by K B Cinder
The rain still poured down in spurts but at least the wind had calmed, keeping any from blowing onto us as the thunder rattled in the distance.
Hopefully, the power would kick back on as everything died down so the AC could run. Sharing a sweaty bed wasn’t a good way to kick off the long weekend together.
She tilted the bottle to her lips, eyeing me. “How dare you speak to the champion that way!?”
“You’re one of the champions,” I corrected, setting my bottle on the side table next to the candle. “And I bust everyone’s balls, even if you don’t physically have them. It keeps me young.”
“It’s your fountain of youth?” she laughed.
I smirked, knowing I could stay there forever in that moment, listening to the storm with her and laughing. “If you tell anyone my secret, I’ll have to kiss you.”
She took another sip, her lips making a sexy pop off of the bottle. Deliberately, of course. “I believe the proper threat is kill, babe. Otherwise, I’d tell everyone.”
“I never said I’d kiss you with nice breath.”
Her face scrunched. “You’re a cruel man, but you’re a freak about brushing your teeth, so I don’t see that happening.”
“I really like garlic though,” I said with a shrug. “And onions, and seafood, and pesto, and…”
“I get it!” she interrupted. “But you like me, and you’d never torture me.”
A flash of lightning made us both jump, but the following rumble of thunder roused a squeal from her.
Grabbing my bottle, I eyed her, taking in every inch of frantic beauty. “Not true.”
She turned, planting a hand on her hip. “Oh, you don’t like me now? Well, isn’t someone a sore loser!”
“I don’t like you; I love you.”
I’d been meaning to say it for a while, but the look on her face was worth the wait, a kaleidoscope of emotions playing out from shock to pure elation.
“I love you, too.”
My chest warmed at the words, and when she ran over to climb in my lap, I blew the candle out.
“What are you doing?” she murmured. “We just got out here!”
“I’m going to show you how much I love you.”
And I did.
Epilogue
I’d always loved the autumn air.
But I loved my wife more.
There’d never be a more perfect day than the October evening we exchanged vows.
I held out a cube of cake, expecting her to take a dainty birdlike bite for the cameras, but my blushing bride’s mouth popped wide, chomping into it like a shark after a seal. She almost bit my finger, startling me.
I promptly found out why as the section of cake she held splattered across my mouth, her fingers smearing the icing every which way.
Dammit. I fell for it.
All around, our loved ones laughed, and as my lawfully wedded wife leaned in for a photo worthy kiss, I returned the favor, brushing my buttercreamed lips across her mouth and nose as I pulled her close.
She squealed, giggles escaping as the tiny woman fought—and failed—to get away from the payback of the moment. Good luck escaping my tongue later.
“How’s your cake taste?” I asked, pulling away to take one of the napkins our maids-of-honor, Cass and Izzy, extended.
She’d kept the three-tiered creation a secret, baking and decorating the vanilla and tiramisu tower at her parents’ place with the girls over two days. I missed the hell out of them around the house, but the end result was worth it. Bearing sunflowers and a dusting of fall foliage, it didn’t surprise me that her new at-home baking business was booming.
Combined with the overtime I’d raked in, we’d have enough to put down on a new house come spring. Our forever house. The one where we started anew as one, free of the past.
Raya dabbed away at the icing on her face, her frosting explosion not nearly as widespread as mine. “It tastes as good as it looks.”
I could say the same of her, but I kept that to myself with the girls in earshot. We’d had a lot of practice with that now that we were all under one roof.
I struggled with the de-caking of my face, so my smear-happy wife came to the rescue, Cass and Izzy giggling at the carnage to the side wearing matching maroon dresses.
“Having fun?” I asked, eyeing the now seventeen-year-old who made me feel old as dirt by driving me to the venue earlier in the day as a licensed driver.
Cass smiled, watching Raya as she wiped me down like a baby after a cake smash party. “Maybe.”
I looked to Izzy, cringing as the cloth napkin slid across my skin one too many times in the same spot. “What about you, little one?”
Izzy lit up. “Uh, yeah. Raya made me a unicorn cake.”
That was true—the smaller, sparkly cake resting on the dessert buffet.
Dash and Juni were there now, the couple corralling their three boys while their infant, Lilah, rested on Dash’s shoulder, his hand patting her back gently while they loaded up on sweets.
“I’ll teach you how to make unicorn brownies when we get back from Grenada,” Raya promised, crumbling the now-saturated napkin before setting it on our sweetheart table.
Izzy pouted, looking between us. “I’ll miss you.”
“You’ll be so busy in Ocean City that you won’t even notice we’re gone,” Raya reassured, and I hoped she was right.
I’d never been away from the girls for more than a weekend at most, but I knew they were in good hands with Lita and Theron.
The music kicked up a notch overhead now that the cake cutting was out of the way, the dance floor around us once again flooding with guests.
Rini and Sage were the first to reappear with their girls, Lita and Theron following close behind with their daughter, Jada. Even Raya’s grandmother, Avo, fresh off a plane from São Paulo, joined the fun with Juni’s grandmother Babcia, who gave the Grim Reaper a run for his money with her head to toe black ensemble and scythe-like cane.
As my wife fluttered into my arms, and those who loved us most filed in, I found heaven on Earth with my little Rebel.
Coming Soon
Moving sounded like a dream come true.
New house, new job, new me, right?
Wrong.
For one, I can’t totally reinvent myself with a kid in tow, so hair dye will have to do.
Secondly, with this new adventure came Knox.
You know, the neighborhood jerk and all-around A-hole, Knox Brighton?
Or as my son calls him: the circle jerk.
Hey, I laughed, too.
Obviously I’m winning at this parenting thing.
Anyway, Knox is like a burp.
He creeps up at the worst times and always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Until one day, he didn’t.
He put his tongue there instead.
Circle Jerk
Thank you
Thank you for riding along the Holly Hearth journey with me. Whether Rebel was your first, or you’ve been laughing since Juni in Dashing Through the No, thank you so much for giving this crazy cast of characters a chance.
There are many more to come, so keep an eye out
♥
About the Author
KB Cinder writes kissing books with heat, hahas, and HEAs. She loves a bit of snark here and there, and she’s probably the funniest person you’ll ever meet. When she’s not writing her face off or reading something she shouldn’t in public, you can find her scaring the daylights out of her husband, Panda.
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