**UPDATED A/N: I'm trying to re-post this to see if it works. I didn't realize it wasn't working because on the website I could see votes and comments and then when I checked for comments this morning, I saw all the messages. Here's trying again. Thanks..

A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for patiently waiting for the newest chapter. This might surprise a few of you but as with most of my stories, there tends to some rhyme and reason for why things happen. I hope you enjoy this one!

***

The sun was killing me. 

Either that or it was going to turn me into a serial killer if it didn’t stop trying to blind me.

I groaned as I groped through the lump of clothes and bed covers for my cellphone which was rending the air with an obnoxious and sassy ringtone.

"If you don't shut it, I'm going to hurl it out the window," Zoe said from under the pillow where her head was buried. 

“Then I'm going to drop a rock over it and crush it to pieces," Jillian added from behind a large silver bowl of half-eaten strawberries that were starting to rot. 

My hand landed on the screeching and vibrating piece of monster and through squinted eyes, I tried to read the bright screen to see what the alarm was for.

It wasn't an alarm.

"Hello?" I croaked, my mouth and throat dry and cottony from the dozen mixed drinks the three off us happily tossed back last night when it seemed like a brilliant idea. In hindsight, it wasn’t.

"Max, Bart's here."

"Who's Bart?"

"Your grandfather."

"Who's this?"

"Luke. Your boyfriend."

I blinked my bleary eyes. "Oh."

Then I bolted into an upright position, pain lancing through my skull. "Oh!"

The unceremonious reaction might have been contributed, first of all, to the realization that Luke was now my boyfriend, and second to the fact that he just mentioned my grandfather.

“What do you mean my grandfather’s there?” I demanded, wincing at the jab on my head at every word. “Where is there?”

“At your apartment,” Luke replied not so patiently. “It’s almost one in the afternoon, Max, and when you weren’t responding to my texts, I thought I’d come by and see if you’re home. You’re still not but your grandfather is here, sitting out on the front steps of your building, waiting for you.”

I pushed my hair off my face and looked around the mess of Zoe’s gigantic bedroom. None of us were on the bed. We were all sprawled on the big fluffy mattresses we’d put together on the floor. Clothing from some of the shopping we’d done yesterday afternoon were heaped everywhere along with a clutter of makeup, bags and shoes and nail polish bottles. We hit up the mall and the salon and spa straight from work yesterday afternoon. Then we did a little shopping—well, Jillian and I did because I wouldn’t call Zoe’s haul a little shopping. Then we went out for some great sushi dinner at a fancy place somewhere (and it was the only thing I let Zoe pay for) and stocked on some liquor before heading back to Zoe’s penthouse apartment. We tried on a bunch of clothes, did each other’s makeup, changed up our nail colors, watched a marathon of old Freddie Prinze Jr. romantic comedies, talked and had rounds of cocktail drinks, danced once we got drunk enough and promptly collapsed into sleep. It was like sleepovers except we were a bunch of grown women who could afford our own junk food and booze and had no curfew. Since I’d never been quite a normal teenager growing up, it was all new to me but it was so much fun, to just have girl friends for the first time in my life, that I couldn’t regret it despite the ugly hangover I’d sworn I wouldn’t acquire.

And now Luke was hunting me down and my grandfathered showed up all the way from White Pine.

“Baby, my head hurts,” I whimpered into the phone. 

A brief moment of silence elapsed before Luke released a soft sigh. I swear he was smiling though.

“How much did you have to drink?”

I rolled my eyes. “If I’d been keeping track, I wouldn’t be suffering like this right now.”

“Have some burnt toast with some bacon and eggs and lots of water. Then take a couple of aspirins,” he said gently. “If you come home now, I’ll fix you a bath and you can soak up in the tub. Then maybe I’ll give you a good massage.”

I smirked. “Are you saying this to me while my grandfather is standing there right next to you?”

“No. Do you think I’m crazy?” Luke said. “Your grandfather’s pretty intimidating. He quizzed me for the last half hour before deciding to get a cup of coffee and sandwich down at Cleo’s. He sternly refused my offer to buy him lunch. He doesn’t have a cellphone and all he wants me to do is call you or he’ll come and haul your ass home wherever you are, young lady—his exact words.”

I laughed and winced promptly when what felt like fingers stabbed into my brains. “Sounds like him. You’re definitely not hallucinating.”

“I am hallucinating a nightmare from hell if I’m actually still listening to Max blabber on while my head splits into two,” Jillian muttered resentfully before a makeup sponge came flying in the air. She couldn’t see anything since her glasses were lost in the clutter but it didn’t stop her from grabbing whatever she could get her hands on and hurling it at me.

