Face-Off at the Altar

by Toni Aleo

  One she had needed.

  “I’m sad this is over,” Avery said once they entered Nashville, and Mekena looked over, a smile on her face.

  “Yeah, but we can take another trip soon, can’t we?”

  “Yes, we shall plan one for the off-season. Maybe we can go to Fiji,” Avery suggested with a nod. “Find an awesome hut that will take my kid, and make Jace pay for Autumn and River to come so they can keep her while we all go out.”

  “That sounds magical.”

  “It does, and we can make Markus and Jace rub our feet, or better yet, rub sugar all over us… And eat it off us.”

  Mekena snorted as she nodded. “Yes, yes, I agree.”

  Laughing, Avery reached over, taking her hand in hers. “Did you have fun, bestie?”

  “I did,” Mekena said, smiling. “A lot of fun.”

  “Good, I worry about you.”

  “I know. I’m fine, though. I swear.”

  “Oh, I know. I made Markus keep tabs on you since I left.”

  Laughing, Mekena squeezed her hand. “Making my man keep tabs on me, how rude. I don’t lie to you!”

  Avery flashed her a grin. “Yeah, ’cause you know Markus is watching!”

  Grinning, Mekena shook her head. “He’s been wonderful.”

  “He’s awesome. I always knew that guy was it for you.”

  “You offered to kill him with me when it all went down,” she reminded her, and Avery shrugged.

  “That’s what best friends do, duh. But I knew something was up. I love Markus. I just hated him for you.”

  “Don’t tell him that, his head is big enough,” she said with a smile. “But thank you.”

  “Ain’t that the damn truth,” Avery laughed with a nod. “But things are still good, right? Y’all are all gooey and still in love?”

  Mekena nodded. “Yup, that’s my guy.”

  “Okay, good. We didn’t talk about the guys much this trip.”

  “Nope, it was about us and how much fun we are.”

  “Agreed,” she said, with her hand coming up in an “Amen” sort of way. “I’m glad you guys are doing well. I know these last couple weeks haven’t been easy, and sometimes that can be a strain on a relationship.”

  Mekena nodded, biting her lip. “Yeah, but some people are headstrong and stubborn like Markus and me. We won’t give up on each other.”

  “Good.” Avery smiled as she turned onto the road that led to Mekena’s apartment. “So what’s next?”

  “Brie hired me to shoot the holiday party at her brother’s home, so I’m going to go do that tomorrow.”

  Avery nodded. “He has Down’s, right?”

  Mekena nodded. “Yeah.”

  She had met Rod a couple times now, and he was a hoot. He hit on her the first time, but when he saw Markus, he backed off and promised never to talk to her again. Markus just laughed it off and told him he was the only other man who was allowed to tell Mekena she was gorgeous. So Rod took him literally and told Mekena every time she saw him. It was sweet, but what was sweeter was seeing Brie with her brother. Mekena wished so badly that Brie could hit the lottery or something just so that Rod could go into private care because it was honestly killing Brie to leave him in that home. Not that they were bad to him, they were good, but Mekena knew Brie wanted her brother with her.

  And after losing Skylar, Mekena understood more than she ever could have before.

  “You’ll have to send me pics,” Avery said as she pulled into the parking garage of Mekena’s apartment.

  “Aw, Markus isn’t here.”

  “Ugh, that sucks. Oh, but my rental is here. I love my husband.”

  Mekena laughed as she stared at her best friend’s profile. “You’re helping me.”

  Avery made a face. “Or, we can leave it and make Markus do it later. You know he will.”

  He would, but she didn’t want to ask that of him. He had already been so great. “Or we can do it,”

  “Or,” Avery tried, “we can unload the car, and he can do the trailer.”

  “Or…” Mekena came back with a grin. “We can do the trailer, and he can do the car.”

  Avery thought that over and then nodded. “You’re lucky I love you.”

