Page 48 of Heartstrings & Horizons
“Holy shit, Paige. Is that a ring? Way to bury the lead!” Jaz grabs my hand and inspects my new jewelry. I can feel my cheeks getting hot and my heart rate is speeding up. I decide to bypass the question in favor of introductions.
“Cade, this is Mags — you’ve already kind of met.” She’s a hugger so I’m not surprised when she all but throws herself at my fiancé and whispers something in his ear. I need to remember to ask Cade what she said when we have a minute alone.
I hop onto one of the chairs, and gesture to my other friends making a quick introduction. They all smile and wave at Cade from across the table as he slides the chair next to mine slightly closer, resting his arm around my shoulders before placing a chaste kiss on my cheek.
“So, Paige, are you going to tell us about the giant rock on your finger?” Jaz asks with a hint of amusement in her voice. I know she’s dying to give me shit for not telling anybody sooner.
Before I can answer her question, the server arrives at our table. We order a round of drinks and I can't resist when I notice there’s poutine on the menu — time to give Cade the uniquely Canadian experience of fries, gravy, and cheese curds. As soon as the server leaves with our orders, I can tell my reprieve was short-lived.
“Sooo… Surprise! We’re engaged.” I pause and narrow my eyes at my friends. “You fuckers already knew, didn’t you?”
Kevin is the first to concede, “Of course we did. Did you think Cade wouldn’t have any help planning your birthday, Pip?”
I glance around the table at the shit-eating grins on the faces of the people I love taking particular note of the sheepish look on Cade’s face before Kevin continues speaking. “Mags started a group chat,” he says, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of my best friend.
I shouldn’t be surprised. Leave is to Mags and Cade to join forces behind my back and pull off the best birthday I’ve ever had. There is no question that Cade took the initiative and reached out first, and that alone makes me fall just a little bit harder. If I’m not careful with my heart, he’s going to hold its entirety in his hands sooner rather than later.
Cade squeezes my shoulder, snapping me out of my daydreams. I look up into his brown eyes and a wave of something I can’t quite describe rushes though me as our lips meet in an all-consuming kiss.
It’s Bristol who takes the initiative, interrupting our moment. “Ok, lovebirds. That’s enough of that. Time for a round of shots to celebrate!” The entire table hoots and hollers causing a cascade of cheers from around the room before Jaz saunters off to the bar.
The pressure of announcing our engagement to my closest friends has floated off into the ether as our drinks are placed in front of us. and Jaz returns with 5 shot glasses filled with bright pink liquid.
“Bottoms up!” she says.
We all raise our glasses and throw back our shots. My eyes go wide as the liquor slides down my throat. “What the hell was that?”
“That, my friend, was a pink pussy. I’m sure Cade is intimately familiar,” Jaz jokes and my face turns bright red. I haven’t had enough to drink for that kind of innuendo.
I’m not a prude, but hearing a reference to Cade’s head between my legs has me rubbing my thighs together, thinking about what we were doing less than 24 hours ago. Cade takes notice and slides his hand up my thigh under my dress.
“What’s wrong, Sunshine?”
He leans into me, his lips brushing over my ear. I can see the utter joy in his eyes as he slides his hand even higher.
I turn to face him, keeping my voice low. “Easy, Cowboy. I don’t think you understand the things I’ve been known to do in an alleyway, and I have no compunction about dragging you outside.”
I must not be able to regulate my volume very well because Jaz gives me a knowing look and snorts into her beer, nearly choking on the drink.
“Please tell me you told him the full story,” she says.
I haven’t, but I don’t think now is the right time to be bringing up that particular evening, so I give her a look, pleading for her to change the subject. As one third of the people involved, Jaz is intimately familiar with the details. Luckily, she understands my silent plea, and the conversation turns to much safer topics asanother round of drinks is placed on our table.
At some point in the night, a giant slice of cake appears in front of me and the entire bar sings an off-beat rendition of happy birthday, but it doesn't matter because I’m already way past tipsy and feeling lighter than a feather. I’m not even sure if the fork can find my mouth at this point.
Cade must sense my distress because he picks it up for me and slips a bite of the decadent chocolate creation past my lips. I close my eyes and moan as the flavors collide on my tongue. Cade’s eyes darken for a moment as he swipes his thumb across my bottom lip, then captures my mouth in a slow, delicious kiss, the flavors of the cake and something all Cade combining to form something entirely too addictive.
As our kiss deepens, a loud, obnoxious voice cuts through the sound of clinking glasses and distant laughter.
“Dude, are you a chubby chaser?”
The comment is followed by a few snickers from a nearby table.
I feel my heart sink, pulling back from Cade, my eyes widening with hurt. Cade’s expression instantly shifts from adoration to fierce protectiveness.
“What the fuck did you just say?!”
It’s not the first time someone has made a disparaging remark about my body, but it is the first time Cade has had to bear witness to it. I place my hand on Cade’s arm, hoping he can read my expression and let it go.
