“I’m glad you didn’t,” he chuckled. “You’re my entertainment for the evening.”
I laughed nervously, knowing he was teasing, and anxiously looked around for Kennedy. I didn’t want her to see me yet.
“She’s stepped out with Sarah for a bit,” said Beau. “So if you’re still sure you want to do this here, now’s your chance.”
“Thanks again for letting me come,” I slapped him on the back. “I appreciate your help.”
“Just do right by her, and you, and I won’t have any problems.” I heard the warning undertone, and nodded briskly as I stepped past him.
“Good luck,” he yelled above the music, and I swore I heard him laugh. Fucker. Couldn’t he tell I was already sweating bullets?
The band had just finished playing another song when I reached the stage, and the guy in front of the mic turned to me with a grin. I should’ve known Beau would have told someone I was coming, and exactly what I had planned.
“Alright folks,” the guy said into the mic, “We’re going to take a break, get some beer, and be back in a few minutes.” The crowed hollered as the band stood and left the stage.
This was it.
I was about to make a complete fool of myself, and all to prove to a girl that I was worth taking a chance on.
“It’s now or never lover boy.” I turned and found Beau right behind me, ready to throw me on stage if I didn’t get up there myself. “She just walked in with Sarah.”
I swallowed all my nervousness, and took the two steps leading onto the stage, aware that I had more than a few peoples’ attention. I took the mic in one hand, and tapped it awkwardly before opening my mouth.
“Good evening everybody.”
Crickets.
Shit.
“I don’t mean to interrupt the festivities, but I came here because I have something very important to say, and I’m hoping the person who I need to say it to is listening.”
The crowd remained quiet, and I heard Beau shout, “Get on with it, man. She ain’t gonna wait forever!”
I laughed awkwardly, and that seemed to loosen up the crowd a little. “Okay…” I hesitated, wondering if this was what I should be doing, and then I saw her. She was standing in the middle of the crowd, her hair braided to one side, wearing tight blue jeans, and a red long sleeved Henley shirt with the buttons undone, and a pair of worn cowboy boots. My heart stopped when her green eyes found mine, and I realized I’d have done anything for her - even humiliate myself in a room full of complete strangers.
“There’s this girl,” I started, digging deep for the courage I needed to see this through. “I spent most of life hating her, because I couldn’t have her, and then one night, things changed.”
Someone whistled, causing the crowd to laugh. It was better than being booed off stage.
I removed the mic from the stand, and jumped down the front of the stage. The crowd on the dance floor parted as I made my way towards a stunned Kennedy, and continued speaking.
“I didn’t think I could give this girl what she deserved because there was just too much bad history between us, so I pushed her away out of fear. But it was too late. I’d already fallen in love with her.” The crowed ahhh’ed, and Kennedy lifted a trembling hand to her mouth.
“I made a mistake,” I said, stopping in front of her. “I broke her heart, when I should have told her that instead of filling my world with color, she became my world.” Kennedy gasped, but I continued. “I knew that if I wanted to be the kind of man she deserved I had to find a way to right my wrongs, and show her that I could be enough.”
I reached for her hand, and held it against my chest so that she could feel the frenetic beat of my pulse.
“I asked her to give me time, and said that I’d come to her when I was ready. I’m hoping I’m not too late.”
The crowed had fallen completely still, and it felt like everyone was holding the breaths with me.
Kennedy’s eyes searched mine, and for a split second I questioned my decision to come here and possibly embarrass her. What if there was someone else?
What she’d moved on?
What if…
Her mouth lifted up into a smile, and silenced every doubt, every worry, and every moment of indecision leading up to this.
“Will you tell her you love her, right now, in this room full of people you don’t know?” She asked. I’d missed the sound of her voice, and hearing it again, so sweet and shy made my nerves prickle with hope.
“I love you.” I exhaled the words. “I think I’ve loved you from the first time I saw you. I was just too foolish to see it back then.”
Kennedy threw herself at me, crushing her mouth against mine. I dropped the mic with a thud and the crowd roared with applause. None of that mattered though, not with Kennedy in my arms, pressed up against my body, kissing me like our lives depended on this one moment, this one tiny sliver of time.
“I love you,” she whispered against my lips. “But you could have waited until tomorrow to tell me all this.”
“No,” I smiled and shook my head. “I wanted to give you a big romantic gesture that would make it impossible for you to turn me down.”
“I would never,” she replied. “You’re stuck with me Winters.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way Monroe.”
Kennedy
DANE KISSED HIS way down my neck and I tried to silence my moans. We were both naked and sweaty, and I didn’t want my grandparents – who were only two bedrooms down the hall – to hear us.
Dane swiveled his hips and his piercing – oh God his piercing – rubbed me just right. I sunk my teeth into the strained muscle between his neck and his shoulder, and quivered. He bit my shoulder in turn and quieted his grunt as he came with me.
I’d missed this, and him, so much over the past few weeks, but I was glad we’d had some time apart. A month wasn’t enough time to completely work through our past, but it was just enough to bring us back together so that we could work through the rest. We’d already been through so much, and now I knew that as long as we were side-by-side, we could face anything. I was supposed to be heading back to Brighton tomorrow, and I’d been preparing myself to see Dane again, but I hadn’t been expecting him to show up tonight. When I saw him standing on that stage, pouring his heart in a room full of people he didn’t know, I had to stop myself from running to him. I wanted to wait and see what he had to say, and his words had unraveled me, only to solidify how my heart had come to beat for him.
Dane lifted his head, and pressed his lips against mine. “I missed you,” he whispered. “I thought about calling you every day, but I’m glad I didn’t.”
I smiled, feeling deliriously happy and elated to have him here with me. “Your timing is perfect.” I brushed my hands down his naked back, tracing the lines of his muscles with my fingertips. “You were worth the wait.”
He rolled over, and I moved with him, draping my leg over his, and resting my head in the crook of his neck. My mind drifted, and thoughts of my accident, and the dream I had filtered into my head. I’d never told him about it, but it was always there, lingering, waiting for the right time.