Forever You

by Allie Everhart

  “That’s how we met,” Kelly says. “But we were never really friends. And truthfully, I think they only invited us to their party because of Kiefer’s connections in Hollywood. As you know Ava aspires to be an actress and her mother wanted Kiefer to connect Ava with the right people.” She checks her watch, then stands up. “Maybe I should go check on Harper. Or is Sean up there with her?”

  “Yeah, they’re both getting ready,” I tell her.

  “Oh. Okay.” She sits back down. “So it’s nice you’ll have some time with Lilly tomorrow. She’s such a sweet little girl. I remember when my girls were that age and—”

  “Hi, Mom.” Harper comes down the stairs with Sean right behind her. “Hi, Dad. You guys are early.”

  “Traffic was lighter than normal.” Kiefer stands up and gives Harper a hug.

  Kelly does the same. “You look beautiful, honey. Love the dress.”

  “Thanks. So Sean was thinking we could try out this new restaurant about 20 minutes from here.”

  Sean smiles and extends his hand to Kiefer. “Good to see you again, Mr. Douglas.”

  Kiefer just nods, quickly shaking his hand. He’s not at all friendly to Sean. I don’t understand it. Last year when I told Harper about Garret’s parents not letting me date him, she acted like that was crazy. She said only East Coast rich people do that, and that her parents didn’t care who she dated. But obviously they do care because they don’t want her dating Sean. That’s even more clear now than it was a few weeks ago when we were at her house. Even Kelly doesn’t seem to like Sean now. She just stands there with an awkward smile, not saying anything to him.

  “We should get going,” Harper says. She’s trying to act like everything’s fine, but she senses the tension in the room. We all do.

  I feel really bad for Harper. I know she loves Sean, but I also know she wants her parents’ approval. And for some reason, they don’t approve of Sean.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  19

  Garret and I head back to our place as the four of them leave for dinner.

  “That was weird,” I say to Garret as he rummages through the fridge to find something for dinner.

  “It was weird, wasn’t it?” Garret takes out a box of leftover Chinese food, opens it, sniffs it, and tosses it in the trash. “I get what you mean now. Kiefer doesn’t seem to like Sean.”

  “Kelly doesn’t seem to like him either. She acted like she liked him when we were at her house, but now she acts like she doesn’t.”

  Garret pulls out some lunch meat and opens the package. “We need to eat this stuff before it goes bad.” He tosses it in the trash. “You want to just order a pizza?”

  “Yeah, okay. So why do you think Harper’s parents are acting like that? Sean’s a super nice guy and he treats Harper well. How could they not like him?”

  Garret comes around the kitchen island and puts his arms around my waist. “What did I say about this week? No worrying. No stress. You’re only allowed to be happy. That’s it.”

  “I know. The Harper thing got me off track.” I loop my arms around his neck and kiss him. “I’m back to being happy. What kind of pizza do you want?”

  “What do I always want?”

  “Pepperoni.”

  “And what do we always get?”

  I laugh. “Sausage.”

  “And why is that, Jade?”

  “Because it’s my favorite and you love me.”

  He kisses me, then lets me go. “I’ll put the order in.”

  “Just get pepperoni.”

  “You don’t like pepperoni.” He swipes through his phone, searching for the number.

  “I like it. It’s just not my favorite.”

  “It’s happy week, remember? You get your favorite.”

  I cover his phone with my hand. “But making you happy makes me happy. It’s one of those annoying things that happen when you’re in love.”

  He takes my hand off his phone and kisses it. “Which is why I always get you sausage pizza.”

  “Well, it’s my turn to make you happy.” I take his phone and call the pizza place.

  “Jade, what you are doing?”

  I ignore him and when the pizza place answers, I order a large pepperoni.

  When I’m done, he pulls me into him and gives me a kiss. “I would’ve been fine with sausage. But thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” I bite my bottom lip and look up at him as I wrap my arms around his middle. “Now will you do something that makes me happy?”

