Back to You (21 page)

“SURPRISE!” yelled several people that I was not expecting to jump out at me from my living room. My heart stopped momentarily then began thumping wildly in my chest. They’d truly surprised me!

“What in the world are you guys doing here?” I asked once my voice was working again.

“It’s a birthday party! What does it look like, dumbass?” Donny hollered in his sarcastically loving way. He had an incredibly sexy boy with him that I hadn’t seen before.

I looked at Tyler accusingly. “Was this your idea?”

He smiled shyly and nodded. “I wanted to do something special for you.”

I leaned in a kissed him softly, loving that he’d made such an effort to please me, even if I would have been just as happy just spending time with him alone. I could always have my alone time later.

Riley was there, along with Andrew and Robyn who I’d become pretty good friends with over the past few months, even if I did still catch Andrew watching me carefully with Tyler like he was waiting for me to screw up so he could pounce.

Tyler’s entire family was there too, minus the kids. I made my rounds, saying hello to everyone and thanking them for coming. Not even twenty minutes after we’d arrived I heard the front door open.

“What’s up, big brother?” Ashton called from the hallway as he made his way into living room with Jaclyn by his side. My mom and dad followed right behind them.

“Ah! So Tyler had you guys in on this too, huh?” I asked them, narrowing my eyes at them teasingly.

“Maybe,” Ashton replied and high-fived Tyler. A knowing glance passed between them and I briefly wondered what that was about.

There was food, music, alcohol and friendly chatter amongst everyone. Riley was standing quietly in the corner as though he were trying to hide but his eyes were focused on something. When I followed his line of sight, I realized that he was staring at Donny and his friend Robbie who he’d met at The Silver Lining.

“What’s up, Ri?” I asked him when I was finally close enough for our conversation not to be overheard.

“Nothing,” he answered quietly. He looked at me but I saw his eyes dart quickly back to Donny several times.

“Something going on with Donny?” I didn’t want to pry, but I also knew what a pain in the ass Donny could be and didn’t want him causing any problems for Riley since they were living together.

“Apparently not,” he murmured. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

I sighed because I knew there was more, but I didn’t want to push Riley for more than he was willing to share. “Okay, but you know you can talk to me, right? Or I can knock some sense into him if you need me to do that also. You just let me know.”

“Thanks.” His eyes returned to Donny and that was the end of that conversation as far as Riley was concerned, so I headed back over to find Tyler but he was nowhere to be found.

“Does anyone know where Tyler is?” I asked in general.

“I saw him go upstairs,” Andrew answered as he opened another beer.

“I’m right here,” Tyler announced as he walked down the stairs with a small wooden treasure box in his hands. He walked right up to me, setting the box on the end table and took my hands in his.

I could feel my eyebrows crease as I looked at him. “What’s going on?” I asked him.

Everyone had gathered around us and Tyler’s hands were shaking a bit. He cleared his throat and began to speak. “Alex, when you walked unannounced back into my life three months ago, I had no idea what to expect. I was miserable without you even though I pretended to be okay most of the time. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t fooling anyone.”

I opened my mouth to speak but he stopped me. “No, don’t say anything. I know you want to apologize but I understand your reasons, that’s not what this is about.”

I swallowed loudly and nodded, urging him to continue.

“Like I said, I wasn’t fooling anyone then everything happened so fast between us, and I still wasn’t sure that we were going to be able to make this work, but I was willing to try. The past three months have shown me how much we’ve grown from the boys we used to be. I thought I loved you more than I would ever be able to love anyone back then, but I was wrong. I love you more now than I ever thought was possible. We complement each other in so many ways and I never want to be without you again. What I’m trying to say is…” He picked up and opened the wooden the box revealing two silver bands and my heart began to beat wildly in my chest. “Will you be my life partner and promise to continue to grow our love until we’re both too old to remember anything but how much we love each other?”

Tears filled my eyes instantly and began to spill over. He wanted me forever! “Of course I will!” I shouted and kissed him deeply as the room erupted with cheers and catcalls and words of congratulations. Tyler took one of the rings out of the box and slid it onto my left ring finger as he looked me in the eye. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

I took the other one and mimicked his actions. “I love you, too,” I whispered back and drew him to me and held him tight.

I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve the love of the man in my arms, but I was sure as hell glad I’d done it. We’d overcome so many obstacles to get to the point in our lives that we could finally be truly happy, and I was positive that no matter what curveballs life would throw at us, we could make it through anything as long as we were together.

Leighton Rose is a 30 year old single mother to a 6 year old little monster. She’s lived in the southeast corner of Nebraska her entire life. When she isn’t working her full-time time job, she enjoys watching movies and her favorite television shows which include Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, and The Originals. She also reads a lot of romance novels and spends far too much time playing Candy Crush on Facebook!

She started out writing fan fiction and has recently begun the journey to writing original fiction. She loves a little heartache in her stories but believes wholeheartedly that true love will always win in the end.

You can friend her on Facebook, e-mail her at
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