by Lisa Suzanne
Fuck him, the witch by his side, and the broom they flew in on.
I pull out of Mark’s arms and begin to storm over to him. Mark grabs my elbow and attempts to pull me back, but I’m on a mission that’s not to be stopped.
The patio where the dinner is located has started to fill with people I don’t know—relatives, bridesmaids, groomsmen, dates. Music plays from some hidden speakers, a quiet and tranquil instrumental piece. The din of voices rises and falls over the music, a crescendo of music in its own right.
Most people here already know Mark and aren’t star struck by him, but the people who’ve never met him stop and stare as we hurry past.
I storm over to Brian with Mark hot on my heels. I wait until he’s done introducing his date to his sister. When he turns around, all bets are off. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it’s not going to be pretty.
“Mark, Reese. Lovely to see you. Reese, I believe you’ve met my date, Kelsey.” The cocky grin is back on his lips, and I need it gone.
Something comes over me in that moment, some primal need to protect both Mark and myself. It’s animalistic, a real fight or flight moment, and my body screams to fight. This asshole gets it all—the successful business that he built because of his brother, the pretty girl who doesn’t care that he was with me while he was fucking her on the side, the love of a mother who turns a blind eye to the awful things her son does.
It’s not right.
I slap him across the face with a loud crack that seems to echo into the night.
Kelsey gasps and the smug smile slips from Brian’s lips as every person on the patio seems to go quiet at the same time.
“Fuck you.” My words are a quiet hiss.
Mark pulls my stinging slapping hand in his and starts to pull me away. “Not here,” he says sharply.
He leads me inside just as we hear someone outside say something that causes the group of people gathered to laugh. The noise resumes, but it’s muffled from in here.
“What the hell was that?” Mark asks.
My sensibilities seem to come back to me as the red that took over my vision fades back to normal colors. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“This is Lizzie’s weekend,” he says. His voice is hard and direct, and I hate that he’s using that tone with me. “I won’t allow anything to ruin that, least of all Brian.”
I nod. “I need to apologize to Lizzie.”
He nods. “That would be nice.” One side of his mouth tips up in a smile. “You cracked him good.”
“Think I left fingerprints?”
He chuckles. “I hope so. Fucker had it coming.”
“I thought if anyone was going to hit Brian this weekend, it’d be you.”
He lifts a brow and nods. “Me too.” He focuses his gaze out the window, and I follow his line of sight. Brian’s having a conversation with one of the groomsmen, and Kelsey stands by his side looking a little lost. “But I made a promise to myself that I’d move forward. What he did doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Of course it does.”
He shakes his head and turns his gaze back on me. “I went through some pretty dark days without you, Reese. But I’ve got you back now. The darkness is gone. Part of me wants to say fuck the road that got us here, but the other part of me recognizes that Brian played a pretty big part in the two of us finding our way back to each other. In the end, that’s all that matters.”
I run my fingertips along his jaw, the bristles there awakening the desire that’s always inside me for this man. Love blooms in my chest for him and it rolls over me like a wave. I never knew I could love someone this hard, this much, this strongly.
“You’re a better man than he is,” I say softly. “You’re kind and forgiving. He doesn’t deserve that.”
Mark pulls me close by my hips. “You’re right, he doesn’t. But you and I deserve happiness, and if that means forgiving Brian so we can push that shit to the past, then let’s do it.”
“Oh God,” I say, covering my face with my hands.
“What?” He pulls at my hands, and his eyes are full of concern as he gazes down at me.
“Did your mom see me hit Brian?”
Mark laughs, and it’s not a small chuckle or manly little snicker. It’s a full-on, hysterical laugh that infects me, too, as I start to giggle.
“Can we talk?” The serious voice interrupts our laughter. Mark looks up and I whip around.
Brian and Kelsey stand just a few feet away from us, and Brian looks earnest as he waits for our reply to his question.
“About what?” Mark asks icily—a contrast to the words he just spoke to me.
“I don’t want to fight with either of you.” His voice carries a hint of desperation.
“Then why did you bring her as your date?” I ask, nodding at Kelsey.
“Because she’s my girlfriend.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I ask Kelsey.
She nods. She looks one part terrified of me and one part awestruck to be in Mark’s presence as she clings to Brian’s side.
“Why would you want to be with someone like him? Someone who was screwing you on the side when he was trying to seduce me away from his brother?”
Kelsey looks surprised. She glances over at Brian, and he nods as if to tell her it’s okay to speak. I’m not sure I care for that dynamic, but I’m also not sure it’s any of my business. Maybe I’m misreading the situation.
She clears her throat. “We didn’t get together until recently.”
Brian nods. “It’s true. There was always an intense attraction between us, but we never did anything behind your back.” Their eyes lock, and a genuine affection passes between them. “I knew what I was doing to you was wrong, but I wasn’t going to drag Kelsey into it.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I say.
They both look shocked, but frankly, they deserve one another.
