Rising from the Ashes

by Jessica Prince

  She huffed out a sigh and rolled her eyes before sliding off of me and out of bed, leaving me with a killer view of her ass as she walked into the bathroom to clean up.

  “I’m glad you had fun, Savvy,” I said as she crawled back into bed with me minutes later. I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her, never wanting to let her go. “I know everyone was thrilled to see you.”

  She laid her head on my chest and hugged me back. “I know. I could feel it. I forgot how nice it was to be around a family who are so open and loving with each other.”

  She said it nonchalantly, but I knew how much it bothered her to have parents who were so disinterested in her life that she only saw them on holidays for the required family time. My heart broke for her. If there was anyone in the world who deserved all the love a family could give, it was Savannah. There wasn’t a person on the planet who went out of her way more than Savannah. The woman would bend over backwards for the people she cared about. She spent her entire life putting everyone else before herself, and I admired the hell out of her for it.

  We lay silent for several minutes, just enjoying being with each other, and I caught myself thinking about how much I loved watching her with Caitlyn. Growing up with my family, I’d known from an early age that I wanted to have children of my own. When I’d seen Savvy holding my perfect little niece, in that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to make that family with her. She was my world, and I was never going to let her go.

  “So, what did you think of Caitlyn?” I asked casually, not wanting to jump right in at the risk of causing an infamous Savannah Morgan Freak-Out.

  I could feel her smile against my chest, and I couldn’t help but grin in return.

  “She’s so beautiful. I could’ve just held her all night. I love the way all little babies smell. I seriously wanted to steal her from Michelle and Chris.”

  “How do you feel about having a baby?”

  She lifted her head and looked at me. “Like right now?”

  I knew the nervousness was setting in when she started biting her bottom lip. I needed to ease the tension.

  “No, not right now. I might be a stud, but I don’t think I could pull it off right this second. Gimme a few minutes.”

  She punched me in the gut and laughed when I let out an oomph. Once I got my breath back, I looked at her expectantly. She took a deep breath, and I held mine in anticipation.

  “Yeah…” she finally answered although I could see something lingering in her eyes. I just wasn’t able to tell what it was. I had told myself over and over that her hesitancy wasn’t a big deal, that she’d eventually let her guard down, but I wasn’t completely confident that it was true.

  I didn’t like the way she would start to shut down whenever we got on the topic of our future. I knew she loved me, but it seemed like she was always waiting for something bad to happen, for the other shoe to drop. I just couldn’t figure out what she was waiting for.

  “I’d like to have a baby one day.” A playful grin slowly spread across her face. “Maybe after I’m done slumming it with you and settle down with the right guy, you know? Have the white picket fence, a golden retriever named Scout, and two point five kids.”

  There’s my sarcastic girl.

  I slid my hands to her waist and started tickling. There wasn’t a woman in the world more ticklish than Savannah.

  “Take that back,” I demanded. I refused to stop even as she flopped all over the bed, laughing and trying to get away.

  “All right, all right!” she squealed. “I take it back, I swear!”

  I stopped tickling and quickly flipped her over to pin her beneath me. “Who are you having kids with?” I tried my hardest to sound casual, but a large part of me needed her to acknowledge what we were to each other. I couldn’t give a shit if I was acting like a vagina. I needed her to say it.

  She stared up at me, and I thought I saw something flicker across those beautiful eyes, only for it to disappear before I could tell what it was.

  “Who are you having kids with, Savannah?” I asked again with a little more conviction. I knew I should try not to freak her out, but I needed an answer.

  Finally, after a few heart-stopping seconds, she whispered, “You.”

  With just that one little word, I was able to breathe again. “That’s right, sugar, no one else. It’s just me and you from here on out.” I leaned down and kissed her like my life depended on it—because in some ways, it did. After just a few short moments, I started getting hard, and I needed her again.

  I trailed my lips down her neck and nipped at her collarbone as I moved my hand between her legs. She was already dripping wet, ready for me. I loved how her body instantly responded to my touch.