  He gives me his sexy smile. “Right now? The pizza guy will be here in 10 minutes. Maybe even sooner than that. You know how fast that place is.”

  I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t talking about sex.”

  “Then what were you talking about?”

  “Can we watch the crime-fighting dog movie while we eat dinner?”

  He tilts his head toward the ceiling, then back down again as he sighs. “Seriously? Haven’t we watched that thing enough?”

  “It’s what we watched when we first met and now that we’re getting married, I want to relive all that stuff we did when we were just friends.”

  “So you’re getting all sentimental on me now? That’s so unlike you, Jade.”

  “It’s unlike the old Jade. Not the new Jade. I want to remember all the stuff we did when we were just getting to know each other. Remember when I found that dog movie in your box and you chased me around the room trying to get it?” I smile. “And then trapped me up against the wall?”

  Garret holds me closer, gazing into my eyes. “Yeah. I remember.”

  “I wanted to kiss you so damn bad that night. I thought for sure you’d kiss me when you had me trapped like that. I swear I couldn’t breathe I was so nervous.”

  He raises his brows. “You were nervous about me kissing you? Why? You just said you wanted me to.”

  “Yeah, but you’re really hot. I’d never kissed a guy as hot as you. I was sure you had a ton of experience and I didn’t have much at all, so I thought you’d think I was a bad kisser. That’s why I acted like I didn’t want to. But then later you sat next to me on your bean bag chair and all I could think about was kissing you. I just wanted you to kiss me. And then you didn’t.”

  He laughs. “I swear, Jade, if you’d just asked for what you wanted, this relationship would’ve moved a hell of a lot faster.”

  “I didn’t want it to move faster.” I pause, thinking back to last year. “Well, I guess that night I did, but now I’m glad it didn’t. I’m glad we were friends first. Did you want things to move faster?”

  “I did at first. You were hot as hell. I couldn’t take my eyes off you so yeah, I wanted to move things along. But when I finally kissed you—”

  “I know. I freaked out. But that day in the pool? Before I broke down? It was great. I’d never felt like that before. I felt safe with you. I didn’t even know you that well but I still felt safe with you. And that kiss was amazing. Everything about that moment was amazing until I screwed everything up.”

  “You didn’t screw anything up. It all worked out in the end.”

  I reach up and kiss him. “Your kisses are still amazing. I’ll never get tired of kissing you.”

  “Are you just saying that to get me to watch that talking dog movie?”

  “No!” I playfully punch him. “See? I try to give you a compliment and you don’t even accept it. This is why I never give you compliments.”

  He smiles. “I’ve got an idea.” He picks me up and sets me on the kitchen counter, standing between my legs, his hands planted on each side of me. “We’ll watch the talking dog movie but we’re going to relive that night when we first watched it.” He leans closer, his eyes on mine. “I’m going to chase you around the room trying to get that damn movie and I’m going to back you up against the wall, just like I did that night. But this time. . .” He pauses and we’re so close we’re breathing each other’s air. “This time, I’m going to kiss you. And I’m going to keep kissi
ng you until you tell me to stop. And if you don’t tell me to stop, we’ll keep going and see where that leads.”

  Garret has me breathing heavy, my body scorching hot. I don’t know how it’s possible he still gets to me this way. I should be used to him by now. We kiss and have sex all the time.

  His mouth is now at my ear. “Because that night, when you were backed against the wall wanting me to kiss you?”

  I close my eyes, my chest moving in and out as my heart beats faster. “Yeah?”

  “All I wanted to do was put my mouth over your beautiful, soft, full lips and kiss you for as long as you’d let me.”

  “Then why didn’t you kiss me?”

  The doorbell rings and he steps back and turns to answer it.

  “Garret, wait!” I grab his shirt. “Why didn’t you kiss me?”

  He peels my hand off his shirt. “You got money for the guy? I left my wallet upstairs.”

