Accepted Fate (40 page)

Adalynn walks over to her and takes the pony tail holder. She begins pulling her hair back in the middle of her head. "Do now and ask questions later my darlin'. You'll need the cap, it gets hot out here. You don't want a sun burnt scalp; they suck." Pulling the velcro apart she places the cap in place and refastens it underneath her ponytail. "There; one step closer to being a country girl already. Now put on those sneakers. You don't want to have to keep up with flip flops out here."

As she finishes tying the laces, I get back on my four wheeler lined up with Braxton and Briar's along with the rest of the crew and pat the seat behind me. Everyone has a girl on the back already. She comes over and I hold out my hand for hers. "Step on with your right foot and throw your leg over."

Doing as I say she takes a seat behind me and Adalynn does the same on Braxton's four wheeler beside us. I grab her hands and wrap them around my waist, cinching them over my stomach. "Don't let go and don't touch your calves to the motor, it gets hot." I turn to see her face and grin as she nods her head, looking down at the motor. Looking over at Braxton I call out, "Let's ride."

Taking off, I drive in the direction of the trails and mud holes. As I shift through the gears, increasing speed, she tightens her hold around me. I can see a muddy pathway come into view. Before she notices I drive straight through it, spinning up mud all around us. She squeals as it pours down, settling all over her. "Breyson Patrick Abercrombie!" I love hearing her scream out my name. Standing up, I downshift as the tires sink into the mud throwing more into the air. Once I make it out of the soggy mud, I stop waiting on everyone else.

Turning around Kinzleigh has mud splattered from head to toe and she is trying to look mad, but the grin breaking free reveals her true mood. I can tell she is biting her tongue, trying to keep from smiling and is failing miserably. "It's fun, admit it."

"If I'm being honest I never thought I would like being dirty. This is definitely a first. Seems you bring out a lot of firsts in me," she says with a smirk on her face.

Briar and Londyn pull up beside us with smiles on their faces. We've spent more time with them and Adalynn and Braxton over the past few months. I think Adalynn and Braxton are hooking up, but he hasn't admitted it yet. Usually he's very open about the girls he hooks up with, which makes me think he has feelings for her. "How you like it girlie? He making you want to run back to California yet?" Londyn begins laughing at the site of Kinzleigh covered in mud. All the girls down here are used to it. Londyn and Adalynn have really taken to Kinzleigh which makes me like them even more. Anyone that takes care of my girl automatically makes my good list.

"Not yet. I kind of like it here. It's growing on me. Maybe I was meant to be in the south after all," she says playfully and my heart tugs a little at the comment.

Looking at her, I kiss her lips briefly. "You want to drive?"

"What if I get stuck or something?" Her facial expressions always do something to me I can't explain.

"I'll shift. You won't get stuck. I have the biggest mud grips you can buy on here." Grabbing her by the waist, I pick her up and move her in front of me and slide back just enough to give her room. Man she feels good against me. It's stirring a fantasy inside and if we were somewhere more private, I might make it a reality. Placing her hands on the handle bars, I explain the throttle. "When I tell you to let off the gas, just release it so I can shift." I kiss beneath her ear and can feel the goosebumps rise on her skin. "You'll be fine let's go."

Briar and Braxton take off ahead of us, driving through the pond. She stops just before we reach the pond and turns the handle bars loose. "I'm going to let you go through there." Snaking my arms underneath her armpits I grasp onto the handlebars and place my chin on her shoulder.

"You ready to get wet?" I love making her uncomfortable. She is adorable when she starts to squirm in front of me.

Nodding she replies, "I'm always ready when it comes to you it seems." Taking off through the pond, water flies all around us, drenching our clothes. Her white t-shirt becomes translucent, revealing the outline of her camisole. I'm actually glad she's wearing it or you'd be able to see her bra. It's making me want to take her off into the woods and slip inside her, but I refrain.

The rest of the day we all ride and bog down in every mud hole and pond on the property. It's the most fun I've had in a long time. It's going to be hell getting all this mud off of my four wheeler, but completely worth it. "I have something to show you," she says nervously in my ear.

I stop and let the engine idle as everyone continues to ride off and she turns around, straddling me. "What's that?"

