Page 98 of Fate Forever and Always

We sat and chatted a little more so I could share Sara's whole story with her in more detail now that she wasn’t seething with anger.

We started to walk out the door, but she stopped me.

“Wait, why were you and Link in here?”

I smiled, trying to keep it normal and not an ‘Oh my god, you are going to be engaged smile.’

“He just wanted to see if I was okay. He knew that not talking to each other was bothering me.”

She looked at me, narrowing her eyes, trying to gauge if I was lying. She clearly saw something because her eyes went wide. She began jumping up and down, covering her mouth as she excitedly chanted, “Yes, yes, yes.”

“When?” She looked at me expectantly.

“When what?” I asked, keeping my face as neutral as possible.

“Bitch, tell me, or I'll stay mad. We don’t keep secrets. We just went over this.”

I opened the door, then whispered in her ear. “This one I take to the grave.”

Chapter forty-one

Nick

Lincoln explained himself when he walked out of the bedroom. He didn’t have to. I assumed he was finally talking to her about the engagement.

“Dude, why didn’t you tell her? She was so damn mad. She is going to seriously hurt you for not telling her.”

I smiled. “I can't fucking wait.”

“I hope they make up. I don’t think I can wait. I need her to be able to be excited with her best friend.”

“Callie will fix it. She will make sure everything is good. Those girls in there are true soulmates. They will always love each other more than they even love us. Nothing will come between them.”

“I know. I'm just nervous.”

“I get it, man. Come on, let's have a beer while we wait for them to kiss and make up.”

Brie, Amani, and Beck were all sitting on my couch, and Link sat down in the chair. Elijah was sitting in front of Brie on the floor. The band was on a two-week break until their next showin New York. They parked their tour bus in Lincoln's driveway. We knew Elijah would tag along for the night with Link and Aubrey. He was always welcome, but we also invited Beck over as a thank-you. Elijah had also mentioned Beck would be alone since he was coming, so it was a no-brainer.

The rest of the guys flew to Tennessee to spend the holidays with their families. From what I had heard through Link, Elijah didn’t speak to his family—only his brother, Owen, who was in the band with him. I had no idea about Beck's situation, but I was glad he came and we could get to know him a little better.

Callie hadn’t seen them yet since she was in the room with Link when they arrived. She didn’t know Beck was coming, so I hoped she wouldn’t cry when she thanked him. I didn’t want her to get all nervous.

The girls came walking out of the room, smiling arm in arm.

“There are my girls,” I murmured. I realized I said it out loud when Link’s head turned toward them, and he stood up.

“Thank God. That was the worst time of my life.”

Aubrey looked up at him. “Oh, so the time we spent apart after breaking up wasn’t bad for you?” she asked slyly.

He pulled her into a passionate kiss. “We didn’t break up. You took a vacation without me. But you’re right, that was absolute torture.”

She laughed and kissed him again. “Whatever you say, Grumpy Butt.” She patted his chest and walked back into the living room. Link followed right behind her and sat down first to pull her onto his lap.

Callie hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Everything is fine. Oh, and I am going to kill you for not telling me about the engagement.”

I whispered back with a smile. “I can’t wait, baby.”

---