Page 81 of Savage for You

“I’ll give you the recipe, babe, call it ‘Montana’s red velvet cake.’ Just kidding.”

We finish everything and get up to leave because it's time to head out for the candlelight ghost trolly tour.

“Xander, I swear to sweet baby Jesus, it wasn’t even scary!” Montana throws a pillow at the six-foot-four buff football player who hates anything scary.

“No, you just had to scare me when I wasn’t paying attention!”

“How else does one scare someone, hmm? Please enlighten me,” she says with a laugh.

Autumn cuts in. “Thank you everyone for making my day so special. I’ve never felt so loved by friends before. Well, you guys are more than friends, you’re my family and I love y’all so much.”

As I sit here looking at everyone in the room, I’m honestly so amazed at the little family we’ve created. I hope my sister can meet other girls to have more friends but even if it's just her and Montana, I know she’ll be okay.

I’ve known for a while now that I’m in love with her.

I pull her with me to take a walk out back. It’s always been a favorite spot of mine.

When you walk out through the French doors, you walk into the all-seasons room with a fireplace and TV on the wall. Walking through that room to get outside, there’s a big pool to the left, and beyond the pool there are two big trees with white twinkling lights and lanterns hanging from them. Between the two big trees is a hammock with pillows and blankets. I sit first then pull her on top of me. She’s snuggling into me to take up my warmth and I pull the blanket over us.

We’re looking up at the stars when I take my thumb and pointer finger and pull her chin towards me and kiss her.

“You looked so incredible tonight. Do you think that the universe fights for souls to be together?”

“Thank you, and honestly? I’m beginning to think so. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m your everything,” she says as her eyes shine in the moonlight.

“That’s because you are. I love you, Montana.”

I tuck the hair that has fallen in front of her face behind her ear. She sucks in a breath looking into my eyes.

“But, why?”

“Why?”

She nods with tears in her eyes, then smiles at me. We both gaze at the beautiful full moon before locking eyes again.

“Why do I love you? It’s the way you make me laugh, and the way you call me on my shit. It’s in how you’re a friend to those you love, and in the way you smiled when I just told you I love you. How can I not? It’s how you want what’s best for me as a person and because of who I am. When I first met you, you didn’t bat your lashes at me because of who I am.” She scoffs and I swear I heard her quote Cher from Clueless. “I love how we can eat healthy but you’re also not afraid to eat a burger and fries. It’s the way you’d rather spend time at home than go out and party. You don’t ever have to work again if you don’t want but you want to do things that bring joy to others with your art. I love how you read your dirty girl books and light up when you tell me about them. It's how you protected my sister without thinking twice when you barely knew her. When someone asks me why I can give them more than one reason.”

She crashes her mouth to mine and that kiss pours her love into my soul without her even saying the words.

“I was not expecting you; I was not even looking but somehow you came into my life as if you knew exactly what I was needed. You fixed a broken heart that you didn’t break, in more ways than one. I tried to resist it, not wanting to let this begin. You show me every day that I don’t need to be scared to open my heart again. I was afraid of getting close to someone again and letting my heart get broken again. I’m giving you this power to break me, but I feel like I know I won’t regret it. I love you too, por vida.”

“Por vida, mi vida. I’ll always protect your heart.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

thirty-four

Montana

It’s December and time really is moving super-fast. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we had a great time with his family. Even my Uncle Atlas came for dinner. It’s a busy month for Rocky and the team as they get ready for the Las Vegas Bowl.

I haven’t seen much of Atlas lately, but I haven’t been bothered by it since I have so much going on with school and our final semester project for Professor Coleman’s class.

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