Piecing Together Sydney (A Sydney West Novel Book 3) (21 page)

Jason playfully hit his sister’s shoulder. “I thought you were Daddy’s girl.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Not anymore. He has Jared to baby now.” Her always smiling face was cracked into a frown.

My mom put her arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. “Men are assholes.”

I laughed, grabbing a glass of wine from a waiter passing by and held it up. “Agreed.” I looked at Jason. “Not all though, just most.”

Ellie hugged Jason close to her chest. “I taught this one right. I wasn’t going to have my son be a crappy man to any woman.”

“You raised him well.” My mom raised her glass.

Kylie raised her glass as well. “To hoping there are guys out there for the rest of us.”

Ellie released Jason and held her glass above her head. “To the future.”

Jason looked at the four of us, a grin cracked on his lips. “Here’s to the wonderful women in my life.”

We clicked glasses and polished off our drinks.

Ellie side-eyed Daniel as he danced with his new wife. “I wonder what she has that I—”

Jason took his mother’s hand. “Nothing. You’re better, I promise. Daniel is a bonehead. Come dance with me.”

I smiled as Jason danced with his mom and then his sister. My mom stayed by my side and kissed my cheek again. “I really like that boy.”

My heart felt like it was too big to remain in my chest. I loved that boy too damn much. “Me too.”

Jason came back and then took my mom for a spin. She was actually pretty good. Her laughter blended in with the music. Her laughter was my favorite part of her. I always wanted her to be happy. After the song ended, Jason came back with my mom and took me back on the dance floor.

“You like dancing with all your women?”

He threw his head back, laughing. “Yeah, makes me almost a dance pro, doesn’t it?” He leaned in closer, and his lips almost touched mine. “Wanna know a secret?”

“Hmm?” It was hard to think straight with my heart pounding in my head. All I wanted to do was make out with him.

“You’re my favorite dance partner.” Jason then dipped me and picked my body up for a twirl. I landed back on my heels and giggled.

God, he was amazing.

We danced for another three songs until it was time to cut the cake. We cut the first pieces, and no, we didn’t throw it in each other’s faces. What a waste of good cake!

As things winded down, we decided it was time we said our farewells and took off for our honeymoon. Everyone wished us well and some kissed our cheeks. Amelia cried on me, and I swore she’d be fine without me for three weeks. I rubbed her belly and gave her a hug.

My mom cried on me, getting my shoulder wet. She held my face in her hands and kissed my forehead for the longest time. “I love you, baby girl.”

“I love you too, Mom. I’ll see you soon. Okay?”

She waved, holding her hand over her heart. “Okay, baby. Have fun. Be safe!”

Kylie and Ellie hugged us and wished us well. We climbed into the limo that was decorated and said “Just Married” across the back window.

“So where are we going?”

With all the chaos of the past few weeks, I never obsessed on knowing where we were honeymooning. Now it was all I wanted to know.

Jason put his arm around my shoulders. “Sydney, it will be amazing, and I’ll give you one clue. There will be a lot of ocean.”

I sighed, resting my head on his upper arm. “Ugh. You’re already killing your wife, Jason.”

He kissed the crown of my head. “Don’t worry, Syd. You’re safe with me.”

From today on, I was Mrs. Sydney Anne King. I loved the ring to that. Now if only I knew where our honeymoon was, I’d be on cloud nine.

Jason covered my eyes as we exited the cab. He refused to talk to me about the honeymoon the entire flight to New York. I thought we were staying there, but he kept saying not to get used to the city.

“Now!” Jason dropped his hands, and before me was a huge cruise ship.

I spun around. “We’re going on a cruise?” I jumped up and down. “A fucking cruise?”

“Yes, Syd.” He took my hand in his. “Come on, wife. We’re going to Europe.”

“I love you, husband.” I could have squeezed him until I broke all his ribs. He was incredible.

