by Terry Towers
“You two have really changed my life. I had no idea how lonely I’d been before you two showed up.” I spun in Xander’s arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him.
Xander ran a hand through my hair, his fingers tugging lightly at the locks as they worked their way from root to tip. “I didn’t know what it was like to love a woman and be loved until you.”
“You changed our world as much if not more than we did yours,” Mitch said. I lifted my head to look at Mitch. There was genuine emotion in his eyes and voice. Mitch diverted his gaze and stared at Xander. They seemed to be having some sort of telepathic conversation going on before me. After a minute Mitch nodded and Xander released me, both taking a step back.
In unison, as if they’d rehearsed it a dozen times already they both fell to one knee before me.
“What’s going on?” Both men reached into their pants pockets and produced a ring case. Again, in unison, they opened their ring cases to display two identical diamond rings. My mouth dropped open as I looked from one man to the other and back again.
Xander started. “I’ll say, I was never sure if I’d get married. It was never a priority to me. Hell, even finding a woman I’d want to settle down with seemed to be out of my realm of possibilities.” He shrugged. “Or maybe it just wasn’t a priority. Either way if you’d have told me two years ago that I’d want to spend the rest of my life with a woman I’d have never believed you. You came into our lives and I couldn’t imagine living a day without you.”
I felt like melting as I stared into Xander’s eyes. I’d never seen him so vulnerable.
“Monica…” Mitch started.
I hesitated, hating to take my gaze from Xander’s but needing to. I looked directly into Mitch’s eyes and waited.
“I love you. I always pictured myself married and with kids – one day. Though in that picture it never included sharing my wife with another man.”
Ohmygod, were they going to make me choose between them? I didn’t know if could. I loved them both, down to the very core of my being, I loved them. A surge of panic raced through me.
“No, no.” Mitch took my left hand in his and gave it a gently squeeze. “It never included sharing a wife, until I met you. I was skeptical at first, hoping for the best, but after this past year I know it can work. And honestly, I can’t see it going down any other way. We’re perfect together and I never want to see that change.”
“But…”
Mitch took the ring from the box and placed the box on the floor. “Monica, will you marry me?”
I opened my mouth to answer though I had no idea what to say, when Mitch released my left hand and Xander took it. He looked deep into my eyes as he said, “Will you marry us both?”
“Yes!” I wasn’t sure how this was supposed to work or what they had in mind; legally I could never marry both, but I didn’t care at that moment. I was too happy, no, elated would be a better term to protest or voice my concerns. Even if we never officially got married it was the sentiment that mattered. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Xander put his ring on my finger first and it wasn’t until Mitch put his ring on my finger that I realized that the two rings were two halves of a whole, fitting together perfectly. Both men rose to their feet. First Mitchell pulled me to him, and then Xander.
Taking a step out of Xander’s embrace I looked at one man and then the other and a feeling of awe overwhelmed me. This was it: I was living my very own romance novel with my own fairy tale ending. A grin spread across my lips.
Mitch touched the side of my face, tracing my bottom lip with his thumb. “What are you thinking?”
Closing my eyes, I took a moment to bask in his tender touch, before opening my eyes and staring deep into his stunning grey ones. “This is going to make an excellent ending to my novel.”
THE END
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BONUS BOOK
Forbidden Indulgences
By
Terry Towers
Prologue
~ 15 months ago ~
Ivy
“I can do this. I can do this,” Ivy Sullivan repeated over and over as she stared at herself in her bedroom mirror.
She was so nervous that her stomach was churning and she was frightened she might be sick. Although there wasn’t much in her stomach to unload, she’d been so nervous that she hadn’t been able to eat all day. But it was nerves, that’s all. Once she told her stepbrother how she felt and it was out there everything would be okay. He’d tell her he loved her back and then they could move on as a couple. Sure, the whole stepsibling thing would cause some issues, but their parents had only been married a few years, certainly not long enough for her to consider him as a real sibling, more like a roommate. She’d played the scene out in her head a million times over the past month and it never ended badly.
But years of insecurity and a lack of confidence were fierce opponents, wanting her to remain in her room, shut the door and continue to pretend she was okay with just being his friend. But that was a lie and she couldn’t live with a lie any longer.
At least I’m heading to college tomorrow, she mused, if he doesn’t feel the same I don’t have to see him again. Or at least not for a while.
She gave her appearance another once-over. She’d spent close to an hour getting ready, making sure her makeup was flawless and her auburn hair shining without a strand out of place. She’d searched every store in Portland, Maine looking for the perfect dress. While the one she selected wasn’t perfect it did a pretty good job at flattering her body shape.