I dodged the items groggily as I pulled myself to my feet. “I have to leave you to your head-splitting because Gramps is waiting for me at my apartment.”

“Why are you grunting?” Luke asked.

“Jill is blitzing me with cosmetics,” I answered. “I’ll be right there, okay? Don’t leave. I’ll take a cab and get there in fifteen minutes. Those fifteen minutes alone with Gramps is going to make or break how you’ll get along with him in the future. Don’t screw it up. But no pressure.”

“Sounds reassuring,” Luke said dryly. “I’m not daunted by power players or any big names but I was actually squirming as Bart interviewed me. He doesn’t give an inch.”

I grinned, feeling a surge of affection for the old man who’d been my only family in the last decade of my life. “He’s tough but he’s a great judge of character.”

“That doesn’t help me, Max, considering my character, especially when it comes to women, doesn’t recommend me at all,” Luke said, sighing. 

“As long as he can see you’re different with just one woman now, you’ll be okay in his books—I think,” I said. “You’ll be fine. You’ll get along with Gramps.”

I could hear Luke blow out a breath and fidget for a moment. “I’ll do my best.”

When I hung up, Zoe piped up from the depths of her big, fluffy pillow. “I have some stuff you can take for cramps.”

“I don’t have cramps but I have a grandfather sitting outside my apartment for a few hours now, possibly interrogating my boyfriend and dicing him up until he’s down to nothing,” I said as I scavenged around for some of the new clothes I got last night so I could change properly. I didn’t care to do a walk of shame when I didn’t even get shameless at all. 

Zoe’s messy reddish blonde head pulled out from under her pillow like a turtle coming out of hiding. Despite being slightly haggard, she made a pretty turtle. “Your grandfather is here? But Alex was going to pick him early this afternoon…” She looked confused for a minute before expertly landing a hand on her cellphone amidst the clutter. She blinked at it and then squinted at the screen. 

“Oh, fuck,” she groaned before tapping furiously on the phone. “You give Alex one task in all this party-planning and he goes and messes it up.”

I paused for a moment there as the implication of Zoe’s statement dawned on me. But before I could butt in, she started rattling off on the phone. “Rizzo. Why is Max’s grandfather already at her apartment ages ago? I thought you were picking him up from the airport at four!” 

Jillian groaned and pressed the back of her forearm over her eyes. “Can we please not scream the house down? My head already feels like it’s being jackhammered.”

I ignored Jillian and watched the animated expressions on Zoe’s face as she went from being irritated to confused to stunned and back to being irritated again. 

After a short exchange she hung up on Alex and rolled her eyes at me. “Alex said your grandfather refused his offer to get flown out here. He booked his own flight and told Alex he’ll just meet up with us at the party later.”

“Why are you telling her about the surprise party?” Jillian blurted out.

Zoe swatted her hair away from her face. “Because you already gave it away.” She looked at me wryly. “Yes, there’s a birthday party for you later.”

“Where?” Because seriously, my place was as cramped as a shoe box.

“Luke’s penthouse,” Zoe answered. “Because he’s pushy like that. I had it all planned out but he decided to move the entire damned thing. He spent the whole afternoon yesterday hounding me on the phone about it. It’s a lot of work but he doesn’t care because he probably has event-planners at his beck and call.”

My eyes got watery, and not from the hangover, as I stared at the two bleary-eyed women with wild hair who’d shown me more friendship than I’d ever known in my entire lifetime.

“You know you didn’t have to, right? But thank you anyway,” I said before I lunged at each of them for a quick hug. 

Jill patted me on the shoulder. “You deserve good things, Max. You’ve got to let them happen to you.”

Zoe grinned and hugged me back tightly. “Jill’s right. And I think you already know it too.”

After that, I headed for the bathroom to pop an Advil, splash some water on my face, gargle some mouthwash and tame my hair into a scraggly ponytail. Wearing a new shirt and jeans, I lugged my stuff down and out of Zoe’s high-rise condo and took a cab back to my apartment.

I got off at Cleo’s where I looked around for my grandfather and Luke but there was no sign of them. 

I got myself a nice hot cup of coffee and a ham and cheese croissant to help my headache and walked the short distance to my apartment.

Lo and behold, the two most important men in my life were sitting on the front steps, each drinking a cup of coffee and chatting—a little too seriously but at least they didn’t appear to be hostile with each other.

“Gramps!” My screech drove needles into my head but I ignored it as I hurried toward my grandfather. He was not a very tall man but he was strong with a broad build from years of working in the farm when he was much younger. His skin was tanned and wrinkly, his thin hair a bright silver in the mid-day sun.