“Reese, stop.” Mark slings an arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. “Let them have each other.” He presses his lips to my temple and then looks at his brother. “Thank you for calling Reese.” He doesn’t say anything else, but both Brian and I know he means when he was in the hospital.
Brian nods. “We all have Kelsey to thank for that. She knows everything, and she’s the one who convinced me to make the call.”
“I’m glad for whatever led you to make that call.” Mark’s eyes meet mine, and his are full of passionate fire. “It might have saved my life.”
“I know it saved mine.” I tilt my chin up and he presses a soft kiss to my mouth that only awakens more desire inside me.
“Oh, thank God!” Lizzie’s voice pierces the quiet inside the room. “I thought I was going to have to break up a fist fight in here, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be between Mark and Brian or Reese and Brian.”
Dave laughs beside her, and Diane and Paul stand behind them.
“I’m so sorry that I did that outside in front of everyone, Liz,” I say. I refrain from saying that I’m not actually sorry I did it.
Lizzie flips a hand in the air. “Forgotten. My wedding planner said we need to get the rehearsal started now that everyone’s here. You all ready?”
Brian puts his hand on the small of Kelsey’s back to lead her out of the room, and I start to head that way, too. But Mark stops us all in our tracks with his words. “While we’re all together and before the craziness begins, I have something to say.”
Seven sets of eyes turn on Mark, and he clears his throat. I take a step back to be by his side for whatever he’s about to say.
He looks down at me with adoration as he laces his arm around my waist. He clings to me as if he’s drawing strength from our connection. He looks over at his sister. “First, congratulations to Lizzie. You’ll be a beautiful bride tomorrow, and you’re a beautiful bride-to-be tonight.” Her eyes shine with tears as her brother speaks. “I’m glad we’re all forced in the same room for a happy occasion. I won’t go into details, but
the past couple months were rough on me. I’m thankful we’re all here to celebrate together. I’m thankful Reese is by my side for this, and as hard as it is to admit, I have Brian to thank for that.”
He takes a deep breath. “Mom, Dad, what you don’t know is that I wasn’t hospitalized for exhaustion. I was on a destructive path and didn’t give a fuck. Brian recognized that and figured out how to fix it. While I’ll never forget that he kept Reese and me apart, I can start the process of forgiving, and I hope you know that I learned forgiveness from the two of you. I hope you’ll exercise the same when you think back on everything that’s happened.”
An awkward beat of quiet passes between all of us after his words before he finishes his speech. “And now I wish I had a glass because that sounded like a toast. It’s not. I love you all. Let’s go rehearse and then get drunk.”
A laugh rises from the group of Fox family members gathered. Mark leans down to press a kiss to my cheek. Lizzie hugs Mark, and I hear her whispered thanks in his ear. She hugs me next, and then she says, “Like he said, let’s go rehearse and then get drunk!”
She heads toward the door with Dave. Brian hangs near the door with Kelsey, but before we go through it, we have to face Diane.
“Some speech,” she says softly. She gives Mark a hug then looks with anxiety at him. “Are you okay?”
He nods. “I wasn’t.” He glances briefly over at me before he returns his gaze to his mother. “But then she came back, and now I am.”
Diane’s eyes fill with tears, and then she does something I never expected.
She reaches out toward me and gives me a hug.
It’s not a friendly, warm hug, but it’s a start.
“Thank you for whatever you did for him. He was lost, but you found him.” Her words are simple, and she stalks out of the room before I have the chance to respond. Paul gives us both a smile, pats his son on the back, then follows his wife out to the patio.
I sigh in relief, but then I spot Brian hanging by the door and unease darts through my chest.
Mark grabs my hand in his and I follow a little behind him as we make our way toward his brother.
Brian clears his throat, all traces of that cocky grin still missing. “Thanks for what you said,” he says quietly to his brother.
“Didn’t want to fuck up Lizzie’s big day.”
“You’re letting it all go because of Lizzie?” Brian’s eyebrows furrow.
Mark shrugs. “Someone has to be the bigger man. You may be a goddamn cocksucker, but you’ll always be my annoying little brother.” He punches Brian in the arm and then pulls me out the door with him, and I can’t help but think how he really does put everybody else first.
What Brian did was unforgivable, yet Mark’s heart is so big that he’s forgiving him. I don’t know that I have the same capacity, but I can certainly learn something from the man I love. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that no one—not even Brian Fox—can come between a man and the woman he’s destined to be with.
twenty-four
Lizzie’s wedding was beautiful. It went off without a hitch. No bitch slaps, no darting looks of jealousy, no cutting words. Just a celebration of love, life, and family.
It’s the day after the wedding—Mark’s one day off before he has to audition guitarists tomorrow, and I’m lying across his couch with a glass of wine watching some romantic comedy. He said he had some work to do and that he’d join me for the second half of the movie, but it’s almost over and I have no idea where he is.
My phone buzzes on the table in front of me, so I pick it up. I have a new Snapchat from Mark Ashton. I smile down at my phone as I unlock it and pull open the app.
It’s a picture of Mark. He’s not smiling—instead, he’s smoldering. The word destiny is written in large letters just under his face.
