When It Was Us - Bonus Scene
For a bit of reference, this bonus scene occurs between chapters six and seven of WHEN IT WAS US.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
- Drew -
The heavy wooden door to Worley’s Pub thudded closed behind Drew as he scanned the crowd at karaoke night. The entire town of Sage Hill turned out each month for the singing spectacle and Mrs. Poss currently belted out a surprisingly awesome rendition of a Cyndi Lauper classic.
He squeezed his way through the packed tables, pausing for hellos as he moved toward his best friend expertly mixing a rum and coke behind the bar. Luke’s grandfather had owned the place for over forty years and though Luke now had a successful career in construction, he still enjoyed helping out grandpa Joe at least once a week.
Drew took a seat on his favorite stool third from the end and waited. After sufficiently flirting with the redhead whose drink he’d just finished mixing, Luke finally moved toward Drew, beer already cracked open, and slid it to him.
Luke glanced toward the kitchen, then laughed, shaking his head.
“What are you laughing at?” Drew scanned the area but couldn’t find anything amusing.
Luke had the nerve to laugh again. But didn’t speak.
“Why the hell are you so quiet?” Drew asked.
“Give it a minute.” Luke grabbed a glass from the shelf, pointing it toward a table to Drew’s left.
Drew followed Luke’s gaze. “Justin and Dawn? Their engagement is big news. I should go over and…” Drew’s words feel short as the kitchen door swung open. Grandpa Joe held the door for Anna as she squeezed him around his plump middle.
“There it is…now the real show starts,” Luke whispered, "Will they or won't they?"
Drew ignored Luke, focusing only on Anna’s gaze now locked with his. A smile tugged at his lips as he wondered if she liked the flowers he’d been leaving on her porch every day.
Four days earlier, Drew stood in her childhood bedroom, her face cradled in his hands, while he basically begging for a second chance. But Anna had thus far been radio silent on any indication of an answer.
She lifted her hand in a wave, but a massive six-foot-four frame blocked Drew’s view and pushed him back into his seat.
Anna’s older brother, Max, took the seat next to Drew. “Stop eyeing my sister. It’s never going to happen.”
Drew started to speak, but Luke beat him to it. “Come on, Max. Let it go already. It’s been years and the poor guy has been in love with her since we were like five years old.”
“Let it go? You want me to let it go?” Max growled, his knuckles turning white where he gripped the bar.
Drew turned to Max, matching his defensive stance. “I’m trying to make it right. I’m giving her space, but making sure she knows how I feel. I’m not going anywhere this time. There is no one else but her.”
Max sipped his whiskey, but a smirk lifted his otherwise very angry expression and Drew had a bad feeling his message to Anna hadn’t been received.
“She is getting my flowers, isn’t she?” Drew asked.
Max shrugged, “Some of them may have gotten misplaced or shredded before she could see them, whatever.”
Drew dropped his beer against the bar with a bang. “Seriously? Don’t you have a job as a freaking surgeon an hour away from here? Did you stay home all week just to intercept the flowers and mess with me?”
“You? This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with protecting my baby sister from getting hurt again. I can’t fix what that ex-husband of hers has done. My always happy and optimistic sister was suddenly this different person I didn’t even recognize, but I can damn sure keep you from hurting her again. I can do that.”
The rage burned in Drew’s gut at the mention of Mason and the pain he’d caused Anna, but he needed Max to understand he would never leave her again. He’d sooner chop off a limb than be without her if there was any chance of her giving him another shot.
And hell if he’d let Max stand in his way. “I’m not going to hurt her. I…”
“Right, just like you didn’t hurt her before. I held her while she sobbed for days. Then I had to drive her back to school and leave her there knowing she was in so much pain from what you had done to her. Leaving her in that dorm room was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do so don’t sit there and tell me that you know because you don’t. Luke, back me up on this, you were there. How can you think this is a good idea?”
Drew turned to Luke. “What do you mean you were there?”
Luke winced. “She was so broken when she showed up on my grandparents’ porch the day you guys broke up. She wouldn’t answer my calls and I was worried about her so I stopped by her school on the way back from break.”
“You didn’t come back to the dorm for three days that week. I thought you were just pissed at me,” Drew said.
