Cherished (Wanted) (49 page)

I put my finger up to my chin, looking like I was contemplating his question. I took a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t know, Mr. Reynolds. Do you promise to always love Lauren and me? Oh! And always make me my favorite meal?”

He laughed. “Fettuccine alfredo?”

I nodded my head. “Yep. If you promise to always love both Lauren and me, make me your fettuccine at least twice a month, and tie me up at least once a week, then you’ve got yourself a deal.”

He slowly shook his head. “I think we’re going to get a late start to the coast.”

“Why?” I purposely licked my lips…very slowly.

“Because I’m tying your ass up again.”

I pulled my T-shirt up and over my head and began to take my jeans off as I watched him strip out of his clothes.

“I think this arrangement is going to work out just fine,” I said.

I giggled as he pushed me down on the bed and began tickling me.

“So do I,” he said. He kissed me and then pulled away quickly as he looked deep into my eyes and repeated, “So. Do. I.”

Ten Years Later

I watched as Alex, Grace, Libby, and Lauren went running by.

“Where are you girls running to?” Ellie called out.

Alex stopped, turned around, and screamed, “Mom! Luke and Will have lizards, and they’re trying to put them down our shirts!” She quickly turned and took off running again.

Heather laughed and shrugged her shoulders. Josh and Heather had sold their house in Fredericksburg and built a house on fifty acres just down the road from Gunner’s and Jeff’s ranches.

“Hey, don’t look at me. Your child is the oldest, Ari, and according to Will, Luke comes up with all their plans,” Heather said as she looked at Ari, who was flipping hamburgers on the grill.

Ari rolled her eyes. “Pesh. I can’t even begin to argue with you on that one. That child is worse than his father with his grand ideas.”

Ellie laughed and nodded toward the pool. “Look at those three.”

I turned and saw Colt with Maegan and Taylor. He was showing them something that had both of their attentions.

“Good Lord, my son is a player at ten years old,” Ellie said.

“That’s my boy,” Gunner said as he walked up behind Ellie and wrapped his arms around her. “Three boys up against six girls. I think he’s doing pretty good since he has two all by himself.”

Ellie slapped Gunner on the arm.

“Oh, come on, Ells…give me some sugar stamps.”

“Go play with the other daddies.” Ellie kissed Gunner quickly on the lips.

Scott, Jeff, Brad, and Josh were all walking up from the barn. Gunner grabbed a football and threw it to Josh, who jumped up and caught it.

“I want to play!” Will, Luke, and Colt all yelled as they ran up to the guys.

“Hey, we want to play, too,” Grace said as she put her hands on her hips.

Alex walked up next to Grace and did the same thing. “Yeah. We want to play, too.”

Will came up to Alex. “You can’t. Alex, you’re a girl, and you could get hurt.”

“Aww…he’s worried about her getting hurt,” Ellie said as she looked at Heather.

Heather smiled and shook her head. “I swear, I think Will has a crush on Alex. She is all he talks about.”

Gunner walked up. “Don’t be silly, Will. Alex is my daughter, and she’s as tough as any ole boy. Ain’t that right, sweetheart?”

He held up his hand, and Alex slapped it.

“That’s right, Daddy,” Alex said with a smile.

Colt stomped his feet. “Dad, for once, can the girls please just sit out a game? Grace, Alex, and Libby are too good of players.”

Josh and Jeff both smiled as Gunner let out a laugh.

“Well, son, you might actually learn something if the girls play,” Gunner said.

Grace held up her hand. “No…it’s fine, Uncle Gunner. If Colt is afraid of being beaten by a few girls, then we are more than happy to sit this one out.”

“We are?” Libby, Alex, Lauren, and Taylor all said at once.

Maegan did a fist pump and started to walk away. “Yes! I hate football.”

Amanda busted out laughing. “God, it kills Brad that Maegan hates football…that she hates any sport really.”

“Oh, gesh, if Grace ever told Jeff no to football, I think he would curl up into a ball in the corner somewhere and cry his eyes out,” Ari said as she put cheese on some of the burgers.

Ellie and Heather both laughed.

“Same here. Gunner would resort to bribing Alex in some way or another,” Ells said.

Heather went back to cutting tomatoes. “I’m just glad I have a daughter who can throw a football, and she still stops to make sure her hair is pinned up to her expectations.”

As the day went on, more football was played, and more screaming girls ran by as Colt chased them with a garden snake in his hands.

I saw Scott standing off to the side, leaning against a tree. I walked up to him and put my arms around his waist.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

He looked down at me and smiled. “How blessed we are.”

