My Soul to Save (Soul Keeper) (8 page)

"What? I am going to have a serious talk with those two tonight."

"Who do you think their muse is Brennen?" Elena chimes out.

"Whoa, not me? Sam and I have just kissed, and that's all we're going to do until we're married. Besides their ten years old."

"Eleven, in two days and they were only talking to the boys."

"No, no, no there will be no talking with boys under bleachers."

"You will make a great mother someday Brennen."

"I hope so, but even if I couldn't have kids I would never resort to what Sam's mother did." I whisper.

Elena and Inara exchange glances like they know something I don't. I go to ask them what it is but Sam spots me and heads my way.

"We found them. Looks like I may have to threaten a couple of thirteen year old punks later, but at least their safe."

"Thank goodness. I'm sure they're just acting out because of the move. Believe me, I know what it’s like to move around a lot."

"That's why I love you, you're my ground." Sam squeezes my shoulders.

"I love you too. You have a cool family. Everyone jumped into action at the slightest hint of trouble."

"Yeah, they're pretty great. Hey, Dad wants to know if you'll come to dinner with us, and then we can go to Emily's party after."

"I'd love to."

*~*~*

Sam's dad booked a private room in some fa
ncy steakhouse in Newport. He’s buying everyone's dinner and at these prices it would probably pay my mortgage for a month. If I had a mortgage.

I'm glad to be out of the blue gown and back into normal attire. Sam's hand grazes up my bare thigh under the cover of the table cloth sending shivers up my back. I can't even read the menu if he's going to keep doing that. I'm in a white blouse and gray pencil skirt, his favorite outfit.

I lean over and whisper in his ear. "Sam, you're being very distracting."

A wicked smile plays just behind his smile and gets lost in his eyes, dancing with anticipation.

"You know what that skirt does to me," he whispers back. I blush as I see his grandfather glimpse over at the pair of us being coy with each other. He just bounces a smile over at us and continues his conversation with Sam's dad.

"Yes I do, happy graduation to you." His eyes grow large and I realize he hasn't looked down yet. I nudge a small box towards him. When he finally see's the box, he realizes that I wasn't gifting myself to him as a present, and looks mildly disappointed. But he rebounds quickly and opens the box.

"An old watch, cool. Thank you," he says genuinely pleased.

"It was my dad's. Look there's an inscription on the back."  

"One day, one hour, one minute then our time will come, and two shall forever be one," he recites.  I know this was Emmagen’s message not the woman that posed as my mother for ten years.

"I love it, thank you. I have something for you too." He pulls out a tiny blue Tiffany box much like the one my bracelet came in, but this is a ring box.
This is a ring box.
We are in front of his entire family, and this is a ring box.

"Don’t look so frazzled, it’s only a promise ring. I know we're about to go away and have this long distance relationship and it worries you. I won't ask you to be my wife until I can support you in every way a husband should, but I hope you will wear this ring, and know that my intentions are to propose."

Before I can say anything, Sam's Aunt Trudy burst out, "Oh my Lord Sam Montgomery! If you aren't the sweetest thing since apple pie, I don't know what is." Her teenage daughter looks mortified to be related to her.

"Sam it's beautiful, thank you." He takes it out and places it on my right ring finger. It's made of white gold and a small diamond sits inside a quirky, not so square box. It's unique and I love that about the piece. Sam has good taste when it comes to picking out jewelry for me.

I think that I've always known I would marry Sam one day, but with having my brain swirled around and all, I wonder if that is how I really feel. What if Nehemiah programmed me to feel this way? What I really hate is that I can’t tell the difference.  Supposedly I felt the same way about Elijah. Sam’s entire family has stopped talking and started paying attention to me. Heat fills my face and I can’t see anything else but their eyes boring into me, waiting for my response.

Technically he didn’t ask me a question so what should I say? I glance up at Elena who only looks annoyed. I think she’s still holding out on the possibility that my memory will return. Inara has her hands clasped and held to her cheek like she’s a sucker for Sam’s romantic side.

