Whoa : A Westbrook Elite Standalone, page 36
Tears slipped down her cheeks, the fingers around my elbow tightening until it almost hurt.
“I know we’re still young, and I don’t have everything figured out. But I can’t date you, Jess. I won’t do it.”
She blinked, brows drawing down like she was confused. “You don’t want to date me?”
“No,” I said, absolute.
She pulled away, stepping just out of reach.
I dropped to my knees right there in front of her. Not just one. Both. That was the effect this woman had on me. She brought me to my knees. The second I pulled a small box out of my pocket, her hand flew to cover her mouth.
Her eyes were wide and luminous, filled with surprise… and love.
Yeah, I got this.
“You aren’t girlfriend material, Jessica Park. You’re my final girl. My fiancée. My wife.”
The other hand not pressed to her mouth lay against her belly. The action caused my heart to constrict, and I found myself nodding. “You’re my kids’ mom too.”
Her sob was muffled behind her palm, but that was okay. I heard it just fine.
Opening the box, I held it out, showing her the glittering silver set inside.
“Ever since you pulled that crappy gold ring off your finger, I’ve been walking around with a hole inside me, a feeling that something isn’t right. And yeah, I know you think that ring was fake, but what it stood for was real. I got you this, one I picked out with you in mind. I want to see it on your finger, baby. I don’t ever want to see you without it.”
Her arm fell to her side.
“Marry me, Jess. Please, marry me. I swear I’ll love you good. I’ll never stop.”
When she reached out, I thought it was for the ring, but she bypassed the box between us to grab my face in her palms and drop to her knees in front of me.
So there we were, both on our knees for each other, my offer of forever poised between us the biggest yet easiest promise I would ever make.
“I love you so much, Ben. Of course I’ll marry you. There is literally nothing else I’d rather do.”
“No takebacks,” I warned her.
More tears rolled over her cheeks as she laughed. “No takebacks.”
I pulled her against me, sealing the deal with a kiss and then burying my nose in her hair. “Mine,” I whispered, nuzzling her cheek. “My wife.”
“You can’t call me that yet—”
My growl cut off her words.
“With my ring on your finger, I damn well will call you my wife. Anything else is forbidden.”
“Ben?”
“What?” I asked, surly.
“What happens if someone does something you forbid?”
I blinked. “What?”
“What’s the punishment?”
Well, fuck, why did I have to think of everything? It was a burden to be the handsome and smart one.
She was looking at me all expectantly, and I couldn’t tell her nothing because then she wouldn’t listen when I forbade stuff.
“Bad things,” I intoned, hoping it sounded really dire.
“Bad things?”
I nodded sagely. “Wanna see your rings?”
“Yes!”
When in doubt, distract your girl with diamonds.
“Wait. Did you say rings? As in there’s more than one?”
“I don’t half ass shit, final girl.” I reminded her and held up the velvet box.
Her sharp intake of breath told me I did good.
“You got me a bow?” she whispered, emotion flooding the tone.
Did I get her a bow? *scoffs* She loved that previous bow so much it shone in her eyes whenever she looked at it. And I knew why.
Of course I got her a bow. I just upgraded it.
“Gifts need a bow, sweetheart. Of course I gotta put one around the biggest gift in my whole life.”
Her lower lip stuck out in a pout, then had the audacity to quiver.
I pulled it from the box. “It has a solid white gold band, but you can see there are diamonds lining the bow,” I said, moving it a little so it would glitter against the string lights. It was bigger than the ring I gave her at the hospital. The bow would take up more room on her finger.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, staring but not touching.
“You like it?”
She nodded.
Slipping the bow around the tip of my finger, I grabbed the second ring out of the box. “I hope you like to stack rings because this one goes with it.”
When she said nothing, I glanced up, finding her already watching me. I smiled. “You know about stacking rings?”
She nodded. “I’m surprised you know about them.”
“Madison told me,” I muttered. Then, “But I picked these out myself. Well, P helped. He’s nosy. I couldn’t leave him home.”
She giggled.
I held up the two-carat round solitaire on a thin white-gold band. “That bow didn’t have enough diamonds in it. You deserve something big and sparkly, and this is your traditional style engagement ring.” I gestured for her hand, and she held it out.
I slipped the solitaire on her finger first, mentally high-fiving myself when it fit perfectly. Next, I slid the bow after it, admiring the way it nestled right up against the solitaire.
“When we get married, we’ll slide a wedding band on there too,” I told her. “I’m gonna fill that whole finger up with diamonds, baby.”
