Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Nash
I look out the window at the city below us as the plane descends into the private airport. My back is to the couch as Zoey lies with her head in my lap and the cat curled up at her stomach, sleeping peacefully. A lot different from when I took her to New York. I also think she fucking hates me. Every time I get close to her, she glares at me.
The plane finally touches down and jolts both of them awake. “Are we here already?” Zoey looks up at me as she blinks the sleep out of her eyes, reaching her hands over her head and stretching.
“We are, baby,” I confirm, bending to kiss her lips. The cat gets up and puts her two paws in front of her as she also stretches. “You need to get the cat in the carrier.” I motion to the carrier on the seat. It is very much different from when I took her to New York. I had thrown a towel in there and put the cat in. Not Zoey. She placed a plush little cat bed with a couple of toys for her if she got bored.
“Let’s go, my princess.” She picks her up in her arms, kissing her neck that now has a pink collar with bling on it. “We’re home,” she says, and the way my chest settles when she says that is something I will never take for granted. This whole week we’ve spent in New York is something I think will always be at the top of my list of best times in my life. I told my wife I loved her and was happy she loved me back. The stupid ninety-day clock watch hanging over our heads is now out the window. My parents are madly and deeply in love with Zoey like I knew they would be. Evan sort of, kind of, likes me. His glare is now down to just a side-eye. Which to me is winning.
The plane comes to a stop as I grab our bags in one hand and her hand in my other. She spent the whole week packing up the house, which we shipped out yesterday, and it should be at our place in four days. I can’t wait for her to unpack it and finally be home. “Do you have everything?” I ask her as she looks around, grabs her purse, then picks up the carrier.
“I think so.” She smiles at me. “Are you ready, Mr. Griffin?” She stands in front of me as the plane doors open.
“I am now, Mrs. Griffin,” I say as she walks ahead of me down the stairs and waits for me at the bottom.
We walk hand in hand to my parked car. I open the door for a bit letting the hot air out, before getting in. “Okay, do you trust me?” I ask her when I slam the trunk closed, turning to walk to her.
“Um,” she says, “obviously.”
“Good.” I reach into my back pocket and take out the black satin blindfold. “Because I have a surprise for you.”
“Nash.” She smirks, looking at the blindfold. “You have to have me naked and tied to the bed before you bring that out.” She winks at me, and my cock stirs at the thought.
“Next time, that’s exactly when I’ll use this.” I swing it around my finger. “Get some clamps.” Her eyes close a little as I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her to me. “Tease you until you beg for me.” Her chest starts moving faster and faster. “But until then, do you trust me?”
“Always.” She doesn’t even hesitate, my Zoey.
“Good. Can you put this on for me?” I ask her, handing it to her. “I have a little surprise for you.”
“The things I do for you,” she huffs, putting the cat in the back seat, then getting into her own seat before turning to me and putting it on her head. “There.”
“You look so fucking sexy right now.” I bend and kiss her lips before closing the door and jogging over to my side. I get in and enter the address in the GPS before pulling away.
“Can I have clues about this surprise?” She looks over at me. “Like, is it your dick in my face because I had it down my throat this morning, so it’s not really a surprise.”
I can’t help but laugh out loud. “Not my dick,” I tell her as I make my way to the destination.
“Is it something I can hold in my hand?” she asks, and I think about it.
“You can hold a piece of it in your hand, yes,” I confirm.
“Can I eat it?”
“No,” I say, “but you can eat in it.”
“Can I get served in it?”
“You can.” I pull up to the surprise and stop the car. “And you will.
“We have arrived,” I announce. “Now, I’m going to grab the cat first,” I tell her, “and then I’ll come back and get you.”
“Okay,” she says.
“No peeking,” I tease, getting out and grabbing the cat in the back seat and taking the cat inside before rushing outside to get Zoey, the door slamming shut behind me and automatically locking. I open her door and reach down to put my hand in hers. “Okay.” I lead her away from the car to the front door. I look around and see the big trees in the front and kids playing in the street riding their bikes. “You can take off your blindfold,” I instruct her, holding my breath as she takes it off slowly, blinking her eyes a couple of times before she looks around.
“Where are we?” she asks softly, her eyes going to the trees in the front and then off to the side. She smiles at the kids playing.