“Yes, I am afraid of what eight years of long distance relationship will do to us. But a ring is not going to melt those fears away. I think we need to be realistic. Promises can be broken and when that happens, people get hurt. I don’t want you to promise me that you’re going to propose one day. Because tomorrow I could get hit by a bus.

I think that we should go to college as single people. After that
, we will see where life takes us. I love you with all of my heart but I can’t live with this fear inside.”

“Are you breaking up with me in front of my whole family out of the blue?”
Am I? Oh my God I think I am. Holy shit what is wrong with me? How can I do this to him now?

“Read the inscription again, this is what is right for us right now. Deep down, you know it too.” Sam looks like I just shot his puppy and I feel like a total ass for confronting him in front of his family but if we were alone I would have never been able to get the words out. Even now I want to take them all back, have Elena reverse time and erase the last five minutes. A satisfied smirk appears on her face and I know she’s finding pleasure in my turmoil.

My heart pounds out in angst waiting for Sam’s response. Even the wait staff has paused with ears perked. Bless me now. “Excuse us for a moment,” Sam says under his breath while taking up my hand and leading me outside, safe from prying ears and eyes, apart from for the Keepers who followed us out here.

Sam paces back and forth for a moment while I stand helplessly next to his truck. This is it, the moment that could shatter us into irrevocable shards. Glass cuts as sharp as razor blades and his next words could be a guillotine to our hearts.

"One day, one hour, one minute then our time will come, and two shall forever be one," he says softly to himself. His lips come together and then open as if he’s about to speak again. He takes my hand up in his. “Alright we’ll do this your way. I know it’s my fault for moving so far from you and I understand your reasons for not wanting to be fully committed to me while I’m thousands of miles away. And for eight years. But clarify your terms.”

I blink back several times not believing he is taking this so well. “First, do you know that I honestly love you? I hope that this isn’t hurting you in any way, because that is not my intention.”

“I can feel how much you love me Brennen and that’s why I’m going along with this. I know that you and I share something that no one can replicate.” There’s a bite to his words. He’s fighting for me. He will not be deterred by my words. He and Elijah are both steadfast in this.

“I feel the same way Sam. I’m not saying I want to date someone else but I want us going on with our lives while we’re away. Maybe it will mean we’ll flirt at parties or invite a date to dinner and meet new people. But that is what these years are for, to network, form bonds with new friends, learn about how big the world is out
side of Sandbridge, Virginia, sow oats and stuff. And when we’re home or together, we can still date of course. So it’s not that we’re breaking up, we are just changing our status to dating.”

He stands with his back to me for a moment soaking all of my words in, finally he turns to me. “A
lright but I have one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t ask, don’t tell. If you’re going on a date with some other dude, tell me you’re going to study or some other lie. I just don’t want to know okay."

“I agree, I can’t bear to think of you with anyone else either. But I certainly don’t want it confirmed in my face when there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“And this is a trial, if at any point either of us is more hurt than we would have been just ending things all together then we call bullshit,” he says still pacing nervously.

“What about worst case scenario?” I ask.

He stops pacing and pins me against his truck. Kissing me unexpectedly and hungrily. I cave into him just as needy. His hand rides up my thigh as if his life depended on my very skin to survive.

“I’ll take my chances,” he whispers in my ear as he rakes my neck with his tongue.

“The odds are in your favor dear sweet Sam.”

“There’s no sweet in this Sam tonight,” he says looking purely maleficent but I can see the smile just beyond his eyes.

“Hm, I’ll take sexy Sam then, he’s not allowed to be sweet to me at all tonight.”

Sam swallows hard and I lead him back inside. He combs through my hair with his fingers, straightening the hair he mussed before we reach our table.

“Everything alright son?” Sam’s father asks with concern etched into the wrinkles around his eyes.