  I gently brushed over her clit, intentionally trying to make her beg. I had to hear how desperate she was for me. I ran a finger through the wetness and slowly pushed it in before pulling it out at the same pace. Her hips jerked in an attempt to get my finger back, but I wasn’t done playing.

  “Tell me what you need, baby,” I whispered before teasingly flicking my tongue over her nipple.

  “Please…Jeremy,” she moaned.

  A light sheen of sweat covered her flawless skin, and I knew she was getting desperate.

  “Please what, sugar? Tell me what you want.”

  She grabbed my wrist and held it tightly. “Quit playing around and fuck me already,” she demanded.

  There’s my Savannah.

  I loved it when she got fiery in bed. Never one to play the timid little thing, she knew what she wanted and accepted nothing less.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I replied with a smile as I drove myself balls-deep into that perfect, tight warmth of hers.

  Christ, I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life, but when she started writhing and moaning underneath me, I couldn’t help but move with her.

  Savannah’s hips lifted, meeting me thrust for thrust. “You feel so good.”

  “Tell me you love me,” I demanded.

  She opened her eyes and locked in on mine, so I could see how serious she was.

  “I love you so much, Jeremy,” she whispered.

  And I could hear the conviction in her words.

  “Only ever you, sugar.”

  I tried to roll out of bed for the third time, but was yanked back into Jeremy’s rock-hard chest…for the third time.

  “Jer, I gotta go. You’ve already made me late.”

  “Mmm,” he mumbled into my neck as he brushed my hair aside.

  I loved it when he did that. It was like he was trying to commit my scent to memory.

  “Blow ’em off, Savvy. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

  I started laughing hysterically. “I’m so telling the girls you just said that.”

  That got him to let me go. He flopped onto his back and looked at me, wide-eyed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  I looked at the clock and gave him a cheeky grin. “Well, I don’t know. I’m already ten minutes late, and I’m gonna have to deal with the wrath of Stacia. You’d have to come up with something pretty amazing to keep me from ratting you out.”

  He rolled back over me and started kissing down my neck. “Anything you want, baby. Just name it.”

  I planted a kiss on his lips and pushed him off of me. “I’ll take you up on that…later. Now, I really have to go.”

  I laughed as Jeremy smacked my ass before I headed to the bathroom.

  I rushed in to the diner twenty minutes late and fully prepared to have Stacia lay into me. For such a soft-spoken, sweet, sometimes ditzy woman, she took Bridezilla to a whole new level. I knew I could be a bitch, but she had even me scared to death.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late,” I tried explaining quickly. “It’s just that Jeremy—”

  “It’s okay,” Stacia interrupted, immediately making me question her cheerful demeanor when she should have been tearing my head off. “Jeremy already called and explained.”

  Ah, he�
��s so damn sweet.

  “He told us you couldn’t keep your hands off of him this morning and that you were running late because you said you couldn’t function without a quickie.”

  That son of a bitch!

  “That son of a bitch!”

  Stacia looked at me with a less than genuine smile. “It’s okay, really. I’m just so happy you guys are back together that I can’t even be mad you were late on such an important day.”

  And cue the guilt trip.

  Emmy’s head dropped down on the counter and Lizzy started cursing under her breath. It had been weeks of Stacia’s bipolar attitude. One minute, she would be sweet as pie, and the next, I wanted to strangle her with the ribbon she’d picked for the bouquets. Enough was enough already.

  I placed my hands on Stacia’s shoulders and looked her directly in the eye. “Sweetie, you know I love you, but if you don’t knock off this crazy, bitch-ass, bride-to-be routine, I’m gonna take those dyed-to-match heels you forced me to buy and shove them into something that God created strictly to be an out hole.”

  Emmy and Lizzy busted up laughing while Stacia crossed her arms and began to pout.

  “I haven’t been that bad,” she whined.

