“However, thank you, you’re right. I need to make sure I don’t take advantage of Marcus, just like I need to make sure others can’t take advantage of me where I’m going.”
“I didn’t mean to put a damper on your birthday. I’m sorry, babe.”
She shook her head, then went up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re my favorite biggest brother.”
Liam laughed. “I don’t know. Aaron’s getting kind of big.”
“But you’ll always be the old one.”
“I’m going to hit you for that one day, but it’s your birthday, so not today.”
“Thank you for that. For everything. Now, I need to go find my best friend and make sure he knows that I love him.” He raised a single brow, and Bristol knew she blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Just checking.”
“Oh, shush.” She turned and started making her way towards Marcus, downing the rest of her glass of champagne. She set the flute down on a tray and talked with a few other people on her way. People who wanted to say goodbye—some from work, from school, and from classes. A lot of her friends from high school had shown up, and one of the guys that she played with.
“Hey there, love,” Colin said, his British accent far too sexy. “I wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”
She swallowed, her eyes wide. “I didn’t realize you’d be here,” she said, fumbling over her words. She had such a crush on this guy, and between the booze in her system and that accent of his, she was probably going to sound like an idiot.
“Well, I’m going on tour with you, so I thought I’d make sure I was here for your birthday. We can celebrate together when we’re in Venice if you’d like.” He said the words, and it went straight to her belly. She let out a sigh.
“Okay. Maybe. I, uh, need to go find someone, though. I’ll see you later? Tomorrow, right?”
Colin winked at her, and she giggled before heading toward Marcus again. She made her way past a few other people and talked with her instructor, who she was now leaving. She shared a little teary-eyed hug with her. Even though the old woman had scared her to death for the first five years of her training, she would still miss her. Finally, she made her way to the other side of the room.
Marcus’s three sisters waved, said happy birthday, and then headed off to their boyfriends, leaving Bristol alone in the corner with Marcus.
“Hey there,” he said and opened his arms for her. She went into his embrace easily, sighing. The champagne had gone straight to her head, and she had never had more than half a glass before. She knew she was likely to babble if she weren’t careful.
“Hey,” she said, sighing the word.
Marcus chuckled, his deep rumble against her ear soothing. He smelled like that new cologne she had bought him for his birthday the week before, and she smiled.
“You smell nice.”
He laughed again, and she leaned into the rumble. “Considering you picked it out, I hope I smell nice.”
She looked up at him then and just smiled while studying his face. He had such a strong jaw, and eyes that seemed to always know exactly what she was thinking. They were a dark brown and piercing. His skin was a smooth brown that shone under the lights. He had shaved his head recently, but she knew he regretted it. He had spent forever growing it out, but for his birthday the month before, he’d decided to shave it to see what it looked like. He wasn’t happy, but she didn’t mind. She liked the way he looked no matter what.
After all, he was her best friend. She always felt that way.
“Hey, come out with me,” he said, pulling away so he could tug on her arm.
She followed easily, needing a break from all the people. She had loved her birthday bash, and the going-away party it had also turned into. She’d talked with every single person there, even the ones that she didn’t know but who had wanted to come anyway. Her parents had gone all out for her, and she would be forever grateful, but she needed a minute to breathe. Marcus always understood what she was feeling, and she loved him for it.
“So, are you ready?” Marcus asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. They were standing in the gazebo in the back yard, one that her mom had decorated with sparkly lights but hadn’t turned on because she didn’t want people everywhere all over the property. Bristol didn’t blame her.
“I think so? I’m all packed, and my passport’s ready to go, and I’m checked into my flight. It’s going to be a really long one.”
Marcus nodded, studying her face. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“I know.” That sick feeling filled her again, and she swallowed hard. “I wish you could come.”
“A cellist doesn’t need a librarian. Especially one who’s still in school to get their degree.”
“I don’t know, I’m going to some of the most famous libraries in the world. I’m sure you’d want to visit those.”
Marcus laughed. “Yeah, I’ll definitely want to go to those, and maybe I’ll come out to visit for that. But it’s okay, Bristol. We’re allowed to have separate lives.”
She scowled, not liking the thought of that. “I don’t want that. I want things to be the same.”
“No, you don’t. Like I don’t.”
“So, you want me to go away?” she snapped, getting a little angry. The champagne was wreaking havoc on her emotions.
“That is not what I meant. And you know it. All I want is to make sure you live life to the fullest. And you’re going to be amazing. You are amazing. I cannot wait to see how high you soar. And I’m going to be here when you need a place to land. I promise.”
She looked down at long fingers that made it so she was biologically perfect for playing the cello. She had a few calluses, but her hands were her life. “I don’t want to change too much. And I also don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose me. They have this thing called a phone. And the internet. It’s pretty cool.”
She laughed. “But what if you find a new best friend and you stick with them forever? And then you tell them all your secrets.”
“You don’t know all my secrets,” Marcus said, and she scowled.
