by Taryn Quinn
I nibbled on my bottom lip. “I’m sorry. Can I be the altruistic best friend tomorrow? I really need your help.”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I’m just not even paying attention. All these blasted hormones are messing me up. That’s why I’m on the hunt. I figure I gotta get this virgin thing done. How else am I going to breathe in this town? All the lovey stuff with you and Seth. He did those fireworks for you, you know?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I know. I’m trying to go find him. But…” I waved at the traffic snaking down Main Street and around the park.
“Oh.” She grabbed my door handle and hauled me out of the car. “Of course. Honestly, that man finally is listening and you went MIA. You two are going to be the death of me.”
“You had something to do with this?”
“Well, not exactly. I just told him that he’d have to be knocked over the head before he did something really special to let you know how much he loves you. So I did a little knocking. A few well-placed insults never fail to get a man moving.” She paused, her smile fading. “He does love you, Al. I saw it in his eyes.”
My own eyes filled again and I blinked the tears away. I simply didn’t have time for them. The sky was still smoky from the aftermath of the fireworks, but they were getting few and far between. “I really hope so.”
“Oh, girl. He does. How can you even question it?”
“I’ll remind you of this conversation when you’ve got real hearts in your eyes, not just the lusting kind.”
Sage blushed and fussed with the strap of her tiny tank top. “He is dreamy. But we’re not here to talk about Mike London. Go get that big hunk of real estate before he turtles again.”
“You do have a way with words, Sage.”
She bumped me out of the way and slid behind the wheel of my old car. “Go on.”
I looked up at the sky, then to the pier. There was only one place that would allow for those kind of fireworks. “Can I have my bag?”
“Right.” Sage leaned over and hauled my knapsack onto her lap. “Good Lord.”
“My life is in there.”
“It’s heavy as hell.” She handed the bag through the window. “Now go get him.”
I grinned. “Thanks, Sage.”
“I didn’t do anything. I just told him to get with the program. Just like I’ve been telling you.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Actually, as of late, she’d been lamenting how stupid Seth was, but it was just easier to nod.
At the moment, I had bigger fish to land.
I took off across the street and over the grassy hill that led to the path around the lake to the park.
My heart raced inside my chest as a single heart speared the darkness. My legs pumped and I was eternally grateful for my sneakers right then. They squeaked as I rounded the bend and the gazebo and lights came into view.
So close.
Don’t lose patience with me now.
A stitch lanced my side and I slowed to a fast walk. I was not a runner by any means. I could hike for days, but speed was definitely not my thing.
I stared up at the star-strewn sky as sulfur and smoke burned my nostrils.
Please, just one more.
The pop and whistle of a single flame speared upward. A huge purple heart shined in the sky over the lake. A lonely boat was tethered to one of the fishing docks off the shore. Two men stood on the little steel deck.
But only one mattered.
Seth’s broad shoulders nearly blocked the short, burly man at his side. They were arguing. Only snatches of conversation came across on the wind as it kicked up. Seth was shoving his hands into his hair and pacing the tiny space.
I dropped my bag as I got to the end of the pier.
Relief bubbled up inside me and out on a sobbing laugh.
“Seth!”
The wind was rising and the boats along the pier were slamming around. There was no recognition. Just more of Seth stalking around with his phone to his ear.
I dug into my bag, but I couldn’t find my phone among all the clothes and books.
I stood up again and climbed onto the lower rungs of the rail enclosing the lookout at the end of the pier. I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled his name again, but the wind was too strong and kept snatching my voice.
I turned around and saw people at the other end of the pier. Some I knew, some I wanted to forget. But there were so many of them—and they were all voices I needed right now.
I jumped and waved. When Brad, one of Seth’s high school best friends, broke off from the group, I quickly motioned him closer. “Can you help him hear me?”
Nodding, Brad waved people up from the gazebo to the wide pier that jutted out of the park. Our entire class—or what was left of it at this late hour—came tromping toward me.
My eyes burned as everyone came to help. People I’d barely spoken to in my classes started jumping, shouting, and waving. Girls I recognized and others I didn’t were jumping up and down like manic puppies.
Brad slung an arm around my shoulders and hauled me in close. He was a bit rounder than I remembered from school, but he had always been a sweet guy.
Jessica, the head of the cheer squad, clutched my hand. “I can’t believe how romantic this is. Is this man for real?”
“Yeah, he really is.”
She sighed. “You’re so lucky. I don’t think my husband has ever done anything like this for me. Like ever.”
One last firework whistled into the night sky and the white sparks illuminated Seth’s body.
I yelled his name and the assembled crowd parroted it behind me.
Seth finally turned around on the small dock and held out his arms. He tipped his head back and did a fist-punch into the air like Bender from The Breakfast Club and I laughed.
Jessica squealed in my ear and then started hopping around with the other cheerleaders. Brad slapped me on the back as Seth jumped into his boat and headed my way.
