Forever After All by Kaylee Ryan
Chapter 1
Rip
The flames of the fire dance, lighting up the dark sky. It’s the perfect night for a bonfire. Over the blaze, I watch as McKenna brings the bottle of Boone’s Farm to her lips. I can’t help but feel nostalgic. We’ve spent many summer nights out in this field. When McKenna left for college, it just didn’t feel the same. Not to me, and not to my little sister, Laramie, her best friend. We just sort of stopped having bonfires. However, tonight is a special occasion. McKenna graduated from law school two weeks ago.
She’s wicked smart, having graduated high school with an associate’s degree. She left for Harvard to finish her undergrad and attend law school. Her trips home were few and far between, and we all missed her.
I missed her.
“You know,” Laramie says, “you’d think now that we’re legal drinking age, we’d move onto something better than Boone’s Farm,” she says, holding the half-empty bottle in the air.
“Speak for yourself. I’m an in-debt college graduate,” McKenna tells her. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong in indulging in a little Boone’s.” As if she needs to prove her point, her bottle is back to her lips as she takes a healthy drink. Laramie cheers her on, making us all laugh.
“Right.” My sister laughs. “Miss Attorney at Law.” She smiles at McKenna.
“Not yet. I still have to pass the bar exam.”
“Please,” Laramie chides. “You’ve got this.”
“It’s damn good to have you home,” my best friend, Corbin, says, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. McKenna gives him a blinding smile as she returns his embrace.
My eyes never leave the two of them as they dance around, acting a fool. “What’s up with you?” Colby, Corbin’s younger brother, asks, plopping down on the back of the tailgate beside me.
“Nothing.”
“You look like you could murder my brother.”
I have to force myself to turn and look at him. “Maybe you should slow down on those.” I nod to the bottle of beer in his hand.
“Yeah, okay,” he says, laughing off my comment.
“What are you two fuddy-duddies doing over there?” my sister calls out.
“Your girl is lit,” I tell Colby.
“I know.” I can hear the smile in his voice. My sister and Colby have been dating and still going strong since Laramie’s senior year of high school.
“Is she going home with you?” I ask him. I know the answer. Even though Laramie technically still lives at home, she’s never there. She’s always staying over at Colby’s.
“Nah, we’re staying at your place tonight.”
“Really?” I laugh.
“Yep. Her idea.” He points to my sister.
“When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?”
“Soon.” He’s evasive, but that’s Colby. The only thing he’s ever transparent about is how he feels about my baby sister. What he doesn’t know is that I know he’s already talked to Mom and Dad. I know he plans to ask her to marry him, and if I know Colby, his “soon” is just that. Soon.
“Come on.” Laramie appears in front of us. She grabs onto Colby’s hand and tugs. He lets her, like the pussy he is for her, and follows her to the other side of the fire.
I watch as he pulls her into his arms, and they begin to slow dance. The smile on my sister’s face as she stares up at him is the same smile she had when she was eighteen. My eyes stray to McKenna and Corbin, but it’s just Corbin in the light of the flames. I scan the surroundings, and that’s when I see her headed my way.
“Rip, will you go with me?” she asks.
I don’t need her to clarify. I know what she needs. She and Laramie both used to come to me for this very same reason, that is until Colby appeared in the picture. I don’t hesitate to jump off the tailgate and link my fingers with hers. Fuck, I’ve missed her. Stopping at the back of my truck, I grab the roll of toilet paper and the small paper bag for trash that we can toss into the fire.
“My hero,” she says, her voice sugary sweet.
“You know, it’s just us. You don’t really need me,” I remind her. Not that I mind. It’s been too damn long since I’ve spent this kind of time with her. She barely came home while she was in college. She was always studying, taking a full course load, or working at her part-time job at a local law firm. Besides, I don’t know how many times I’ve preached to her and my sister never to wander off alone at a field party, or any party for that matter.
“Rip, you can’t break tradition,” she says, leaning into me.
I can’t hold in my chuckle. When we reach the big oak tree, I hand her the toilet paper and the bag and turn my back. “You doing okay?” I ask when I hear her cursing under her breath.
“Yep. Good. Ah,” she says, and I find myself again not able to hold onto my laughter. “Are you laughing at me, Rip Callahan?”
“You’re cute as hell, McKenna.”
“Men. You don’t know how lucky you are. All you have to do is just whip it out, and you’re good to go. I have to balance myself and not pee on my clothes.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her if she wants me to help her strip out of her clothes, but I refrain. McKenna has always been beautiful. I never would have thought she could be any more attractive, that is until I saw her walk into my parents’ house yesterday afternoon. Her hair is longer, and her body, she’s filled out, and she’s now all woman. Something that eighteen-year-old McKenna was lacking when she left for college.
Don’t get me wrong, she was beautiful, and I wanted her with a fierceness that I can’t explain. I’ve noticed subtle changes in her over the years when our paths crossed, but tonight is the first time I’ve really got to spend any amount of time with her. Her visits were always quick, as she had to get back to work in Massachusetts.