“I know most of them. Just like you know most of mine.”
“I think I know all of them, Bristol Montgomery.”
“You’re a jerk, but I love you.”
“And I love you. And that is why you’re allowed to go and fly. I’ll be here when you get back.”
Tears stung her eyes, and she hated this. She didn’t want to leave him. “Let’s make a deal. A bet.” The idea came to her so quickly, she knew it was likely all the champagne, but she didn’t care.
Marcus’s brows rose. “Okay. What kind of bet?”
“In ten years, let’s make sure that we remain best friends.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
She swallowed hard and blurted. “In ten years, if neither of us is married, we get married.”
Dear God. She’d said it.
He simply blinked at her. “Huh?”
“It’s perfect. That way, we will always have each other as our backup plan.”
He swallowed hard, and she hoped to hell she hadn’t made a huge mistake. “Are you saying that you don’t think either of us can get married without each other?”
“I’m not saying that at all.” She wasn’t sure what she was saying.
“So, what are you saying?”
“I don’t want to lose you. I want to remain best friends.”
“Marriage isn’t going to fix or ensure that, Bristol.”
She let out a breath before beginning to speak quickly. “No, but really… It’s a surefire way to make sure we always stay in each other’s lives. Because we’ll have that bet. And if, in ten years, we’re both still single, then we get married.”
“You’re a lunatic.”
“But I’m your lunatic.”
That made both of them laugh.
“How much have you h
ad to drink?”
“Not much,” she lied.
“So, you’re saying in order to make sure we stay best friends, we get married in ten years?”
“Well, it sounds stupid when you say it aloud like that.”
“It is stupid, Bristol.”
“All I’m saying is that you don’t want to marry a stranger, right? So, you remain my friend in case we end up having to get married. That way, we make sure we still like each other. We don’t want to be a statistic.”
Marcus ran his hands over his face and laughed. “Only you would think of this as a way to make sure we stay friends.”
“It’s because I’m brilliant.”
“I’m sure you think so,” he said dryly.
“I would flip you off, but we’re almost engaged here.”
He looked at her then, and they both burst out laughing. “Okay. You know what? Why not?”
Her heart thudded, and she blinked. “Okay?”
“Seriously. Because I have a feeling one or both of us will already be married by then. So, it’s probably not even going to matter.”
She ignored that thought, though she didn’t know why exactly. She just felt like she desperately needed to. “All right, but we have to remain friends so we don’t marry strangers. Okay?”
He held out his hand and smiled that heartwarming smile that she knew melted girls’ panties from miles away. She never let it get to her, though. Because, after all, he was her best friend.
Maybe her future husband, but she didn’t really think it would ever get that far.
“Shake on it,” he said.
She put her hands in his but didn’t move. “If we shake on it, it’s cemented. Because we don’t go back on our words or our handshakes or our promises. In ten years, if neither of us is married, we get married.”
“And you remain my best friend along the way.” He paused. “No matter what.”
“No matter what.” She squeezed his hand, and they shook on it.
She had a feeling that she had just changed the course of her life.
Either that, or she was going to have a really funny story to tell her children about their favorite Uncle Marcus. Because there was no way she was going to marry her best friend.
No way.
Chapter 2
Today
Another year and another birthday. Only this time, Marcus Stearn wasn’t sure it was merely a birthday. No, tonight could be disastrous. Life-changing. Apocalyptic.
Tonight, he might end up an engaged man.
Why?
Because he was a fucking idiot.
It wasn’t as if you could actually blame drinking for the predicament he was in. He’d had a single glass of champagne that night ten years ago. Ten long years ago, on a certain woman’s birthday, the same woman who had a birthday tonight. A single glass of champagne that had ended in a change of a future. A bet…a promise.
Because, of course, when it came to him and his best friend, there had to be a dare or a promise that couldn’t be broken between them. Not that many people knew that about him and Bristol. It was something they kind of kept to themselves, like the whole idea of the deal.
Ten years ago, they had decided—somehow, in a weird, twisted way of who they were—that if neither of them was married by the time Bristol turned thirty—tonight—they would get married.
That was not the stupidest thing in the history of the world, right? More ill-conceived things had to have occurred since then, but he couldn’t think of any. And it didn’t help that every time he thought of what could happen tonight, he thought of the feelings he refused to allow himself to venture into.
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose and prayed that she had forgotten.
It had to be a joke, right? They hadn’t really mentioned their promise or the event at all over the past ten years. She’d traveled the globe and, sometimes, he went with her for a moment in time. And in all those instances, they’d never mentioned what had been agreed upon, or what would happen beyond this moment.
Oh, in the past few months, he might’ve noticed that she’d started to look at him differently. If he were honest with himself, he might have looked at her in a way he shouldn’t have either, but he hadn’t allowed himself to go beyond those blips. He hadn’t slept much these past few months. His stress levels had gone through the roof just thinking about what he was going to tell her tonight. What he should say.