My heart raced as I picked up my bag and made my way through the dozens of people. The guys from his lacrosse team started chanting Seth’s name and laughter thundered over the lake.
I took a shaky step onto one of the docks lining the right side and waited for him to come to me.
Twenty-One
Seth
I pushed the little speedboat farther than I should, but Crescent Lake had never felt so big in my goddamn life. Fireworks had brought her to me. I’d hoped, but I knew it was a big gamble.
If my girl wanted to stay lost, she would stay gone.
I blinked away the grittiness from the wind and spray off the water. The only thing that mattered was getting to the pier. Lenny let off one more spray of white cracklers and a waterfall from his waning arsenal. I’d been worried we were going to run out of them before she showed up.
But there she was, standing in front of a crowd of our classmates. All the people who had rallied around me in my days of lacrosse. While not as big as some of the other sports, we enjoyed a status of our own. Sometimes lacrosse was even more rough and tumble than the town’s beloved football.
Ally hadn’t really been in that scene. She’d always been on the fringes, thanks to her mother’s health.
And if I wasn’t such an asshole I would have realized that before I got so excited about the reunion. But there they all were behind her, hooting and hollering as if we were at a championship game.
She moved to the side ramp where the docks were.
I rode the waves I was making with the motor on my speedboat. I rarely took it off my dock, preferring to drive most of the time. Not to mention the small nightmares that my little girl would go flying off the back and be lost in the lake. So yeah—not so much of a boat guy these days. But right now? Right now, all I wanted was to get her alone.
I wanted to tell her everything that was bursting out of my chest.
It started with the silly hearts I’d shot off into the sky. I’d needed to get her attention. She c
ouldn’t deny that I was making a statement now. She also couldn’t deny the truth that I was about to lay all over her. Even if it cost me more than a little to be that honest and vulnerable.
For her, I would.
I fishtailed on a wave and bumped over the wake I made in my haste to get to her.
I finally made myself throttle down the engine so I didn’t come in too hot. I didn’t want to hurt the one person on this earth who had been created for me. The person I’d been desperate to lock down, only to do the exact opposite in every way.
The last sparks of the waterfall fireworks lit her beautiful, smiling face. She dropped her trusty knapsack by her feet and folded her arms as I slowly puttered to the dock. Brad and JT hooted behind her, and a few catcalls from other members of my team rang out as well.
The front of my boat bumped into the mooring as I tossed up a rope to tie me off before I drifted back out to the cove. She rested her sneakered foot against the sloping bow and tipped her head. “Had to make a spectacle, huh?”
I widened my stance against the wild rocking from the waves. “Yep.”
“Don’t you do anything small, Hamilton?”
“Nope.” I leaned forward and lifted my voice. “I’ve got a secret.”
“Is that right?” Her lips twitched as she tried not to smile.
“Yeah. It’s kinda a big one. Though maybe not such a big secret now.” My stomach pitched in time with the waves banging my little boat against the moorings.
She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes as it whipped around her shoulders. “I’m listening.”
I looked behind her for a second. No one was dispersing. At all. Everyone was leaning in to hear what I had to say.
God, please help me not to fuck this up more.
I took a deep breath. I valued my privacy, but this was important. “I love you, Alison. In a big, stupid, crazy way. So much that I can’t even put it into words.”
Her dark eyes widened and her hands fell to her side. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. Deep down, you had to know.”
Her hand flew up to her mouth and a smile broke between her fingers.
I glanced behind her and growled when I spotted JT with his hands over his heart.
She waved her hand toward the idiots catcalling behind her. “Never mind them. I’m not sure I heard that.”
I pulled out of the slip that was too far away from her and moved closer. I didn’t want her to have to strain to hear a word of this. “I love you. I wanna marry you.”
“Marry me?”
I gripped the throttle and spun the boat around until it was sideways at the end of the slip. I held out my hand to her. “Yeah, you. This is the marrying kind of love. Being the mother of my kid kind of love. The one I already have,” I quickly corrected at her crestfallen face. The last thing I wanted her to think about right now was that ridiculous contract. “I want to build a life with you. A family. I want forever, Ally Cat.”
She blinked madly and looked down at me, her hands fisted at her sides.
“Please take a chance on me, Al.”
She lifted her bag and tossed it into my boat then jumped in and I caught her. There was nothing else I could possibly do.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and dragged her into me. “You’re killing me, Alison.”
“I love you so much.” Her voice was ragged and her eyelashes starred with tears. “Besides, if I didn’t I would have after you gave me fireworks, for God’s sake.”
“Go big or go home, baby.”
She lifted her arms around my shoulders and went up on her tiptoes. “I really like the idea of going home.”
Jessica let out a “Whoop, whoop!” and everyone clapped on the pier.
Fairytale achieved? Maybe. At least the start of one. I had a lot of work to do yet.
I settled Ally in the seat beside me and waved as I throttled back away from the dock.
JT curved his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Lucky bastard!”
“You’re damn right I am,” I called back.