  I jump off the counter and go over to my purse and get the money and hand it to him. He meets the pizza guy at the door, then brings our pizza into the kitchen.

  “Tell me why you didn’t kiss me,” I say, taking two plates from the cabinet.

  “What are you talking about?” He takes a couple napkins from the drawer. “We just met. And I thought you said you only wanted to be friends.”

  I look at him, confused. “What?”

  He smiles. “The re-enactment has begun, Jade. It’s time to start insulting me and acting like you’re not interested.”

  I smile back. “Take your shirt off.”

  He looks down at his t-shirt. “Why?”

  “Because when we did this before, I really wanted to look at your naked chest and if we’re reliving this, I want to make it like I imagined it in my head. And that night, I was imagining you shirtless.”

  He keeps his eyes on me as he reaches behind his head and yanks his shirt off.

  I turn away and go over to our collection of movies, which we now have organized in a metal stand instead of a cardboard box. “I found a movie to watch.” I hold up the talking dog movie.

  “How’d that get in there?” Garret asks, coming over to me. “That’s my little sister’s movie.”

  “Yeah, sure it is. It’s okay, Garret. I don’t care if you like cartoons.”

  He stands right in front of me. “I told you. It’s not mine. Now give it back.”

  “Sorry, but we’re watching it.” I start laughing as I race around the room. Within seconds he’s got me backed against the wall, his hand leaning against it, our bodies close, just like we were that night.

  “Give me the movie, Jade.” He smiles and locks his eyes on me. I glance down at his chest, his golden-brown skin, his broad, muscular shoulders, and those perfect abs. Yeah, it’s way better when he’s shirtless.

  He reaches around my back for the movie, which causes his body to press against mine. I push my hips toward him, as I did before, and drop the movie. He catches it behind my butt and holds his hand there. Then he slowly leans down and kisses me. His lips brush mine, softly at first. He does that a few more times, then increases the pressure just a little. It’s torture. Pure torture. I’m so used to our regular all-out kisses that I just want to grab his face and kiss him like I normally do. But I don’t. I just let him continue.

  His one hand is still flat against the wall behind me, his other one still touching my butt. He breathes in and out over my lips, then kisses me again, a little harder this time. I part my lips but instead of putting his tongue past them, he kisses just my bottom lip, then my top lip, then both. Then he drops the movie and presses his hand into my lower back, bringing us closer.

  His kisses are slow and sensual, making my body so hot and so desperate for him I’m finding it hard to remain standing. And he hasn’t even put his tongue in my mouth. After a while he finally does, his tongue doing things that cause even more heat to build between my legs. He’s still holding me pressed tightly against him and I can feel him. All of him. And I want him.

  I slowly pull away.

  “You had enough?” he asks. “Because I said I’d stop whenever you told me to.”

  “Don’t stop. Take me upstairs.”

  He cocks his head and smiles. “It’s kind of soon for that, isn’t it? This isn’t even a date.”

  “Whatever. Just take me upstairs.”

  “You sure?” he asks, still smiling.

  “Yes!” I practically yell it.

  He picks me up in his strong arms and carries me upstairs to our room. Our pizza’s getting cold, but I don’t care. I have to have him. I can’t wait.

  The sex is amazing as always. And when it’s over, Garret props up on his side, looking down at me as he skims his warm hand over my skin.

  “So that’s what would’ve have happened if I’d kiss you that night?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” I consider it. “Actually, after a kiss like that, yeah, I probably would’ve had sex with you. That was a really good kiss. Better than good. It was indescribable.”

  “I’m glad you liked it.” He continues to move his hand along my skin, down the curve of my hip, over my stomach, and up my chest. It feels so good I don’t want him to ever stop.

  “So now are you going to tell me why you didn’t kiss me that night?”

  His eyes meet mine and he says, “Because that night, if I’d kissed you, I would’ve kissed you like I did just now. And like you said, that might’ve led somewhere. Somewhere I wasn’t ready to go with you.

