by Anthology
Of course, it was perfect—or, at least, I thought it was. I’d never had tiramisu before. “It’s delicious.”
“Thank you.” He took a large drink from his cup before setting it down on the table. The look on his face was serious but gentle. “I have to admit that I miss you, Briana. I’m…having a hard time functioning without you.”
Logan? He’d been the most put-together man I knew, not that I was acquainted with many, but I couldn’t imagine him struggling to keep his shit together. Part of me felt flattered that I had that kind of control over him.
But my life had been topsy-turvy, too, and it all stemmed from our decision to become involved with each other. “I’ve been having a hard time, too.”
“I know we touched on the subject earlier, but what are your plans for the future, baby?”
I’d forgotten how much I liked when he called me that. It made me feel loved, special. And I’d missed it. “I think I want to go to college, but I don’t know what for yet—and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to do it here in town, because I can’t afford anything else.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re planning to continue your education.” I nodded and forked up another bite of the tiramisu, which tasted even more amazing after my sip of coffee. Logan cleared his throat as I looked up from my plate. “You know Brendan’s going away to school.”
“Still to that university in California?”
“Yes—and still to play football, believe it or not. He liked the idea of a scholarship and, away from the high school mentality, he thought he might still like it. But I’ve been thinking about us…you and me. And I thought it might not be awkward openly dating you with him away for months at a time.” Before I could even process that thought, he continued. “That’s not till next summer, so maybe we could keep it under wraps until you graduate.”
“What about everyone else? The town talks.”
“Do you really care what everyone in town says, Briana?”
He was right, of course. I’d learned early on to grow a thick skin, because I knew from personal experience that they could be unkind, even without knowing the whole story. I’d survived by embracing and loving the friends I had and ignoring the assholes who thrived on gossip. Smiling, I answered, “I guess not.”
“Then, if it’s okay with your mom, I’d like to date you in secret.”
“Maybe you need to talk with her then.”
“If we’re going to be dating in earnest, I probably should.” He lifted his coffee cup to his lips and I gazed into his beautiful blue eyes. That twinkle reappeared as he placed the cup on the table and reached over to place my hand in his. “If there’s a chance that she could become my mother-in-law someday, honestly one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever thought of, then I guess I should.” He took a deep breath. “No better time than the present…”
After all that had happened, I wondered why the idea of us talking to my mom about dating made me nervous as hell…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A Few Years Later…
“Briana Kay Weathers.” My name, spoken slowly, echoed throughout the monstrous concert hall, a far cry from the auditorium in my old high school. What a relief it was to finally be able to walk up on the stage. People think community colleges are small, that they’re not important, but I can tell you they are—and the one in my hometown was plenty big. I didn’t know how many other students were graduating with me that warm day in May, but when you have to sit through most of the entire alphabet and that ordeal takes close to an hour, you know the number is high. It didn’t help that all of the preceding stuff had already taken so long that I’d been sitting for more time than one of my regular classes would have been and my butt was feeling numb.
And we still weren’t done…but the fact that my name was being called meant we were getting closer.
I hadn’t planned to walk when the college had started telling second-year students about preparing for graduation—buying my cap and gown and stuff like that—but my loved ones had talked me into it. “It’s a big deal,” they said, telling me I should be proud of myself, especially because I was the first college graduate in my family.
It was just an associate’s degree, I figured.
“That counts.”
So here I was, walking. As the president handed me my diploma (actually, it was just a holder; my actual paperwork would come in the mail later that summer), she shook my hand and said, “Congratulations.” By the smile on her face and the warmth in her voice, most people wouldn’t be able to tell I was one of the last of over a hundred students—and this was probably her thirtieth graduation, give or take. The only hint that she was growing weary of the proceedings was that the smile never reached her eyes.
But I didn’t care. I was graduating, damn it—something I never thought I’d do.
As I walked off the other side of the stage and heard them call the next name, some guy whose last name was Weigel, I looked out at the audience. I knew I’d heard Brendan whistling and shouting my name, and that had given me an indication of where they were all sitting. As my eyes scoured that part of the auditorium, I finally located them because Brendan was waving his arms in the air. I smiled and waved back before returning to my spot.
After the last person in the row joined us and we sat down, those of us who’d already crossed the stage sat tight while the last few students received their hard-earned diplomas…but now I was just waiting for the moment when I could throw my cap in the air.
Soon enough, the ceremony was over and suddenly there were people everywhere. Family members and friends, unwilling to wait for their graduate to come to them, had pressed in on the rows of us on the floor. That simply meant my patience had to last a little longer. I saw my family just a few feet away now, but they might as well have been miles. Still, I smiled and pumped my diploma-laden fist in the air. This was a moment I wouldn’t soon forget, one I’d earned with hard work, dedication, and a belief in myself that I hadn’t known was there until push came to shove.