  “I am,” she said with a laugh. “I love you too.” More than she could ever express to a woman and not sound like she was batting for the other team, but it was true. Avery had been one hell of a rock through everything, and she owed her completely. But then, that’s what best friends were for, and as they started to unload the trailer, Mekena couldn’t help but think she was lucky to have such a great support system.

  Without them, she wasn’t sure where she’d be.

  Mekena wondered if maybe that was where Skylar had gone wrong. She lost her support system because she had pushed them away. She started to self-destruct, and then next thing she knew, she was high and driving her car into the front of a semi.

  It was all on Skylar, and it took Markus, Avery, and a therapist to drill that into Mekena’s head. As much as it hurt, she knew it was true.

  Skylar wasn’t coming back, and there was nothing Mekena could do about that.

  What she could do was enjoy life. Which is what Markus said he was doing and he was enjoying it. Every day she was answered with a grin from him. He did everything to make her smile, to make her laugh, and she couldn’t love him enough. He made her live life, enjoy living, and they had so much fun. He still made her swoon, and he was constantly on her mind. He was her everything, and she was so lucky to have him.

  Life was almost perfect with Markus in it.

  If she’d thought she’d loved him before, nothing could compare to how she loved him now. He stood beside her. He was a good soul, such an understanding, perfect man, one she loved more and more each day. How could she not? He cared for anyone he met. People loved him instantly, and if they didn’t, they learned to because he kept them laughing. He was everything she wanted, everything she needed.

  She was his, and he was hers.

  Falling face first into the bed, Mekena let out a long breath as she moved her hair out of her face and looked out the windows of her apartment. She had bribed Avery to unload everything with cupcakes from their favorite bakery, Audrey Jane’s, which was a great way to end their trip. But when she said bye to her best friend, she found herself on the verge of tears. It was nice to have that female companionship, and she was going to miss Avery greatly. But she had to get home to her baby and husband, who would be home the following day.

  At least Mekena knew it wouldn’t be long before she saw her best friend again, unlike seeing her sister. Closing her eyes, Mekena decided she was down for the count, which was probably a good idea. She hadn’t cried over her sister in days, and she wanted to keep it that way. Skylar wouldn’t want her to be a mess; she’d want her to be happy and live life. So she’d honor her sister, knowing that she had done well the last couple days, and she’d continue to try to keep doing better because she wanted to live. Life was so fucking short. It could end in an instant, and Mekena wanted to make sure she got everything she could out of each day.

  She wouldn’t spend it crying, she’d spend it rejoicing, especially when she was rejoicing over the love she had with Markus and the amazing career she was building for herself. She had the position with the Assassins, which was wonderful and everything she had dreamed of: travel and photography. Everything was working out, and she was happy. Other than the lingering ache of losing Skylar.

  She knew it would dull with each passing day, or at least, she hoped it would.

  Rolling over in bed, she wasn’t sure where Markus was but knew he’d be home when he was. She thought about texting him, but her phone was in the kitchen and she just didn’t have it in her to go get it. She figured she would take a nap until he got there, but before she could close her eyes, she smiled at the sounds of Mr. Right playing in the kitchen. Markus had bought him a whole playhouse to help him lose weight, and since he was monitoring t
he cat’s food intake—which meant he hid the food from Mekena and Mr. Right—her kitty was losing weight like a champ.

  He hated Markus with a passion in his soul, but he’d be okay.

  Closing her eyes, she didn’t realize how tired she really was, and within seconds, she fell asleep. When she woke, it wasn’t because the cat was loud, it was because someone was staring at her. As she expected, it was her gorgeous boyfriend grinning at her, moving his fingers along her jaw.

  “Good evening, beautiful.”

  She smiled, rubbing her eyes as she rolled onto her back. “Evening? Crap, I won’t sleep tonight.”

  Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her nose. “I’ll stay up with you until I can’t.”

  She laughed. “Which won’t be long. We all know how you are with sleep.”