I know what that means, and I don’t even care that the rom com on TV only has about four minutes left in it. I run to the bedroom to grab my shoes then race toward the stairs and head up to the roof.
When I get up there, I’m amazed by what’s before me.
Landscape lights hang across the top of the roof, lighting the space with a romantic glow. I don’t see Mark, but I do see a canvas print propped on an easel right in front of me. It’s a huge picture of the two of us, and I recognize it as the first picture we ever took together. It’s a Snapchat picture with a filter where the two of us have flowers on our heads. I smile at the image, and then I notice an envelope taped to the easel that says Reese on the front of it.
I pull it off and open it, and I find a card inside with Mark’s neat handwriting.
The night we met felt a little like destiny, and every day since then has proven that we were inevitable.
I set the card back down and glance around for Mark, but I don’t see him. I do, however, see another canvas print of our faces propped on another easel to my right, so I head in that direction. The image on this print was taken just yesterday. It’s a candid one the photographer took while we were dancing. I remember Mark had just told me a story about how Ethan once fell out of the top bunk on the bus in the middle of a hookup. I started laughing hysterically at his story, and Mark’s laughing, too. He looks happy and light—lighter than I’ve ever seen him. Even I’m glowing in this one. I open the envelope attached to this easel and read the card.
It’s only ever you. From the moment we met, that was the truth.
A big partition that I’ve never seen before separates me from the other half of the roof. Maybe Mark rented out the space for an upcoming party. I turn around and find another canvas print. It stands as a silhouette against the backdrop of the buildings Mark once used as inspiration for lyrics. I set the card back on the easel then walk toward it. I study the image of us as tears prick behind my eyes.
It’s the picture of us right after we got out of the Yukon in Chicago the morning Mark was released from the hospital. I get why he chose this one—it’s a pivotal image from an important piece of our history. It was the cause of my “leave of absence” from work, but indirectly it’s also the reason why I’m able to travel the country as Penny’s assistant. This moment marked a huge turning point in our relationship. There’s another card filled with Mark’s words.
You allowed me the clean break I didn’t know I needed, and now I can look toward the future with you we both deserve.
When I look up from the card, Mark steps out from behind the tall couch. The moment I see him, butterflies dance in my belly. I’m struck with the notion that whatever’s about to happen will change my life once again.
I set the card down, and we step toward each other until we meet in the middle. He presses a brief kiss to my lips, and then he takes both my hands in his.
He draws in a deep breath then says, “The other day, my sister said that you fixed me. I didn’t know I’d spent my life broken until I met you. I didn’t know I needed fixing until I had to live without you. But she’s right—you fixed me.” The tears that pricked behind my eyes as I looked at the last picture of us spill over onto my cheeks at his words. “I’ll never want for anything as long as you’re by my side, never need anything except your love, never crave anything except your kiss. And that’s why I want you by my side for the rest of my life.”
He gets down on his knee, and everything inside me tingles as nerves tighten my chest. He pulls a small, velvet box out of his pocket.
He shakes his head as his green eyes focus on mine. “Life with me won’t always be easy, but life isn’t easy.” His voice shakes with nerves. I’ve never seen him this riddled with anxiety, and I want to pull him up into my arms to comfort him. “You’re the only person in the world I want to face this life with.” He flips open the box with shaking hands, and I gasp at the ring inside. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I say, nodding as tears freefall down my face. “Of course I will.”
As if the nerves fly out of him, he grins with all the boyish charm and charisma I’m used to seeing from
him as he slides the ring on my finger. My hand feels heavy as he stands and I fling my arms around him. His mouth crashes down to mine, and that’s when I hear a loud crack in the sky.
Fireworks light up the Chicago skyline just as the instrumental music I recognize as the intro to “A Little Like Destiny” starts playing. I pull away from his mouth to see the fireworks, and that’s when I also realize that the music I hear isn’t coming from speakers. Ethan, Steve, and James are all standing on the roof and the partition that separated us from them is gone. They’re playing our song as the fireworks boom and burst into millions of twinkling sparkles and cascades of glittering showers above us. Mark sings the words to me softly as he holds me and we dance on the rooftop toward our future.
epilogue
one year later
After I post a video to Instagram of the empty venue before fans start to arrive, Vinny takes me from the tour bus to the backstage room at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver. Mark stands in the doorway looking like absolute perfection. He’s wearing a black shirt and jeans. His dark hair’s a flawless disaster, his scruff is that gorgeous length that’ll tickle without burning, and his eyes glow a bright green as they land on me.
Before I even step foot into the room, Mark closes the physical distance that separated us for the past couple hours for soundcheck and getting ready for this show. It’s always been his dream to play this venue, and tonight Vail goes down in music history. His arms loop around me at the same time his mouth crashes down to mine. I don’t even have time to wonder what happened to Vinny as I’m completely consumed by Mark.
His peppermint mouth attacks mine in the sweetest and sexiest way as everything around us melts away into a carnal craving.