Luke shrugged, grabbed a bottle from behind the counter and poured Max a refill while staring at both of them. “But I completely disagree with Max this time and he’s going to stop interfering and let Anna make her own decisions.” The bottle clanked against the other glass as he dropped it. “Because she deserves that. From both of you. She deserves the chance to say what she wants. The one thing we all have in common is that we want her to be happy. Right?”
A grumbled yes came from Max’s direction as he took another drink, but Drew’s gaze drifted to Anna’s. She bit the side of her lip, fighting a smile, as she watched his interrogation from Max.
Drew smiled in return, but Anna's faded, narrowed eyes and a scowl replacing it.
“Buy you a drink?” The whispered words were right at Drew’s ear and he cringed at Avery Bennett’s voice beside him as she squeezed between he and Max.
“No thanks, Avery,” Drew craned his neck around her, but only caught a fleeting glimpse of Anna as she disappeared down the hall toward the restroom.
***
- Anna -
The paneled wall scratched against her forehead as Anna thumped it a few more times.
Stupid.
So freaking stupid to think that maybe a second chance with Drew wasn’t the worst idea she’d ever had.
The way he’d smiled at her across the room and the intensity of his gaze had her wanting things she knew her heart wasn’t ready for. Then Avery had thrown a big dose of reality at her.
“As a doctor, I’m advising you to stop smacking your head into the wall.” Drew’s low voice instantly calmed her from the edge of panic. As it always had.
But wasn’t that part of the problem. He pulled her in, made her feel things she couldn’t, wouldn’t, let herself feel again.
She continued to face the wall. “I’ll sign the AMA release form. Just leave me here.”
“Anna…”
His whispered voice was even more dangerous to her resolve so she spun to face him, backing against the wall to create as much space as she could.
She shook her head, but he inched closer.
“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, going on between me and Avery Bennett. There never has been and there never will be. Okay?”
Anna wanted to say that she didn’t care, that he could date anyone he darn well pleased, but that would be a lie.
She’d never lied to him and she wouldn’t start now.
Kept earth shattering secrets…Yes
Lied to him…No
“This is the women’s restroom, you know?” she said.
Drew smiled, that gorgeous, dimpled smile and her stupid stupid heart leapt against her permission. His hands moved to the wall on each side of her, their bodies so close that she could feel the heat of him everywhere.
One thumb brushed softly over her cheek and her eyes fell closed as he spoke. “I told you I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me no to trying again. I want you. You’re everything I’ve always wanted.”
“But I haven’t heard from you in four days.” The words slipped out and she wanted to face palm herself some more with the wall. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”
Drew glanced to the bar, then back at her. “Not for lack of trying, Sunshine. Seems my message may not have been delivered as I thought it was.” When she started to speak he continued. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You’ll hear from me every single day until I have an answer from you…I’ll make sure of it this time. I won’t give up on us.”
She nodded, afraid her voice wouldn’t work, and he motioned with a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going back to giving you that space now. But know it’s damn near killing me to not haul you out of this bar over my shoulder.”
He turned and she stared after him until he disappeared through the door back into the pub.
There was no chance of pulling herself together and, let’s face it, everyone in town already knew he’d followed her in there, so she rejoined Dawn and Justin at their dinner table. Max had taken the seat to her left and had his best friend Justin in a heated discussion about the upcoming major league baseball season.
Dawn raised a questioning brow in Anna’s direction, but she shook her head a tiny fraction. Anything more would cause the heated blush she felt creeping up her neck and chest to turn crimson red.
“He’s still your Drew.” Dawn leaned across the table, both her hands covering Anna’s. “Lord knows I understand it’s not easy to let someone in,” she glanced at Justin and continued, “and I’ll support you no matter what. Even if the town votes you out.”
“What?” Anna laughed.
“You know this town is itching for the Stevens/Presley wedding they’ve wanted since you were babies. If you don’t give it to them, they might kick you out.”
Max turned their way. “A wedding? Over my dead body.”
Anna rolled her eyes, but loved her brother a little more for his unwavering protection and concern.
“If he shows up and knocks on your window again in the middle of the damn night, I’ll break his nose this time.”
