Bender (38 page)

“Oh man, I’ve gotta stop or I’m going to cry.” I spoke into her hair.

“Suck it up ya big baby!” She slapped my ass, and I heard Wrigley give a whoop. “I’m proud of you Keegan. You deserved this.”

Sniffling I said, “Thank you. Love you Mace.”

“Love you too.”

The rest of the family came up, giving me words of wisdom and expressing how amazing they thought I was. Just when I thought my heart would explode from happiness, my mom approached me. We have, for the most part, worked out our differences. Sarah was content and getting the attention that she deserved, and that was all that really mattered to me. The strain on our relationship was slowly diminishing, and I could see that she was making a genuine effort to make things right. I didn’t know if it had been my words, or Camden’s that gave her the wake-up call that she needed, but I was just pleased that she was trying. Looking at her now, I knew that everything would be alright. We would be alright.

Mom cupped my face in her hands and smiled at me. It was the same smile that was my own. “You did well baby girl. I can’t believe that I was blessed to have a daughter like you.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young lady, Keegan. I’m proud of you.”

The dam was opened, and my eyes shed tears. “Love you Mom. It’s always you and me, always.” I hugged her, knowing that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.

Camden placed his hand on the small of my back indicating that it was time to go. We were heading over to his parent’s house for a lunch celebration and then play a round of baseball. What would a gathering at the Brooks’ house be if there wasn’t baseball? I walked over to one of my classmates that I’d grown closer to throughout the year, and let her know we were leaving. I’d found out that Annabelle Keaton was a loner. Not that she didn’t have friends. In fact she had a lot of friends, but halfway through the semester she told me that her parents had passed away in a car accident and that she’d been on her own since she was sixteen years old. Maybe that was why we got along so well. We both had to be independent long before a child should have to be. Either way, I wanted us to celebrate our day together, with a family that I knew would welcome her. Annabelle told me that she was going to grab her bag, and she would follow all of us over in her own car. I nodded, and we left for the house.

Donna had food all ready to go by the time we got there, so we loaded up our plates and sat down to eat. Chit chat was in full swing, and we were all having fun talking and teasing each other just like we normally did. I smiled that Annabelle was chatting away with everyone like she’d never missed a meal with this group.

“So Annabelle, what sort of nursing are you interested in?” Turner asked.

She looked up at him as if she were confused. He hadn’t spoken a word to her since I introduced them, and his sudden interest took her by surprise. Clearing her throat she said, “Possibly sports medicine, or labor and delivery.”

“Those two couldn’t be any more different ends of the spectrum. Which one are you leaning toward?”

For some reason she looked over at me before she answered. “Uh, I’m not too sure actually. I was kind of hoping to apply wherever Keegan was.”

The side of his mouth tilted up, and for the first time since knowing Turner, his eyes sparkled. “It’s not like two girls getting up and going to the bathroom together. You don’t have to work in pairs, so tell me which one would be a better fit?”

Annabelle frowned at him, obviously frustrated by his question. “Well if you’re going to hold a gun to my head and tell me which one to choose I’d say sports medicine. But I’ve heard there will be several openings in L&D so that’s likely where I’ll go.”

“Hmmm,” was all he said in return.

The two of them stared at each other a few short beats before Turner looked away and joined in the conversation down the table. Annabella seemed whole-heartedly confused. She sought me out to see how I took that whole exchange, but I simply shrugged. I had no idea what to think of it. I briefly wondered if Turner was interested but quickly threw that out the window. Turner was a serial dater, and Annabelle was definitely not his type. She was a total stunner in the looks department, but she was sweet; never one to lay her cards out on the table too soon, which was what he’d expect from her.

“Time to hit up the field ladies and gents!” Wrigley announced as he stood up from his seat and cracked his knuckles.

“You’re not driving the golf cart, Wrig. I know that’s what you’re after.” Paul interjected. “You and your friends screwed up something with the motor, and I swear it’s going to cost a couple hundred dollars to get it fixed. What were y’all doing? Racing?”

He stared at his dad like it was obvious. “Well, yeah.”

