Face-Off at the Altar Read online

  “You do not.”

  “I know.”

  “You love me and my smelly ass.”

  “That’s debatable.”

  “Eh, I don’t think so,” he teased, kissing her jaw and then her cheek.

  She glared at him, but he grinned back as she said, “You ruined the sweet, sleepy-morning moment.”

  “Who, me? With my fart?” he asked innocently, and she rolled her eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, my bad. Want me to do it again so I can ruin the funny, lazy fart moment?”

  “No!” she cried and he grinned, cuddling her tighter into his chest. She didn’t understand it, he should disgust her, but she didn’t want anything else but these smelly moments. As long as they were with him. It was about him. About the love she had for only him. “Markus.”

  “Yeah,” he said, his eyes closed as she tipped her head back to look at him.

  “I’ve loved you for a really long time.”

  “I know,” he said, still not looking at her.

  “You did not.”

  “I did too,” he said, finally opening his eyes as his lips curved knowingly. “You may think you can hide how you feel, but, woman, I can read you like a play.”

  “Whatever,” she said, glaring. “You’re ruining my moment again. You were supposed to say something all sweet and innocent, like, ‘Oh, really?’”

  He scoffed. “Hey, at least I didn’t fart.”

  Shaking her head, she leaned her forehead to his chin. “So all the romance is gone now, I guess?”

  “Hey, I don’t fart for anyone.”

  “I really hate you.”

  “You do not.”

  “I know.”

  Kissing her temple, he moved his lips along her forehead as he breathed her in. For a second, she was conscious that she might not smell all fresh. But then, the room smelled like fart, so why she cared, she didn’t know. When she felt him grin against her, she smiled too. It was nice not to care, to just be comfortable with another person completely. “Hey, Mekena.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know you’ve loved me for a while, and that’s amazing and perfect and something I’ll hold in my heart forever, I will. But with me, it isn’t what I feel for you—that’s a given, I love you—it’s what I don’t feel for anyone else. I don’t want to make anyone else smile. I don’t want to make anyone else laugh. I don’t even want to cook for anyone else. Or lie in a bed and fart. Only you. I love only you, and that will never change.”

  “Wow,” she breathed, and she felt him grin against her temple.

  “How’s that for a romantic moment?”

  “Really damn good.” Tipping her head back, she curved her lips as their gazes met. “I love you too.

  He grinned. “Good. Now can I fart again? That damn chicken last night got my gut twisted.”

  “I swear to God, Markus, I’ll cut you.”

  He moaned. “Fine.”

  “Thank you,” she said, nuzzling her nose into his neck as he rested his chin on her head. “We should just stay here all day.”

  “We can’t. We have breakfast with everyone before they fly back home. Baylor asked if I was moving back in. Told her my sugar momma was taking me in.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re insane.”

  “Been called worse…by you, actually,” he teased, and she laughed.

  “Fine, we go to breakfast and then we go to the hotel, veg out, and watch Netflix.”

  He nodded. “Sounds amazing. Did you finish Gilmore Girls?”

  She giggled; she had forgotten she got him hooked on that show when they were dating. “Nope, Lorelei pissed me off. It broke me, I quit her.”

  He mocked a gasp. “Mekena, give her a chance. She was lost and confused! We’re finishing it before…” He trailed off as he looked down at her. “Before we find out if we are doing this together or apart.”

  She swallowed hard as she nodded. “Sounds good.”

  “I’m excited, though.”

  She smiled because she knew what he was speaking of. Everything. He was excited for everything. “I am too.”

  “We’re gonna be happy.”

  “Yeah, we are,” she agreed, closing her eyes as she held him, her fingers moving along the back of his neck. He smelled divine and all kinds of yummy. Thankfully, all the death gas was gone.

  “It’s going to work out, you and me. We’ll figure it all out.”

  “We will. As long as we’re together.”

  “Yeah, even apart, we’ll be okay. We can FaceTime and Netflix.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  “Yeah, and we’ll get together on my weekends off, and it will work.” She loved how confident he was, how he was certain it was all going to work. She felt the same way.

  Completely.

  Moving his lips along her hair, he whispered, “Can you believe it?”

  She looked at him. “Believe what?”

  “That we’re here. At the beginning of the week, I thought you’d poison me. I wanted you so bad, but I didn’t think you’d want me.”

  “I always wanted you, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was what happened.”

  “But that’s behind us.”

  “Yeah, and I hope it stays there,” she said, but something must have flickered in her eyes because his brows pulled together.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “No, something is wrong.”

  She hadn’t even realized she was thinking about it until she spoke. “My parents kicked Skylar out. Apparently, she doesn’t want to get help.”

  Looking away, he nodded. “Well, there is no helping her if she doesn’t want to help herself.”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Oh, well, don’t worry about that. We are moving forward, together.”

  “Together.”

  He was holding back, though, and she didn’t like the way he changed the subject so fast. Instead of calling him on it, she gazed into his eyes. They were so dark, not their usual light caramel. His heart was in his eyes, and it was beautiful to witness. She knew he was hers. All hers. “You make me happy, Mekena. Truly.”

  Smiling, she leaned her nose to his. “I feel the same way.”

  His eyes turned frisky, full of mischief. “Even when I do this?”

  He scrunched up his face, and she heard it before the room was filled with the most revolting smell. Relaxing his face, Markus just grinned, looking proud as Mekena glared. “Markus!”

  “Chicken! It’s the chicken!”

  Laughing, he covered her body with his as she tried to push him away. But really, she didn’t want him to go far.

  Farts and all.

  “So you have no clue what’s going to happen?”

  Mekena looked up at the ceiling as she stood in the offices for the Assassins. Her meeting with Elli Adler wasn’t for a few more minutes, but she needed a pep talk. Markus was at practice and then he had an appointment with the team’s therapist, so she couldn’t call him. That left her best friend, who sounded as if she was in the middle of World War III. But Mekena needed her. She wasn’t feeling as confident as she had the day before when she was in bed with Markus and he was promising her the world.

  The anxiety was eating her alive.

  “No, I mean, I think I got the job, or she’s made it seem like I got the job. But what if I get in there and I don’t have it? What if she just assumes I’m gonna take it and gives me a shitty salary?”

  Ashlyn screamed and then there was a crash. “I swear this kid has Jace’s temper,” Avery muttered and then cleared her throat. “Well, I mean, you’re going to take it no matter what, right? Like, you want to be with Markus, in Nashville?”

  “I know. But what if I do take it, and then he gets sent back to the Ninjas?”

  Avery made a sound of distress. “Yeah, this is a mess that neither of you really planned out, I think.”

  That wasn’t what she wan