  “True,” he said, cuddling her and kissing her once more. “Jesus, woman, kiss me. I haven’t seen you in five days.”

  Grinning, she pressed her lips to his in a fevered kiss as his hands tangled in her hair. Pulling away, he nibbled on her bottom lip as she smiled, her eyes locking with his. “Did you miss me?”

  He scoffed. “I miss you when you’re beside me. Of course, I missed you.”

  She grinned happily. “I missed you too. We ate at this crab place one day, and I knew you’d love it.”

  “I would have. It’s crab, and I love food.”

  “See? I knew I was on to something.”

  He kissed her hard once more before pulling back and staring into her eyes. “Did you have fun with Avery?”

  She nodded softly, her smile falling a bit. “It was really nice. I missed having girl time.”

  “Boo, you don’t like boy time?”

  She laughed. “I love boy time, especially the sex part.”

  “Freak,” he said, rolling his eyes playfully, and she giggled loudly. “I’m glad. Did it clear your head?”

  “It did. It was really nice,” she said on an exhale. “I didn’t cry the whole time.”

  “That’s awesome, sweetheart,” he said softly, kissing her jaw. “I knew you needed some Avery time.”

  “I did. She wants to go to Fiji in the off-season.”

  “That sounds like a plan, for sure.”

  “I thought so too.”

  Gazing into his eyes, she felt so beautiful. He did that to her, always making her feel like the most stunning person on this earth. She never had to question his love; she just knew he loved her, wholly, and she loved that about him. What she loved the most was that she never questioned their future anymore. She knew that no matter what they’d be together, and they’d stand tall through the storms or whatever else came their way.

  It was such a powerful feeling.

  Especially when she’d lived for that time unsure of who she was or even what her purpose was. She blamed a lot of that on Libby for taking her in and letting her be a hermit. But all that changed the moment she came home and went to a wedding, where she faced off against the guy who held her heart completely. She tried to resist him, tried to ignore him and hate him, but her heart just couldn’t do it. It was like she always knew he truly didn’t hurt her. That he only loved her, and in fact, he was the victim.

  But all of it was in the past.

  Their future together was so bright.

  Reaching out, she cupped his face as she smiled. He leaned into her hand as his face broke into a grin. “I love you.”

  “I love you,” she said, rubbing her thumb along his lip. “Where were you, by the way? Out chasing tail with your boys?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t find any tail that equaled this tail,” he said, taking ahold of her ass. “So I left.”

  “Oh, how lucky for me.”

  He grinned, bringing her in closer, her center pressing into him. “Shut up, you.”

  “Never,” she vowed, shaking her head. “Tell me where you were.”

  “I took your dad out to lunch that turned into dinner with Jayden and Vaughn.”

  Her brow quirked at the mention of her dad. “My dad? Why were you with my dad?”

  He smiled. “For reasons you don’t need to know.”

  “Rude.”

  “Hey, I’m trying to surprise you.”

  “Why?” she said, her face scrunching up. “I hate surprises.”

  “You do not.”

  “I do,” she said, shaking her head. “What if I don’t like it and then I have to act like I do? We both know you can see right through me.”

  He thought that over. “I can.”

  “So, see? Surprises are dumb. Just tell me what y’all were up to.”

  He bit into his lip and shook his head slowly. “No.”

  Laughing, she rolled her eyes. “I hate you.”

  “You don’t.”

  “I know,” she said truthfully, leaning her head into his chin. “I missed you a lot.”

  “Good, I missed you,” he said, kissing her forehand. “Don’t leave me anymore.”

  “I will. I love girl trips.”

  He chuckled. “Rude.”

  “You love it.”

  “I do.”

  Moving his fingers up into her hair, he kissed her nose, his eyes full of love as they stared into each other’s eyes. “I asked your dad if I could marry you today.”

  She could only blink because, surely, she’d heard him wrong. He said it so calmly, like what he’d just said wasn’t life altering. “You what?”