Sniffling, she swiped at her damp face, not tearing her eyes from the glitter. “They’re just… This is more than I ever hoped for.”
“You gotta up your standards, baby.”
“It’s too much, Ben. I don’t need all this—”
I covered her hand with my mouth. “Remember, you don’t want to find out when people do shit I forbid. It’s ugly. Real ugly.”
Laughter danced in her eyes.
“This is what I want to give you. It will make me so happy to see that frosting on your finger. My little cake.”
Her eyes rolled, and she licked my palm.
I wagged my eyebrows. “Kinky.”
“Are you sure?” she said when I pulled back to wipe my palm on my shirt.
“I have never been so sure about anything ever in my whole life.”
“But your parents—”
“Are not an issue. I threw the ball in their court. If they want to be part of our life, they can make the effort.”
“What if they don’t?”
I shrugged. “Long as I have you, that’s all that matters.”
She looked back down at her hand. “I really love it.”
“I really love you. Wifey.”
She smiled. “Can I call you husband?”
I pursed my lips. “Makes me sound old. You should say handsome husband. Sounds better.”
Her eyes rolled, and I caught her hand, bringing it up to kiss the rings I’d put there. “I’m not waiting too long to marry you. How about this summer?”
She made a sound. “That’s only a few months away.”
“You’re right. It’s too long. How about next week?”
“Ben!”
“Tomorrow?”
“This summer.”
I nodded once. “Wanna go have sex in the teepee?”
“Yes!”
“I love your enthusiasm,” I said, getting to my feet, then helping her.
“It’s so pretty,” she said, glancing around at everything as we walked toward the tent. “I can’t believe Coach agreed to this.”
“He’ll probably make me swim extra laps for weeks after this,” I mused. “It’s worth it.”
After she flitted around and admired every rose, candle, and light around the giant teepee, she poked her head inside. “There’s pillows!” she exclaimed. “And wine!”
“I was gonna get drunk if you turned me down.”
She laughed. “Like I’d ever say no to you.”
I caught her around the waist, tugging her inside. The light was golden, the fur blanket soft, and the pillows scattered around like clouds.
After propping up her foot on a pillow, I grabbed the wine and two glasses.
“Aren’t there cameras in here?” She worried.
“Why do you think I built a tent?” I said, handing over a glass.
She smiled.
“How was the lesson?” I asked, not wanting to put a damper on our engagement night but also wanting her to know I cared and that nothing was off-limits if she needed to talk.
“It was good,” she said as I lowered beside her.
Sighing, she laid her head on my shoulder, and I slipped my arm around her waist.
“Chalene started seeing a counselor, and I think it’s helping. Her dad has been really supportive as well, and I think him telling her that none of this is her fault and her mom would be proud of her no matter what also went a long way.”
“You told her that too.” I reminded, poking her gently in the side.
She nodded. “She asked me if I’d keep giving her lessons.”
Surprised, I glanced at her. “I thought she decided not to pursue the orchestra at Westbrook.”
“She isn’t,” Jess explained. “But playing piano helps her feel close to her mom. I think it’s her way of honoring and remembering her. And honestly, since the pressure of performing and getting into the orchestra is gone, she’s actually been playing a little better.”
“No shit?”
Jess laughed under her breath. “No shit.”
“Probably also helps that dickweed tweed wearer is locked up behind bars,” I said, getting pissed off all over again about all the shit he put my wife through.
I’ll never stop saying it. Wife. Wife. Wifey.
“My lawyers are sure he won’t get out,” she said.
I knew this, but I nodded, understanding that she needed to say it sometimes to reassure herself.
“It was so nice of Rory’s parents to represent me. They really didn’t have to. I could have handled the police on my own.”
I belched. “You’re giving me indigestion with all that talk.” I scolded her. “You aren’t talking to the cops about murder and perverts without proper representation. If Rory’s lawyer duo parents hadn’t flown in from Chicago, I’d have hired someone myself.”
“Which is exactly why I took them up on their pro-bono offer,” she murmured around a sip of wine.
She didn’t like when I spent money on her. I understood why, but I wasn’t going to stop. If she needed something, I was going to make sure she had it. It was the reason I played the stocks so much. The reason I owned property. The reason… “I rented us a townhouse.”
The wine she was drinking sprayed from her lips.
“Damn, girl, that’s good drinks,” I said, yanking up the blanket to wipe her mouth.
“Benjamin Hayes Kruger!” she demanded as if she didn’t even notice the way I was patting her face. “You did what?”