  “Uh…yeah, you have, honey. You told the cake lady that you’d burn her store to the ground if she put so much as one fondant flower on your cake.”

  “And Gavin told Luke you threatened to neuter him,” Emmy piped up. “I believe he said, and I quote, ‘If you order that white tux, I swear to Christ, I will cut your balls off and shove them down your throat.’ Does that sound about right?”

  Stacia jumped off her stool and stomped her foot. She actually stomped her damn foot. “It wasn’t that it was just white. It had fucking tails, for Christ’s sake! And one of those ugly ass ruffled shirts. He said it made him look like Prince! Who the hell wants to look like Prince? All three of you would have done the exact same thing!”

  She had a valid point on that one. None of us could argue with her logic when it came to Gavin’s tuxedo choice. It sounded almost as bad as the disastrous ring he’d originally picked out for her. That reminded me—he still owed us a massive thank you for that save.

  We gave her a few more seconds to simmer down before I asked, “Feeling better now?”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then smiled like she hadn’t just gone postal in the middle of Virgie May’s. “Yeah, I feel much better.” She grabbed her purse off the bar and headed for the door.

  The only thing the rest of us could do was follow in stunned silence.

  “What’s up, bitches?”

  As soon as we walked through the door of the bridal shop, Mickey was standing there with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a glass filled to the top in the other. We all let out a collective squeal of excitement. She got more and more beautiful every time I saw her with all her glossy, dark long hair and bright hazel eyes. Dressed in low-rise jeans, black Chucks that had seen better days, and a Rolling Stones T-shirt that was cut off at the midriff, her gorgeous tattoos and curves were on display for the world to see. I always envied that she could make so much ink look good. The piercings in her nose and lip added even more flair.

  Mickey was Stacia’s cousin and her maid of honor. Emmy, Lizzy, and I had gotten to know Mickey when her parents had shipped her off to Cloverleaf to stay with Stacia’s family during the summers when we were younger. She’d been living in Austin with her boyfriend for a couple of years, so we didn’t get to see her as often as we wanted, but it was always a blast when she came to visit. She was one of the most outspoken and loud people we’d ever met, and we all adored her for it.

  “Drinking already?” I asked.

  She wrapped me in a hug and replied, “It’s happy hour somewhere. Don’t be jealous. There are glasses over there for all of you.”

  I headed straight for the table she was pointing at. “Oh, score!”

  Lizzy and Emmy booked it over right behind me, each grabbed a glass and promptly filled up. Since the three of us had already been subjected to the torture that was bridesmaid dress shopping, we got to relax. We were mainly there to be supportive of Stacia as she tried to pick out her wedding dress, and since Mickey hadn’t been able to come into town when we all got fitted, it was the perfect chance.

  A few minutes later, Mickey came out wearing the dress we’d all finally agreed on after the fuchsia nightmare. The dress was a pale yellow chiffon that worked perfectly with Stacia’s springtime wedding. It fell about knee length and the halter neckline was my absolute favorite aspect of the dress. It cut down to about mid-cleavage, but considering none of us could be classified as stacked, it looked totally awesome as opposed to trashy. Don’t ask me how a dress that low cut worked for a wedding. It just did.

  “Okay,” Mickey stated in a whisper as she looked back over her shoulder. “Before Stacia comes out, can I just say thank you from the bottom of my heart? She showed me a picture of the dress she originally wanted us to wear.” She made a face that looked like she’d just finished sucking on a lemon. “I was two seconds away from disowning her, so I wouldn’t have to be in the wedding and wear that dress.”

  “You’re welcome,” we all said at once.

  A few seconds later, Stacia came walking out of the dressing room and stepped onto the platform in front of us. The smile plastered across her face was only slightly more beautiful than the amazing dress she was wearing. “So, what do you guys think? Is this the one?”

  “Don’t you dare try on another dress,” was Emmy’s response.