He looked up, his dark eyes, hooded with age, lighting up and crinkling at the corners as he flashed me a rare smile. But my grandfather was much too formal of a man to sweep his granddaughter up in a hug, even when it had been over six months since he’d last seen her. He pulled himself up to his feet, stepped around his small overnight bag and waited for me with his hands clasped together over his stomach.

But I was a different Max from the one who left home half a year ago.

I was freer with my emotions, knowing their price and willing to pay them if it meant I could collect precious moments like this with people I cared about. 

Luke had gotten up too and stood beside my grandfather but I merely handed him my coffee to hold before I threw my arms around Gramps and squeezed him tight for a hug.

“I missed you, Gramps!” I said before finally stepping back to get a good look at him. “I can’t believe you came all the way to see me!”

It was the first time I’d ever seen my grandfather blush but then we’d spent years not talking too much about how we felt. He was a reserved man who did not talk about his emotions and that had just always been his way. When I lived away from home, all he required was a quick call once a month to see how I was doing and if I needed anything. There were no I-miss-yous or anything of that sort. It would be a bit of change for him, to deal with a more expressive Max, but he would just have to get used to it.

“Alex called out of the blue to say he and your friends were arranging a birthday celebration for you,” Gramps said. “He wanted me to come. I didn’t have much going on so I thought I’d make the trip and see you. And see how you’ve been doing.”

His brows drew in as he studied my face. “I must say though that if you’re spending weekends drinking too much to not remember them, you’re not doing well.”

I laughed and winced again when my head throbbed. I glanced at Luke who was smiling sheepishly and just shook my head. “This is the first hangover I’ve had in my entire life, Gramps, so I don’t think you have to worry. It was just me and couple of girls and I think Zoe just got a bit overgenerous with the amount of vodka she was splashing on our cocktails.”

“And is this man right here responsible for this new streak of reckless behavior in you, Max?” my grandfather said without pause, directing Luke a steady sideways glance. 

I smiled in spite of his stern disapproval. “No, Gramps. I’m not reckless. I’m just living life a little. And the only thing Luke is responsible for is to share in that life.”

With my free hand, I beamed at Luke and grasped him by his forearm, gently drawing him to my side. “Gramps, if you haven’t been formally introduced yet, this is Luke Hedenby. Luke, this is my grandfather, Bart Moss. I hope, for my sake, that you two get along, because you’re both in my life and I refuse to give up one for the other.”

Luke grinned at me. “You really don’t have an issue knowing what you want and staking a claim on it anymore, do you?”

I winked and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “Nope.”

My grandfather sighed in resignation before glancing at Luke. “I don’t have a problem if you’re who my granddaughter wants so long as you treat her right. I did not shelter and protect her in the last ten years only to have her heart broken and if that’s what you leave her with, I will hunt you down and break your bones. I may be an old man but that’s to my advantage. I have lived a full life that to cut it short as the cost to punishing you is of little importance to me.”

I grimaced even though I couldn’t help a slightly horrified, slightly amused laugh. “Okay, Gramps… I’m glad I didn’t bring home any boyfriends to introduce to you if this was the speech you had ready.”

Luke didn’t seem to share my humor. His expression was downright serious and intent as he nodded at my grandfather.

“I know just as well as you do that Max deserves to be happy,” Luke said. “And just like you, I’ll do my damn best to ensure that she will be.”

I smiled at Luke, warmth pooling in my chest and flowing through my every vein. Then I turned to Gramps.

I thought he would say more because while he was reserved with his emotions, he didn’t mince words when arguing. 

But he just looked at me for a moment, shrugged and bent to pick up his bag. 

“Good enough for me for now,” was all he said before turning toward the door.

Luke and I exchanged glances and smiled at each other. 

I took my cup of coffee from him and slipped my hand into his newly freed one. He gave it a light squeeze before pressing a soft kiss on the top of my head.

It wasn’t the way I imagined introducing Luke to my grandfather but then a lot of the things that happened with Luke weren’t what I’d imagine relationships to be.

Sometimes, reality could be better than our imagination.

***

Eventually, my hangover went away, thanks to a late but proper lunch that my grandfather whipped up for me and Luke after we trailed him to a nearby grocery store to pick up some supplies. 

He made a skillet pizza with tortilla and threw on every appetizing ingredient a man could name on top of it. Even Luke was impressed. My grandfather just shrugged it off because I knew that he didn’t give a damn if he impressed an important a man as Luke Hedenby. To his point of view, Luke was just the guy I decided to be with and while he wouldn’t actively interfere, he reserved opinion on whether Luke was a go or a no for me.

I volunteered to do the dishes when we were done and my grandfather readily agreed, saying he needed to go for a walk around the block to exercise his legs after a long, cramped flight.

