by Jenna Byrnes
He went on, “Then I lost my cell phone. My mom reached me at the frat house Wednesday and said I needed to get home quickly. Dad had a major heart attack and was in bad shape.”
“How is your father?” Sarah asked.
“Surprisingly enough, he’s doing much better. Thanks for asking.” He smiled at Sarah and looked back at Mandy. “Anyway, I didn’t have your number. It was stored in my phone, but not my brain. So I wrote a note and asked Browning to deliver it to you. That was apparently my first mistake.”
“I never got a note,” Mandy said breathlessly.
Nick nodded. “I found that out. I haven’t punched my best friend since seventh grade, when he stole my girl Susan Nelson from me. I’ll be damned if I was gonna let him get away with it again.”
“You punched him?” Mandy almost smiled but held back.
“Damn right. He told me what he said to you. I was livid.”
“Why did he do it?” she asked, ignoring everyone but Nick at that moment.
He looked down, visibly upset for the first time. “Karl had some bullshit notion that you weren’t good enough for me.” He glanced at Ty and then Sarah, adding, “Sorry, ma’am.”
“You’re forgiven…for the language, that is,” Sarah replied.
He looked back at Mandy. “It totally pissed me off. I’ve never, ever felt that way, and you know it.” Nick glanced at Dee, then back at Mandy. “Mistake number two was assuming your best friend would get a message to you. She’s lucky she’s female, I don’t hit women.”
“I might.” Mandy looked into his eyes.
Nick went on, “My father’s been critical for days. As soon as I knew he was out of the woods, I flew back to school. My phone showed up at the frat, in the laundry of all places. I tried calling you first thing and reached Dee.” He smiled. “Giving away your phone was a pretty drastic step to avoid my calls.”
Mandy finally smiled. “You’re pretty high on yourself if you think that’s why I did it."
“Actually I’m pretty low on myself right now. My lack of consideration and just plain ignorance almost cost me the best thing in my life. I hope there’s still time to turn things around.” He glanced at Sam, then back at her. “Unless you’re busy with all those other guys who’ve been calling.”
She stepped away from the picnic table and towards him. “I have been pretty busy. Conjuring up wild scenarios takes a lot of time and energy. I’ve been thinking the very worst of you.”
Sam stood up. “Maybe we should give you two some privacy?”
“No, sir.” Nick held one hand up. “I understand Mandy’s been open and honest about our relationship with you. What I have to say needs to be said in front of everyone. I want you all to know exactly how I feel.”
“Okay then.” Smiling, Sam sat back down next to Sarah.
Mandy glanced nervously at her parents, then back at Nick.
He looked into her eyes. “I sort of freaked out when you told me you loved me. I thought it was too soon and that you couldn’t possibly feel that way yet. But this weekend, when I thought I might have lost you, I realised that I feel the same way. I love you, Mandy.” He gave her a hopeful smile.
She gasped slightly, still staring at him.
“I know how your mind works,” Nick continued, “and I can imagine what you were thinking of me. I fully intended to send you flowers this week, but that damn midterm caught me by surprise. It threw off my whole focus. See, my father is a stickler for grades. I make ‘em all right, but I have to study. The ‘A’s’ don’t come easy.”
“I should have realised you’d never do what I suspected.” She sniffed back tears. “When you didn’t call after Sunday, I thought you’d probably gotten what you wanted and were through with me.”
“Jesus Christ, Mandy! Are you kidding me?”
She heard a clucking noise behind her and knew the language wasn’t sitting well with either Dee or her mother. Right now, Mandy didn’t care. “Chill out!” she snapped over her shoulder.
Nick’s face turned red, and Mandy wasn’t sure if it was anger or embarrassment. Probably a mixture of both.
“Did you really think I’d do that to you?” he asked. “Really?”
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, willing the tears to stop but having no control at this point. “I didn’t know what to think when you didn’t call. Then I went to the frat house and saw your car. Lola was in your bed, and Karl said those nasty things.”
