Page 9 of All I Feel

“Is… Is that a bad thing?”

“I sure hope my husband finds me before then. I want to fall in love and be married while I’m young. The sooner ithappens, the more years I’ll have with him. At least by doing this now, I’ll have all the details figured out when the time comes.”

Ace went back to looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Okay. Sure. Sounds like a great plan. I’ll leave you to it, then.”

Still smiling, I said, “And I’ll leave you to your car. Hopefully, Phoenix gets here soon, so you don’t have to do all the work on your own.”

He laughed. “If that happens, I’ll be sure to give him a hard time.”

I backed up, heading to the door that would lead me to the house, when a thought popped into my head. “Ace?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think it’s a waste?”

A crease formed between his brows. “Is what a waste?”

I waved my hand in the direction of the house. “What Lark and I are planning to do today?”

“Why would it be a waste?”

Shrugging, I asked, “What if the guy I meet and want to marry doesn’t like anything that I’ve planned?”

Ace walked toward me, his expression serious. When he came to a stop just a few feet away, he said, “If he cares more about what you’ve planned than the fact that he’s going to have a lifetime with you, Princess, he isn’t the man for you. He isn’t a man worth marrying.”

I allowed those words to penetrate. “You really think so?”

“I know it.”

I hesitated for a moment. Then I gave him a nod and said, “I think you might be right, Ace. Thanks for saying that.”

He grinned. “Anytime, Tessa. Now go inside and plan your wedding.”

So, that’s what I did.

And when Lark and I finished, I had to admit that it was nice having so many of the details worked out. The only question that remained was: Who would be my groom?

ONE YEAR LATER

“Look who decided to show up.”

Lark and I looked over at where Kingston was standing with Archer, Phoenix, Ace, and Taj around the volleyball net. How they could be playing volleyball when there was only five of them, I didn’t know.

“Did you expect anything different?” Lark fired back.

Kingston smirked and shrugged. “It’s vacation. We’re on the beach. Why would it take you so long to get here?”

Lark sneered at him. I laughed before I shouted, “Accept us for who we are, boys. It’ll make life so much easier.”

“Ouch, that’s harsh. Who says we don’t accept you?” Archer countered.

“Yeah, we couldn’t love you both more if we tried,” Taj added.

“Then quit complaining,” Lark ordered, taking me by the hand and dragging me away from the volleyball net and the men and toward the chairs where our girls were already sitting and baking under the sun.

Our families had decided to take our annual summer trip together. Many years ago—back when I was just three years old—the dads had banded together to come up with aChristmas gift for the moms. They’d decided on a summer vacation for all four families, and it had become a tradition for us every year since.

Lark and I walked up to where our friends were, stripped out of our coverups, and joined them sunbathing.