“Do you think Bart is going to give you hell about me?” Luke asked as he dried the large serving plate I handed him. 

I smiled. “He’s wary and I don’t blame him. You’ve got heartbreaker written all over you.”

Luke gave me a droll look. “I do not.”

I laughed. “Yes, you do. Good thing I know you better than what’s displayed on all that gorgeous packaging.”

Luke wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him, his face dipping down until our noses touched. His eyes briefly closed before he brushed a soft kiss between my brows. 

“You have no idea how incredibly lucky I feel to have you,” he murmured. “And I want to have you with me, Max, all the time, all our lives. Can you do that with me?”

With my heart rapidly beating a mad, excited rhythm, I lifted my face to look him in the eye. “What are you asking for, Luke?”

A small smile played on his lips. “I’ve told you before. I’m asking for everything, Max.” 

He kissed me softly, his lips catching mine with light, tentative nips until they parted enough to let him in. Even with our slightly wet hands dampening spots on each other’s clothes as we drew in closer together, we kept going. And I probably would’ve kept going (because with Luke I didn’t seem to have brakes) if he hadn’t pulled away a little to cradle my face with his hands.

“There are many things I want to do with you, that I want to give you, and they’ll happen,” he said. “I’ll have to leave you for a bit next week, while I head out to LA to clean up some of the chaos in my life that I don’t want to carry into the future with you. But I’ll come back and as soon as we get this whole proposal project out of the way with my father, I’ll take you away somewhere, just the two of us.”

I nodded. “Is there any way I can help clear the chaos?”

He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “You’ve already helped with the chaos. You pinned me down in one place instead of letting me get lost in all of that.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed a little at the cheesy answer that made my heart melt all the same. “How long will you be gone?” 

“Just a couple of days,” he said. “I’ll be back before you know it and I’ll be around you so much you’ll want to throw me out the window.”

I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down for another kiss. “Impossible. You’re too big for me to do that.”

“You know I’ll miss you but we’ll make this weekend count,” he said, lifting his hand to tuck away a few stray locks of hair that had fallen out of my messy ponytail. “I wanted to have you all to myself but I know you haven’t seen your grandfather in a while so I don’t resent any of that. I just have to get creative.”

I laughed. “Have you had to work around your other girlfriend’s parents or grandparents before?”

“No,” Luke said, scrunching up his nose as if the answer should’ve been obvious. “I liked my relationships with minimal effort.”

“Uh, this wouldn’t be one of those,” I said dryly.

“I know that,” he said with a wink. “With you, it requires Maximum effort.”

“Haha. Very cute,”I said with a snort before pushing him away. “Okay, let’s go finish up here before Gramps comes back. I don’t want him to give him any more reason to think that I’ve gone farther down the road to perdition with you.”

The kitchen was clean when Gramps came back and Luke bid us so long with the reminder that Terrence would be picking us up early this evening for the party.

“He’s not the kind of man you dabble with, Max,” Gramps said as he helped me move some furniture around to clear a space for the foldable mattress I’d pulled out from my closet. He was leaving late Monday morning and was going to book himself a hotel room somewhere nearby but I’d insisted he stayed with me so he didn’t have to spend more money. The mattress was a single but it was as thick and springy as when I first got it in sophomore year in college. It came handy when all you had was a studio apartment.

“I’m going to assume we’re talking about Luke,” I said as I took out some clean pillowcases and bedsheets. 

“Well, we can talk about Alex too since I thought he had very similar intentions about you,” Gramps said.

“Alex?” I repeated, sitting down next to him. “What do you mean? What did he tell you?”

Gramps shrugged casually. “He told me he liked you. And that he wanted to surprise you by having me visit for your birthday. It was a fine idea but I didn’t want to depend on anyone for it. I didn’t want you pressured into a decision because of me. I didn’t want you to owe anyone any favors so that when the time came to choose, you’d only have yourself to listen to.”

Tears pricked behind my eyes as I leaned in to give my grandfather a hug. “Thank you, Gramps. You’ve done so much for me over the years and here you are, still doing it.”

Gramps gently rubbed my back until I finally pulled away, my eyes tearing up. “You had too much pain at such a young age, Max, and I worried that you would grow up with that pain still eating you up inside. I did what I could to reassure you that life wasn’t so bad in spite of all the ugly things that could happen in it. But I knew you needed more than me to learn that. You needed friends, work you enjoyed doing, a world you liked, a man you loved and who loved you back. And I’m glad that you seem to have slowly found all that.”

I sniffled. “I do have great friends, Alex among them. But I think that’s all that Alex will be to me. I hope you’re not too disappointed. I know he was the town golden boy.”

