All For You (Boys of the South) (11 page)

“You mean lawn
girl?” Joe Kline says. This from the guy who liked to be called
Big Papa by the girls he hooked up with. But he’s always had a
hard-on for Charlie, and would do anything to get her attention.

“The one and
the same.” Charlie laughs. “Guess who hooked up with her
again, and lived to regret it?”

Some people in her
group laugh nervously, others with glee, while one walks away, a look
of disgust on his face. I make a mental note to talk to that guy
later.

“Seriously,
West? Did you get all the dirt off your dick this time?” Joe
practically shouts at me.

My grip tightens on
the glass in my hand. I stride closer, anger growing with each step.
“Enough.”

“It’s a
joke, Weston,” Charlie says. “Or did McKenzie suck your
sense of humor out of”, her eyes flick to my groin, “you?”

McKenzie had the
strength to ignore us all, to not let us get her down, at least where
we could see it. But me, I’m not that strong.

“You owe her
an apology, Charlie. All of us do, for making her life hell.” I
look each member of our old crew in the eye. “Who did we think
we were? Did any of you ever stop to think how it made her feel? How
she came to school each day with her head held high, while running a
gauntlet of insults, I’ll never know. But this I’m sure
of—McKenzie Walsh is the smartest, most beautiful, and most
giving person I’ve ever known. She gave me a chance, even
though I didn’t deserve it. And if the rest of y’all had
any ounce of remorse, you’d go apologize to her.”

Charlie groans,
rolling her eyes. “You’re really harshing this party.”

“No, I’ve
changed. For the better.”

“Isn’t
that sweet?” Charlie coos. “Amazing what being whipped
will do to a man.”

There’s no
hope for Charlie. I know this, but everyone else—with the
exception of Joe—they’re considering my words, at least
for tonight.

“I’m not
whipped,” I say loudly. “I’m in love with McKenzie,
and I’m damned proud that she allowed me to be with her, if
only for a little while.”

A few people start
to whisper, the females around my ex-girlfriend surreptitiously
pointing behind me.

I turn, only to see
my girl walking toward me. Her head is held high, hair like fall
leaves in an elegant do, leaving her gorgeous neck exposed. If I look
close enough, there’s a small love bite behind her right ear.

She’s wearing
the earrings I gave her, and a silver colored dress… with her
red cowgirl boots. My heart swell so big that I can’t help but
stride to her.

“Did you uh,
hear what I just said?”

“Every bit.”

“I had no idea
you were here.” She has to understand that I wasn’t
saying this to get back on her good side.

“I know.”
McKenzie smiles at me. “I’m sorry for not giving you a
chance to make me believe.”

“Believe in
what?”

“In you, in
us, in love conquering all.” Her smile turns shy. “I’m
here for all of that… all for you, that is, if you still want
me.”

I can’t help
but stare at her, to admire her for coming to me, here of all places.
“I know it’s been only two weeks, but I’ve love
you, McKenzie Walsh, and I’d be honored if you’d be mine
tonight and always.”

My mother gasps, and
my dad laughs into his drink. Yeah, I wasn’t exactly proposing
marriage, but it sure did sound like it.

McKenzie bites the
side of her lip, a giggle escaping anyway. “I love you, West
Diaz, and I want you to be my man tonight and always.”

Julia catches me eye
and points up. I follow her directions and find a sprig of mistletoe
above us. It’s tradition that whoever finds the mistletoe gets
the first kiss of the night. Some even claim that those couples go on
to get married and stay that way, happily, I might add, for years to
come.

There’s no one
I’d rather be under this tradition with than the beautiful girl
standing in front of me. “Some things around here should never
change,” I say, right before I kiss her.

Epilogue

Three Years Later

McKenzie

“Are you
nervous?” I whisper to my dad as we walk in measured steps down
an aisle laden with rose petals.

“A little.
Never done this before,” he whispers back.

“Me neither.”