I sat down and dragged her close as I opened up the motor again and raced across the cove to my house—our house. We couldn’t talk above the wind and waves, but I didn’t need words right now.
I just needed her by my side.
It only took a few minutes to get to my dock and to moor the little speedboat. I tied off and jumped out to help her up on the dock.
She wouldn’t look at me as I handed her the oversized knapsack she forever carried.
There was no way I was going to stand for that. Not now.
I dragged her close and lowered my head to catch her mouth in a swift, hot, heavy kiss. I poured everything I couldn’t say into it, taking my time. She moaned and gripped the front of my shirt.
Reluctantly, I eased back a fraction. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted. I was just too stupid to face the truth—never mind say it out loud. All I could think about was fucking things up between us and losing you forever. I’m still going to have nightmares about it,” I said with a harsh laugh against her mouth. “But it’s better than not having you be mine. And most of all, being yours.” I touched my forehead to hers. “It’s scary as hell to know you could break me into pieces.”
“I’d never.” Her voice was a sandpaper whisper.
“I know. That’s what I figured out. I trust you.” I sucked in a breath. “I know it didn’t always seem like that. My dad has a way of looking at the world, and I think some of that seeped into me despite my best intentions. Sometime I’ll tell you more about what I learned today.”
She frowned, but she didn’t push me. She just gave me the space to finish my thoughts.
“I don’t want to live that way, mistrusting everybody. Assuming the worst. I believe in you. I want to believe in me too, that I can do this. We can make this work.”
Eyes wet, she nodded. “We can. We will,” she said fiercely.
“And I want to support your dreams. Whether that’s going to school, or maybe traveling to see other places—whatever, I don’t care. Your dreams are mine and we can make them happen together.”
“Maybe school someday. Maybe traveling. But you know what I want most?”
Swallowing deeply, I shook my head.
Her fingers twisted tighter into my dress shirt. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted. Just you.”
Finally hearing those words was a goddamn miracle.
“Well, you’ve got me,” I said hoarsely. “And you’re never getting rid of me, baby or not.”
Ally would always be enough, even if I couldn’t help wanting to expand our family. Now and possibly even again in the future.
We’d take everything one day at a time.
She smiled, increasing her hold on me even more. “Is that so?”
“Oh, it’s so. We can certainly practice all night long though,” I teased, stroking her cheek. “Laurie’s at my dad’s place.”
A little hiccup sneaked out along with a bubble of laughter. “Yeah, about that.” She dug her hand into the endless contents of her knapsack and came out with a little white bag.
There was just enough illumination coming from the solar lights that lit up the dock and the path to my house for me to see a telltale logo through the plastic.
My chest tightened. My shoulders locked. Hell, my life flashed before my eyes. Not the one I’d already lived, but the one we would create together. “Are you?”
“I wanted to wait for you to do it with me.”
I lifted her into my arms, and her canvas bag and the one with the test folded between us. “Can we do it now? Is it too early?”
She laughed. “It’s a little early, but this test is made for that.”
I blinked away the quick prick of tears. I didn’t want to ask, but I knew I had to. “Is this okay? It’s okay if you’re not. We can wait until we get married. You know, make it all official. And if you want to do the school thing…” I swallowed down the nerves. I didn’t want to wait, but
I would for her.
I’d do anything for her.
“I don’t remember saying yes. Or you really asking.”
My breath stalled. “I mean, you’re going to say yes, right?”
She tried to keep a straight face, but her lips kept twitching into a smile. Her fingers slid up my chest and around to the nape of my neck, then finally to the longer part of my hair where she could grip me tight. “I just might.”
I looped her legs around my waist and kept on walking. “Well, then I’m just going to have to convince you.”
She giggled. “Put me down, you idiot.”
“And let you run again? I think not, lady.”
“I’m never running again.”
I lowered her to her feet. Mostly because I was afraid I’d do something stupid in the dark and drop her. No way was I ever going to let anything happen to her.
Taking her knapsack from her, I stuffed the test back in and put the bag over my shoulder before turning her around and slapping her ass. “Get going. We’ve got a test to take.”
She dashed forward and we both ran up the stone steps to our home, then across the short distance to the back porch. When we reached the top of the stairs, I couldn’t wait any longer. I scooped her up and fumbled through opening the door. Somehow I managed not to drop her, which was a feat because we were laughing like idiots.
Still carrying her, I rushed through the house, finally depositing her in front of the bathroom door. “Okay. Go, you know. Do whatever it is you do.”
“What if I don’t have—”
I pushed her into the bathroom and turned on the taps full strength. “Need a glass of water?”
She slapped at me and took back her knapsack before shoving me out the door. “Neanderthal.”
I paced outside the door and was sort of glad that she left the water running. Not that her peeing on a stick was weird—much. I mean, I did have a kid. Bodily functions were just part and parcel of my day.
But this was a really important stick.
She opened the door and I spun around. “Well?”