Justin and Dawn both laughed, but damn her brother…he’d pulled Anna's favorite Christmas memory out the mental storage box she’d locked it up tight in years ago.
Anna – 11 years ago – Christmas night
“Merry Christmas, Sunshine.” Drew whispered the words causing a shiver that had nothing to do with the forty-degree temperatures.
They stood huddled on Anna’s front porch, Drew dropping her off after spending the day alternating between family celebrations.
She leaned back and watched the flecks of gold in his eyes, gently running her thumb over the dimple on his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Drew.”
His hands ran up and down her arms to warm her. “I should go. It’s freezing out here and I’m fairly certain your brother is watching us through the curtains. I’m never going to win him over if he catches me making out with you on the porch.”
He winked then kissed her cheek.
But a kiss on the cheek just wouldn’t do. Anna grabbed his face in both hands, rising on tiptoes, slamming her lips into his.
He hesitated only a second before returning the kiss, parting his lips for her and pulling their bodies together with a firm squeeze of her hips.
Anna chuckled breathlessly when he pulled them apart with a growl.
“Worth it?” she grinned.
“Do you even have to ask?” He joined their hands, his thumb stroking over hers. “I’ll win Max over some other way.”
“See you tomorrow,. I love you,” she whispered as he walked backward toward his truck.
A mischievous smile brightened his handsome face. “I love you, Sunshine. Sleep tight.”
Anna kissed her parents and brother good night, but sleep eluded her. She stared at the painting propped against her dresser mirror, a Christmas gift from Drew. His sister had painted their spot by the river with the sun setting behind it.
It was the best gift she’d ever been given.
Her eyes fell closed and slumber pulled her under when a tapping noise filled the room. More precisely, it seemed to be coming from the window.
Peeking through the curtains revealed Drew's excited, crooked smile staring back at her. She slid open the creaking old glass as quietly as was possible.
"What are you doing?" she whispered, but it felt like everyone in the house must have heard her.
"Come outside."
"Are you crazy?"
His smile was bigger than she’d ever seen it, crinkling his eyes and bringing out his dimple. God above, she loved that dimple.
"Maybe, but I have a surprise for you. Come on."
Her possible punishment for sneaking out was only a flicker in her mind before she slipped on jeans and a sweatshirt, tip-toeing out the door farthest from any bedrooms.
Drew grabbed her from behind and she barely contained the scream as he intertwined their fingers and led her past the tree house to the riverbank.
"This way.”
The full moon danced beautifully along the water as they walked. In the distance she could see…candles? So many candles lit up a walkway down the river to a blanket surrounded by even more candles.
“What is all this?” she said, breathless.
“I wanted to do something special for you…I mean I’ve got something special for you and I wanted to make it special…I mean…”
Drew shook his head as if to clear it and she laughed softly at the boy who was always calm and collected getting flustered for what he’d clearly been hard at work planning.
He led Anna to the blanket and wrapped her in a warm quilt. “The weather isn’t exactly cooperating with my idea, but I wanted to do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
He sat across from her and she noticed a little white box in the middle of the blanket.
“We already exchanged gifts?” she asked.
“Yeah, that gift was really just to throw you off,” he answered with smirk. “This is your real gift.”
Anna laughed. “But I loved my fake gift.”
He glanced from the box back to her, his hand shaking as he placed it in her hands. “Open it.”
Anna watched the red bow like it might disappear at any moment, nervous to touch it and break the magic. Slowly she untied the bow and flipped up the top, inside a ring sparkled in the candlelight, a small sapphire with tiny diamonds on the band.
“It’s incredible…”
“I wanted to give you something special to let you know how much I love you and how committed I am to us. Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you,” he said, capturing her gaze. “I know you’re nervous about us going to different colleges next fall, but you don’t need to be.”
A tear escaped from her eye and he brushed it away with his thumb. “Sunshine, can I put it on?”
She could only nod as he took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.” Love wasn’t a strong enough word for what she felt for it, what she felt for him.
His thumb tenderly brushed her new ring. “I meant every single word, Anna. I will never stop loving you.”
Anna pushed him back against the blanket, her legs straddling his hips as she snuggled the quilt around them. “I love you, too.”
