by JL Paul
“To our little princess,” Cole began. Ally rolled her eyes at him. “May she kick ass and take names this summer!”
They all touched glasses and sipped their champagne.
“Oh, hang on,” Jamie said. “I got one!”
Ally groaned and fixed him with a warning glare. “So help me, James…”
He smiled and patted her cheek. “To my favorite cousin,” he began, raising his glass. “May she always put us in our places.”
Everyone touched glasses and drank - everyone but Ally who gave Jamie a puzzled look.
“What?” Jamie asked. “I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”
“What was that? I thought we were toasting softball,” she asked.
He shrugged. “It just seemed fitting.”
She rolled her eyes and sipped at her glass.
“My turn,” RJ declared, lifting his glass once Cole went around and refilled everyone. “For Ally,” he smiled sweetly at her. “Heaven help the coach, umpire, or opposing player who crosses her the wrong way!”
They all drank again, except for Ally.
“Hey,” she protested. “That’s not fair.” They all looked at her and Stephanie fingered her lip. Ally sighed sheepishly. “Okay, okay, so it’s a little fair.”
“My turn,” Stephanie said. “I don’t know you too well Ally, but I have to say after watching you play today and after being on the receiving end of your right hook, I think whoever made up the saying “girls rock,” had you in mind.”
“Here, here,” Ally smiled, clinking her glass with Stephanie’s.
Cole groaned as he flung an arm around Ally’s shoulder and kissed her temple. “Don’t feed her ego.”
“My ego?” Ally protested as she set her glass on the table. She jabbed a finger in his chest. “Yours is so big, I’m surprised it fits in this room!”
A coy smirk graced his lips as he yanked her closer and kissed her. “You love it and you know it, princess.”
She edged back and fixed him with an evil look. “Don’t call me that!”
His smirk widened. “You are a little princess and you know it.”
RJ and Jamie looked at each other. “There goes that sexual tension again.”
Ally overheard him and turned her murderous eyes on RJ and Jamie. “Don’t start that again. There is no sexual tension between Cole and me.”
“Whatever you say, cuz,” Jamie said, placating her. “I believe you.”
“Aw, Ally,” RJ said as he bounced around the table and jerked her out of Cole’s arms. He picked her up and placed a loud kiss on her cheek. “If we didn’t have all that tension between you and Cole, our lives would be tedious and boring.”
“You four are anything but boring,” Stephanie stated.
RJ set Ally down on her feet and hugged her once more before releasing her to Cole. He located the nearly empty bottle.
“All right,” RJ said, refilling everyone’s glasses. “Back to the toasts. Who’s next and what are we toasting?”
Ally peeked out from Cole’s arm and he gave her a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at all her friends, gathered together.
“I have a toast,” Ally whispered. She picked up her glass. “To old friends,” she said, nodding at Cole, RJ, and Jamie. “And new friends,” she nodded at Stephanie. “No matter what’s happened in the past and no matter what happens in the future; whether we stick together or have to go our own way, may we always love, protect, defend, and be there for each other.”
After they clinked her glass, she watched them drink and she knew in her heart, no matter what it would take, they would always stick together somehow. Always.
Epilogue
Ally sat beside Jamie, fidgeting in her chair. She glanced at her watch as she released a long, drawn out breath.
“Chill, Ally,” Jamie said as he draped an arm around her shoulders.
“They’re ready and warmed up but Rhys Redden is nowhere to be found. What if he changed his mind?”
“He didn’t. Something probably came up and he’s trying to take care of it quickly,” Jamie said but he couldn’t hide the worry in his eyes.
Ally stood up and peeked her head out of the open door. “Where are the parents, anyway?”
“Talking to Sasha,” Jamie said. “I guess she probably knows where Rhys is.”
“She is his wife,” Ally muttered as she strolled back to her chair and plopped down.
The room was small with one wall made of glass that allowed visitors to view the occupants in the room next door. In that other room Cole, RJ, Ren, and Parker were toying with their instruments, waiting nervously to play for Rhys Redden.
The ink had barely dried on RJ’s and Cole’s diploma and they were packing their bags and instruments to head to L.A. Nate, Richie, and Parker’s father, naturally, planned to accompany them and Ally was slightly surprised when her dad announced that he and Mark were going along, too.
