Chapter Twenty-Eight
Then
Avery
“Ican’t believe we just did that!” An excitement-filled scream bubbles from my throat.
Jasper hooks an arm around me, yanking my body into his. “I’ve never felt so good.”
“We’re going to be a family, Jasper.” I lovingly look up and smile.
This is my chance to create the family I never had.
The dark hallways and empty rooms will not be something I will experience again.
Holidays will no longer be a source of utter loneliness.
I won’t have to watch other families make memories and establish traditions together. I will get to experience it myself.
Apprehension still knocks on the back of my skull, but this is the best decision. The fear of history repeating itself, leaving me once again in a puddle of sorrow and despair. When does life ever go as planned anyway?
“We are.” Jasper’s fingers weave through my windblown hair, pushing it away from my face. “Even though the guys couldn’t stop cracking jokes the entire time, I’m glad they were there.”
I nod. “They’re like your brothers. Of course, they should’ve been there for this moment.”
Just then, I hear rapid footfalls behind me as the three guys come barreling out of the courthouse.
“When are you going to tell Duke and Helen?” Riley pants as soon as he reaches us. His eyes bounced between Jasper and me, directing the question at us both.
Jasper turns to look at me before answering. “Now?”
My heart rate quickly escalates. Helen is not like either of my parents, and I am eighteen now, which makes me an adult.
I can make my own decisions. But why is my initial reaction fear and judgment when it should be the comfort of knowing Helen is not like my parents?
She’s kind and understanding and wants to support me. Old habits die hard, I guess?
I smile at my now-husband with confidence. “I think it can wait until morning. I’d like to spend the night with my husband.”
Jasper’s face brightens even more than it already is. “Your husband,” he repeats my words. “I like hearing that.”
My stomach flutters. “I like saying it.”
“So, where are you guys going tonight?” Easton suddenly comes to our side, bringing up an obvious question.
Seems like Jasper and the guys had everything planned, from the proposal on the beach to Riley’s brother at the courthouse, but they completely forgot about the actual wedding night.
“Okay, enough.” Bodhi sneers. “You two will have all night to bang.”
“Not if they don’t have anywhere to stay,” Easton quips.
“I thought you had everything planned, Jasper?” Bodhi bites, cocking his head to the side.
Jasper shoots him a few daggers. “I just got married. Can’t you lay off me for one night?”
He pauses and gazes, angled upward like he’s considering Jasper’s question. “Nope.”
I chuckle, enjoying the banter between them. The friends and family I’m only now experiencing. I get to share them with Jasper and I couldn’t be happier.
A beat passes before Jasper turns his attention back to me. “How about the beach house?”
“The beach house?” I ask, knowing there’s not a single piece of furniture in that place.“Yeah.” Jasper smiles, his gaze falling to my lips and returning to meet my eyes. “I still have the floor bed and blankets from when we were there for your birthday.”
I grin. “Sounds like a plan.”
“That’s great. Now we have you two figured out, can we talk about food? I’m fucking starving,” Bodhi complains, crumpling his shirt, showing off his toned stomach. “I need some grub soon.”
Listening to Bodhi mention food causes my stomach to growl. “I could go for something to eat too.”
Easton raises his eyebrows. “Wedding night dinner at the burger shack?”
“Yes, Jasper, let’s get some big-ass greasy burgers,” Riley yells, slapping Jasper’s shoulders.
Jasper turns to me with his top lip quirked up. “You want a burger to eat on our wedding night?”
I shrug my shoulders, smiling. “Honestly, double decker sounds good right now.”
Jasper’s eyes widen. “This is why I married you.”
“Because I’m cool.”
“Ehh.” Jasper’s eyes lower. “A little bit.”
I scrunch my nose. “I am.”
“That’s a stretch, Arizona,” Riley adds playfully.
Easton shoves me. “Nah, you’re cool.”
“Tolerable at best,” Bodhi comments with a smirk.
“Fuck you guys.” I laugh. “I’m the bride. Find me a burger.”
“I’m nervous about Bodhi with my car,” I admit. Jasper is a couple of steps behind me as we approach the wooden beach house door.
With a couple water bottles and a bag of snacks clutched in his hands, he shrugs. “It’ll be fine.” Then he unlocks the door with his free hand. “He likes to fuck around, but he’s trustworthy.”
“I know.” I sigh, breathing in the musty, humid air.
I can’t explain why the unpleasant scent of sea air breaking down old wood bathes me in comfort, but it does.
I watch Jasper use his cell phone as a flashlight in this dark, abandoned house on the surf’s edge.
I’ve only been here twice, and both times now have been an adventure.
“And you can just buy a new one anyway, can’t you?” He flashes me a quick smirk over his shoulder, followed by a cheeky wink.
