Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
“Yes!” Marnie screams at top volume, making me, and all her friends, and several random onlookers, laugh and cheer.
I pop up and embrace my fiancée, as our audience cheers and applauds. “I love you,” I whisper, before taking her face in my palms and kissing her. As our audience continues cheering, I dip Marnie low, making her giggle.
“I love you, too,” she says. “So much.”
When I finally release my new fiancée, I call out to her friends, “I’m banned from Captain’s for life, ladies, so we’ll need to find another bar for our ad hoc engagement celebration.”
“The Pine Box is right down the street!” the cute dirty blonde shouts. She’s Lucy, I think.
“Onward, to The Pine Box!” I shout, making everyone whoop and cheer. I add, “Drinks, shots, and the finest champagne are all on me!”
Our group starts walking down the sidewalk toward our destination, with Marnie and me holding hands and strolling behind.
“What made you change your mind?” Marnie asks.
“It’s more like I came to my senses. I’ve been miserable. I really blew it, baby. I wish I could rewind the clock and get a do-over. I wish I would have said all this on the last night of camp.”
Marnie’s eyes prick with tears. “No, honey. This was perfect. As heartbroken as I felt, I only wanted you, if you were sure.”
“I am. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
As we share a smile, Selena in front of us draws our attention by shouting, “Grayson!” When we turn to look, she’s got her phone against her ear. She says, “Honey, get your hot ass downtown to The Pine Box. Max and Marnie just got engaged—for real this time—and we’re going to celebrate.” Selena turns back to Marnie and me. “Grayson says congratulations. He’s on his way.” After we reply with gratitude, Selena returns to her call. “Actually, we were just at Captain’s, but we can’t celebrate there because Max is now banned for life.” Selena chuckles. “I’ll let Max tell you the story.”
Marnie nudges my arm. “If Grayson’s coming, we should invite Auggie, too.”
I nod enthusiastically. “He was having drinks with our mother earlier. Maybe they’re still together, and she can come with him.”
“That’d be awesome! It’s too bad we can’t invite my father, but he’s watching Ripley for me tonight.”
“We’ll have a nice celebration dinner with our parents this weekend,” I say with a wink. “I’ve been missing our family dinners.”
Marnie beams a huge smile at me. “So have I. So much.”
“And in the meantime,” I add, “we’ll get shitfaced at The Pine Box.”
Marnie pats my arm. “You get shitfaced tonight, Boo. I’ll be our designated driver.”
“We can take an Uber.”
“Nah. I’m happy being punch drunk on nothing but my love for you.”
Laughing, I kiss her hand. “Let’s play it by ear. If you change your mind, we’ll take an Uber.” I pause. “I should probably mention I’m unemployed, as of a half-hour ago. I hope that doesn’t change your answer.”
“Unemployed?”
“They offered me partnership tonight because I’ve supposedly proved myself ruthless and cut-throat, so I quit. Don’t worry, it’s the best thing I ever did. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“What about Wayne Walters? Are you still going to work for him?”
“I doubt it. I’ll figure that out later, though. As long as I’ve got my family with me, it doesn’t matter what happens next in my career.”
“Babe, what the fuck happened tonight?”
I chuckle. “I promise I’ll tell you all about it later, my love. Right now, all you need to know is that quitting the firm and tanking my chances of working for Wayne Walters was the second-best decision of my life, topped only by my decision to beg the woman of my dreams, the amazing Marnie Long, to become my future wife.”
34
MAX
“Hang on,” I whisper after Marnie unlocks her front door. “I’ll carry you across the threshold, babe.”
Marnie giggles. “That’s for the wedding night, honey; not the engagement night.”
“It’s so nice, why not do it twice?” Laughing, I scoop her up, and then creep with her in my arms through the dark, quiet house, taking great care not to wake Henry or Ripley as I go.
“I can’t wait to fuck my beautiful fiancée,” I whisper as we make it into Marnie’s bedroom. “Oh, sorry. Make love to my beautiful fiancée.”
Marnie snickers. “No, you can fuck me.”
I’m a bit drunk, while Marnie is as sober as a judge. True to her word, she let me party tonight, and then she safely drove us home. As my steely boner attests, however, the alcohol in my bloodstream hasn’t tamped down the white-hot lust I feel for this woman in the slightest.
I lay Marnie down on her bed, kissing her hungrily and pulling off her clothes. When I get her naked, I unzip my pants and rub my tip against her. I’m already wet with pre-cum, and she’s already as wet as can be, too. Clearly, we’re both raring to go.