23. Lennox
23
LENNOX
2 months later
“Come on, everyone will be on their way soon. We should head back.”
It’s my turn to host game night again, and I’ve decided to do it at Jensen’s. I spend most of my extra time here, anyway, so it made the most sense. After making sure the house was clean and everything we needed was set up and ready to go, we took a quick ride down to the beach. It’s our go-to place; we always want to spend some time here, just the two of us. We both hop down off the cliff before heading back to Jensen’s bike. The ride to his house is quick, but enough to get me riled up. I don’t know if it’s me holding onto him tightly, the purr of the bike under my ass, or watching him maneuver the streets on his bike, but I always get turned on after a ride out. Which sucks right now, as we don’t have any time to put our hands on one another.
“Do we have everything we need? You’re not going to freak out about what wine to get, right?” Jensen jokes as we step inside his house.
“If everything wasn’t already set up, then there was no way we would have left earlier. The only thing left to do is change our outfits and wait for everyone to show up.”
I rush through a shower, putting on a fresh outfit, while Jensen decides his clothes aren’t dirty, and he would stay the way he was. We aren’t waiting for long when the doorbell starts ringing with people showing up. An hour later, everyone is here: Declan, Tristan, Bash, Preston, Jonas, Cole, and his best friend, Oakley. Bash brought homemade margaritas which have way too much alcohol in them, but we’re all still drinking them while playing.
We started with playing dominoes but that got boring very quickly. We play a couple rounds of strip poker again, with Jensen and Oakley both losing all their clothes fast. Oakley sucks at poker almost as much as Jensen, but luckily for him, he got to keep his pants on while Jensen is down to his briefs.
“Do you want anything to drink or eat?” Jensen whispers into my ear as he stands up from the table.
“Some more of that sangria margarita would be perfect,” I tell him, kissing him on the cheek. My own cheeks are already warm from the liquor in my system and I’m having a blast laughing and joking with everyone.
The front door opens and shuts before Nick and Amber walk into the house with chips and beer in their hands. “Are we too late?” Nick asks, setting his stuff down on the kitchen counter.
Getting up from my seat, I walk over to Nick, hugging him tightly. Things with Nick have gotten a lot better over the past couple of months. After our talk, where I came clean about everything that had happened, Nick started spending time with both me and Jensen. I thought things would have been awkward between the three of us, but after Nick made a joke, any awkwardness went away. Even though I’ve spent most nights at Jensen’s, we’ve each made sure to spend time with our own friends separately. I don’t want to be one of those people who ditch their friends once they start dating someone new.
“You’re right on time. Jensen just lost all his clothes in strip poker, so he might need someone to bail him out.”
Nick chuckles, wrapping his arm around Amber. “That reminds me of the time we went to Vegas, and he lost all his money playing cards.”
Jensen walks toward us wearing a pair of jeans. “Hey,” I whine. “What happened to no jeans?”
“We’re moving on to new games. I don’t know why I thought this time would be any different and I would actually win a round or two.”
I pat his stomach playfully. “It’s okay, baby. We all enjoyed the view.”
Nick howls, moving away from Amber, jokingly punching Jensen as he walks away. “Maybe you should join them all onstage, Jensen. I bet you would earn a lot of tips dancing your ass off.”
“Oh, hell yes he would,” Declan pipes in as he walks by us. “He would probably make more tips than me. Hell, he would probably make more tips than Tristan and Bash, and that’s hard as hell to do.”
“Nope. He’s not allowed to take away my tips,” Bash says, grabbing another lollipop out of his pocket and putting it into his mouth.
“I have enough competition with Mr. I Can Dance My Ass Off Over here,” Tristan replies, hiking his thumb in the direction of Cole, who gives him a sheepish look, his face turning bright red.
“Can I just say that I need to go to the place where you guys’ work? I can be the judge of the best dancer,” Amber cuts in, fanning herself, everyone whooping and hollering in response.
Amber walks over to Bash and I use the time to sidle up next to Nick. “I really like her. I love how she can keep up with all of us and how she keeps you on your toes. She just might be the one for you.”
“You really think so?” he asks, his eyes following Amber around the room.
“I do.”