She normally wore sweatshirts and oversized t-shirts in an attempt to hide her chubbiness, but it never really helped. However, this dress was cute, it actually made her look like she had a waist, accenting her figure in all the right places. Having been a girl who’d struggled with a weight problem her entire life, usually weighing anywhere from 80 to 120 pounds more than her “ideal” weight, feeling beautiful and desirable was oftentimes challenging. However, this was one of the first times in her life she felt beautiful, she felt like she might actually have a chance with the captain of the football team who had stolen her heart without knowing it and slept across the hall.
Just maybe…
Taking a deep breath in, she slowly released it and gave her appearance a nod. It was now or never. She left her room and crossed the hall. There was the faint sound of music coming from Ethan’s room – Linkin Park. It was a band he loved and always played when he was in an especially good mood.
He was in a good mood, that was a bonus.
Ivy knocked on his door, waited a minute and then opened it up, peeking her head inside. “Hey Ethan, you busy?”
Ethan looked up from his laptop in her direction, while muting the sound, then spun his desk chair around and gave her a smile. “Not really, what’s up?” He was gorgeous, everything about him was perfect in her mind. Everything from the way his blue eyes shone when he laughed to the way he could make her feel good just being around him. He wasn’t just a random guy she had a crush on, but one of the closest friends she had and if he rejected her it would ruin everything.
And it would crush me, she silently added.
She opened the door fully and stepped inside, closing it behind her. The last thing she wanted was someone – namely one of their parents – overhearing what she had to say.
“Wow, you look amazing,” Ethan stated, letting out a low whistle. “Big plans for your last night here?”
A blush warmed her cheeks. “No. No, I wanted to talk to you though.” She crinkled her nose at him. “It’s kinda important.”
He motioned toward the bed. “Have a seat. Let’s talk. What’s on your mind?” He sat back in the chair he was sitting in and laced his fingers behind his head. “You know I’m going to really miss having you around to hang out with.
”
Ivy graced him with a smile. That was an encouraging statement.
“I have something to say and I’m just going to say it, okay?”
Ethan frowned, leaning forward in his chair and eyeing her a little more critically. “Ummm. All right. You can tell me anything, you know that.” He took her shaky hands in his and gave her a smile of reassurance. “Come on. What’s up?”
Just do it. Just do it. Like a Band-Aid. One rip and right off!
“I love you Ethan,” she blurted, not able to look him in the eye as she said it.
Seconds passed, maybe minutes. She couldn’t say for sure, it felt like an eternity. When she couldn’t stand the wait any longer she looked up into his eyes, which harboured a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
“Ethan?”
He slowly pulled his hands from hers and straightened in his chair. “I don’t understand.” His eyes focused on a spot above her left shoulder. Then down at the floor between their feet. And then down at an imaginary piece of lint on his t-shirt. He looked everywhere but at her. In the million scenarios she’d envisioned, this wasn’t how any of them went down. The fact he’d pulled his hands from hers also did not seem to be in her favor.
“I love you. I’m in love with you, Ethan. For quite a while now to be honest.” She looked up at him, hopeful. He just needed time to digest the information. He hadn’t turned her down yet, there was still hope.
He stood abruptly, sending his chair tumbling backwards, and thrust a hand into his hair. He didn’t seem to notice the chair was now on its side. “I don’t understand what you’re expecting me to say, Ivy.” He began pacing, back and forth. “What am I supposed to say?”
She chewed at her lower lip and shrugged. “You love me too?”
He stopped pacing and stood before her. “I do.”
Her heart soared.
“As a friend. And my stepsister.”
Her heart went crashing into her stomach. “But…”
“I’ve never considered you in that way, Ivy.”
“I just…”
He gave his head a little shake, catching her gaze for the first time since she’d made her declaration. “I’m sorry, Ivy.”
A sob caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes. She leapt from the bed and brushed past him. When he grabbed for her hand she shook him off, racing from his bedroom across the hall and into the sanctuary of her own room. As soon as the door to her room was closed and locked she allowed the tears and sobs free rein. She began practically tearing the crimson-coloured dress from her body and tossing it into the corner in a heap, not giving a damn it cost her three weeks’ pay working at the local coffee shop as a barista. She’d never wear it again so what would it matter.
As she lay curled up in a ball on her bed she hoped Ethan would change his mind and come to her, telling her he messed up and wanted her too. He didn’t. She left the next morning without saying another word to him.
Chapter 1
~ The Present ~
Ivy
“I can’t believe it, Ivy. I just... Wow.”