He makes a sound
between a snort and a grunt, and I can’t help but giggle. West
turns, bucking tradition, and I wave at him. He grins big before
Parker turns him back around.

“You can
always change your mind.”

“Might be hard
to do, with your grandkid on the way.”

“Nice, Mac,
real nice.”

“Just
kidding.”

We stop right behind
West, and he finally turns around, his chocolate eyes lighting up. My
dad joins our hands together, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Ready?”
West says.

“I told my dad
I was pregnant.”

West’s face
grows pale, before his gaze drops to my stomach.

“I told him I
was kidding.”

“Oh.”
Was that a little disappointment in his voice?

“West?”

Though the priest is
waiting, my soon-to-be husband turns all his attention on me. “Yes?”

I lean forward, my
veil brushing his ear. “I lied.”

“Are you
serious?”

“Two months
serious. I’m thinking North Clover Patch Diaz would be a great
name
.
”

His grip tightens,
and then he begins to laugh, not at me, but with me. I join him,
then the congregation, though they don’t know why. We laugh so
hard that tears are running down our cheeks, and he kisses me before
we are supposed to.

But neither of us
care.

And that’s how
we began the rest of our future together.

This novella is proud to be a part of
The 12 NA's of Christmas.
12 Different New Adult Romances. 12 Bestselling Authors.

Click here to see them all:
www.newadult12.com

Keeping Reading for a sneak peek at True For You (Boys of the South
#3), coming the end of November 2013.

The only thing worse
than waking up
nude
with a guy who can’t remember the night before, is waking up
married
to him and finding out he’s more of an asshole than you
previously thought.

I glance down at the
wedding ring on my finger. It’s beautiful, white gold or
platinum, with diamonds all over it. And it’s the first piece
of jewelry I’ve ever owned.

Although, how long
it will stay mine remains to be seen.

“No, I did not
plan this,” Jackson growls into his cell phone as I slip on my
glasses. He comes into focus and I blink. I’m not sure who
exactly had my glasses fixed, but a big part of me wants to believe
that the man standing by the bed had something to do with it.

“It just
happened, Everett. That’s how,” he snaps.

Never in my wildest
dreams did I ever imagine I’d end up here, in Charleston, South
Carolina with country music’s golden bad boy, Jaxon Hunter.

In private, though,
I think of him as just Jackson.

My heart skips a
couple of beats when his dark blue gaze rakes over me. Strawberry
blond hair sticking up all over the place, a morning beard makes his
face all adorably scruffy.

Dark blue jeans
hang on his narrow hips as he paces. Tight abs, with an
,
oh holy crap
,
eight pack in the making leaves my tongue glued to the roof of my
mouth. Then there are the tattoos. Don’t even get me started on
the tattoos, but I want to get started on them.

He tilts his head
and smirks, as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, sending
my heart into overdrive.

As if he could ever
be
just
Jackson
.

I’m not stupid
though, despite agreeing to marrying him while I was perfectly sober
and he was perfectly drunk off his ass, to think that what will
happen next will be all hearts and flowers.

But I was desperate.
I’m still desperate.

More Books by Marquita Valentine
 
Holland Springs Series
Seduction of the Billionaire
Drive Me Crazy
Driving To You
Twice Tempted
Third Time’s A Charm
His Christmas Wish
Just Desserts
Not Over You (coming Dec. 9th)
 
Boys of the South (New Adult Series)
Live For You
Only For You
All For You
True For You
Wish For You (coming January 2014)

Special thanks to Andrea Thompson, Amanda Clark, Sawyer Bennett, Andris
Bear, and Carly Phillips for their comments, critiques, and
encouragement. <3 you guys!

New York Times Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes sexy heroes
and sassy heroines that make you swoon and laugh. She’s the author of the
bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs, and the new
adult romance series, Boys of the South.

Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high
school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search
of a good man—and if that doesn't work, they can console themselves with
cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town
with Hot Builder and their two children.

www.marquitavalentine.com
 
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