  He smiled, moving his lips along her nose, his eyes burning into hers. “I asked your dad if I could marry you.”

  “You did?!”

  “I did,” he said, still so calm, while she was sure her eyes were going to pop out of her head, they were so wide.

  “What in the world? What did he say?”

  “He said yes.”

  Her mouth dropped. “He did?”

  “Yup.”

  She just looked at him, unsure how to take what he was saying. Was he asking her to marry him? Or was he just making a statement? Blinking some more, she murmured, “Okay?”

  “Okay,” he said with a smile, and her brows pulled together.

  “Okay.”

  Kissing her, this time, on her lips, he rolled on top of her. “Okay,” he said before rolling off the bed and onto the floor. Still unsure what the hell was going on, she found herself beyond frustrated as she slapped the bed.

  “Markus! What the hell—” Before she could finish, though, she looked over to see his hand in the air with a little blue box in it. Gasping, she covered her mouth as she sat up slowly, and his head popped up to where she could see his eyes. They were bright, big, and happy as he used his other hand to open the box containing the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. It was teardrop shaped and sparkly, and holy shit, was this really happening?

  “Are you surprised?” he asked, and she choked on a sob.

  “A bit.”

  “So you like this one?”

  She nodded like a bobblehead. “Yeah, I do.”

  Tears rushed to her eyes as she met his gaze, his own eyes shining with tears. “Mekena, I love you more than I could ever find a way to say to you. I love the way you tell me you hate me because I know it isn’t true. I love the way you smile, the way you laugh, and even the way you cry. Though, I refuse to be the reason for those tears.” He paused, his voice breaking as he held her gaze. “I have loved you for a very long time, through the worst two years of my life and even before that. You stood by me after you learned the truth of what happened. You loved me even when I wasn’t sure I loved myself. You took a risk on me when you really didn’t have to. You laugh at my bad jokes, and the thing is…I crave you. Always.”

  Choking on a sob, she smiled. “Your jokes aren’t that bad.”

  He laughed. “They aren’t good, but that’s beside the point. The point is, I love you. I love you so damn much, and I know for a fact that the greatest story I’ll ever tell is our own. But with every great love story, there is a happ
ily ever after, and for that to happen for me, for us…I need you—God, I want you—to say yes to marrying me.”

  Her lip quivered as she slowly started to nod her head. Yes, of course, she would, but then he gave her a slightly exasperated look as a tear went down his cheek. “Can you wait for me to ask?”

  She choked on laughter as she nodded her head. “Yes, sorry, as you were.”

  “So Mekena Lillian Preston, will you do me the absolutely honor of calling you my wife for the rest of my existence?”

  She blinked.

  Then he blinked.

  And then there was an awkward silence.

  Holding his gaze, she asked, “Did you ask?”

  He laughed. “Were you listening?”

  “Yeah, but that wasn’t a ‘Will you marry me?’ so I wasn’t sure if you were done.”

  “I’m gonna kill you.”

  Laughing out loud, she jumped into his arms, pressing her mouth to his as he fell back onto the floor, her body covering his while he wrapped his arms around her. Kissing him hard, she thought she couldn’t fall for him again, but she was surprised because she had. All over again. And boy, did she love him and everything about him. She held his face. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you and be your wife for the rest of your existence.”

  He eyed her. “Are you mocking me?

  “Would I do that?”

  He grinned. “Yes, but I don’t care as long as you are saying yes.”

  “Oh, I’m saying yes. You are mine, Markus Reeves, and no one else’s.”

  Holding her close, he kissed her lips once more and nodded. “Always have been and always will be, Mekena Preston.”

  And she would be his because he was the risk she would always take.

  Because what was life without a little risk?

  Especially when the payoff was Markus Reeves loving her for the rest of their existence.

  “I don’t understand the point of this.”

  Looking over at her from the middle of the ice, her fiancé shook his head. “Do you know how embarrassing it is that my wife can’t skate?”