Ivy caught her best friend Cassidy Reynolds’ blue eyes in the full-length mirror on the back of her closet door and smiled. She refocused her attention to her reflection, and her smile widened looking at the beautiful green-eyed girl staring back at her. “One hundred and twenty pounds,” she said, more to herself than Cassidy. It wasn’t until she arrived home and saw all the pictures of herself at two hundred and forty pounds that how much weight she’d lost really hit home; she could barely believe she used to be that girl.
“One-hundred and twenty pounds. That’s how much I weigh now. Amazing, huh?”
“It’s insane. It really is,” Cassidy confirmed.
It was. All her life she was always the fat girl. Throughout school she was always the “fat friend” who stood by and watched all her friends go out on dates and have boyfriends while she stayed home on the weekends hoping she could be one of those girls, the beautiful ones, like her stunning blonde bombshell best friend Cassidy. Middle school had been a nightmare, she’d been teased relentlessly – high school was marginally better. It still hurt when she gave it any thought – so she didn’t. At least she tried not to anyhow.
“I think we need to go out and show you around. Fifteen months away from home is way too long to go without my bestie.”
Ivy was tempted, but she was on a mission tonight. She turned to face her friend. “I’m really sorry Cassidy, I really am. I just… after what happened… I needed to get away and then when I started losing weight I didn’t want to come back until I was the new me…” she crinkled up her nose, tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder. “Does that make sense?”
Cassidy got up from Ivy’s double bed and walked over to give her friend a warm embrace. “I get it. But I just don’t understand why you’d even want him after he was such a jackass to you. He doesn’t deserve you. He didn’t then and certainly doesn’t now.”
“I want him because he was such a jackass,” Ivy corrected. Her mind rushed back to the memory of her spilling her heart out to her stepbrother before she left for college. His rejection was swift and perhaps a little blunter than he’d intended, but he’d made it clear, she wasn’t his “type.” Meaning, she was a little too chunky – correction, too fat, to warrant his interest. No doubt it was her weight because up until that moment they’d been close friends, their personalities matching perfectly. Her yen to his yang. Her confession and his rejection changed all that.
“Do you think this looks good on me?” Ivy ran her hands along the red form-fitting mini-dress she was wearing. The dress clung to her curves like a second skin. She wasn’t used to this type of clothing and still felt a little ill at ease showing off her body. So many years of insecurities about her body had taken a toll on her self-esteem, she supposed. She’d always admired the larger girls who seemed to own it, she was just never able to.
“It’s incredible. You’re easily the hottest woman in town, he’ll be drooling over you and I guarantee he’ll be kicking himself for being such a jerk before. So what’s the plan anyhow?”
“I’m going to seduce Trey.”
Cassidy’s brow knit as she took a step back. “I don’t get it. It’s Ethan you want. Why?”
A wicked smile spread across her lips. “Because I’m going to have them both.”
“Excuse me?” Her friend’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean. The best way to get at Ethan is to go after his best friend. Besides, you know how badly Trey treated women in high school. He deserves to be taught a lesson just as much as Ethan. Think of all the girls they’ve cheated on and left heartbroken over the years. It’s about time someone showed them how bad it feels to be treated like they’re insignificant.”
“But how? I mean…” Cassidy raked a hand through her golden hair. “You know they’re both a couple of playboys – that hasn’t changed since you’ve been away.”
“True, but here’s the thing. They both expect the women to fall head over heels like they always do for them. They don’t expect to be the ones being led on. And they always go for looks, not what’s in the woman’s head.”
“Yeah, but how do you expect to rope them in? I mean you’re gorgeous… But…”
“Because, I know them. I know them both, extremely well. I know how to catch them and how to reel them in. I know what they like in a woman, and I know how to be that woman. I know my weight was the only thing holding Ethan back before. Without that between us it should be easy enough.”
Despite her words she was still nervous. Well over a year had passed. They might be entirely different people by now. According to Cassidy they weren’t, they were the same kind of guys who’d left her broken-hearted, but there was no guarantee.
Cassidy draped her arm over her friend’s shoulders. “Well, on the behalf of half the women of Portland, Maine, if you can pull this off, we thank you. About time those jerks learned a lesson.�
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~*~*~*~*~
Ivy’s heart rate accelerated as she heard the roar of the two Kawasaki Ninja motorcycles coming down the street and then rolling into the driveway of their parents’ two-story home. Ethan had moved out last year, but was housesitting while their parents were on vacation travelling by train across Europe.
Maybe this is a bad idea. She looked at herself in the full-length foyer mirror. Nervous green eyes stared back. The thought that within a couple of minutes she’d be face to face with the guy who broke her heart was bringing back all the feelings of insecurity she’d felt before the weight loss.