Gramps shook his head. “That doesn’t matter to me. What matters is that you’re with someone who makes you happy. If it has to be that hotshot city slicker of yours, don’t let me stop you.”

I laughed. “I’m not sure Luke would appreciate being referred to as a city slicker but he’s a good guy, Gramps. And I think he loves me.”

“Has he said so himself?” my grandfather asked with a raised brow. 

Actually, no, he hasn’t. 

He’d told me a lot of things but not that. Yet somehow, there was this feeling that he didn’t even need to. That I just knew. 

“I plan on beating him to it,” I told Gramps with a wiggle of my brows. “Who said I couldn’t say it first?”

This time, my grandfather smiled, transforming his heavily lined face. “No one. As old-fashioned as I am, I know for a fact that there are no rules when it comes to the heart. You can only follow it and decide if the path it leads you to is one you can walk down on.”

I smiled and leaned my head against my grandfather’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re here, Gramps.”

“Me too, kiddo,” he said gently before fishing through his pocket. He took out a small, red fabric drawstring bag and handed it to me. “Happy Birthday.”

My grandfather made a modest living and even at his age, he still worked part-time. But the delicate chain bracelet inside the bag was of fine quality—antique gold with intricate engravings especially on the locket charm that hung from it right by the clasp.

“It was your grandmother’s,” he said as he took it from me and looped it around my right wrist. “I gave it to her on our wedding day. It was a full year’s salary but I didn’t care. She deserved the best in the world, just like you. I’m sure she would be glad to have you keep it.”

My grandmother died when I was ten and even though I’d never seen Gramps cry, I knew he grieved her deeply. I couldn’t recall much of her except that she always had a sweet smile and the best sugar cookies.

I flicked the locket gently with my fingertip, my chin trembling with the effort not to cry. “Thank you, Gramps.”

“It’s empty inside,” he added. “I want you to fill your life with the future, Max, not the past.”

I spent a quiet afternoon with my grandfather, having tea and catching up. We walked around the neighborhood, even hopped on the bus to Hedenby Towers so he could see where I worked.

We headed back around five to get ready for the party. 

All that Zoe told me was that it was going to be dressy casual so somewhere between cut-off jeans and a sequinned evening gown. I wore a bright coral tunic dress from my shopping spree last night. It skimmed my curves but stayed classy, and I matched it with the gold and ruby dragonfly necklace from Luke and the charm bracelet from my grandfather.

Gramps wore his usual dark trousers and a light blue button-down shirt. 

Terrence met us downstairs, bowing formally to greet me and my grandfather.

“Max, lovely to see you again and happy birthday. Mr. Moss, my name is Terrence. It’s good to meet you, sir. Your granddaughter is a fine young lady and a good friend.”

“That she is,” my grandfather replied before eyeing the town car with a slightly bewildered expression. He said nothing though before getting in after me.

If my grandfather was impressed by the blatant display of Luke’s financial status, he didn’t say. He kept his cool—very Bart Moss—as he accompanied me and Terrence to the penthouse.

We heard the music the moment the elevator doors slid open and my heart started to pound.

I didn’t know that many people in the city but the few that I did, I had hoped had made it some way or another.

Terrence walked ahead of us and rapped a quick pattern of knocks on the door before he pushed it open.

“After you,” he said, stepping aside to hold the door open. 

The moment I stepped through, a cheerful chorus of voices filled the air as confetti rained from the ceiling. 

“Happy Birthday!” 

A sea of faces greeted me—Jillian, Ryan, Alex, Zoe, Luke, Peggy and what looked like the entire marketing department from work with the exception of a few.

I was probably grinning like an idiot but I didn’t care. 

Luke stepped forward and lifted me up by the waist, turning us both halfway around before lowering me enough to touch his lips with a kiss.

“Thank you,” I murmured against his mouth.

“Anytime, baby,” he said with a big smile before letting me back down on my feet. He kissed my forehead and stepped aside as if to present me to our guests, holding his glass up in the air. “To all the friends and family who came here tonight for Max, let’s raise our glasses for a toast to celebrate her life—one that we’re very much lucky to be a part of. I don’t know about you but I’m crazy about her.”

“Cheers to Max!” Zoe yelled out, practically punching her colorful cocktail glass high up in the air. 

Everyone raised their glasses to the toast before several people came over to hug me.

By the time they were done with me, I went searching for my grandfather who now stood by Luke’s breakfast bar, enjoying a bottle of beer and chatting with a couple of guys from Alex’s team.

I only knew half of the people in the party, which had exponentially grown in the last half hour, but I didn’t mind. This was officially the first birthday party of my entire life.

“Gramps, you shouldn’t be drinking,” I softly chided when I reached his side. “You know it screws up your stomach.”

