Love Her Right

Jolie remembered that day as if it was yesterday. And how could she not? It was her eighteenth birthday and the day before the worst day of Mac’s life, which also turned out to be a momentously great day for her. Two consecutive life-changing days…she wasn’t sure to call it luck or the universe playing a big joke on her. But five years later, from where she was sitting, those days were just a teaser of what her life would become. A train wreck, a big joke, a bad hand of cards, whatever other metaphors were out there that one could politely say…since on her eighteenth birthday her life had turned to shit!

It was a great day initially. Her parents threw her a birthday party and all her friends from the cheering squad and algebra club attended. Yes, she broke the norm and was both a cheerleader and a mathlete. She had the confidence to pull it off and it helped that she had three older brothers ready to pound anyone who made fun of her. Some guys from the basketball and football team also attended and her house became the place to be for the senior high school class. It boosted her popularity points by a hundred percent. It helped that her twin brother Jase was the quarterback and team captain on both. So really she didn’t have a choice when it came to the guest list.

Yes, cheerleaders were supposed to be all about the jocks, but she didn’t care much for them. Their heads were so swollen with their egos, it left no space whatsoever for intellect. And anyway, she wasn’t interested in high school boys. She had her eyes set on one college guy who was a senior at Columbia with her eldest brother Jake. She’d zeroed in on Mr. Hot-Stuff when she’d turned thirteen and boys suddenly stopped being gross. Puberty was an eye opener.

“Happy birthday, pretty girl.” The words were followed by a light kiss on her cheek that turned her to jelly. She didn’t dare move, or breathe just in case her legs gave way under her.

He stepped in front of her holding a wrapped gift in his large hands and she sighed dreamily like the high school girl she was. He chuckled, his lips lifting in his signature lopsided grin that could melt butter. It certainly did melt her heart. She was sure he knew what he did to her with that smile and she didn’t care one bit. It didn’t make him arrogant, just aware of his appeal. And she had no pride when it came to this man. Yes, man. Not boy.

Mackenzie Masters, the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in all her life. And the best part about him was that he had the brains to match his looks. He also was probably the only one who challenged the theory of jocks being idiots. He’d gotten into Columbia on a football scholarship, and he studied Engineering, specifically aeronautics engineering. He loved helicopters. He could build an engine for one from scratch. She’d watched him once, and seeing him all greased up and sweaty, no fantasy could ever beat that.

It broke her heart when he decided to go so far away for school but she supported him, the two of them double teaming against his parents who wanted him closer to home. But what could he possibly do in Nevada except get tempted by sin city which was just a few hours away? Yes, it broke her heart, but she was determined to make sure he didn’t repeat the fiasco of his eighteenth birthday.

When he announced a week before her birthday that he was going to enlist in the military, she’d cried for days and her brothers had made fun of her. One of them got a knee to the crotch because of it. James, her elder brother, still wasn’t talking to her because of it, which was fine with her! The meat-head’s feelings were second to her crisis, which was Mac enlisting in the Air Force. She’d begged and she’d cried, even joined the intervention his parents held, but that just pissed him off. For some reason, he was even more disappointed in her than his parents for not supporting his dreams. So, she put on her big girl knickers, did a little research just to see why Mac was so determined to go off and risk his life and probably die before he hit thirty and she found it. The guys overseas needed all the help they could get, especially doctors, but evacuation pilots from hot situations came a close second. So she jumped off his parents’ band wagon and joined his. She was determined to be supportive of his career choice even if it killed her inside.

That’s what a wife was supposed to do anyway. To always have her husband’s back even if it was over something foolhardy. Yes, she had every intention of becoming Mrs. Mackenzie Masters. The only thing to figure out was whether to have the wedding ceremony before or after he deploys. She would much rather it be before, which led to her second dilemma. How was she going to convince him he was madly in love with her?

“Hey, Jelly Girl, stop drooling!”

She reluctantly turned away from Mac and glared at her twin brother. He had a shit eating grin on his face and Jolie was getting ready to wipe it off with her fist when he took the gift from Mac’s hands and shoved it at her.

“Come on, Mac. We’re starting a game, and I want you on my team.”

Without taking his eyes off her he asked, “Which team is Jake on?”

Jase groaned dramatically. “You and your girlfriend can be separated this once. He can have James. Come on.” He grabbed Mac’s arm and began to drag him away.

“Okay, all right. Jolie, you coming?”

She sighed again. His voice got so soft when he said her name. It was heavenly, but Jase had to ruin the moment when he snorted and said, “Oh she’s coming. She can sniff you out faster than a blood hound.”

Jolie squeezed the gift to her chest and begged for patience. She loved her twin the most out of all her brothers, but she fought the urge to kill him just as much.

With a serene smile she answered, “I’ll be right out.”