***

Our luggage beat us and was already in our room awaiting our arrival. We changed our clothes and prepared for a late dinner. Everything was so fancy. I had to wear a ball gown, and he wore a navy blue tux that matched my dress. We ate steak and looked around at the stiff people.

“They remind me of the first class on
Titanic
,” I said to Jason.

He laughed, nodding. “Want to go back to our room? It is our wedding night…”

I threw down my napkin, suddenly not hungry for food anymore. “Let’s go.”

We made our way to our suite, and he stopped me from entering the door. “I have to carry you inside. It’s tradition.”

Jason picked me up and kicked the door open. He carried me into the room and placed me on the bed. I fought with the skirt of my dress so I could sit up. “Ugh, can you unzip me?”

He kicked off his shoes and moved around the bed to reach my zipper. “This is a beautiful dress…” He kissed my bare shoulder. “I bet it looks better off though.”

I stood up and let it fall to my feet. I stepped out of the pool of fabric and kicked off my heels before getting back into bed. “Come join me, lover.” I patted the space next to me.

Jason unbuttoned his shirt and then his pants and crawled into bed with me. I kissed him hard on the mouth and then grabbed the box of condoms from the nightstand. “You ready for me to rock your world?” I opened the box and got a package out.

His fingers trailed down my spine and unclasped my black lacy bra. It was tossed to the floor without a second thought. “God, I love your breasts.”

“They’re all yours, baby.” I puffed my chest out as I laid back on some pink pillows.

He cupped my left breast, teasing my nipple by rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. “Mmm…” I moaned as he took the right breast in his other hand and lightly bit my nipple.

I grabbed his boxers and yanked them down as far as I could. He sat up and finished pulling them down. His new mission was to take my panties. I giggled as his touch went up my thighs and his thumbs hooked the sides on my panties. They matched my bra and were made of delicate lace. He grabbed them and the strings popped, freeing the fabric from my body. Heat pooled in my belly. I opened the condom and placed it on his stiff member. I ran my nails down his inner thigh. “Baby, I just want you…”

He eased himself into me. “You’re letting me on top? That’s big of—”

I grabbed his bottom lip with my teeth, sucking it in like a piece of candy. He rocked his hips, and I opened my legs a little wider so he could go faster. I lost my fingers in his soft hair. I got two handfuls of his hair, making his head tilt to the left. His throat was warm. I could feel his pulse under my lips. I licked up the column of his neck and then bit his earlobe.

My walls were all down. I’d let Jason do anything to me. I came with a loud scream, saying “Jason!” over and over again.

He finished and laid next to me. I loved his naked body next to mine. I fell asleep to the scent of hot sex and never wanted anything to change.

***

The cruise had tons of games and events. Mostly we just had sex, every night, and sometimes we made love instead of going to lunch.

When we docked, we wandered around the streets of Paris. We climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower and made out like newlyweds did.

On our last night, we wandered the city while it was dark. The tall, black streetlights reflected on the cobblestone streets. We turned down a street where the buildings reached for the heavens and found an open coffee shop.

“Mrs. King, would you care for some
café
?”

I kissed his lips. “
Oui monsieur.
”

There was a small table by the large arched window. Jason went inside to order us drinks. I inhaled the scent of roses. They were growing above the door, just below the name of the shop.

If I looked down the road, I could see the Eiffel Tower glittering in the distance with the moon peeking up behind it. This was like something I always saw in pictures, yet here I was in real life. Did I die and go to heaven?

“Here you go,
mon amour.
” He placed a cup of fresh black coffee in front of me with a scone.

“
Merci!
” I bit into the scone and closed my eyes. I reached for my coffee and took a sip. It was almost orgasmic. Shit, I might have to move to France just for the coffee.

Jason sat across from me with a scone of his own and a cup of coffee a few shades paler than mine.

We laughed and talked, watching fellow couples in love stroll past. I slid my heel off and rubbed my foot up and down his leg. “
Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
”

His eyebrows met in confusion as he thought over my French. I didn’t know much but a few key words and that phrase from the song “Lady Marmalade.” It took a few heartbeats, and Jason’s lips twisted into a wicked smile.