“I’m not too old to not be able to enjoy a rare drink, Max, but I’m also too old to miss out on one when only God knows if I’ll have another chance at it,” he said, lifting his bottle and clinking it against the vodka cran I held. “Go enjoy your party, kiddo. Don’t worry about an old man like me. I’ll be fine talking hockey here with the guys.”

Taking his word on it, I left him alone. I was still watching him when Alex suddenly appeared beside me. “Glad he was able to make it. Your grandfather’s a stubborn man. He wouldn’t let me help him at all.”

“He’s never changed and he never will,” I said, smiling at Alex. “But thank you for trying to get him here for my birthday. I owe you guys so much.”

Alex just shrugged and took a swig of his beer. “We wanted to put something together for you but really, it was Zoe who took things to the next level. To say that she’s warmed up to you is an understatement.”

“Zoe is an incredible person,” I said as our gazes both found her standing at the far corner of the room, talking eagerly with Ryan. “Whoever’s lucky enough to win her heart will never regret it.”

“Hard to know who that is if she keeps giving parts of her heart away to every chap who comes along,” Alex muttered with a fairly detectable edge in his voice. I glanced at him and saw the dark look in his eyes as he watched Zoe and Ryan. I paused and let the undercurrents of the situation filter through me until they made sense. 

I slowly smiled. “I wouldn’t be so worried about Ryan. I have a feeling he’s set on someone who can’t really see how he feels whether she’s got her glasses on or not.”

But before that conversation went any further, Luke voice sliced through the noise, deceivingly low but sharp enough to cut. “Mind if I steal my girl away, Rizzo?”

Alex didn’t look deterred. He just raised a brow at Luke. “Do you really want an answer to that question?”

I rolled my eyes and wedged myself between the two men. “Let me stop you two right now before you start another pissing contest.”

Luke, infuriating as he could get sometimes, slipped a possessive arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Max. I’m sure Alex knows where he stands.”

“I’m standing right here, next to Max, because the fact that she’s my friend won’t change just because you’re in the picture,” Alex shot back. He wasn’t reverberating with tension as Luke was. In fact, he seemed slightly amused. “As long as she’s happy with you, you won’t have a problem with me.”

I thought Luke was going to deliver some heated comeback because in some ways, he could still be a bit immature like that, but he surprised me when his stance eased. “I appreciate that.”

“Me, too,” I muttered before grabbing Luke’s hand and dragging him away enough to put some distance between him and Alex. Before we could get any further, a call on Luke’s cellphone interrupted us and he stepped into his office to take it.

“Happy birthday, Max!” 

I turned around and saw Elise standing there, resplendent in a silky, cobalt blue pantsuit, her smile radiant as she held up a small and simple round cake draped with what looked like a satiny pinkish white fondant icing. Delicate pink and red marzipan petals were sprinkled on top of it, surrounding a single, tall and unlit pink candle. 

“This is just the top of the cake,” she explained, stepping aside slowly to reveal a food cart holding four tiers of cake, all designed the same as the topper she was holding, surrounded by matching pink candles. “We were going to be here much earlier but we had some issues loading the cake into the van to get it here in one piece. We would’ve been better prepared if Luke had given me a little more notice. He called at ten last night, after he remembered he needed a cake.”

My mouth hung open slightly. 

“By the way, this over here is my fiancé, Marcel,” Elise went on, gesturing to the man pushing the cart. He was tall and wiry with a dark goatee, his hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He smiled and gave me a little wave. “He’s a talented pastry chef and without him, we wouldn’t have been able to put this piece together in time and have it look like this.”

“Joyeau anniversaire, mademoiselle!” he greeted and Elise winked at me, translating, “He means happy birthday.”

Regaining my composure, I beamed at the couple. “Thank you. Both of you. This cake is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Elise laughed before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. “Luke might give the cake a run for its money but I don’t think he counts.”

My face warmed but Elise just chuckled even more, even as we stepped aside to let Marcel through toward the kitchen. 

“Don’t be embarrassed, Max,” she told me, our conversation growing more private as gushes of admiration from guests who surged in to observe the cake filled the space. “Luke is a handsome man but I sometimes feel bad that it’s just his face and his money that most people see. By no means does that make him pitiful because there are more dire misfortunes in the world but it makes him more likely to be misunderstood. He fiercely protects those he loves, sometimes at the expense of his own happiness.”

I smiled a little. “I might have an experience or two with him when it comes to that.”

“And those may not be the last,” Elise said with a sigh, her smile a little weary but still genuine. “He has so much to learn and unlearn about relationships, Max, but he’s going to do it for you, no question. You’ll just need to be patient with him a little bit.”