Nick laughed out loud and reached for her, pulling Mandy into his arms. “Lola was in my bed? That’s just disgusting. I slept there last night.”
Mandy buried her face in his chest and inhaled deeply. He was back. She didn’t know for how long. Maybe she’d always have nervous feelings where Nick was concerned. But for right now, she held on to him tightly.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered in her ear. “I never want to be separated from you like that again.”
She chuckled, pulling back to look at him. “That seems unlikely. Perry and Chicago are three hours apart.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” He took a step back and reached in his pocket, pulling out a small box. Looking askance at Dee then back at Mandy, he continued, “I think we’re both going to want new roommates next year. What if it were you and me?”
Nick pulled a diamond and pearl ring from the box and held it up. “This was my grandmother’s. If you don’t like it, I’ll get you another one. But wear it for now as a symbol of how much I love you.”
Mandy vaguely heard gasps behind her, but she couldn’t think about that. The beat of her heart was pounding loudly in her ears.
He dropped to one knee and clasped her hand. “I know it’s soon. We need to spend some time getting to know each other. But I want you wearing this while we do, so you’ll understand how much I really care for you. I never want you to doubt me again the way you did this week.” He slipped the ring on the tip of her left ring finger and paused.
“Mandy Stevens, will you marry me?”
She glanced down at the beautiful ring. If she were to choose one, she couldn’t have found anything lovelier. Looking into Nick’s face she saw hope, fear, love and a healthy dose of lust. Yep, that about covers it. She felt the same way. “Yes!” She wiggled her finger. “I would love to marry you!”
He grinned and slid the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. With a big sigh of relief, Nick rose to his feet and swept Mandy into his arms. “I love you,” he murmured softly.
“I love you too!” She squealed as he squeezed her waist and then brought his lips to hers for a soft, sweet kiss.
Mandy heard her family applauding, but she could only smile into the face of the man she loved. He looked so sweet, so sincere. She would never doubt his affection again. Pressing her body against his, she felt his erection stir as they kissed again, deeper this time.
When he pulled away he smiled and whispered, “Don’t do this to me in front of your family.”
She grinned back and said in a low voice, “If you can stick around, we’ll go somewhere and be alone. I’ve missed you too.”
He wiggled his hips against hers one last time. “Oh, I’m sticking around. We’ve got a lot of making up to do. And I need to get to know your family. They don’t exactly have the best first impression of me.”
“They’re going to love you because I do.” They kissed once again.
Sam cleared his throat. “Well, the chicken’s gotten cold and the potato salad warm. I think we should eat. Dee, Nick, will you join us?”
Nick wrapped an arm around Mandy’s shoulders and led her to the table. “Thank you, sir, I’d love to.”
Dee had a funny look on her face, so Mandy spoke up. “Stay, Dee. We want you to. I think you and Nick will like each other if you give him a chance.”
The girl nodded appreciatively and replied, “Thanks.”
Jake spoke up, smiling at Nick. “Welcome back, son.”
“Hey, Jake,” Nick replied. “Good to s
ee you here.”
“It’s good to be here.”
“I feel the same way.” Nick squeezed Mandy’s waist, and she looked at him lovingly.
“When can we eat?” Ty hollered, and everyone laughed.
“There a party going on, here?” Bailey spoke up as she walked through the gate.
“Hey!” Sarah said, and they all watched Bailey, Lissa and Denise walk in, followed by a grumpy-looking Doug. “You’re here!”
“Everybody’s here,” Bailey said slowly, looking around. “What’s going on?”
“Aunt Bailey.” Mandy smiled, her arm firmly ensconced around Nick’s waist. “This is my fiancé, Nick Westchester. Nick, this is my wonderful aunt, Bailey Kenny. My cousins Lissa and Denise,” she reached out to ruffle their hair, “and my favourite uncle in the whole wide world, Doug.”
“Pleased to meet you all,” Nick replied with a nod and a smile.
Bailey and Doug exchanged shocked glances. “Fiancé?” she whooped, “Oh my god! We have some catching up to do!”
