May 25th
In all his glory.
Ainsley
I wake up with a start. I’m lying flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling.
And I’m trapped. Something heavy is lying across my chest.
And I wonder if this is a bad dream.
But then I smell something. Like sandalwood and coffee and leather.
With a little pumpkin spice thrown in.
My brain is fuzzy.
My head’s sort of pounding.
I remember the wedding.
The tent.
Damon.
I’m trying to remember how I got here, in my room, when I hear someone breathing in my ear.
I slowly roll my head to the right and come face-to- face with a guy.
I smile, feeling happy to be in this dream.
I slide my lips across his forehead.
And when I do, I smell my breath.
Then I hear noises outside or in the house—or both.
Little kids, screaming words that I can’t make out.
My eyes frantically search the room.
Oh my gosh!
It’s not a dream!
I’m in bed with Damon.
No. Damon is in my bed. In my room. During what is supposed to be the start of our family reunion.
What the—
I start to rise and realize the reason why I couldn’t move. His arm is draped across my chest.
I have got to get him out of here.
No. Sneak him out.
How am I going to do that?
“Damon.” I nudge his chest.
But all he does is go umm and pull my body in closer.
I also suddenly realize that I am nearly naked.
Ohhhmiiigoshhh. Did I sleep with him and not remember?
For goodness’ sake, Ainsley, if you were going to be bad and do that, I’d hope it was at least memorable.
I reach across his back and pull the covers up just a bit.
See his gloriously naked butt.
I slap my palm across the front of my face, shake my head, and try to think.
Tent. I remember being in the tent. Eating pizza. Drinking beer.
Wait. I was barefoot. My shoes dangling from my fingers as I ran through the grass.
But then he picked me up and carried me.
I kissed his neck.
I close my eyes, remembering the way his neck smelled.
And wonder what else I kissed.
Well, the good news is that now my dirty little fantasies about him can come to an end. I’m pretty sure if the sex were memorable, I would … well, remember.
I poke a finger into his arm and find my voice. “Damon,” I say a little louder.
His eyelids flutter open, slowly revealing gorgeous brown eyes, but I’m close enough to notice they are flecked with gold.
He breaks out in a wide smile.
Shit, I think.
He remembers, and he liked it. Which is even worse.
“How are you feeling?” he asks sincerely.
“Mostly, I’m worried about how I’m going to get you out of here without my family knowing, but … we’re kinda naked, Damon.”
I get the grin again.
“That’s your fault,” he says.
“Oh, really?” I fire back.
“Most definitely,” he says. “You’re adorable.”
I roll over to face him. “What does that mean?”
He just leans in and kisses my cheek in response .
He keeps giving me tender kisses—on my forehead, across my cheek—and I melt into his arms.
They are sweet kisses. But even in my hungover state, my lady bits are responding.
So, I fling my leg over the top of his.
But then he stops, pulls back, and says, “That’s cute,” before extricating himself away from me and getting out of bed.
Out of my bed.
Did I mention he is naked?
I let out a dreamy sigh and just watch.
He turns to face me, and I can see him in all his glory. It’s morning, and I was just practically throwing my nearly naked body at him.
He’s a big guy. Everywhere.
And that’s all I’m going to say on that matter.
“Sorry,” he says, pulling a towel out from under the sheets and wrapping it around himself. “I wore this to bed because my swimsuit was wet.”
“And now you’re leaving?” I pout.
Because how do I let him leave me?
“I’m sorry about last night,” I say, not sure what exactly I’m apologizing for. Because why is he leaving?
“Nothing to be sorry for,” he says.
“Damon, come back to bed,” I finally say.
He finishes getting dressed, then sits on the side of the bed, looking delicious. His hair is a little mashed up on one side, but the second he runs his hand through it, it’s like he stepped off a runway or something.
I suddenly wonder what the hell I look like. And if he’s rejecting me, I know it must not be good.
“The wedding brunch starts in thirty minutes, and then my best-man duties will be officially over. And as much as I’d like to spend the morning in bed with you, I can’t.” He grins. “But I am quite excited that you’re warming up to the idea.”
“Wait. What?”
He kisses my nose. “Just for the record, nothing happened.”
“Nothing, nothing?” I ask.
“Meet me after brunch. We can discuss last night in detail.” With this statement, I get a big old smirk.
And based on that, I know. “It’s embarrassing, isn’t it?”
He just shrugs, gets up, and walks to my door.
The second his hand touches the knob, I’m like, “Wait!”
“Seriously, Ainsley, I have to go. I can’t be late.”