“Ma belle!” Marcel called from the kitchen island where he was clearing a spot for the cake.

“Marcel seems like a very nice guy,” I said. “But does he really only speak French? ‘Coz I don’t know any French except the lines from Lady Marmalade.”

Elise grinned. “He speaks English just fine but it’ll take him a few days to adjust to it since he’ll mostly have to speak it now. Let me go help him, okay? Go make your rounds. We’ll light up the candles close to midnight right before we count down to your birthday.”

It was truly a birthday I would never forget.

The DJ (yes, a DJ) put on some party music, starting with a slow one. Luke searched me out through the pairs that started assembling but instead of escorting me to the dance floor, he led me to my grandfather and said, “The man who deserves the first dance with you is the man who’d raised you and cared for you all these years. He will always have that privilege.”

I pressed my lips together to keep them from trembling as I glanced away from my grandfather to the man I loved. “How about you?”

He smiled and lifted my hand to kiss the back of it, the warmth of his lips seeping through my skin and shooting straight for my heart that went throbbing with tenderness. “I’ll be your last. I’ll be the man to care for you and cherish you until we’re gray and old. I’ll be the man by your side until the last breath, until the last heartbeat.”

“Those sounded like vows, son,” Gramps said with an amused smile on his face so faint it was barely discernible. But the fact that he called Luke son was definitely a good sign.

Luke grinned crookedly. “I’m practicing for when the day comes.”

If that teasing statement worried my grandfather, I couldn’t tell. He just shook his head, patted Luke on the shoulder and took my hand to lead me to the dance floor. 

After that slow dance, Gramps led me back to Luke who eagerly waited by the sidelines.

The night was a fantastic blur—of sparkling sprays of light as I blew my candles, of indulgent food, fabulous gifts, merry dancing and lively conversations, of friendships and family, and of an indescribable sense of pure happiness I didn’t know could exist.

Luke gifted me with a two-week-long romantic getaway to a private island in the Bahamas. We could take it anytime within the year although he’d strongly hinted at us taking it very, very soon.

Since both Terrence and practically everyone else had something to drink, Luke dispatched the building’s town car service to drive me and Gramps home.

My grandfather was tired, not being used to the late hours and from the timezone change, that after he’d used the bathroom to clean up and change into pajamas, he kissed me on the forehead and bid me goodnight.

I had some trouble sleeping. 

Who wanted to dream when reality was better, right?

I had just about closed my eyes when my phone vibrated on my night stand, the screen glowing a whitish blue in the shadows.

[Luke: Come downstairs, birthday girl.]

It was three in the morning. 

[Me: Why?]

[Luke: Because your birthday isn’t over yet. Come on.]

[Me: Gramps is sleeping.]

[Luke: Then be quiet. We won’t go too far from here.]

[Me: You’re making me sneak out. You’re a very bad influence, Luke Hedenby.]

[Luke: Part of my charm you can’t resist. Now get your cute butt down here.]

[Me: Fine. Give me 5 minutes.]

It wasn’t easy to tiptoe quietly in the dark with just the glow of my cellphone aiding me but I managed to grab the dress I wore to the party earlier from the hanger it was on by the bathroom door. I padded quietly to the door, stuffing my feet into a pair of flats on my way out.

In all the years I’d spent living with Gramps, I’d never once snuck out to meet a boy—or do anything remotely adventurous for that matter. Yet here I was, a full-grown adult, doing it for the first time, my heart pumping hard with the rush of rebellious excitement. I stepped out and cursed myself for forgetting it was a fall morning and the air had a sharp nip to it.

I thought somehow that Luke would be right there, waiting for me, but there was no one in sight.

The entire street looked oddly deserted.

It was still dark, with most windows from every building dark, the only light coming from a blend of lamp posts and store front signs. 

Then I noticed the flicker of something on the sidewalk.

A large candle lantern sat right in the middle of it, its golden flame burning steadily. 

My eyes trailed up along the sidewalk, following one candle lantern after another and realizing that the line of them stretched all the way to the end of the block.

Unable to resist, and probably too entranced to notice anything else, I started to move toward the first lantern and noticed  the white folded note tucked halfway under it.

I crouched down, carefully slid it away from under the lantern and unfolded it.

It only contained a single word. 

I followed the trail of lights, picking up each note as I went until the words—all twenty-four of them, one for each year of my life—started to make sense.

The

day

we

collided,

my

life

didn’t

change.

It

finally

started.

I

only

know

one

way

to

spend

it—

with

you

and

for

you.

The twenty-fourth candle lantern stopped right in front of the old hotel where I first ran into Luke and where, I would say so myself, our lives and love story started.