“You’re going to work that off, boy.”

“Yes sir,” Wrigley said. All the boys chuckling at their youngest brother’s idiocy.

Once we were all out on the field we picked teams. As it turned out, it ended up being a boys versus girl game. Might not seem fair to some, but the way I looked at it, the girls were smaller and faster, and I conveniently left out smarter too. Didn’t want to start an all-out war by stating the obvious. The game got started, and we were on our second inning. The boys were up by two, and I could tell Macie was getting pissed. I was pitching, as per usual, when Dodger stepped up to the plate. Macie was acting as catcher, and I knew she was going to start up with the distraction.

Readying himself, Dodger stood in position, and I was just tossing the ball when Macie said, “Did you know that when a girl first looks at a man, her eyes automatically go to their crotch?” Dodger swung too low, and he missed the ball. “Strike one,” she said with a smirk.

He looked down at her with a glare. Unfortunately shortly after Camden and I worked out our issues, Macie and Dodger broke up. He wasn’t moving as fast as she’d liked, and he wasn’t willing to bend to her rules. It’s been pretty ugly between them, but the sexual tension could drown a person if they got too close.

I underhanded the second ball, and Macie spoke loudly. “A man’s lips are also apparently the same color as his tip.” I snorted at her blatant attempt to make him miss…which was actually working. “Strike two.”

“Macie, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up…”

He looked away before he saw her devilish smile spread across her face. I shook out my shoulders to prepare myself for the third pitch. “You know, I’ve worn out the batteries on my vibrator for the second time in a month. Maybe I need to go find a replacement. Like an actual dick.” The bat whooshed through the air as he swung for the third time and struck out. Macie stood up and dusted off her knees. As she walked past him, she bumped his shoulder. “Better luck next time, champ.”

If looks could kill, I would suspect that Dodger would have loved to throttle her right about now. Chunking the bat into the fence, he stormed off the field to go take a walk. Oh man, those two were going to need to settle some of their shit before we got together like this again. The family shouldn’t have to deal with their drama when we’re trying to have a good time.

“Mace, come on!” I scolded.

“What?” She decided to act innocent. I just shook my head, and we went on with the game.

On our last inning, it was the girls up to bat. Annabelle was at home plate readying herself to hit the ball. On the first pitch, she landed a solid hit. It went low to the ground between second and third base to the outfield. She took off running while we all shouted and cheered. We needed her to score to tie up the game. Paul was throwing the ball back when she rounded herself out to third base. Unable to stop her momentum, her foot caught on the lip of the base, and she tripped and fell forward. Landing hard, she immediately grabbed a hold of her ankle and was wincing in pain. I went around the fence to get to my friend, but Turner was running up to her side to see what he could do. What Annabelle didn’t know was that Turner was finishing up medical school, and he was a practicing doctor at UGA Medical for sports medicine. He was kneeling by her as I jogged up to see if I could help.

“Can you roll it this way?” he asked as he watched her attempt to move it.

The grimace on her face said that it hurt too much. “Oh my gosh, how embarrassing! I’m so sorry for ruining the game.”

“Hush. You didn’t ruin anything. Accidents happen all the time, plus you’re wearing flip flops, so that didn’t help at all.”

“Turner, lecturing her isn’t helping anyone. Can you at least tell if it’s broken?” I argued.

His jaw clenched, and I watched as he reached down and gently picked up her foot like it was a bird with a broken wing. Tenderly he felt her dainty foot before he said, “Doesn’t feel like there’s anything broken, but you’re going to have to sit out the rest of the game. In fact I think you need to go back to the house and get some ice on that before it starts swelling.”

She swallowed and nodded at him. “Keegan, I apologize, I’m not normally this clumsy.”

I shook my head. “No worries. I just hope that you’re okay.” Looking at Camden I asked him, “Can you come pick her up so she doesn’t have to walk, and we’ll get her loaded on the golf cart to take her back in?”