He didn’t know if she still remembered. Surely, she had forgotten. He’d let himself forget over the past decade, even if it had been in the back of his mind every once in a while. He’d been in relationships, as had she, and yet…here they were.
It was only a silly joke, a gamble of faith, and an agreement between friends. People did that in the movies and on TV all the time, and no one ever actually got married after saying that they would be their friend’s second choice. That they would somehow rely on each other for marriage. They’d skip the steps of temptation and uncertainty and move on to finding forever—with each other.
He knew Bristol wanted children…just like he did. He knew she wanted someone to be her partner in life because they’d talked about it. And his goals were the same as hers. Happiness, a family…a future.
He couldn’t actually add the words love or sex to that because thinking about having sex with Bristol or loving her in a way that he didn’t already love her would make him want to throw up. No, that really wasn’t the right thing to think. Because he didn’t want to vomit. Not unless it was because of stress.
He thought about Bristol that way…had let himself, once or twice. How could he help it? She was fucking hot and amazing and sweet, and he was a red-blooded male, who happened to have thoughts every once in a while.
And because he was so damn afraid of losing his best friend, he’d repeated his mantra over and over again. He did not want to have sex with Bristol. He didn’t want to love her. Not that he didn’t already love her, but he didn’t want to fall in love with her.
Not any more than I already have.
No, he was not going to think about that.
Dear God, now he was thinking himself into circles, and he sounded like Bristol. He let out a breath and tried to focus on the others in the room, only he couldn’t, and his mind drifted.
At one point, when she had been with Zia, her ex-girlfriend, he had thought maybe he could get out of the promise made between the two of them. Zia and Bristol had been hot and heavy and had great chemistry. He liked Zia. She and Bristol had been serious enough that he’d thought they were on the path to marriage. Maybe he’d even been a little bit jealous. But that was only because she spent so much time with Zia and not him.
That was the cause of the jealousy.
No other reason.
Then the two had broken up, though they remained friends. And now Zia was off with a man in her life, and happy—possibly getting married.
And now he might be getting married.
No. He was not getting married.
Bristol had forgotten.
“Why are you growling over in a corner at your best friend’s birthday party?” his mother asked as she walked towards him, his father on her arm.
“I’m not doing anything,” he said quickly, knowing that was a lie.
“I don’t know what your son is doing, Alex. But you need to make sure that he is prepared for this next phase.”
Next phase? Did his mother know? Oh, God, had he written what he and Bristol had planned down somewhere, and she had figured it out?
“Old age?” his father asked, grinning, and then winced as his mother punched him in the shoulder. “You know, you still have the same strength you did when you were in college playing softball, love of my life. Come on, Joan.” His dad reached around his mother, and when his mother’s eyes widened, and she gasped, Marcus tried not to flinch.
He did, however, roll his eyes. “If you two could stop fawning over each other and groping one another for a minute, that would be great
.”
“Why are you so growly, son?” his mom asked as she moved closer. “Is there something we can do?”
Not in the slightest. Because how could he tell his mother that he might end up engaged tonight because of a promise made between two people who’d vowed to never break their word? Or the fact that he did, in fact, want Bristol. Even if he told himself that he didn’t. That he couldn’t. “I’m fine. Promise. And what do you mean, prepared?” he asked.
“I was only asking if you’re prepared now that you’re in your thirties.”
“Mom, I’ve been thirty for over a month.” His tone was dry, and when his mother raised a brow, he knew he was right on the edge of getting that tone from her. He’d lived on that edge his entire life, even if he was the so-called quiet one. He was used to it.
She waved him off. “True, but now that Bristol is thirty, I feel like you’re actually in your thirties. Don’t give me that look. You’re still my baby, but because you guys have always been joined at the hip, now that you’re both thirty, it counts.” She clapped as she said it, and he snorted.
“It’s good to know that Bristol needs to do something in order for it to count for me.”
“You know that’s not what I mean. I love that little girl like she’s my own daughter. It’s a shame that you two never actually got together. I would love for her to become a Stearn.”
Marcus smiled, shaking his head, even as his stomach clenched. Well, his mother might be getting her wish.
That thought sent shivers down his spine, even as it warmed him. Hell, he had no idea what to think. And that was the problem, wasn’t it?
“Hey there, what are you doing over in the corner?” his eldest sister, Vanessa, asked as she came forward. James, her husband, was right behind her, grinning.
“Yes, are we plotting?” his middle sister, Jennifer, asked, her husband Anthony, right next to her.
“Oh, plotting. Let me help.” Andie hopped from foot to foot, her husband, Chris, rolling his eyes behind her.
Every time Marcus looked at Chris, he laughed, because he really did look like one of the Chrises from the Avengers. Considering that his sister had had a crush on one of them for a decade and had basically married one? Yeah, that seemed like fate. Fate that made Marcus laugh his ass off, not like the word fate that kept creeping into his mind whenever he thought of Bristol.
Embraced in Ink Page 2