I roll my eyes while kicking off my sandals. “That’s not the point. I like that car.”“I get it. I’ve had my truck since I was sixteen.” Jasper unwraps the floor bed and lays it flat in the middle of the living room—the same spot where I gave him my virginity, only a couple weeks prior.
“It’s the first thing I’ve bought myself,” I tell him.
Jasper’s eyebrows furrow, and his face softens. “Really?”
I nod.
“Well, it won’t be the last.” He smiles.
A quick vision of our future together dances across my mind, and an unintentional smile breaks. Jasper catches it and slowly walks over to me. His palms cup my elbows while he brings me close to him. A whiff of sunblock and a hint of cologne hit my nostrils when my face meets his chest.
“We have our entire lives for you to do whatever you want with your money, future, and time. I’m happy with what I’m doing and where I’m at,” he says, sliding his hands over to my abdomen. “Your job is to focus on your happiness and our baby’s.”
“Thank you, husband.” I tilt my head, my eyes meeting his.
Jasper smiles. “My wife.”
We stand silently together for a few emotional moments, listening to the faint sound of waves outside.
I’m the first to speak when a question lingers in my thoughts. One that I answered the morning we told Helen and Duke I was pregnant, but now, with us suddenly getting married, it makes more sense to rethink our living arrangements.
“So …” I begin, unsure how to invite myself to live with him or if he even wants to take that step yet. “Will we live here together?”
Jasper’s two fingers lift my bashful expression. “I would love that.”
My heart flutters. “Really?”
“We’re married, Arizona.” He smiles. “We chose each other. Why wouldn’t we live here as a family?”
Swallowing hard, I try to rid my throat of the dryness that’s cloaked it. “Yes, I guess—”
“You’ll have to stay with Helen until I can make this house livable,” he jokes, glancing around the run-down space. “It’ll be easier for your pregnancy as well. Then, when it’s time for the baby to come, the place will be done and ready to bring him or her home.”
My mind races with all that’s happened in the last few months—well, the week. Jet propulsion at full speed, I thrust into a brand-new existence, leaning into an entirely different life.
“That sounds perfect,” I whisper, staring deeply into his eyes.
“Good.”
Another beat passes with the distant sound of the surf. “Can I have input on the designs?”
“Of course,” he says, slipping behind me. Jasper wraps his arm around me and stacks them on my chest. With his chin resting on my shoulder, he gently rotates me to face the living room and kitchen. “What are my wife’s thoughts on our new home?”
A giggle bubbles beneath my lungs, and a quick zip of excitement shoots up my back. “Well, I do love pineapples,” I begin.
“Ah, yes. Pineapples.”
“I’m not suggesting we make the entire place pineapples themed—”
“That’s good because I might have to push back on that,” he quips.
“But they’re my favorite fruit.”
Jasper runs his nose across my cheek. “Okay, fine, a pineapple house it is.”
I laugh. “I’m kidding.”
“Really? Because it was starting to grow on me.”
“Maybe the bathroom?”
“That can be done,” he says, releasing me slowly. Jasper walks over to the kitchen.
I take a few quiet steps toward him. “I do want the house to reflect the freshness of the beach. Island-themed with an organic touch. Elements like driftwood and greenery,” I continue as he circles the eat-in kitchen.
“I love it.” Jasper opens one of the broken, white cabinets. It falls off the loose hinge and clashes with the floor. “Shit.”
Startled, I jump back, but with a brief glance between us, we both start laughing.
“It might take longer than expected.” He chuckles.
I approach the peeling wallpaper to my side. “And a lot more than a simple coat of paint.”
“Yes.” He laughs. “I was thinking about painting the outside of the house blue and white.”
I shut my eyes, imagining what it would look like with those colors. A picture of Jasper and me with a baby in my arms, standing at the door, flashes behind the darkness of my eyelids. I barely recognize myself in this vision. It feels right, but why is it so hard to imagine it could happen to me?
I open my eyes to Jasper standing before me with his eyes on fire.
“Sounds perfect,” I squeak, recognizing his flame.
“Now, what do you say we get started on more important things,” he says, slipping his hands around my waist. The warmth from his touch causes an outbreak of goose bumps to span my body.
“I think that’s a great idea.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and wrap my arms around the back of his neck.
“I can’t believe we got married tonight,” he says in a husked voice, pressing a gentle kiss on my forehead.
My eyes fall closed, savoring his touch. “I know. I can’t believe you got me to do that.”
“You weren’t that difficult to convince.”
“That’s true.” I giggle. “You’re a hard guy to say no to.”
“Arizona?” His voice is a little sharper than before.
I tuck my face into the sweet-smelling cotton of his shirt. “Yeah?”
“Take off your black wedding dress.”