He stood there by the entrance, bathed in the sultry lamplight—fully clothed this time and quite dashing—holding what looked like my old trench coat. Yes, the same one he ‘borrowed’ from me that first day we met.

My heart, already heavy and tender with a cluster of emotions, squeezed a gasp out of me. 

He stepped forward, smiling, and wordlessly slipped my coat around my shoulders, the warmth of his body still absorbed in the fabric that it quickly chased away the chill.

Then his arms wrapped around me, pulling me close.

“Happy Birthday, baby,” he whispered before searing my cold lips with a hot kiss. I clung to him, kissing him wildly, wishing the imprints of my lips would tell him just how much he told me. 

With a low chuckle, he pulled back, cupping one side of my face with his hand. “I shouldn’t have kissed you right away. Now I can’t think straight and there’s still something else I need to do.”

“Like what?”

He took a step back and I stood, as still as a statue except for my restless heart, as I watched him go down on one knee, his hand lifting small box out of his coat’s pocket.

“Your life started twenty-four years ago, on this day, making it possible for me to discover what it’s like to be happy, to know that I could love like this, and to want everything I was so afraid of,” he said softly, his smile warm, his eyes a bright, shimmery blue. 

He opened the box, revealing a solitaire square diamond nestled in an intricate lace-patterned frame that twisted into rest of the slim platinum band.

It glinted against the light, much like a star in the sky but the kind that asked a wish from you instead of the other way around. 

“I love you, Max,” Luke said, taking my left hand with his. “I brought you here, in the same spot where my life started that one fateful and crazy morning, to ask you to become a part of it.”

His eyes, so blue, so earnest, smiled up at me. “Spend the rest of your life with me, Max. Marry me.”

No sound came out of my mouth as I stood gazing at the ring and the man on his knee asking for my heart. I felt a little light-headed and out of breath—like I’d been spinning for a while and I came to an abrupt stop and I was staggering forward. I waited for the fear to hit—to send me backing up and away from Luke because while I knew, deep inside, that I loved him, this was moving too fast and speed always felt reckless to me. And reckless got people hurt. 

“Please, Max?” Luke’s whisper was husky, nervous now and completely humbled. 

The fear never came. 

His voice broke through the tempest and wrapped around me like a sweet embrace, pulling me close, taking me home.

I found myself smiling. “I love you, Luke. I thought you would break my heart. Instead you just made it braver than it could ever be. So yes, I’ll marry you.”

The large diamond sparkled but it paled in comparison to the big, bright grin on Luke’s face when he slipped the ring onto my finger. I threw my arms around his neck before he could pull himself up to his feet, hugging him so fiercely and not caring that my coat slipped off to the ground. He laughed, swept the coat back up and wrapped it around me along with his arms, hauling us both up to our feet.

“Thank you, Max,” he murmured against my ear, pressing a kiss on my temple. I lifted my face to him and pushed myself up on my toes just as he bent low to kiss me sweetly.

I didn’t care if it was cold or that it was an ungodly hour in the morning or that people might be peeking at us from their windows, knowing full well that some romantic fool (Luke, in this case) had the entire block shut down to propose to some silly girl (me). 

“I guess you’re too old to be grounded. And I suppose if it’s only once and it’s for the purposes of getting engaged to a man who wears his heart for you on his sleeve, I could make an exception.”

I glanced up the sidewalk and saw my grandfather standing there in his pajamas with his coat on, his arms crossed, a wry smirk on his face.

I grinned at him and waved with my left hand, showing off my ring.

“Thank you, sir, for giving me your blessing,” Luke said to Gramps, giving him a rough salute with one hand while keeping me secure against him with his other. “I’ll be a good husband to her and do everything I can to make her happy.”

I didn’t tell him I was already quite happy. I just pulled his face down for another kiss before closing my eyes and sinking into his embrace.

I stayed there, letting the world spin back into balance around me, knowing well that it had been altered, much like me, yet having no regrets because I now understood the difference.

It’s funny how you can be alive for so long and only start living now. Life is nothing more than a series of motions until you start living for something.

***

So, what do you think? Our two lovers are suddenly so brave all of a sudden, eh? I think that when you've been afraid for so long, to realize that you could do it—that very thing you fear—you go and do it with no holds barred, so completely liberated from old restraints that you feel so brave, so invincible. I'm not going to lead up to much to the idea that this isn't quite happily ever yet for Max and Luke. You guys know me. I practically do that in every story. But I think what will be different for them is in how they deal with it. 

Thanks again for sticking around and enjoying the ride.

Hope you vote and comment! 

XOXO!

-Ninya

P.S. I might be slightly obssessed with Ed Sheeran's music lately. I love this song!

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran ♪♪♪ 

When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me—I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am

So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are