He was just coming over when Turner took it upon himself to lift her in his arms and make the trek to the vehicle. “I’ve got her,” was all he said to me. Well okay then. The two of them took off, and I made note to ask him later why he was acting so strange. After Annabelle’s spill, we decided to call it quits before anything else major could happen. Donna wanted to go see if she could help get Annabelle home, Wrigley had a party to go to, Mom and Sarah were headed home because it was getting late, and Macie and Dodger needed to get some space before one of them buried the other in the backyard.

I was ready to head in as well since it had been a really long day, and I wanted to put my feet up for a bit. Everyone had left, and it was just me and Camden. Meeting him out on the pitcher’s mound, he pulled me into his arms and wrapped me up in his embrace. The strength of this man never failed to astound me. There was no safer place than right here in his arms. He kissed my forehead, and I leaned my head back to look at him. The warm chocolate of his eyes sucked me in like a strong undertow, and I was drowning in a sea of him. This was my favorite place to be.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked.

“I had a great day. I just can’t believe I’m done. Now on to the next part of my life… being a grown-up.”

He chuckled. “What about me, am I anywhere in those plans?”

“Not sure.”

“Keegan,” he said in warning.

“I mean, you are sort of bossy, and you leave your sweaty gym socks in the middle of the floor for me to pick up.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

I crinkled my nose. “Are you kidding? Have you ever smelled your own socks?”

“Sure I have.”

“Okay, I was kind of kidding, and ew!” I said on a laugh.

“You like it.”

“If you think so…”

“What about the rest of your life? What are you doing for the rest of your life?”

His question took me by surprise. “I don’t really know. Obviously I’ll be applying at UGA Medical, and I think I want to work in L&D, but we’ll see where the hospital can put me. I don’t think I’m in any position to be picky about place— ”

Camden cut me off. “No, I mean what are you doing, for the rest of your life?”

I cocked my head to the side, and I felt him brush his fingers through my long blond waves. I tried to understand what he was telling me but then it hit me. All of the air was sucked out of my lungs and I could tell he was reading me like a book and saw the realization in my eyes. Camden let go of me with one of his arms and reached into his pocket. He dug around and eventually pulled out a ring that was to die for gorgeous. It was cushion cut with diamonds surrounding the full carat in the center. The band was petite and feminine. As tears sprung to my eyes, Camden took ahold of my left hand and held it up to his chest. I could feel the steady rhythm of his heart as he started to speak.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, Blue. You’ve accomplished your goals and achieved the first of many dreams. You inspire me every day to strive for more and do better. Not only in my own life, but in our lives.” His chocolate colored eyes dazzled with humor and love. “I’ve been waiting for this moment I think since you first walked into my apartment. You were the girl, the one who made me see everything differently. You’ve been defiant, stubborn, difficult, and an all-around giant pain in the ass.” I giggled and wiped my tear filled eyes. “But…you’ve also been challenging, beautiful, open, and the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You were made me for Blue. You’re my person. Marry me, let me show you how you should be loved for the rest of your life.”

Oh my God was this real? Camden Brooks just proposed to me, and I felt like I was living in some alternate universe. Things like this just didn’t happen to me. Nodding my head vigorously, I did the only thing that I knew I could. I screamed at the top of my lungs and said, “YES! Oh my gosh a thousand times, yes!”

Sliding the ring on my finger, Camden picked me up and spun me in a circle. His face was buried in my hair, and I was laughing with unrequited joy. Never in my life did I ever think that answering an ad for a roommate was going to lead me to the rest of my life. Camden filled me, every day, he showed me love, compassion, and humility. Over a year ago, I thought my purpose in life was going to be to help raise my sister, try and graduate with my class, and attempt to find happiness on my own. I’ve been blessed to find a man who selflessly supported me in every adventure I took on. It’d been quite the ride with Camden. Oh yes, he’d been full of surprises, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Crushing his lips to mine, he pushed his tongue into my mouth and swallowed a low moan that seeped out. His fingers threaded into my hair, and I stood on my tippy toes, allowing him to consume me in every way possible. I smiled against his mouth as he kissed me, and he grinned as well. Pecking my nose in the way that he always did, he looked down at me.