Finally, though, the crowd started to thin and I was able to move from the place where I’d been trapped and join my family just past the rows of chairs. A tanned and grinning Brendan was the first to greet me, and he picked me up in a huge bear hug. “Great job, Bree. I can’t believe you graduated before me.”
I giggled. “You’ve finished as much school as I have. This doesn’t count.”
“Like hell it doesn’t. Be proud of yourself.”
“I am.” He kissed me on the cheek and then set me on the ground. I made sure I had my footing in those tall black heels before accepting a hug from Sterling, Brendan’s incredibly tall, athletic, handsome boyfriend with a rugged chin and wicked grin. They’d only been dating since September, but I’d already grown to love the guy. If he and Brendan weren’t soulmates, I didn’t know who was.
Certainly not me and Logan…but that hadn’t stopped us from trying. He was at my graduation as well but mom was next in line and she gave me a huge hug. “Honey, you make your mama proud.”
“Thanks, mom.” I hoped that was true. Our relationship today was a lot better than it had been most of my life, but that didn’t mean I completely trusted her or felt a strong mother-daughter bond. It had taken years for those ties to erode, and I imagined it would take just as long to re-establish them—but we were trying.
When mom let me go, Logan took me in his arms and gave me a passionate kiss. Even though we’d been open about our relationship for a while now, I still felt a little odd engaging in public displays of affection in front of my mom and his son. “Ready to party?” he asked.
I grinned, because I had no idea what was in store—I only knew that since I was twenty, there’d be no liquor involved.
Soon, Logan’s backyard was abuzz with people. I say Logan’s because, even though I spent the night there more than I did at home, we still hadn’t officially moved in together. I wasn’t quite ready. My boyfriend (a concept I’d finally acclimated to) L
ogan was barbecuing meat at the grill but he saw me and winked. I blew a kiss before answering my insistent cell phone. “Chelsea!” I walked to the edge of the yard close to side of the house where I could have a little privacy and quiet.
“Bree! I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“Oh, God, you crazy girl. I didn’t expect you to come here just for my piddly little graduation.”
“Quit that. There’s nothing piddly about it, girlfriend.” After a second, she asked, “Today was your graduation, right?”
I chuckled. “Yes. So what’s up with you?”
“Same old, same old.” If my life hadn’t taken such a happy turn over the past few years, I might have been envious of my dear friend; instead, I celebrated with her. “But guess who finally joined me?”
I already knew. “Tell Seth hi for me.”
“Of course! We’re going to do the tourist thing for a few days—and he’s going to be trying out his rusty French. We’re going to see who can do it better.”
“And then back to hitting the books?”
“It never stops.” Yes, in that regard I didn’t envy my friend. Going to college was hard enough—I couldn’t imagine doing it in an entirely different place, surrounded by an unfamiliar culture and language. My life was topsy turvy enough.
I could hear someone calling me in the background and supposed I needed to get out there, considering this little party was for my benefit. “I’m sorry, Chels. I have to go.”
“No worries, my friend. It’s almost bedtime here anyway. Just wanted to send my love and let you know I’m proud of you. You kick ass!”
“Love you back. If you get back here at Christmas, I’m setting aside some you-and-me time.”
“You know it!”
We hung up soon after, and the warm feeling still flooded my soul as I looked over the crowd, trying to figure out who’d tried to get my attention moments earlier. But I didn’t see anyone standing around expectantly, so I walked over to the table where my mom, Brendan, and Sterling sat, and I took the spot next to mom. She sat across from Sterling, and it looked like she was giving him the third degree. Part of me had hoped to save him, but Brendan had other ideas, and before I could sit down, he started talking, making me believe he’d been the one calling me earlier. “So what are you going to do next?”
“I’m going to school in Pueblo—I want to get a bachelor’s degree now.”
“Away from my dad?”
Sad but true. “Well, yeah…but everyone, including your dad, has convinced me that I need to focus on college and getting a good degree—and I’ve gone as far as I can go here, unless I want to go into nursing. Which I don’t.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“I have to figure that out before this fall. Maybe computer science…I love computers.” Brendan nodded—he still knew me. “But, no matter what, I can come home on the weekends—which is what I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing—or I could commute, but it’s about an hour and a half or two from here. Aside from all the gas, the only time it would be a problem is when it snows.” I smiled. “But I’ve already been accepted, and I have a scholarship. Other than choosing a major, I’m good to go.”
“That’s awesome.” Brendan hugged me and kissed me on the forehead. It was so strange now, looking back on the way we’d been. I couldn’t even picture myself kissing him on the lips nowadays. Just the thought felt strange. “So when are you going to get married?”
As if on cue, Logan approached us, and I felt his arm slip around my waist. “I’m trying to talk her into doing it now—get tickets to Vegas, make a small vacation of it. But I’d be willing to wait until you’re done with school if that’s what you really want.”
My attention was laser-focused on him. “Vegas? You never said anything about Vegas!”