“No, I mean, my family! They’re going to think we …”
He raises his eyebrows. “You should’ve thought of that last night when I offered up a hotel suite.”
He’s so loving teasing me.
I’m about to protest, but I can’t think of a worthy comeback.
“If I run across a family member, I will tell them I ran up to your room to tell you to get ready to come to brunch with me. So, you’d better get up!”
When I squint my eyes, he gives me the naughty grin again.
“Trust me when I say, you owe me.”
Then he walks out the door.
Kissed a boy.
Damon
I get out of the Archibald home without running into anyone other than a few kids who barely give me a glance.
I text Haley.
Me: Time to talk before brunch?
Haley: I’m already here. Where are you?
Me: Running home to change. More later.
When I get to the brunch fifteen minutes before it’s scheduled to start, I give Chase a slap on the back.
He grins at me. “So, how was your night? Last I saw, you shut yourself in the tent with Ainsley.”
“She thinks I’m too young,” I tell him, although I can’t help the smile that comes to my face, thinking about seeing her naked ass drunk last night.
“But?” Chase asks.
“But I think she wants me.”
“Wants you, but hasn’t had you?” he asks, clarifying the situation .
“Unfortunately, yes,” I respond.
“I’m glad,” Chase says.
“Why would you be glad about that? You’re supposed to have your bro’s back.” I stop talking and just look into the eyes of my best friend, trying not to get misty about this again. “I know I said it last night, but I still can’t believe we’re brothers for real now.”
“And I’ll always have your back. I only said that because I’ve learned the hard way that, sometimes, true love takes a bit. Even when you know you’re in love. Like timing-wise.”
“Now you just have me thinking about the hard way I’d like to convince her it’s love,” I say with a straight face.
But when Chase starts laughing, I do too.
“You’ve got just under three weeks to convince her she loves you then,” he says.
“I know the countdown is on, and believe me when I say, she’s going to be mine before we leave.”
“Like we-hooked-up mine or she’s-my-girlfriend mine?”
“Girlfriend.”
Chase studies me. “That’s the goal then?”
“It is. And just to be clear, while I definitely want to sleep with her, that’s not what I’m looking for from her. I want her love.”
He nods, which means that he knows that I’m serious
“What about you? When do you leave for your honeymoon?”
“We decided to stay and hang with the family for a week, and then we’ll honeymoon in private before we head back to Lincoln.”
“Where we will finally be back together, practicing and working out daily. I can’t wait.”
“That we will,” Chase says with a grin, fist-bumping me.
“I missed you while you were at college without me.”
“I missed you, too,” Chase says.
“Speaking of missing,” I say, “it’s going to be hard to be away from my Hay Girl.”
Chase looks at his sister. “It is. She looks happy though.”
I scrutinize her expression. “Why do you think that is?”
“Because she’s here to celebrate her brother and sister-in-law’s wedding brunch, one would assume.”
But I know her better than that. It’s quite possible little Miss Haley had some fun herself last night. But with who?
I think back to seeing her dancing—well, as much as she could in a walking boot. But she did seem very interested in the band’s performance.
Hmm.
When she gets to our table and sits next to me, Chase gets up and says, “I’d better go find my bride.”
The second he is out of earshot, Haley leans over and says, “Spill.”
“It’s not that easy, but long story short, I spent the night with her.” When Haley’s eyes get big, I add, “But nothing happened. Well, some stuff sort of did—” I’m ready to explain when Ainsley walks into the room, looking like she just had a day at the spa—lovely, beautiful, relaxed .
I give her a little wave. She smiles back, but nods toward her mom and takes a seat next to her.
“Thank goodness she didn’t come sit with us so we can talk,” Haley says.
“No, we can’t. She’s looking over here. And I can’t have her think I’m telling you what happened before I even tell her what happened.”
“She doesn’t know what happened?” Haley asks, scrunching up her nose and looking confused.
“Well, I’m sure she remembers some of it, but …”
“Sounds like we need a little time together later to dissect both our situations,” Haley says, taking her napkin off the table and laying it across her lap.
“Yeah, about that. You look happy. Like, too happy. What did you do last night?”
“Let’s just say, liking someone older than you is something I now understand myself.”
I tilt my head in confusion and look around the room, wondering whose old ass I’m going to have to kick. Finally, I say, “Who?”
But of course, she has to drag it out.
She takes a croissant from the basket on the table and then hands it to me. I ignore the food, but do pass the basket to her younger brother, Ryder, who just sat down on the other side of me.
“I might have … kissed a boy,” she whispers. “Um, well, more like a man. I mean, he’s a younger man. And I liked it. ”