“We aren’t living apart. You can keep sleeping in our dorm room, but I need some privacy with my wife. The townhouse beside Max and Win’s went up for rent, so I put down a deposit. We’re moving in next month.”
“But Matty,” she worried. “We can’t leave him alone at the dorm.”
“He’s moving with us.”
“He is?”
“It’s a three-bedroom.”
She didn’t say anything.
A hollow feeling whirled through my stomach. “You, ah, you cool with P moving in?”
She jolted and gasped, her wine sloshing over the lip of her glass.
“What are you, a human sprinkler?” I asked, taking it from her.
“Of course I don’t mind! I’m so relieved. We can’t leave him by himself!”
I half smiled. “I know, baby. That’s why he’s coming too.”
“How much is it?”
“Cheap.”
She glared, and I sighed. “I already paid it, okay? Through summer. Now you don’t have to stress about where you’re going to go and if you have to see your parents.”
Her eyes swelled with tears again, and she crawled into my lap. “I love you.”
I stroked her hair. “Me too.”
“I’m paying the utilities.”
My tongue slid over my teeth. “Fine.”
P said he was paying them too, so I’d let them hash it out.
“It’s right next to Max, Wes, Win, and Lars?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I agreed. “We’ll be neighbors. We can have movie night at our place.”
“I like that,” she whispered.
I knew she would. That’s why, as soon as Wes told me it was up for rent, I called the office and put down a deposit. She liked staying with them, and I knew she was a little sad when Director Fields got locked up a few counties over. She wasn’t upset that the douche was in jail. Good riddance to him. According to Coin & Coin, Rory’s high-powered attorney parents, he was going away for the rest of his life. And with his charge as a sex offender… prison was not going to be kind to him. Hope he enjoys his karma. Jess was just a little sad she had to go back to her dorm. She’d grown used to having everyone around. Family was something she didn’t have much of, so leaving the one she found to go back to campus stung.
I was gonna fix it, make sure she had lots of family around her all the time. Thank God for those bros. All of them.
It’s true what they say, you know? Blood makes you related, but loyalty makes you family.
We settled into a comfortable silence, but it didn’t last long. “You brought your laptop?”
I nodded, glancing at the computer sitting close by. “Figured we could watch a movie.”
“Hmm. What movie?”
“Bride of Chucky, of course.”
“Did you bring popcorn and M&M’s?”
What did she think this was, my first rodeo? “Duh. But you can’t have any.”
Her head popped up. “Why not?”
“Because I need my sugar first.”
Laughing, she pushed up to straddle my lap, my hands falling to her hips.
“Wifey.”
Her eyes flicked to the rings on her finger and then back to me. “Thank you, Ben. Thank you for always being there for me. For seeing past my circumstances and looking at who I was, who I wanted to be. Thank you for having the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. I know I grew up poor, but you taught me the real meaning of being rich. It’s not money or status. It’s having someone who will love me even if I forget them.”
I laughed. I used it to hide the fact I was getting a little choked up.
“Most of all, thank you for being my best friend… and then becoming more.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to mine like she was sealing all those beautiful words. Without lifting her mouth, she whispered, “For being my everything.”
After that, we didn’t say anything at all.
Not with words anyway.
But let me tell you… the conversation was like whoa.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Have you ever gotten in your car and driven home from wherever and when you pull into your driveway, you’re like… Whoa, how did I get home? Lol. That’s what it feels like to finish this book.
I feel like going back to do my re-read and edits is going to be interesting because I don’t really remember what I wrote. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It does seem like these two took over and shoved me out of the way, though, hehe.
I thought this book was going to be the “easy write” of the series. I should have known better. And really… is there any such thing as an easy write?
Truth be told, I struggled a lot with this book. Not necessarily the story but with self-doubt, motivation, and imposter syndrome. I’m not really sure why because you’d think, after twelve years of writing, I would be more confident. I’m not, though. Every book is a fresh start. Every book is different and requires a new perspective. Plus, there is added pressure there (for me) because I feel like each new book needs to “live up” to the previous. I don’t want to let readers down in the series, and I want to keep up the same level of Westbrook bro-ness. Kruger was a challenge because I didn’t really know much about him besides his moron-ness. He was the goofy guy, the joker. Many readers wanted his love interest to be Prism. They started asking about them very early in the series. I admit I considered it. They have the chemistry. However, Kruger was clear in my head always. Prism is his best friend. His family. But Jess is his heart. So I stuck with that. Besides, I like his and Prism’s friendship. We will see more of it in the next book, which is about Prism and Arsen. How’d you like Arsen? I think he will be a great character to add to Westbrook.