His smirk said it all: This had been his plan for some time. So I decided to see how far I could push it. “Let’s make a deal.”
“Okay.” I glanced at Brendan and he was just as curious about what I was going to say as Logan was.
“How about we go…and I decide once we get there?”
I could see in his eyes that he was pondering my proposal. Instead of answering, though, he asked for my mom and Sterling’s attention first. “Any of you want to go to Vegas for the hell of it, just for fun?”
Sterling said he was up for it, but Brendan shrugged, not sure. Mom said, “I don’t know. Depends on if Russ wants to go.”
Oh, yeah. Mom had a new boyfriend now—and he was a nice guy. He actually let mom act like a mother instead of a sister, so that was cool.
“I think we’ll drive,” Logan said. “I’ve got three weeks off from school and we should be able to make it there in less than a day.”
Sterling said, “We’re in.” Brendan’s eyebrow was cocked. “We can afford it. Trust me.”
Mom nodded her head as if to say she was up for the trip, too. Man, the pressure was on.
“Maybe we can rent a big van or something—but don’t expect us to share the room with anyone.”
Sterling laughed and Brendan rolled his eyes. Then Sterling grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheek. So damn cute. They started kissing on the lips and my mom was texting—Russ, I thought—when Logan pulled me close, touching his forehead to mine. Boy, I could have stayed there forever like that…but then he reminded me that I was a hot-blooded young woman. After all, it was our sexual magnetism that had brought us together in the first place. I thought he was going to kiss me at first, but then he brought his lips to my ear. “One state down.” When he returned his gaze to mine, the devilish grin on his face made my toes curl, because I couldn’t figure out what it meant—but I suspected it was good news for me.
“What does that even mean?”
His voice was even lower, no doubt so no one else could hear him. “I’m gonna make you come in every state of the union if it’s the last thing I do. Colorado’s done and Nevada’s next. And,” he said, licking his lower lip with a twinkle in his eye, “if you play your cards right, we can probably take care of Utah while we’re at it.”
I raised my eyebrows—because I knew if Logan promised, he’d follow through. I sucked my lip into my mouth while I searched his eyes. Suddenly, I was feeling shy, probably because I was thinking of him making love to me across the country—and we were surrounded by people. “I’m game.”
He sealed it with a kiss.
I heard a lot of clapping in the backyard then and I prayed that they were applauding just because they loved the romantic gesture—because I would have died if they’d heard our conversation.
But why did I care? I loved Logan…and this was the beginning of our beautiful long life together. And it was more than just a kiss. He was my everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” While you’re more likely to see JADE C. JAMISON headbanging than Dirty Dancing, she—like Baby—won’t be put in a corner...or a box. So even though you can’t really stick her books in one genre, you could say she mostly writes steamy Contemporary Romance—and, while you’re at it, you’ll notice in her stories that Jade freaking loves Colorado, hard music, coffee, bad words, and CHOCOLATE!!! And so do her characters.
Oh, and there’s always a glimmer of hope...because if life doesn’t have that, what’s the damn point?
WEBSITE | AMAZON
HOLD MY HEART
by Brea Viragh
Story Edited by Deborah Anderson
CHAPTER ONE
She was in George Clooney’s arms. He held her close with his lips on her neck, alternating between kisses and whispering sweet things in her ear. Things like “you are the most beautiful woman in the world” and “I love voluptuous thighs on a woman. Please wrap yours around me.”
She was only too happy to oblige.
It was the best damn dream Olympia Trumbald had had in a long, long time. Until George opened his mouth and a harsh screech came out. Worse when she realized it was the smoke
alarm going off. At work. Again. And she was fully awake.
“Will someone shut that off?” Olympia called out. “Maintenance!”
It went off intermittently, a technological game the alarm played where it decided to screech at random and inopportune moments.
She held her hands over her ears until the piercing scream of the siren silenced minutes later. With her ears ringing, she thought longingly back to George and wondered if she had a free second to return to his arms.
“Are you listening to me?”
Nope, apparently not. Olympia turned around with a half groan, half growl, struggling to follow her assistant Ashleigh’s conversation. “Of course I am,” she answered tersely. “Go on.”
She spared a look at Ashleigh, with her punk-ish blond hair and blue crop top. It would have been better to spend time with George, she thought, following the girl—“girl” because Ashleigh was a scant twenty years old—through the main portion of the gallery. The girl looked like she would be better suited playing with dolls than helping Olympia handle the biggest gallery fundraiser of her career. The event that would make or break her promotion.
“We have a few more pieces from James Wilko to hang on the wall, and I was thinking the sculpture by Dryer would be perfect near the window in the corner,” Ashleigh was saying, pointing as if she was in feng shui tune with the space.
Olympia shook her head. “No. The light in that corner isn’t right. His work is too intricate, too detailed. It needs a center space. It needs to steal the show.”
“With all due respect, ma’am, the piece isn’t large enough for the center of the room.”