“Are you cold? We could go back if you want.”
“I want to stay right here.”
Drew ran his hands up and down her back as his lips met hers, demanding but always tender, then he rolled them so he hovered over her. The cold was the last thing on Anna’s mind as he pressed them into the blanket.
They kissed and held each other until the candles eventually burned out. Then Drew led them slowly back to her house, the ring on her finger intertwined with his.
The line of trees separating her house from the river greeted them and he backed Anna against one, kissing down her neck while his hands squeezed her hips. “I should probably go.”
“Probably,” she murmured, eye closed while she breathed in his signature Drew scent of soap and spice.
“Definitely,” said an anger voice in the darkness.
Drew stepped in front of Anna, pinning her to his back. Max appeared in front of them and Drew released her, body sagging in relief.
Anna sighed. “Max, you scared the crap out of us. What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” he hissed. “I woke up to you sneaking through the living room earlier. I couldn’t go back to sleep for the next two hours wondering where my baby sister might be or what she might be doing.”
“Drew had a surprise for me,” she said and the death glare that Max shot in Drew’s direction should have dropped him to the ground.
“I’d never let anything happen to her,” Drew said.
While Max continued to try and burn her boyfriend with his stare, Drew smiled at Anna and kissed the ring on her finger. “I love seeing my ring on you,” he whispered. “Go inside where it’s warm. Sweet dreams, Sunshine.”
Then he was gone. Disappearing into the night.
She floated more than walked back to the house, Max nudging her from behind.
He opened the door and held it for her. Anna smiled at her sweet overprotective big brother. “Thanks for worrying about me, I love you for it, but you don’t need to. Drew would never hurt me.”
A garbled unrecognizable noise escaped him, as his arm wrapped around her. “I love you too, you little pain in the ass, now get in bed and stay there this time. Your boyfriend will not walk away without a fist to a critical part of his body if I find him out here again. Somewhere that won’t leave a mark so I don’t go to jail.”
Anna saluted him as she tiptoed to her room, and he scowled in response.
She snuggled under the covers and stared at the ring Drew placed her hand. A symbol that their love could weather any storm that might rock them.
The heavy wooden door to Worley’s Pub thudded closed behind Drew as he scanned the crowd at karaoke night. The entire town of Sage Hill turned out each month for the singing spectacle and Mrs. Poss currently belted out a surprisingly awesome rendition of a Cyndi Lauper classic.
He squeezed his way through the packed tables, pausing for hellos as he moved toward his best friend expertly mixing a rum and coke behind the bar. Luke’s grandfather had owned the place for over forty years and though Luke now had a successful career in construction, he still enjoyed helping out grandpa Joe at least once a week.
Drew took a seat on his favorite stool third from the end and waited. After sufficiently flirting with the redhead whose drink he’d just finished mixing, Luke finally moved toward Drew, beer already cracked open, and slid it to him.
Luke glanced toward the kitchen, then laughed, shaking his head.
“What are you laughing at?” Drew scanned the area but couldn’t find anything amusing.
Luke had the nerve to laugh again. But didn’t speak.
“Why the hell are you so quiet?” Drew asked.
“Give it a minute.” Luke grabbed a glass from the shelf, pointing it toward a table to Drew’s left.
Drew followed Luke’s gaze. “Justin and Dawn? Their engagement is big news. I should go over and…” Drew’s words feel short as the kitchen door swung open. Grandpa Joe held the door for Anna as she squeezed him around his plump middle.
“There it is…now the real show starts,” Luke whispered, "Will they or won't they?"
Drew ignored Luke, focusing only on Anna’s gaze now locked with his. A smile tugged at his lips as he wondered if she liked the flowers he’d been leaving on her porch every day.
Four days earlier, Drew stood in her childhood bedroom, her face cradled in his hands, while he basically begging for a second chance. But Anna had thus far been radio silent on any indication of an answer.
She lifted her hand in a wave, but a massive six-foot-four frame blocked Drew’s view and pushed him back into his seat.
Anna’s older brother, Max, took the seat next to Drew. “Stop eyeing my sister. It’s never going to happen.”