“You need help?” I ask when I hear more cursing and rustling around.
“Nope.” She appears beside me and slips her arm in the crook of mine.
Arm in arm, we walk back to the fire. I stop us at the truck to toss the toilet paper back into the cab. After leading us to the fire, McKenna tosses the small paper bag into the flames, and as soon as we’re in sight, Colby looks over at me and grins. “It’s about time,” he says, smirking.
“Hey, you try squatting and not getting any on your clothes,” McKenna fires back, making everyone laugh.
“This one’s for you, ladies,” Corbin says as he turns up the music. Laramie pulls McKenna from my side, and they begin to dance around the fire. When the song turns slow, Colby stands and wraps my sister in his arms. McKenna backs away with tears in her eyes as the couple dances to Train’s “Marry Me” like no one is watching.
“Do you know something that I don’t?” I whisper to McKenna when she comes to stand next to me.
“Just watch,” she says, leaning her head on my shoulder. There are tears shimmering in her eyes, and I know that this is it. He’s going to do it, and my guess is that he’s been waiting for McKenna to come home. So that my sister's best friend could be here to witness the moment. As the song ends, Colby gathers Laramie’s hands in his and drops to one knee.
My sister stills, placing her hand over her mouth. As we draw closer, I can see she also has tears in her eyes. “Laramie, I’ve loved you for longer than I can remember.” Colby’s voice is strong. Clear. “These past six years have been more than I ever could have asked for. Now, I’m just hoping you’re willing to give me the rest of yours. I want to spend a lifetime with you. Will you marry me?”
My sister drops to her knees in front of him and pulls him into a kiss. “Yes!” She tilts her head back and shouts at the night sky, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She pulls him into a kiss that I’m not sure I should be witnessing from my little sister.
They stand, and Colby pulls her close. The smiles on their faces are matching, and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them.
Damn, my little sis is getting married.
“Hell yeah! Welcome to the family.” Corbin rushes to them and hugs them both. When he steps back, I step in and do the same, followed by McKenna.
“Congratulations, man.” I shake Colby’s hand. “Lara,” I say, my throat growing thick. I pull her into a hug. “The first of our group to get married,” I muse, releasing her back to her fiancé.
“Oh, no, they’re not the first,” Corbin says, holding his hands up in the air, one of them holding a bottle of beer. “That title goes to the two of you.” He points to McKenna and me.
“You might want to slow down on those, bud.” I aim to the bottle of beer in his hands. I’m pretending like I don’t know what he’s talking about, yet the memory is my most vivid from my childhood.
“Do you two remember the day I walked in on you two—” He gestures to McKenna and then me. “—in the treehouse, and you were getting married?” He laughs.
“Stop.” McKenna laughs with him. “I was seven.”
Corbin gives me a mischievous grin. “It’s been what? Sixteen years? You think you two still have it in you?” He wags his eyebrows. “I’m thinking we need a reenactment.”
“I think Lara and Colby should do the reenactment,” I speak up, turning the heat from McKenna and me.
“Nope. That’s bad luck,” Corbin fires back.
“No, it’s not,” McKenna argues.
“Yep. It’s bad luck to pretend to marry the person you’re actually going to marry,” Laramie explains. I can tell by the look in my sister’s eyes that she knows she’s talking shit and no such theory exists. I mean, that’s what wedding rehearsals are for, right?
“Colbs, I think we need to cut her off.” McKenna makes a slashing motion across her neck. “She’s had enough.”
“Hush.” Laramie’s grin grows wider. “Besides, it’s not a true reenactment unless it’s the original actors.”
“We’re not actors,” I counter. My sister waves her hand in the air. “And we’re already married,” I say, joking.
“Nope. Single as a Pringle.” McKenna holds up her hand, showing she’s not wearing a ring. That pleases me more than it should.
“What’s the matter, Callahan?” Corbin goads. “You afraid to catch McKenna’s cooties?”
“Are you twelve?” I ask him. My heart races at the thought of my lips touching hers. One time in my life, I kissed her. I was nine years old, and the memory is one I will never forget. I’m twenty-five. What does that say about me?
He brings his beer to his lips and makes a show of draining the bottle. “Nope. Are you a pussy?” he asks.
From beside me, McKenna bursts into laughter.
“Really?” I ask her. I’m trying very hard to remain stone-faced, but I can’t do that when she laughs like that. So carefree. So beautiful.
“If I remember correctly, you volunteered to play with me that day,” she muses, tapping her index finger against her chin.
“You really wanna do this?” My eyes stay trained on hers. There’s a part of me that wants her to say yes, and a part of me that is worried that I won’t be able to stop once my lips mold with hers.
She nods. “I mean, unless you’re scared?” The corner of her mouth tilts up in a smile.
“It’s just a show for our fans,” I say, making them all laugh. “I’m only getting married once in real life. It’s definitely not going to be some snap decision at a bonfire,” I tell them.
“Oh, hush.” My sister laughs. “Just humor me.”