“Thank you. And back at you. You and Jensen really were made for one another. I’ve never seen either of you as happy or yourselves as you’ve been since you’ve gotten together. I think you’ve finally found a good one, Lennox.”
“I really have,” I gush, looking at Jensen from across the room. He glances up at Nick and me and winks before turning back to Bash.
“Plus, I love seeing you be yourself. Happiness radiates off you.” Nick reaches out, touching the hem of my skirt. “You’ve both brought out the good in each other.”
I pull at the hem of my light blue skirt, twirling it around. “We really do.” It was a no-brainer when I was debating what to wear tonight. Jensen had bought me another beautiful skirt that I just knew I had to show off to everyone.
“Who’s down to play this?” Tristan asks, pulling out a new card game. It seems pretty simple; you match cards to a meme and whoever has the funniest card wins.
We all say yeah, taking up the spaces on the couches and floor. Bash and Declan are sitting on the floor in front of the table, dealing the cards. Preston, Jonas, and Tristan are all sitting on the couch talking and joking about some cat video Jonas is showing them on his phone. Cole and Oakley are in their own little world, whispering something to one another. Jensen, Nick, and Amber are sitting next to me, talking about some game on TV they watched the other day.
I scan the room, filled with all my friends and family. Since joining Peaches, my life has changed so much. My little group of me and Declan has grown to include so many new people I now consider my family. And Jensen. I look over at him—the love of my life. If I had never worked there, Jensen and I might never have started. And I can’t imagine my life without him.
“As cheesy as this may sound, I’m so damn thankful for all of you,” I tell the group of people surrounding me. They all echo my sentiments, all of us smiling at one another.
“This is so peaceful. I love coming here and sitting with you. I can’t wait till it gets warmer and we can go swimming in the water. Have you ever tried surfing?” I ask, turning my head to face Jensen.
Jensen and I took his bike out for a ride today. It’s a little chillier than I thought it would be, with the wind blowing roughly against us. As soon as we sat down on the cliff at the beach, Jensen pulled his notebook out and started sketching. He started taking a couple of drawing skills classes a few weeks ago, and he hasn’t been able to put his notebook down since. I glance at him again, his hands flying across the paper. I peek over his shoulder to see what he’s sketching. It’s the sunset in front of us, but down at the bottom of the picture is the silhouette of two men holding hands as they walk on the sand.
“I’ve tried it a few times. Have also fallen down a few times,” he chuckles. “What about you?”
“No, I haven’t, but I really want to. Would you want to go surfing with me? When the water gets warmer, of course.”
“I’d love to. You know I’d do anything for you.”
Oh, don’t I know it. Jensen has been more than amazing the past couple of months since making things official. He’s helped me learn to cook more things and I think I’ve finally mastered breakfast. Or at least eggs, pancakes, and bacon. And when the guys and I learned a new choreography for our routines, Jensen helped me in the middle of his living room, posing as a stand-in while I practiced the moves.
“Question number 19?” I ask, kicking my legs against the cliff overlooking the ocean.
“Ask away,” he says, his eyes never leaving his paper.
“What are your thoughts about the future?”
Jensen glances at me, putting his notebook over to the side. “What kind of thoughts about the future?”
“Like, what do you see for yourself? Marriage? Kids? Staying single your whole life?” I joke, hoping the last one isn’t the case. I’ve always wanted to get married and start a big family. Growing up, it was just Nick and me, and I always wondered what it would be like if we would have had more siblings.
“I always saw myself getting married. Maybe moving farther out of the city with some land. Maybe getting a few animals and let them run wild. Possibly add a few kids to the mix.”
“Yeah?” I ask excitedly, knowing that’s exactly something I want for myself. “And do you, um…would you ever see that future with me?”
Jensen takes hold of my hand, interlocking our fingers, and placing them onto his lap. He grabs my chin, holding me in place. “Is that the kind of future you would want?”
My breath stutters as a soft “Yes” falls from my lips. I clear my throat, wanting him to hear me more clearly. “Yes, I want a future like that. A future with you.”
“I can’t think of anything better than marrying you and starting a family with you, Lennox.”
“Of course, not anytime soon, but one day.”
“Yeah, sweetheart. One day.”