  The rest of us couldn’t even form a reply. We were too busy taking in how stunning she looked. The ivory dress was a mermaid cut that hugged her curves like it had been made for her. The elegant lace overlay had delicate pearls sewn in throughout the entire dress. It had a sweetheart neckline and tiny lace cap sleeves that pulled across the back to form a gorgeous diamond cutout across her shoulder blades. Stacia had opted out of any type of tiara or anything like that, and instead, she had gone with a beautiful mantilla veil edged with the same lace on her dress. I couldn’t even form words for how much I loved it.

  I did something I wasn’t normally known for doing. I went totally girlie. “You look so pretty,” I whisper-sobbed before covering my mouth with both of my hands.

  “Holy shit. You made her cry!” Mickey exclaimed. “I thought Savannah Morgan crying was an urban legend. I think we found a winner, cuz.”

  I punched Mickey on the arm and looked over to see Emmy and Lizzy were both crying like little bitches as well.

  “I’m getting married!” Stacia screamed before doing her goofy-ass happy dance.

  Right there in the middle of a crowded bridal salon, the four of us jumped up onto the platform in front of a million mirrors and joined her.

  After telling Stacia ten more times that it was, in fact, the perfect dress and she shouldn’t even bother trying on anything else, we all made our way to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, Mama Maria’s, for lunch and celebratory margaritas.

  “So, Mickey, how long are you going to be in town?” I asked.

  She took a sip of her margarita. “I’m not really sure. It’s looking indefinite.”

  That got all of our attention.

  “What happened with you and Dale?” Lizzy asked.

  Dale and Mickey had been together on and off for the past four years. None of us really liked him. He was a loser who enjoyed smoking pot, playing Xbox, and mooching off of Mickey. Working wasn’t something that was high on his list of priorities, and there was no doubt that she could do so much better. But he was who she’d chosen, so as long as she was happy, we were happy for her.

  Stacia answered for Mickey, “She finally wised up and saw him for the leech he is. She’s gonna be staying with me and Gavin until she finds her own place.”

  “What about work?” Emmy asked. “If you’re looking, I need a waitress down at the diner.”

  The look Mickey gave Emmy was of sheer disgust. “I lo
ve ya, babe, but I’d rather rip my fingernails out with tweezers than serve people food.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, mainly because I totally agreed. I always helped Emmy out when she needed it, but I absolutely despised waiting tables.

  “You know, our friend Trevor just opened up a shop in town. I bet he’d hire you on with all your years of tattooing experience,” Lizzy replied.

  “Who’s Trevor?” Mickey asked.

  “He’s Luke’s friend from the Corps,” Emmy replied. “He moved to Cloverleaf not too long ago.”

  I chimed in, “That’s actually a pretty damn good idea. I know he’s looking for good people, and you’re freaking brilliant. He’d hire you in a heartbeat.”

  The waitress stopped off with our food, and we all dug in.

  “That’s actually perfect,” Mickey responded between bites. “So, what’s this Trevor guy like? Is he hot?”

  My eyes instantly cut to Lizzy to see how she would react to Mickey’s question. We were all convinced that something was going on between Lizzy and Trevor, but both had denied it incessantly, insisting they were strictly friends. But every time they were around each other, Trevor tracked every move Lizzy made, like he couldn’t stand not having her in his sight. And she would cater to him like she’d been in a relationship with him for years. She’d do little things like grab him a beer when he needed one, and he wouldn’t even have to ask. Because he was allergic to nuts, she always made sure to bring something he could eat whenever there was a party. The two of them would even finish each other’s sentences. It would have been adorable—if they weren’t so damn ignorant about what was going on.

  I thought I might have seen a brief flutter of something flash across Lizzy’s face, but before I could be sure, it was gone and she was her composed, normal self.

  “Yeah,” she responded. “He’s actually really good-looking. You definitely need to meet him. You’re totally his type.”

  What the hell?

  I glanced around the table to see Emmy and Stacia both wearing the same confused as hell expression as I was.