I leaned my head against him. “Mmm…that we are. Very blessed indeed.”

I looked out to each of our friends and smiled. Jeff was attempting to talk Ari into sneaking off somewhere to make out. Gunner had Ellie on his back while Josh carried Heather on his back as they ran after the kids in a race around the barn. Brad and Amanda were lost in their own little world, talking to each other.

When Scott brushed his hand up and down my arm, I felt that familiar tingle. Even after all these years, his touch affected me still.

“What are you thinking about, baby?” Scott asked as he pulled me closer to him.

I looked around again. Nine beautiful kids were all running around, playing and laughing, and each one was healthy and happy. We had eight amazing friends who had been there for each other through the good times and the bad times. Not once had any of us ever turned our backs on each other or ever stopped to ask questions. I felt the tears building in my eyes as I looked at each of them. They were more than friends. They were family.

I turned and faced Scott as I smiled. “I’m thinking how we each got everything we’ve ever wanted.”

He smiled and nodded his head. He lifted my chin up and kissed me softly on the lips. He put his arm around me and led me back toward everyone. I watched Gunner and Josh attempt to grab a hold of Ellie and Heather.

Gunner yelled, “It’s tickle-the-moms minute! Grab a mom and tickle them for a minute!”

Scott held me tighter. “You have a thirty-second head start.”

I pushed him away as I began laughing, and then I took off running.

Nothing in this life made me happier than just being right where I was with the people I loved.

As I made my way to Ellie, Heather, Ari, and Amanda, we all formed a circle and tried to keep the rest of the crew away from us. The next thing I knew, we were all rolling around on the ground, laughing and tickling each other. When Ari threatened to pee on someone, the kids disappeared, and we all started laughing.

Ellie fell back and looked up at the sky, laughing. “Holy hell. I’ve never been so happy in my entire life.”

Ari let out a sigh. “Well, my mother would kill me if she knew I wasn’t quoting the great Katharine Hepburn, but I love this quote.”

We all turned and looked at her as she continued to look up at the sky with a smile.

“I believe it was Ben Sweetland who said, ‘Happiness is a journey…not a destination.’ ”

The End…almost.

“Will, if my father catches us in here, he is going to be really upset,” I said as I looked back at the barn door nervously.

“Lex, we’re both leaving for college in a few months. Don’t you think you need to let your dad know what school you picked?” Will asked as he reached for my hand.

My father had it all planned out. I was going to the University of Texas like he did and getting my degree in marketing, but I had other dreams. Will was going to Texas A&M to get his degree in agribusiness, so he could help Jeff and my father run the ranch. I’d been accepted into both schools, and my parents were just waiting on me to say yes to Texas.

It was Luke’s, Colt’s, and Will’s dreams to take over the ranch someday, and I had no doubt in my mind that they would be great at running it.

If only Luke and Will would stop fighting…about me.

Luke hated that Will and I were sneaking around, seeing each other, and he’d threatened to tell my father on more than one occasion. The fights that Luke and Will had been in always drove me insane. Each time, one or the other would end up with a black eye and then would blame it on a football game.

It wasn’t like my father didn’t like Will. He loved Will…like a son. Daddy had dreams for me though, and those dreams didn’t include a boy who would be working on a ranch. His dreams were of me moving to the city and getting to experience all that city-living would offer. Then, I could decide if I wanted to come back to Mason or not. Colt wasn’t being told what he should do, and Luke was already at Texas A&M.

I didn’t think it was fair. I wanted what my mother had. I wanted to live on the ranch, waking up every day to work in the garden. I wanted to see my husband off to work with a kiss every single morning. I wanted the life my parents had, and I couldn’t figure out why my father didn’t want me to have that life. He and my mother were so happy.

Will moved his lips to my neck, and his hot breath on my skin caused my stomach to drop.

God…just being around him makes my body do such crazy things.

Grace had said I was just horny and that Will and I needed to at least move on to a little bit more than kissing. She’d said we needed to cop feels here and there. Will was such a gentleman though, and he’d never once pushed me into doing anything I didn’t want to do. There had been so many times I’d wanted to tell him to touch me, to just ease the tingling between my legs, but I’d known that wasn’t what either one of us wanted…at least not yet.

I could hear Grace’s voice in my head.

My god, you’re eighteen. Stop piss-assing around about it, Alex. I swear, y’all have liked each other since, what…we were ten years old?

I was eighteen years old, and Will was seventeen. He would turn eighteen in August.

I had to smile though because Grace was all talk. She liked Michael Clark, but she was too damn afraid to even look at him.