Fuck it. Reaching over, I take the new beer that Corbin just opened out of his hands and down the entire thing. “Let’s do this,” I tell them.
Corbin claps his hands together, as does my sister, as I’m placed on one side of the fire, while McKenna is led to the opposite so she can “walk down the aisle” to me, or at least that’s what Laramie is mumbling about. My hands are sweaty, but I know if I wipe them on my jeans, Corbin will call me out. That fucker never misses anything. Hence the reason we’re performing this little charade. I made the mistake of telling him how good she looked yesterday, and well, now here we are.
My reluctance has nothing to do with being a pussy, or being scared. It’s not because I think McKenna has cooties. I mentally roll my eyes with that one. No, it’s because I’ve had a thing for my sister’s best friend for years. She was the first girl I ever kissed, and tonight, she’s too fucking tempting. Her long brown hair cascades down her back. Those short cutoff jean shorts that make her legs look incredible and that tank top that does nothing to hide the impressive tits that live just below the surface of the fabric. I’m hesitant because I’m not sure once my lips touch hers that I’ll be able to stop. I’ve been fighting this for a long damn time.
At first, I wanted to wait until she graduated. I’m two years older than her, and I thought that was the right thing to do. Then she announced she was accepted to Harvard for prelaw with the dreams of following in her grandpa’s footsteps. Telling her then would have only caused pain for both of us. No way was I going to interfere with her living her dream. This time she’s home for good. She’s back, and I’m not sure I have the willpower to resist her.
“You nervous?” Corbin smirks.
“Terrified,” I say, deadpan. That’s not the truth, but not a complete lie either. I’m cautious. That’s a better way to describe it.
“Yo, Lara, you ready?” Corbin calls out.
“Colby, you have to walk her down the aisle,” Laramie calls back.
“I thought this was a reenactment. That didn’t happen.” I know, because even though I was nine years old, that’s one of my most vivid memories of my childhood. That day I kissed McKenna Dawson on the lips is the day I realized she wasn’t just my little sister's best friend.
“Ready,” Laramie calls out.
I’m staring off into the darkness of the night, trying to keep my shit together, when I feel an elbow in my side. “Dude, you’re supposed to only have eyes for your wife,” Corbin tells me. His eyes are glassy, but he’s not too far gone to not know what he’s doing. With a roll of my eyes for him, I turn toward the fire and watch as Colby walks McKenna around the flames, stopping just before she gets to me. My hands tremble to touch her.
McKenna is all smiles as she links her arm with mine and glances up at me. “You ready, handsome?” she asks in a Southern drawl that’s not her own.
“Shh,” Corbin scolds before I can reply. He clears his throat and begins. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Rip Callahan and McKenna Dawson in holy matrimony.” He yammers on with random words that I’m not entirely sure are involved in a wedding. I’ve been to a few, but usually, I check out after the first line until the “you may kiss the bride” portion of the event. That’s usually my cue that it’s time for drinks. Even if I wanted to pay attention, I wouldn’t be able to, though. Not with her on my arm like she is.
“Rip, do you take McKenna to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
I’m looking down at her, and she’s looking up at me. The glow of the fire dances in her brown eyes. She takes my breath away, and I’m finding it hard to breathe.
“Rip, buddy. You’re supposed to say, ‘I do,’” Corbin whispers, but we can all hear him.
I swallow hard. My eyes never leaving hers. “I do.”
“McKenna, do you take Rip to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Corbin repeats the question. My hair that’s now hanging just below my ears blows into my eyes. McKenna raises her hand and tucks it behind my ear. Once she’s finished, her palm rests against my cheek. “I do,” she whispers.
This feels real.
Intimate.
“By the power vested in me, by the bonfire gods and the state of Texas—” Corbin laughs at himself “—I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
I don’t hesitate to bend my head and press my lips to hers briefly. Way too briefly before I’m pulling away. I need to maintain control. I can’t devour her as I want. I watch as her eyes flutter open and lock on mine.
“Boo!” Corbin says loudly. “You call that a kiss. You’re fired. Both of you.”
“Encore,” my sister begins to chant, and it only takes a couple of seconds for Corbin and Colby to start cheering right along with her.
“What do you think, Kenna?” I ask, placing my hands on her hips and pulling her close.
“I think we better give them what they want.” That’s what she says, but the way her eyes are hooded and her body leans into mine, I think it’s what she wants too.
I want it. I want her. I have for such a long fucking time that my tightly spun control snaps. With one hand around her waist, I slide the other under her hair to grip the back of her neck. Then, I kiss her. Not for the fake wedding, not for the show our friends are demanding.
No. I kiss the hell out of her for me, and I finally got the answer to a question that’s always plagued me. Her lips are indeed as soft as they look.
My tongue glides past her lips, and we begin a battle, both giving as much as we’re taking. I don’t hear our friends. I don’t hear the crackling of the fire. The only sound I can make out is the moan that rises from somewhere deep in her chest, leading me to release one of my own.
She’s fucking incredible.
