The Promises We Keep (Made for Love Book 1) (43 page)

“
Well, you have Jackson to thank for that.
I
am his birthday gift to you,
”
she says, playfully sweeping her honey brown hair over her shoulder.
“
Though, before we get started with anything, I have two very important things to address.
”
She plants her fists on her hips and fixes me with a stare.
“
You and Beckham?
Ridiculous
. I don
’
t care what his deal is, he
’
s a damn fool for allowing it to come between you. I just hope he gets his act together soon. Until then, you, my dear, just need to be your wonderful self. He
’
ll come to his senses.
”
I smile at her, appreciative of her support coupled with her feisty attitude. She puckers her lips as if throwing me a kiss before she directs her attention to Avery.
“
And
you
—
O
’
Conner
’
s girlfriend? It
’
s about-
effing
-time!
”
We all laugh in agreement.

“
Okay. Now that that
’
s out of the way, onto the festivities! The girls day Sarah and I have planned for you is our birthday gift.
”

“
So we get to eat whatever deliciousness I smell?
”
asks Avery, clasping her hands together underneath her chin.

“
A special birthday brunch will be ready for my Twinkies as soon as you get cleaned up,
”
Sarah answers.
“
Now, chop, chop!
”

We do as we
’
re told and a half an hour later the four of us are having the most amazing meal. There
’
s eggs, bacon, and what Sarah has dubbed
strawberry shortcake french toast
. Whatever it
’
s called, it
’
s to die for. I eat until I can
’
t eat anymore. As soon as we
’
re done, they take us out so that we can get our nails done. We have so much fun, the four of us getting pampered for our night out. It isn
’
t until we get back to the apartment that Ave and I remember to open our gift from our parents.

There are four cards inside, one for each of us from both mom and dad. We open the cards first, to Sarah and Claire
’
s annoyance. It
’
s in mom
’
s card that we get a hint as to what she
’
s picked out for us to wear. She tells us both that at some point, every young woman needs a little black dress;
wear it well and as the wise woman your father and I know and love
, she writes. Avery and I dive back into the box at the same time, anxiously pulling out the garment bags that hold our dresses. They are
gorgeous
.

Both dresses are indeed little and black with a lace overlay. Mine has a single strap made of only the black lacy fabric. Avery
’
s is almost identical, only instead of having one strap, hers has two. Along with the dresses, we each got a pair of heels to wear with them. Mine are a dark pink and Avery
’
s are a rich teal. The jewelry my mom picked out matches our shoes.

“
Hold the phone,
”
Sarah exclaims.
“
Your mom
seriously
bought you these hot dresses to wear with four inch heels, to boot? Damn, is she a little diva or what?
”

“
Now we know where they get their fashion sense from,
”
says Claire.
“
Speaking of fashion
…”
She hops out of the armchair where she was sitting and hurries over to her purse. She
’
s back in two seconds holding two tiaras with the number twenty-one in the center of each.
“
I think it
’
s time for hair and makeup.
”

Claire does our hair while Sarah does our makeup. We both end up with our hair piled on top of our heads in elegant looking buns, our
do
complete with our birthday tiaras. Once we
’
re dressed, Sarah is sure to get our first picture of the night and we send it to mom right away.

“
Holy smokes. If I hadn
’
t seen you two open your gifts, I wouldn
’
t be able to tell you apart,
”
says Sarah.

I take a look at the picture she just took of us on my phone and laugh.
We do take away pretty much any hint that might help people tell us apart
, I note before I draft a quick text.

Me:
I
’
m in teal tonight, fyi.

A knock sounds at the door just as I
’
m hitting send. Claire is finishing up in the bathroom and Sarah hurries to her room to grab her shoes as Addison heads to answer. I grab my black clutch from off of the coffee table, close behind her, anxious to head out for dinner with our friends. I smile at the sight of all of our favorite guys standing outside. They
’
re in jeans, and yet they each look spiffy enough to have anyone of us four dressy girls on their arm.

