Pink with Gold Straps
Chapter 1
I awake to the sound of my husband outside our bedroom door. He sounds mad.
“I don’t give a damn, Ev!” I hear him yell. “This is important to me. Make sure it’s ready... Thank you. We’ll see you tonight.”
He opens the door and smiles at me, seeing that I’ve woken up.
“Hey, beautiful girl,” he greets me, walking over to the bed.
“Hi. What was that all about?”
“Evan being a pill again.”
“Ah. Well, don’t go too hard on him. He is your best friend, after all. You two are like brothers.”
He climbs back into bed with me and holds me close. “True. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get on my nerves all the fucking time. Sometimes I want to wring his neck.”
I chuckle at him and say, “You are adorable, you know that?”
“Kinda hard to forget when you tell me all the damn time.
“Maybe I say it because it’s true.”
“Right,” he says sarcastically, “and water is dry.”
I laugh again at his stupidity. “I cannot believe I’m stuck with you for the rest of my life.”
“Hey, in my defense, you didn’t have to say yes when I proposed. Hell, you didn’t even have to say yes when I asked you out, technically.”
“I did though! You were, and still are, the hottest being on the planet. Every girl wanted a chance with you.”
“But I don’t care about every girl. Just you.”
“Yeah, and that, exactly is why I cannot resist you. You’re gorgeous, sweet, funny, and, oh by the way, you live to make me happy.”
“Of course. You’re worth every hardship and everything I do.”
I smile at him. “I find it very ironic how we couldn’t come up with jack crap for our vows when we got married, and yet now that we actually are, we say all this trashy romantic crap to each other on a daily basis.”
He kisses my forehead and buries his face into the crook of my neck. “I love you,” he says in a hushed voice.
“I love you, too.” And with that, I drift away back to sleep.
“Baby,” I coo, “time to get up for real. Come on, now.” He stirs and I kiss his lips. “Hey, handsome. Get up. We need to be at Evan’s by five. It’s one o’clock now.”
“Mm,” he grunts in obvious annoyance. “How about no?”
“Not an option, sweetheart. It’s New Year’s Eve. Your favorite day of the year.”
“Second. Our wedding anniversary is my favorite day.”
“Whatever. Second. Point is, you’ve been looking forward to today, more rather, tonight, all year.” I kiss him again. “Up. Now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He lazily pulls himself from the sheets that engulf us, throwing his side of them over my head, playfully. I let out a noise of surprise, not quite sure what to make of my psycho husband. He pulls the sheet back again, tucking it under the mattress. “Well?” he says. “Come on. We don’t want to be late.” His tone is teasing and innocent, but I give him a death glare as he runs out of the room.
“Kingsley McAlister, I hate you!” I scream, not knowing how far he went down the hallway. His hand appears on the top left corner of the doorway, and he peaks his head in.
“Permission to prove you wrong?” he asks.
I nod, “Granted.”
“You married me.” He bursts into laughter and I throw a pillow at him. He ducks expertly, letting the pillow fall behind his feet. Still laughing, he walks over to the bed and kisses me. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“Hmph,” I pout.
“Say it,” he warns. I shake my head and sit up taller. “Okay. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. I didn’t want to have to do this, Anna, but I have to.” He pressed me to the bed and started tickling me violently. I scream, and beg, and plead for mercy, something that has gotten us in trouble before. A few times, right when we moved in, Liana and Mario Jervais next door called the cops, assuming one of us was in trouble. I still remember the very first time.
My Romeo is missing from our bed, and I smell some kind of pork cooking in the kitchen, but can’t tell if it’s bacon or sausage. Knowing him, maybe it’s both. Probably. I will myself from the warm, taunting blankets and pillows that are scattered throughout the room. Walking out into our long hallway, I see my beautiful husband bent over on the floor, looking at something in the oven. I smile and lean against the wall seductively. He takes a pan out, with biscuits layered atop it, then works another on the stove, over a low fire.
As I watch him, I think to myself, have I really married this man? Is he really mine forever? Damn, I got lucky. After enough torture, I clear my throat, making my presence evident to Kingsley and he looks over at me.
“Morning, sweet thing,” he smiles at me. “You should still be in bed.”
“Ooh. But I’m not. What are you going to do about it, Mr. McAlister?”
He pushes me against the wall and chuckles. “Let’s see, Mrs. McAlister,” he growls out, his teeth attaching to the collar of my robe. He licks all over my chest, making me moan in anticipation of what is about to come.
Unfortunately, someone knocks at our front door, and Kingsley has to pull away and answer it.