Drew started to speak, but Luke beat him to it. “Come on, Max. Let it go already. It’s been years and the poor guy has been in love with her since we were like five years old.”
“Let it go? You want me to let it go?” Max growled, his knuckles turning white where he gripped the bar.
Drew turned to Max, matching his defensive stance. “I’m trying to make it right. I’m giving her space, but making sure she knows how I feel. I’m not going anywhere this time. There is no one else but her.”
Max sipped his whiskey, but a smirk lifted his otherwise very angry expression and Drew had a bad feeling his message to Anna hadn’t been received.
“She is getting my flowers, isn’t she?” Drew asked.
Max shrugged, “Some of them may have gotten misplaced or shredded before she could see them, whatever.”
Drew dropped his beer against the bar with a bang. “Seriously? Don’t you have a job as a freaking surgeon an hour away from here? Did you stay home all week just to intercept the flowers and mess with me?”
“You? This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with protecting my baby sister from getting hurt again. I can’t fix what that ex-husband of hers has done. My always happy and optimistic sister was suddenly this different person I didn’t even recognize, but I can damn sure keep you from hurting her again. I can do that.”
The rage burned in Drew’s gut at the mention of Mason and the pain he’d caused Anna, but he needed Max to understand he would never leave her again. He’d sooner chop off a limb than be without her if there was any chance of her giving him another shot.
And hell if he’d let Max stand in his way. “I’m not going to hurt her. I…”
“Right, just like you didn’t hurt her before. I held her while she sobbed for days. Then I had to drive her back to school and leave her there knowing she was in so much pain from what you had done to her. Leaving her in that dorm room was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do so don’t sit there and tell me that you know because you don’t. Luke, back me up on this, you were there. How can you think this is a good idea?”
Drew turned to Luke. “What do you mean you were there?”
Luke winced. “She was so broken when she showed up on my grandparents’ porch the day you guys broke up. She wouldn’t answer my calls and I was worried about her so I stopped by her school on the way back from break.”
“You didn’t come back to the dorm for three days that week. I thought you were just pissed at me,” Drew said.
Luke shrugged, grabbed a bottle from behind the counter and poured Max a refill while staring at both of them. “But I completely disagree with Max this time and he’s going to stop interfering and let Anna make her own decisions.” The bottle clanked against the other glass as he dropped it. “Because she deserves that. From both of you. She deserves the chance to say what she wants. The one thing we all have in common is that we want her to be happy. Right?”
A grumbled yes came from Max’s direction as he took another drink, but Drew’s gaze drifted to Anna’s. She bit the side of her lip, fighting a smile, as she watched his interrogation from Max.
Drew smiled in return, but Anna's faded, narrowed eyes and a scowl replacing it.
“Buy you a drink?” The whispered words were right at Drew’s ear and he cringed at Avery Bennett’s voice beside him as she squeezed between he and Max.
“No thanks, Avery,” Drew craned his neck around her, but only caught a fleeting glimpse of Anna as she disappeared down the hall toward the restroom.
***
- Anna -
The paneled wall scratched against her forehead as Anna thumped it a few more times.
Stupid.
So freaking stupid to think that maybe a second chance with Drew wasn’t the worst idea she’d ever had.
The way he’d smiled at her across the room and the intensity of his gaze had her wanting things she knew her heart wasn’t ready for. Then Avery had thrown a big dose of reality at her.
“As a doctor, I’m advising you to stop smacking your head into the wall.” Drew’s low voice instantly calmed her from the edge of panic. As it always had.
But wasn’t that part of the problem. He pulled her in, made her feel things she couldn’t, wouldn’t, let herself feel again.
She continued to face the wall. “I’ll sign the AMA release form. Just leave me here.”
“Anna…”
His whispered voice was even more dangerous to her resolve so she spun to face him, backing against the wall to create as much space as she could.
She shook her head, but he inched closer.
“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, going on between me and Avery Bennett. There never has been and there never will be. Okay?”
Anna wanted to say that she didn’t care, that he could date anyone he darn well pleased, but that would be a lie.
She’d never lied to him and she wouldn’t start now.
Kept earth shattering secrets…Yes
Lied to him…No
“This is the women’s restroom, you know?” she said.
