushes my finger. I turned my engagement ring around so only the band was showing, and my aunt takes my hand, turning the ring around. She gasps, looking up at me with her mouth open.
“Bella! Is this…”
“Don’t say nothin’. We’re gonna announce it tonight. Daddy knows, Damon asked him, but...just don’t say, okay?”
“Oh my God, I’m so happy for y’all,” she says laughing pulling me into a hug.
“Thank you,” I say hugging her back.
I break the hug and smile at her.
“I mean really thank you. I know this was kind of all your doin’. Him comin’ to me for PT and all.”
“Hey, I didn’t know y’all got together before all that, but I’m happy to help. Now if only I can get your brother to stop jumpin’ from bed to bed and your damn cousin...” my aunt trails off.
She has a gleam in her eye and I cross my arms over my chest.
“Well I'd say Lacey is one push away, but I have a feelin’ I know where you’re goin’ with Devin and-”
“Hey y’all need help with anythin’? Sorry I’m a little late,” says a voice from behind us.
I turn around and see Normani in the doorway and turn back to my aunt.
“Oh Aunt Savannah, what are we gonna do with you and your meddlin’ ways?”
“I really have no idea what you’re talkin’ about,” she says smirking, giving me a wink. “Happy you could make it Normani!”
I smirk at her and shake my head. “You can grab a knife and help me cut this if ya want or go on out back. Lacey is back there.”
“Actually,” my aunt interrupts. “Why don't you head back Bells, introduce Normani to everyone.”
“Uh huh,” I say skeptically.
I eye my aunt shaking my head again and walk out towards the backyard. I introduce Normani to both sets of grandparents, a couple of my parents’ friends, and then we walk a little further into the backyard and I feel Normani stiffen next to me.
“Who is that?” she whispers.
“My brother, Devin.”
Devin is running around with Avery on his back, chasing Tucker and Harrison. Avery's giggle echoes across the yard and Devin laughs with her.
“Boo boo hold on! We gotta get these boys!” he yells.
“Don't let me fall Ducky!” Avery yells back.
I laugh and shake my head.
“Those two are peas in a pod. Come on I'll introduce ya to the crew.”
Normani follows behind me and Devin grabs Harrison's belly tickling him to the ground. Avery joins in and Tucker comes to his rescue.
“No way big guy! You're mine too!” Devin laughs, tossing Tucker down next to Harrison tickling both boys then turning to Avery and grabbing her quickly, scrambling away.
We're too late to move because Devin jumps to his feet, Avery on his back and turns right into Normani. She slowly falls as Devin reaches for her, grabbing her wrist before can hit the ground, pulling her against him.
“Shit,” Devin says running his hand down Normani's back. “Are you okay? I didn't see ya there darlin’.”
“I...I'm fine,” Normani stutters.
Devin and Normani just stare at each other until Avery taps on Devin’s head.
“I’m Avery,” she says to Normani.
“H...hi. I’m Normani,” she says smiling reaching up to cup Avery's small hand.
Avery smiles shaking it.
“You’re pretty,” Avery says.
“I knew it,” Devin whispers.
I snort as I laugh and Devin shakes his head realizing he said that out loud.
“I’m Devin, hey, hi...I...this is Avery.”
“She knows that dork, Avery just introduced herself,” I say reaching over to grab Avery.
I glance over at Devin and shake my head.
“Don’t hurt her,” I mouth.
Devin puts his hands up in defense and walks back towards the house.
“This is Harrison and Tucker. Tuck was actually from Second Chances too, right bud?”
Normani bends down, eye level with Tucker.
“Nice to meet you buddy,” Normani says softly.
I can see something in Tucker’s gaze change, and he hugs Normani.
“Nice to meet you too,” he whispers.
I clamp my mouth down, feeling my heart ache for the these two. The hardships they both had to overcome that put them in that orphanage. I know what Tucker had to deal with, but I can only imagine what Normani had to go through.
The scar on her face, her nightmares, the fact that she doesn’t drink because she needs control. I shutter just thinking about it and what it could all mean.
Ballers with Benefits (Double Play Series Book 3) Page 26