I pull out the key from my pocket. “This is our house,” I announce, holding the key in my hand. Her gasp is louder than even she thought it would be. “You sat in front of me not too long ago and gave me a list,” I remind her, “of what you wanted from the man you marry and the life you wanted.” I smile at her. “You wanted someone who has your back and supports your career.” I hold up my finger. “No one will have your back more than me and be your biggest cheerleader.” She puts her hand to her mouth. “A man who is proud of you and who you are proud of.” I hold up a second finger as I take a step toward her. “I couldn’t be prouder of the badass woman you are, and I hope you are as proud of me.” She shakes her head and tries to say something, but her mouth opens, then closes. “And you wanted a house with a white picket fence.” I hold up my third finger. “I didn’t bring you home to a house with a white picket fence,” I tell her, “and I’m sorry for that.” A tear falls out of her eye. “So I decided to rectify that.” I look at the white picket fence that is around the property.
“But what about your house?” she asks, and I smile.
“It’s being rented as we speak.” I inform her of everything that went down this week. “That house isn’t a house you can raise two point five kids in.” I repeat more words she told me, and she laughs through the tears. “It’s a bachelor pad.” I shrug. “And I’m far from a bachelor.” I look up at the white house with black window trim and doors. “This is a house your kids grow up in. This is the front yard filled with baseballs and soccer balls. It’s a yard filled with little strollers and dolls. It’s a yard where you hang a tire and make memories with your kids,” I say, hoping she loves it just as much as I do. “This is a home where I want to have my kids with you. It’s a house I want to come home to at the end of the day and hear screaming because someone touched the other person. It’s the house I want to wake up to every single morning and make my wife the most disgusting drink ever known to humankind.” I grimace. “It’s a place that together we make it a home.”
“Nash.” She puts her hand on my cheek. “I’m going to need you to stop being so fucking perfect.” She gets on her tippy-toes to kiss my lips.
“Do you want to see inside?” I ask, and she nods excitedly. “Then use your key.” I drop it in her hand, and she looks at the key ring with the first letters of our names linked together. She puts the key in the door and slowly opens it once it’s unlocked. She’s about to take a step in when I stop her. “Not so fast, Mrs. Griffin,” I say before I scoop her up into my arms. “I have to carry you over the threshold.”
“You did that already,” she reminds me.
“And I’ll do it every single time.” I walk into the house with her in my arms. “Welcome home, Mrs. Griffin.”
Four months later…
The front door slams shut, and I look up from my computer. I hear the clatter of her shoes hitting the floor before I hear her voice. “Oh, Mr. Griffin.” She sings my name, and I quickly shut down the laptop. “Where are you, Mr. Griffin?” she calls, and I can hear the little hiccup giggle come out of her, and I know she’s probably tipsy. I get up from the bed and walk out of the bedroom, going into the living room that faces the front door. “There you are, Mr. Griffin.” The smile on her face beams.
“Hey, baby.” I meet her halfway. “How was dress shopping?”
“It was so much fun,” she says. “There were so many dresses.” Her finger taps my chest. “But the good news is, Zara found her dress.”
“So fast?” I ask, shocked. We are back in New York for the weekend so she could go wedding dress shopping with Zara.
“I know,” she replies, putting her hand on my chest, “but she found the one.” She looks up at me. “It was the first one she tried on. Then she tried on about a dozen more but came back out in the first one, so we knew.” She smiles up at me. “She’s going to be a beautiful bride.”
“Not as beautiful as mine.” I bend to kiss her as she jumps in my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. “Definitely not as beautiful as mine.”
“You’re just saying that to get into my pants.” She laughs at me as her phone rings from the front door. We ignore it the first time, but it rings again right after. “That must be important.” She slips her legs off me before walking to her phone, which has stopped ringing.
She comes back in with the phone to her ear and a smile. “I left you literally in front of your house twenty minutes ago.” The smile quickly fades from her face, and I take a step forward. “Zara, I don’t understand you,” she murmurs softly. “Breathe.” She looks at me, and I walk to her, grabbing her phone from her and putting it on speaker.
The sound of Zara’s soft cries comes out. “It’s over,” she sobs softly. “The wedding is off.”
Are you ready for Zara & Gabriel?
When a hockey princess takes a trip to the south and two pink lines change everything!
From the spin-off of Southern Sunrise & This Is Wild.
Zara
The day I picked out my wedding dress is the day I found out my fiancé was cheating on me.
After that, I needed an escape.
A distraction to take my mind off what a mess my life was.
It was supposed to be a one-night thing.
Then it turned into more.
We knew going in that it was for two weeks.
Then, two pink lines changed everything.
Gabriel
I thought I had the perfect life.
I had an amazing son, and I was running the family bar.
But all that changed the day she walked in.
She was gorgeous and funny all wrapped into one.
It was temporary, we both knew that.
She's a city girl. I'm a cowboy.
But I fell in love with her and let her go all at the same time.
Now she's back and pregnant with my baby.
It's time to show her she was meant for me.