Drew smiled, that gorgeous, dimpled smile and her stupid stupid heart leapt against her permission. His hands moved to the wall on each side of her, their bodies so close that she could feel the heat of him everywhere.
One thumb brushed softly over her cheek and her eyes fell closed as he spoke. “I told you I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me no to trying again. I want you. You’re everything I’ve always wanted.”
“But I haven’t heard from you in four days.” The words slipped out and she wanted to face palm herself some more with the wall. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”
Drew glanced to the bar, then back at her. “Not for lack of trying, Sunshine. Seems my message may not have been delivered as I thought it was.” When she started to speak he continued. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You’ll hear from me every single day until I have an answer from you…I’ll make sure of it this time. I won’t give up on us.”
She nodded, afraid her voice wouldn’t work, and he motioned with a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going back to giving you that space now. But know it’s damn near killing me to not haul you out of this bar over my shoulder.”
He turned and she stared after him until he disappeared through the door back into the pub.
There was no chance of pulling herself together and, let’s face it, everyone in town already knew he’d followed her in there, so she rejoined Dawn and Justin at their dinner table. Max had taken the seat to her left and had his best friend Justin in a heated discussion about the upcoming major league baseball season.
Dawn raised a questioning brow in Anna’s direction, but she shook her head a tiny fraction. Anything more would cause the heated blush she felt creeping up her neck and chest to turn crimson red.
“He’s still your Drew.” Dawn leaned across the table, both her hands covering Anna’s. “Lord knows I understand it’s not easy to let someone in,” she glanced at Justin and continued, “and I’ll support you no matter what. Even if the town votes you out.”
“What?” Anna laughed.
“You know this town is itching for the Stevens/Presley wedding they’ve wanted since you were babies. If you don’t give it to them, they might kick you out.”
Max turned their way. “A wedding? Over my dead body.”
Anna rolled her eyes, but loved her brother a little more for his unwavering protection and concern.
“If he shows up and knocks on your window again in the middle of the damn night, I’ll break his nose this time.”
Justin and Dawn both laughed, but damn her brother…he’d pulled Anna's favorite Christmas memory out the mental storage box she’d locked it up tight in years ago.
Anna – 11 years ago – Christmas night
“Merry Christmas, Sunshine.” Drew whispered the words causing a shiver that had nothing to do with the forty-degree temperatures.
They stood huddled on Anna’s front porch, Drew dropping her off after spending the day alternating between family celebrations.
She leaned back and watched the flecks of gold in his eyes, gently running her thumb over the dimple on his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Drew.”
His hands ran up and down her arms to warm her. “I should go. It’s freezing out here and I’m fairly certain your brother is watching us through the curtains. I’m never going to win him over if he catches me making out with you on the porch.”
He winked then kissed her cheek.
But a kiss on the cheek just wouldn’t do. Anna grabbed his face in both hands, rising on tiptoes, slamming her lips into his.
He hesitated only a second before returning the kiss, parting his lips for her and pulling their bodies together with a firm squeeze of her hips.
Anna chuckled breathlessly when he pulled them apart with a growl.
“Worth it?” she grinned.
“Do you even have to ask?” He joined their hands, his thumb stroking over hers. “I’ll win Max over some other way.”
“See you tomorrow,. I love you,” she whispered as he walked backward toward his truck.
A mischievous smile brightened his handsome face. “I love you, Sunshine. Sleep tight.”
Anna kissed her parents and brother good night, but sleep eluded her. She stared at the painting propped against her dresser mirror, a Christmas gift from Drew. His sister had painted their spot by the river with the sun setting behind it.
It was the best gift she’d ever been given.
Her eyes fell closed and slumber pulled her under when a tapping noise filled the room. More precisely, it seemed to be coming from the window.
Peeking through the curtains revealed Drew's excited, crooked smile staring back at her. She slid open the creaking old glass as quietly as was possible.
"What are you doing?" she whispered, but it felt like everyone in the house must have heard her.
"Come outside."
"Are you crazy?"
His smile was bigger than she’d ever seen it, crinkling his eyes and bringing out his dimple. God above, she loved that dimple.
"Maybe, but I have a surprise for you. Come on."