Jackson has on a white shirt with a fitted, charcoal blazer. Beckham is wearing a checkered blue button-up with a striped bow tie and suspenders.
He looks really good. I hope Addie will be able to keep her hands to herself tonight; this could get awkward.
A smirk pulls at my lips when I look at my sister.
Then again, I
’
m probably worried about the wrong person.
I take a deep breath before I allow my gaze to lock in on my guy. The sight of him makes my breath catch in my throat. He
’
s wearing dark washed jeans with a black vest over a black collared shirt, the first couple buttons left undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His auburn hair is a disheveled mess that makes me want to kiss him silly. I feel myself blush at the thought.

When our gazes meet, he grins at me before walking around Beckham in order to make his way toward me. He doesn
’
t stop until his body is millimeters away from mine and his hands are cupped around my burning cheeks.
“
You, birthday girl, are breathtaking,
”
he murmurs before planting a light kiss on my lips. I hear his phone alert him to a text and he kisses me one more time before he reaches into his pocket to retrieve the device.
“
Hmm,
”
he hums as he swipes his finger across the screen.
“
My shorty sent me a message.
”

He reads it and then turns to look over his shoulder. It
’
s then that I realize that he didn
’
t get my text about what color I was wearing
—
which means when Addie answered the door, he already knew that it wasn
’
t me. I follow his gaze and see that Hammy and Jack are now inside. Hammy and Addie are staring at each other like one or the other might pounce; poor Jack seems to be trying to strike up a conversation to break the tension between them as he waits for Claire.

“
Did you think I wouldn
’
t know which one of you was you?
”
asks Grayson, pulling me from my thoughts.

I bite my lip, looking up at him, and shrug.
“
Sarah said she couldn
’
t really tell us apart. How could
you
?
”

“
You
’
re the twin that belongs to me,
”
he murmurs endearingly, leaning down to press his forehead against mine.
“
I can see it when I look in your eyes. Besides, if that wasn
’
t a dead giveaway
…”
his voice trails off as he kisses my cheek and I grin, understanding his implication.

I am so falling in love with this man
.

“
Ow, ow!
”
Claire cries. We both look in her direction and find her looking back at us.
“
You two are hotter together than I imagined
—
especially dressed like that. Let
’
s get ourselves downtown so we can get some cute pics before dinner!
”

Sonny reaches for my hand and my fingers curl around his without a single thought. I watch as Addie walks the short distance to the coffee table to pick up her clutch and I see her take a deep, calming breath; I think she might need a moment before we go, so I squeeze Sonny
’
s hand and then release it in order to head for my sister.
“
I forgot something,
”
I announce as I pull her back towards my room.
“
We
’
ll be back out in a second.
”

“
What
’
s up? Is everything okay?
”
she asks me as I crack my door for a bit of privacy.

“
I actually came back here to ask you that. I want to make sure that we have a good time tonight and I know that having Hammy around is both good and hard so I just wanted to check on you and to tell you that I
’
m here for you, whatever you need.
”

She smiles at me before kissing my cheek.
“
I love you. I
’
m
fine
. I promise. Does Beck look adorably handsome right now? Yes. He can
’
t help himself. Will I probably stare at him a lot tonight? Yes.
I
can
’
t
help
myself. But I
’
m in a good place and I
’
m just happy he
’
s coming out with us. It would break my heart any other way. Each effort he makes to be my friend is a kept promise. I
’
m holding onto that. In any case, tonight is about
us
—
you and me
—
not me and Beck.
”

“
Sonny and I
—
we won
’
t make you uncomfortable? I can tell him to
—”

“
Tell him nothing, except for how dashing he looks,
”
she interrupts me, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
“
I love seeing you two together. I
’
ve waited a long time for it and it makes me happy to watch you fall in love for the first time.
”

I sigh dreamily as a cheesy grin pulls at my lips.
“
I
am
falling for him. So hard. Is it that obvious?
”

“
I
’
ve known you your whole life
—
of course
it
’
s obvious. Now let
’
s go! He and all of our friends are waiting. There
’
s no party without the birthday girls!
”