Curvy Girls Can't Date Bad Boys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,83
better.
“If that were the case, I would say best present ever.”
He smiled wide and then placed that smile against mine. I loved it when we were so happy, we couldn’t kiss without grinning against each other.
“Come on,” he whispered, inches from my face. “You're not going to want to miss this.”
Fifty
As I followed Ronan down the trail, my hand linked with his, I asked, “Why have a party? How could it get any better than this?”
His smile absolutely consumed me. It was warm, light, perfect. “I hope you say that every day we're together.”
With my heart soaring and a permanent grin on my face, we continued down the path. Soon, I could hear the voices of my friends and a few others coming through the trees. Ronan led me off the beaten path and through a copse of sycamore trees.
The voices grew louder, along with music, until we reached an open expanse of grassy pasture. In the opening, there was a giant inflatable mat, and as I watched, I could see a guy leap from a stand inside a tree and fall, what had to be thirty feet through the air, until he landed on his side and the mat swallowed him.
A strangled scream escaped my mouth, but Ronan laughed beside me. “Surprise.”
At hearing my scream, my friends seemed to notice our arrival, as did all of Ronan's roommates.
“Happy birthday!” they cried in a mismatched chorus.
My heart was still beating fast, thinking that Ronan's friend had just died, but as the friend rolled out of the inflatable, I began to breathe easier. “I almost had a heart attack! I thought the point of the party was to celebrate, not kill the birthday girl!”
My friends laughed, and the girls surrounded me, their boyfriends close behind. Rory wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “You’re a hardened criminal now. You can take it.”
I rolled my eyes and put my free arm around her waist. Ronan still had his hand in mine.
“What do you think?” Rory asked and lowered her voice. “Beckett made up for his mistake, didn't he?”
I laughed, squeezing Ronan's hand. “He more than made up for it.”
“Introduce us!” Jordan cried from the other side of Rory. She looked over Ronan. “He's cute.”
I almost didn't believe it, but I could have sworn Ronan’s cheeks turned pink.
He lifted a hand and smiled shyly. “I'm Ronan, the idiot who almost let Zara get away.”
That earned a laugh from almost everyone.
Ginger lifted an eyebrow though. “How do we know you're not going to hurt our girl again?”
The entire group seem to fall silent, even Brock, who was now walking over to us like he hadn't just fallen thirty feet through the air.
Ronan looked each of them in the eyes, and I think we both understood that this wasn't just him and me. It was him and me and us. My friends were here for me, and they weren't going to let me go through something so awful again.
“I don't make the same mistake twice,” he said evenly, and the serious way he said it seemed to be enough for everyone. Ray slapped him on the back and passed him a red cup, and then handed one to me as well.
“Good luck, man,” Ray said. “These girls are crazy.”
I rolled my eyes and sniffed at the liquid in my cup. “What is this?”
“Sangria,” Carson said sheepishly. “My sister gave me the recipe.”
I laughed. “It's not exactly my twenty-first birthday.”
He winked and drew an X over his heart. “We can keep a secret.”
Callie smiled up at him adoringly, and suddenly it didn't feel so frustrating to see them in love but not admitting it, because I knew love made its own way. This guy standing beside me, it wasn't just some flame or some intense level of attraction because of his looks or his money, but something that was built on a foundation stronger. I loved his soul, and I could tell that he adored mine too. That wasn’t something that could be rushed or planned.
“Time for presents,” Ginger said. “I can't wait for you to see mine and Ray’s.”
Ronan leaned over and whispered to me, “Twenty bucks she just signed his name on it.”
I chuckled but grinned at the present Ginger was carrying toward me from the stack of presents surrounding the base of a tall cypress tree.
Immediately, I ripped the tissue paper away and pulled out T-shirt. As the pink cotton came into view, I glared at her. “You did not.”