“Oh yeah,” Mandy squeezed Nick tighter.
Sarah stepped up. “We have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe if I can get my daughter to release her death grip on this young man, we can get started. Nick, I’m Sarah Buchanan, Mandy’s mother.”
He smiled and shook her hand.
Mandy grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Mom! I guess my mind was someplace else.”
“I still don’t want to know about it,” Sarah whispered and took Nick by the arm. “This is my husband, Sam, and Mandy’s brother, Tyrone.”
“Hey Ty, I’ve heard great things about you.” Nick offered his hand to Sam and they shook. “Glad to finally meet you, sir,”
“Please! It’s Sam. We’re happy to meet you too.”
“I’m a little confused.” Doug scratched his head, stepping forwards. “First there was a boyfriend, then no boyfriend. Now there’s a fiancé?”
Mandy and Nick smiled at each other, and she nodded at her uncle. “That’s right.”
“You’re the kid from Chicago?”
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you, Doug.”
“You can call me ‘sir’,” he said with a half-scowl.
Sam stepped forwards. “Nick, you grew up in Chicago?”
“Yep. Born and raised.”
“So…Cubbies or White Sox?”
Mandy held her breath.
“Oh, definitely Cubbies, sir. My family has season tickets. Maybe we can all take in a game sometime.”
An audible sigh spread through the crowd, and Mandy smiled.
Sam gave a ‘thumbs up’ sign. “Good man. And it’s Sam, not ‘sir’.”
Doug cleared his throat. “I guess you can call me Doug, kid. Anyone with season tickets can’t be all bad.”
Bailey rolled her eyes. “There’s no accounting for taste.”
Doug grabbed her from behind and planted a noisy kiss on her cheek. “Yeah, I think you taste pretty good, and you’re a Stinky Sox fan.”
“Stop it!” Bailey pushed her husband away. “Not in front of—” She nodded towards Jake.
“Oh yeah.” Doug straightened up. “Hello, Jake,” he said sourly.
“Hi, Doug. You look good. You have a beautiful family.”
“Yeah, well, thanks.” His tone softened.
Mandy and Sarah exchanged hopeful glances and smiled.
Jake turned to Nick. “So what are you going to do in Chicago, young man? Do you have a job lined up when you get out of school?”
“I’ve got one more year of college, like Mandy. I was going to work for my father at his advertising agency. But maybe they need advertising agents here in Perry?”
Mandy exchanged sceptical glances with her family and looked at Nick. “Not very likely. But I’ll bet they need teachers in Chicago.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Why not? You need to be with your father. And I need to be with you.”
Nick stared at her in wonder then swept her into an embrace, and they kissed.
“Besides,” Doug commented with a sly smirk, “We’re going to want someplace to stay when we come up for ballgames.”
Mandy and Nick grinned at each other. “We’ll have a large house, full of spare rooms,” Nick announced.
“And full of love,” she countered.
“That too. We’ll have it all.” He pulled her into the circle of his arms and held her tightly.
“When are we going to eat?” Ty called out, and everyone laughed.
“Right now, baby,” Sarah told him. “Sam, can you bring some more plates, please? Our family is expanding by leaps and bounds.”
“Yeah,” Sam glanced around his full backyard. “Isn’t it great?”
About the Author
Jenna Byrnes could use more cabinet space and more hours in a day. She’d fill the kitchen with gadgets her husband purchases off TV and let him cook for her to his heart’s content. She’d breeze through the days adding hours of sleep, and more time for writing the hot, erotic romance she loves to read.
Jenna thinks everyone deserves a happy ending, and loves to provide as many of those as possible to her gay, lesbian and hetero characters. Her favourite quote, from a pro-gay billboard, is “Be careful who you hate. It may be someone you love.”
Email: http://www.jennabyrnes.com/
Jenna Byrnes loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.
Also by Jenna Byrnes
Unexpected Love: Nothing To Lose
Unexpected Love: Worth The Risk
Convincing Cate
Second Time Around
Carnal Collision
Taking Control
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