Her possible punishment for sneaking out was only a flicker in her mind before she slipped on jeans and a sweatshirt, tip-toeing out the door farthest from any bedrooms.
Drew grabbed her from behind and she barely contained the scream as he intertwined their fingers and led her past the tree house to the riverbank.
"This way.”
The full moon danced beautifully along the water as they walked. In the distance she could see…candles? So many candles lit up a walkway down the river to a blanket surrounded by even more candles.
“What is all this?” she said, breathless.
“I wanted to do something special for you…I mean I’ve got something special for you and I wanted to make it special…I mean…”
Drew shook his head as if to clear it and she laughed softly at the boy who was always calm and collected getting flustered for what he’d clearly been hard at work planning.
He led Anna to the blanket and wrapped her in a warm quilt. “The weather isn’t exactly cooperating with my idea, but I wanted to do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
He sat across from her and she noticed a little white box in the middle of the blanket.
“We already exchanged gifts?” she asked.
“Yeah, that gift was really just to throw you off,” he answered with smirk. “This is your real gift.”
Anna laughed. “But I loved my fake gift.”
He glanced from the box back to her, his hand shaking as he placed it in her hands. “Open it.”
Anna watched the red bow like it might disappear at any moment, nervous to touch it and break the magic. Slowly she untied the bow and flipped up the top, inside a ring sparkled in the candlelight, a small sapphire with tiny diamonds on the band.
“It’s incredible…”
“I wanted to give you something special to let you know how much I love you and how committed I am to us. Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you,” he said, capturing her gaze. “I know you’re nervous about us going to different colleges next fall, but you don’t need to be.”
A tear escaped from her eye and he brushed it away with his thumb. “Sunshine, can I put it on?”
She could only nod as he took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.” Love wasn’t a strong enough word for what she felt for it, what she felt for him.
His thumb tenderly brushed her new ring. “I meant every single word, Anna. I will never stop loving you.”
Anna pushed him back against the blanket, her legs straddling his hips as she snuggled the quilt around them. “I love you, too.”
“Are you cold? We could go back if you want.”
“I want to stay right here.”
Drew ran his hands up and down her back as his lips met hers, demanding but always tender, then he rolled them so he hovered over her. The cold was the last thing on Anna’s mind as he pressed them into the blanket.
They kissed and held each other until the candles eventually burned out. Then Drew led them slowly back to her house, the ring on her finger intertwined with his.
The line of trees separating her house from the river greeted them and he backed Anna against one, kissing down her neck while his hands squeezed her hips. “I should probably go.”
“Probably,” she murmured, eye closed while she breathed in his signature Drew scent of soap and spice.
“Definitely,” said an anger voice in the darkness.
Drew stepped in front of Anna, pinning her to his back. Max appeared in front of them and Drew released her, body sagging in relief.
Anna sighed. “Max, you scared the crap out of us. What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” he hissed. “I woke up to you sneaking through the living room earlier. I couldn’t go back to sleep for the next two hours wondering where my baby sister might be or what she might be doing.”
“Drew had a surprise for me,” she said and the death glare that Max shot in Drew’s direction should have dropped him to the ground.
“I’d never let anything happen to her,” Drew said.
While Max continued to try and burn her boyfriend with his stare, Drew smiled at Anna and kissed the ring on her finger. “I love seeing my ring on you,” he whispered. “Go inside where it’s warm. Sweet dreams, Sunshine.”
Then he was gone. Disappearing into the night.
She floated more than walked back to the house, Max nudging her from behind.
He opened the door and held it for her. Anna smiled at her sweet overprotective big brother. “Thanks for worrying about me, I love you for it, but you don’t need to. Drew would never hurt me.”
A garbled unrecognizable noise escaped him, as his arm wrapped around her. “I love you too, you little pain in the ass, now get in bed and stay there this time. Your boyfriend will not walk away without a fist to a critical part of his body if I find him out here again. Somewhere that won’t leave a mark so I don’t go to jail.”
Anna saluted him as she tiptoed to her room, and he scowled in response.
She snuggled under the covers and stared at the ring Drew placed her hand. A symbol that their love could weather any storm that might rock them.