  “Why not?”

  His hand moves to my face and cups my cheek. “Because even after only knowing you a few days, I had feelings for you that I’d never had with anyone else. From the moment I met you, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And I missed you when you weren’t around. When I think back to that night and how I felt about you, I think I was starting to fall in love with you. I didn’t realize it at the time. I hadn’t known you for very long so I wouldn’t let myself believe that I loved you. And it’s not the same love I have for you now. But it was still love. So I wanted to get to know you more before we took things farther. I’m glad we took things slow and used that time to get to know each other. Did I want to have sex with you that night? And all the other nights we hung out? Hell, yeah. But I also knew that we should wait. I wanted to wait. I wanted to wait until the time was right. And I wanted you to decide when that time was. I wanted you to decide when I was worthy of being with you like that.”

  I bring his face to mine and kiss him. “Just when I think I can’t possibly love you any more, I do.”

  “I love you, too.” He kisses me back. “Now let’s go eat.”

  I climb out of bed. “Don’t think this means you get out of watching the talking dog movie.”

  He starts putting his shorts on. “Damn. I thought the kiss would make you forget about that.”

  “Nope. We’re still watching it.” I yank my shorts on and slip my tank top over my head.

  He comes over and pulls my tank down over my waist. “Then I’m going to do what I really wanted to do when we watched that movie the first time.”

  “Which is what?”

  “Kiss you like I just did.” He smiles. “And touch you.”

  “Then we’ll end up having sex again. We won’t even see the movie.”

  He laughs. “We will if you learn to control yourself and tell me no.”

  “After you kiss me like that? And now you’re adding touching, too? I can’t say no to that. That’s impossible.”

  He walks out of the room, but turns back when he hears me pulling the covers over the bed. “Don’t bother making it. I’m sure we’ll be back here in an hour. Maybe sooner.”

  I roll my eyes at him.

  We go back downstairs and eat our pizza while watching the movie. I’ve seen this movie at least five times and the howling cartoon dogs still make me laugh. Halfway through the movie, Garret starts kissing me again and as expected, we end up right back upstairs. So we didn’t exactly re-en
act that night, but I like this version way better.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  20

  The next morning, Harper stops by as Garret and I are having breakfast.

  “Only three more days!” she squeals, joining us at the kitchen table.

  “You want coffee?” Garret asks her. “Or something to eat?”

  “No, I’m good. Sean and I already ate.”

  “How’d it go with your parents last night?” As soon as I ask it, Garret’s eyes dart across the table, giving me a look to butt out.

  Harper tries to maintain her smile but I can tell it’s a struggle. “It was fine. The restaurant was great. It was a little Greek restaurant that’s right on the water. They had people playing music and doing Greek dances. And the food was really good. You guys should try it. It’s only like a half hour up the coast.”

  “So what’s Sean doing today?”

  She smiles. “Making your wedding cakes. Not the real ones. He’s making some practice ones to make sure they come out right. Then he’s getting stuff prepped for Saturday. He wants to get everything set up now so he doesn’t have to worry about it. That’s why my mom and I are going shopping. We need to stay out of his way. You sure you don’t want to go shopping with us? Or you could meet us for lunch later.”

  “I can’t. Lilly’s coming over.”

  “Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting that.”

  “What time is your dad done with his um, meeting or whatever he’s doing?”

  Garret nudges my foot under the table and gives me that look again.

  “My mom said he’s not having dinner with us, so I guess that means he’s having dinner with whoever he’s meeting with. I don’t ask him about work stuff. It kind of stresses him out to talk about it.” She checks her phone. “My mom just texted. She’s on her way over. I’ll see you guys later.”

  She gets up and hurries out the door.

  “Jade.” Garret’s staring at me.

  “What? I was just making conversation.” I take his plate and mine to the sink.

  He meets me over there. “Stop thinking about that meeting today. It doesn’t have anything to do with me. Or us.”