"It's kind of your birthday present, but I had to wait until today to get it. I got Adalynn to go with me. It's not something you can hold, but I thought you might like it and it means something to me." She looks kind of nervous. "What is it? I'm sure I'll love it whatever it is. You know you didn't have to get anything for me. Spending time with you on my birthday was all I wanted and I got it."

She stands before me and hooks her thumb underneath her waistband. I begin looking around. "Baby, as much as I would love to take you here, I don't think this is a good place. It's packed with four wheelers and no one else is seeing my woman naked but me. I'd murder someone."

Playfully slapping my shoulder, she laughs. "Not that you pervert. Geez, I'm not a nympho. You may have a magical touch, but I think I can manage going a few hours without it." I can't help but to laugh at her comparing herself to a nymphomaniac. I'm surprised such a word even came from that pretty little mouth.

"Okay okay, show me my present." She pulls the bottom of her shirt up, exhales, and pulls down the front of her shorts slightly revealing a piece of plastic bag taped on all four sides from hip to hip. She pulls the top of the adhesive free, showing pink ink underneath. It's a date,
June fifteenth two thousand thirteen, the day my heart was compromised
. My heart stops beating. She permanently etched the date we first slept together on her skin. I don't know what anyone else would think but this is huge and it turns me on so much that I want to take her right now and make love to her for the rest of the day, over and over. It's permanent for crying out loud. "You did this for me?" I just keep staring at it, speechless. My heart feels like it's about to burst wide open.

"I did it for both of us. It's the truth. Do you like it? You're making me nervous." When I look at her, my eyes burn from the moisture in them. I have never in my life cried and right now I feel like I could.

"Like doesn't even explain the way I feel right now. I fucking love it. I know you don't like foul language, but I don't know any other word that could explain to you what's going on in my head. I love you Kinzleigh. I love you so much I can't think straight. This will make my top five life alternating moments. Number one is that day."

She leans forward and just before kissing me, whispers against my lips. "It was mine too."

CHAPTER 18

Kinzleigh

Freshly showered, I come out of the bathroom in my underwear. Adalynn is standing in front of the mirror putting on her makeup. Tonight is homecoming and for some unknown reason, I, the new girl, got nominated for football sweetheart. I don't like the idea of having to walk centerfield, all dressed out for the cheesy homecoming court. I tried to get out of it; really I did, but Adalynn is making me participate.

I cannot wait until Presley comes to visit over Christmas. She and Adalynn will get along great. I really think she would be proud of how far I've come since I've been gone. I've barely talked to her, truthfully, since I've been so busy. I try to make my weekly call but they are getting more sparse and turning into more texts than calls. I really miss her, but Breyson, Adalynn, and Londyn are keeping me pretty busy between cheerleading and other activities.

If Breyson and I aren't alone, we're triple dating with Braxton and Adalynn and Briar and Londyn. I have developed a tight knit circle of friends since I've been here. Standing beside Adalynn, I reach for the lotion and squirt a small amount in the palm of my hand. Looking down, I begin spreading it out over the freshly inked skin of my tattoo that spreads from hip to hip. The guy that tattooed me said it helps avoid peeling and loss of color until it heals. "I still can't believe you got a tattoo. I wish I could have seen the look on his face when you showed it to him. What did he say?"

My memory replays that moment and I smile to myself. "He was stunned. It was priceless. Keep your voice down. If my mother finds out she will kill me. I haven't even told Konnor I got one. He told me if I ever wanted one, I couldn't get one without him so he may be mad or hurt at first."

"When do I get to meet this mysterious brother of yours o' friend of mine? He sounds like a real hottie." Adalynn pulls the hanger that holds her dress down from where it hangs on the closet door. Her dress is an emerald green that is beautiful with her red hair and tanned skin. It's one shoulder and slim fit until it gets to about her thigh then fans out like a mermaid tail. It makes her look absolutely breath taking.

"Christmas is when he is supposed to be coming home. You get to meet him and Presley. She is coming with her parents. I'm not sure if her brother Preston is coming. I kind of hope not because that is going to get awkward." I collect my dress and remove it from the hanger. One night in one of our girl talks, I told Adalynn about the whole Preston situation. 