Ally still had two weeks until she had to report to training camp for the State Team and while she was excited, she was glad that Cole’s meeting with Rhys Redden occurred before she had to leave. She wanted to be there for him no matter what.
Ally groaned and tossed her head back, annoyed and nervous. “I wish they’d play already. I know they’ll knock Rhys’s socks off and I can hardly stand the waiting.”
“I have to say, cuz, that patience is not one of your strongest attributes,” Jamie teased.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her leg, wiggling her foot while she watched Cole talk quietly to the others. She smiled as she replayed the past few months in her head. Things had been going well with them – not perfect but well. They’d taken things at a slower pace – going out on dates and spending plenty of time talking. It was working for them and she was satisfied with the pace. She’d stopped worrying about them taking things too far, knowing they had plenty of time for that and when the moment was right, it would happen and they’d be able to deal with it. Cole had confided in her that he’d been worried about that, too, but had decided that it was best if they held off on the physical side of their relationship until she was out of high school.
“Hey, princess,” Jay greeted as he breezed into the room with Nate, Richie, and Mark. Rhys Redden trailed behind them, huge grin on his face.
“Hi, Ally,” he said as he gave her a quick hug before turning to shake Jamie’s hand. Ally’s cheeks heated a bit as she remembered the painful crush she’d had on Rhys years and years ago. It had faded, of course, but she still thought he was quite handsome with his dark brown hair that curled at the ends and the sexy hoops he wore in each ear. He wasn’t as tall as her father but he had an athletic build that he’d maintained even though he was well into his forties. Ally always blushed like an idiot when he talked to her.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Rhys said, rubbing his hands together and approaching the intercom. He pushed a button and asked the guys to go ahead whenever they were ready.
Ally shivered in anticipation and glanced at Nate. She blinked several times in surprise at how stiff he was – his face pale. She got out of her chair to stand beside him and wrap an arm around his waist.
“Are you nervous, Nate?” she asked.
He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. He winked at her, a grin curling the corners of his mouth. “Maybe a little. I remember what it’s like to be on the other side of the glass and I guess I’m a little nervous for them.”
“They’re awesome. Rhys is going to love them,” she said.
Nate squeezed her shoulders again and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I know.”
As soon as RJ struck a chord and the others jumped in, Ally watched Rhys carefully. Unfortunately, he had a wonderful poker face and his expression didn’t reveal a single thing. She frowned, wishing she could read his mind to see what he was thinking.
They finished their first song and Rhys bobbed his head, a small smile cracking his lips. He bent over the inte
rcom and spoke to the guys again.
“That was outstanding, fellas. Let’s hear a couple more, okay?”
RJ nodded, a grin toying with his mouth. They started on another song and Ally began to relax. The guys were having fun, doing what they did best and playing one of their more popular songs from school. Ally shared a grin with Jamie and they both knew that their friends had sealed their fate.
When they finished, Rhys turned to the adults and beamed. “Richie, Nate – you two did an excellent job. I’m sure the rest of you had a hand in it, too.”
“Thanks,” Richie said, a little green.
“I want them,” Rhys said, a huge grin bursting out on his face. “I want to sign them now before someone else snaps them up. Now, I know Ren’s still in school and we can work something out about that.”
Jamie swept Ally in his arms and swung her around the room as Richie and Nate stepped forward to shake Rhys’s hand. They moved into the other room to let the guys know but Jamie and Ally remained behind to watch through the glass – they’d have a chance to celebrate with their friends soon enough.
As Ally watched them talk excitedly, her heart twinged a bit. Sure, she was worried that maybe this new development would put more stress on their still fragile relationship but when Cole turned to the window and graced her with a huge smile and a wink, she knew that somehow, some way; it would all work out in the end.
“Come on, cuz,” Jamie said, taking her hand. “Let’s go congratulate them.”
She followed him into the chaotic other room and allowed the excitement to blow through her as she hugged and kissed her friends. When Cole held her against his chest, pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek, and whispered in her ear that he loved her, her feelings of a few minutes ago were reinforced.
When RJ and Jamie joined them and all four of them had their arms wrapped around each other, Ally was overwhelmed in love. She knew then that no matter what happened, she’d always have her friends.
Always.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