“Couldn’t be better dad.” Sam leans over to me after we sit and whispers in my ear with his heated breath. His comment lurches something inside of me, and I have to say, I kind of like not-sweet Sam. I grab my iced water and dr
ink it down trying to cool off. Sam has me feeling like its eight hundred degrees in here.

He keeps it up, and by the time we get back into his truck I fear we may not make it out of the parking lot. He moves his truck into the trees behind the restaurant and parks. I climb onto his lap and blink into the other realm. “Beat it guys.” I say to the three of them sitting in the back seat. Elena purses her lips like she’s not budging. I glare into her and the battle is on. Inara nudges her and says, “Come on Elena, it’s her graduation, let her blow off a little steam.”

“Whatever Brennen, don’t come crying to me when a demon comes along and he snaps your neck.”

“Don’t listen to her. We’ll be right outside not letting anything or anyone get in here.”

And now that they’ve totally killed the mood, I switch back to my realm. Sam grips my hips firmly and slides his fingers down the sides of my thighs, pushing the hem of my skirt up as he moves back up.

“Damn this skirt, it drives me insane.”

“You drive me insane.” I say unbuttoning his shirt. The fabric is cool to the touch but his skin is heated to a fever underneath. I caress his chest and he sighs over me, washing me clean with kisses anywhere he can reach.

“God Brennen are you sure you want to wait until our wedding night?” he asks, though it’s quite apparent why he’s asking.

“Right now, no. God I’d give anything to make love to you right now. But I know I’d regret it in the morning.” He continues kissing me and I’m afraid I don't know how much longer my will power will hold out.

“Why would you regret it?”

“Sam it’s getting really hard to resist you please.” I whimper out.

“Please what?” he says sternly.

“Please be my strength.”

“Sweet Sam has the strength, but I just want to keep doing this.” He wraps his hands in my hair and kisses me achingly slow not backing down at all.

*~*~*

We finally arrive at Emily’s party
, although it was very hard for us to leave the parking lot. But ultimately, I told him if I lost my virginity in the cab of a truck, my father would roll over in his grave and haunt Sam for all of eternity.

“Finally, did you get lost on your way over, or
get sucked up by a tornado? Dang Bren, there’s a brush in my bathroom,” Emily teases. I’m sure she’s not exaggerating on my appearance. Half of the school is gathered in Emily’s backyard. Her parents are surprisingly nowhere in sight. Colorful paper lanterns are strung along everywhere. Her backyard is full of sprawling oak trees and has a nice stone patio with a low retaining wall winding around its form.  Music pumps out from a D.J booth hidden somewhere behind the crowd.

Sam guides me into the masses and moves behind me, swaying to the beat. Emily hands me a cup and I sniff it. “Whoa, what’s in this?”

“It’s called trashcan punch.”

‘Why, is that where you end up puking after you drink it?”

“Very funny, what would her royal heinous prefer? A bottle of Dom?”

“How about something that will leave a few brain cells alive and intact for college.”

“Fine, I think my mom has a wine cooler in the fridge.” She disappears inside.

I spot Peyton in the crowd and she looks like she’s already well into her fifth red solo cup of the pink punch. We make eye contact and that apparently is her signal to come and harass us. She wobbles her way over, and I can smell the alcohol on her breath before she even opens her mouth.

“Did Sam tell you we dated last summer? Isn’t that right baby?” she slurs out grabbing Sam’s ass as if she were checking its ripeness. Oh dear Peyton, how I love to shame you.

Sam lurches away from her grasp and yells out, “Whoa.”

“Sam, did mention taking this oddly pathetic girl out so that his father could gain their business, it being a new ranch and all. I had no idea he meant you.” I laugh. Elena smirks and lets me know I’ve had my fun but my image is on the line and I need to cool my thrashings. Peyton whips around to leave, but I grab her shoulder, not quite through. I need to let off a little crazy.