I actually love my dress. It's strapless and Tiffany box baby blue with a sweetheart neckline. The top half of the dress has the most beautiful pattern of silver glitter. It gives it just the right amount of sparkle as the light hits it. The dress is a satin underlay with a sheer chiffon material layered over the satin that flows down into a small train in the back. The dress is fitted at the breasts, but then hangs loosely from the sternum to the floor. It's made to flow and the color works really well with my bright blonde hair.

"Ah, this should be fun," she says as she steps into her dress and pulls it up her body. If only she knew that Presley has had her eye on Konnor since we were old enough that boys no longer had cooties.

"I thought you and Braxton were kind of, you know..." I raise my brows, scolding her. I see the way they look at each other. It's pretty obvious there is something there. Some kind of unspoken feelings swarming in the air each time they're around.

She laughs as she comes to stand before me to zip the back of her dress. "Braxton doesn't get serious about anyone. Even I know that. He dated a girl for a while before she moved away and I guess that was his
Kinzleigh...
We're just helping each other meet needs is all. I'm not over Josh. A relationship is the last thing I need, but I've never been into the whole sleeping around thing so me and Braxton have an
arrangement
of sorts. Not all of us get a Breyson," she says and turns to wink at me.

I can't help but to smile. He is pretty great. I'm not sure how the queen of solitude landed the sweetest guy on the planet and he loves me. I really feel bad about that but I don't love him or do I? I can't, can I? "What's going on in that head girlie?" I realize I'm standing here staring off into space with the war going on in my head, holding onto her zipper.

"Oh, sorry," I say as I zip it up. "How do you know if you love someone?" I pick my dress up off the bed and step inside, raising it to cover my body and zip it in the side seam, allowing it to conform to my chest.

"Whoa, we're breaking out the big guns. Wait one minute." She holds out her hand in the stop signal. "Did he tell you he loved you?" She looks like she just saw a ghost. I nod nervously. "Holy shit! Breyson Abercrombie told a girl he loves her? I cannot believe this." She plops down on the mattress and fans her face as if she's having a hot flash. "Well I'll be damned. Maybe there is hope after all."

She stares straight ahead for a few moments and I wave my hand in front of her face. "Hello...should I be worried?" She blinks repetitively and then looks up at me.

"Sorry, I'm back. I think I just had a mild stroke. Well let’s see..." She narrows her eyes pondering whatever she is thinking up there in that brain of hers.

She crosses her legs and rests her elbow on her knee, laying her chin in the cup of her palm. "How to explain what love feels like...well, it's something that is hard to explain but I'll try. Love is a complicated emotion. It propels you to be a better person, for that person. It makes you weak and makes you strong at the same time. For me, my heart feels like it wants to beat out of my chest when he's around and ache's when he's not. When you look into his eyes, no one else exists. It's like you're in this little love bubble. You crave his touch, taste, and smell at all hours of the day. Keeping him becomes your basic survival instinct. You can't fathom being with anyone else. You're ruined for all other men. Love can be different for everyone. That's what makes it a beautiful thing. If at the end of the day you would choose that person over anything else, then you're in love. It's scary but it's worth every damn second. Call me old fashioned, but I believe in soul mates. Sure, you can love other people, but there is only one that makes you whole; only one that can see into the deepest corners of your soul. We can only hope that we're not blinded by lust to another and find the one we're meant to be with, because to go on living without our soul mate is a tragedy."

I just stare at her stunned. Did that just come from her mouth? I've never heard something so beautiful. It's like poetry. Now I'm terrified. Now I'm wondering how I have let myself fall in love with Breyson Abercrombie. I'm doomed. "You love him don't you." It wasn't a question it was a statement. One I'm not sure I want to admit to.

"I'm not sure I want to think about it anymore. I never wanted to love anyone Adalynn. I wasn't cut out to be this kind of girl. He changes everything. He makes me wish I wanted a typical love relationship. I won't bend my plans. Selfish people don't deserve to have someone like him. I can't change who I am. I will pursue a career in cheerleading, no matter what else I have to let go." The words come out of my mouth but for some reason I'm having trouble convincing myself it's the truth.