I am shocked to see, standing in front of him, a woman in a police uniform, reaching for her handgun and telling him to put his hands up. She barrells past him and runs over to me.
“Ma’am, are you alright,” she asks me.
“Yes, I’m fine but what has my husband done wrong?”
She looks to Kingsley, then back to me. “This is your husband?”
“Yes. We got married only yesterday,” I explain.
Her face turns pink in embarrassment. “My deepest apologies. I understand now. We got a call late last night from your neighbors. Apparently, she assumed you, ma’am were in trouble. Perhaps an intruder or rapist had entered your home. She heard you screaming.”
It’s my turn to blush a deep red. The woman apologizes once again and bids us goodbye, leaving me and Kingsley alone, embarrassed, and completely weirded out.
“Say it,” he demands. “Say ‘I love you’!”
“I will, I will!” I laugh. He removes his hands, but still straddles me, making sure I’m not conning him. I am, though, as I say, “You love me.” And my body begins shaking again under his fingers.
“You are an infuriating woman!”
“You ma-marri-i-ied meehehehe!” I sputter out. Eventually he either tires of this, or realizes he’s never going to out-argue me and pulls away for a final time. He lays down next to me. “I do love you though,” I confirm.
“Heh. I know. I love you too, more than anything. But seriously, we should get going. Evan’s expecting us...” his voice trails off as he looks at the clock. “Shit. Forty-three minutes ago.”
“Well, if I know Evan, and I think fourteen years is enough, he’s invited a crapload of other people whom we do not know and is entertaining them as we speak, so I doubt he’ll notice if we’re an hour or so late.”
My husband sits up and pulls me with him. “You wanna shower first or me?”
I give him a sly grin, making a sad attempt at seduction. “Why not kill two birds with one stone and have one together?”
He sends me a pointed look and shakes his head. “Baby, we’re already late. We don’t need all that right now. You first.”
I want to protest, but decide he’s right and start to strip, making my way to the bathroom. I step into the warm water and quickly scrub my hair and body, hurry to get going. Kingsley and I were never, ever good at keeping on schedule. Even after four years as a married couple, we cannot help but get distracted over each other. Because our jobs are stationed at home, it doesn’t often matter. However, when business ventures or other events do arrive, we are likely to be very late. Evan Jones, of all people, knows this better than anyone else. He and Kingsley grew up together in the small town of Adams, Minnesota and have been friends all their lives.
I shake the memories of college and snap back to reality as I step out of the shower. Kingsley runs in and begins taking off his clothes. “Woah, what’s going on?”
“Uh, nothing. Just... uh... nothing. I just want to get going.”
I eyed him suspiciously. My husband never acted like this. I knew how to get it out of him. I ground my bare body against his chest and kissed him rough. Though it came as a surprise, he pulled me close and kisses back, pushing me against the wall. When he pulls back, he smiles at me, “Nice try, sexy. But you’re not getting this one out of me.”
I roll my eyes. Kingsley pushes away from me and hops into the tub, where I had just stood. I shake my head and walk to my closet, trying to decide which flip-flops to wear today, and I eventually choose my pink ones with the gold straps. Setting them on the bed, I throw on my favorite blouse and jeans, then slip on the shoes.
My phone buzzes with a text from Evan. Speak of the devil.
Oi! Hurry your ass up! I know you’re a chick but come on. I actually want you guys to show.
I laugh at his sly, one-of-an-Evan-kind comment.
On the move, I reply, and you’ll be surprised to hear that it’s Kingsley who we’re waiting for. He’s in the shower.
“Babe! I don’t know what you and Evan are getting yourselves into this time, but he wants us to get there quick. This can’t be good right?” I call into the bathroom. Now I’m getting really weirded out.
“Yeah, tell him we’re on the way.”
“Did!”
I eye him as he comes out the door, his wet hair still looking fabulously hot. “What did you do?”
“You’ll see.”
I roll my eyes to the ceiling and back down, then walk with my husband out the door to our jet black Mercedes Benz. We live “comfortably”.
An hour later, after bitching traffic, we arrive at the venue (a.k.a. Evan’s house) and knock on the door. It opens and I hear the devilish voice before I actually see him. “Wassup my family!”
His green eyes meet mine as he kisses my cheek and claps Kingsley on the back. “My King and his Queen.”
“Yeah and the Queen over here wants to know what the hell my boys have done. Is there going to be any illegal shit happening here... again?”
“Nah, baby, you know I don’t roll like that,” Ev says to me, “but rest assured shit’s gon’ be bangin′! Right, King?”
“I sure as fuck hope.” He winks at me.