“Yes.”

I polished off my coffee and stood, grabbing Jason by the collar of his shirt. “Come…”

We snuck into an empty alleyway and made love under a fire escape, the darkness and the empty cardboard boxes hiding us from view.

***

The ship then moved to Germany, and we did more exploring. People offered us treats and their best wishes as we walked around holding hands and, dare I admit, making out like lovesick teenagers. We made love in a park next to a statue late at night and rented a car to look at their countryside the next day. Jason and I did a wine tasting and fell asleep in a field of wildflowers. We found a cute little shop that sold souvenirs. I had to go in.

“Look at this.” I held up a onesie with German writing.

Jason laughed. “What does it say?”

“World’s best aunt,” the saleswoman said.

“See, I’m Amelia’s baby’s aunt. I need this.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Of course you do.”

I was dangerous with a credit card. After a snow globe for Kylie, a blanket for my mom, and a shirt for Ellie, my husband thought that was enough. Though for me, it never was.

“Look at this.” I picked up a paper umbrella with red flowers painted on it. “I need this.”

“We’re going to be flying back five bags just with stuff you bought.”

I stuck my tongue out. “So? We could mail them.”

“You’re lucky I love you.”

“Oh, really?” I closed the distance between us and licked my lips. His eyes drifted down to watch as my teeth raked over my bottom lip. “I’ll teach you how lucky you are…later.”

“I’m yours forever, Syd.”

I kissed his lips and passed a few more things to the saleslady. She giggled and went to the counter to check us out.

***

The last stop was Italy. We had sex in a real Italian restaurant’s restroom and laid in the grass to stare up at the stars.

Jason also surprised me with In This Moment tickets. They had a handful of shows in Europe after their first leg tour in America. The show was amazing. The drums deafened me. I got a pick after the show and totally rocked Jason’s world when we got back to our suite.

When the cruise headed back to America, we locked ourselves in our suite once more and made love like crazy bunnies. We ended up going through more condoms than I could count.

We had the best honeymoon anyone ever did in the history of humanity. I had no regrets. Jason was mine and I was his. For the last few weeks, it was just us. No one to distract us. No problems, no worries. Just here and now.

When we got back to New York, we’d be flying to Arizona. Malibu and summer were over. College was starting soon, and we needed to move into our new apartment. No more dorm rooms!

I couldn’t believe this was all happening. Our wedded bliss was never-ending. I knew people said it was a phase, but Jason and I were different. We were made for each other. It was meant to be this way. My heart felt whole, like it never had a crack in it before. Jason pieced me together perfectly, no missing fragments, no pieces overlapped. We were peanut butter and jelly and all that other gushy stuff.

School started two months ago. Since then, Jason and I have settled into our apartment. It was only a mile from campus, and a free shuttle went by our place, bringing us to and from class. Our place wasn’t huge. It was a basic two bedroom, one bathroom. We shared a room and turned the other one into an office. I mainly used it so I could lock myself away and focus on my homework.

It was crazy we were making it on our own. Next year, we were going to move to whatever grad school accepted me and I would have my own psychologist office in about three to five years, depending on how well I did and if I was able to start off on my own right off the bat. Jason was going to be done with school and start up a computer and cell phone repair shop from our home. If he made enough, he was going to open his own shop somewhere close to my office so we could have lunch together every day.

Planning the future made me the happiest girl in the world. Until then, I had classes and my part-time job at the bookstore to focus on.

“Sydney, are you working tonight?” Jason called from the kitchen.

I highlighted a sentence in my textbook before I lost it in the sea of words. “No, why?”

“I was thinking we could go out with Amelia and Hunter.”

“Yeah, we can go wherever.” I bookmarked my page with a pink sticky note and closed the book. I couldn’t wait to help people, but some of the things I had to learn were boring as hell.

Jason came into the living room and kissed my cheek. “I texted Hunter. We’re meeting them in an hour. Is that cool?”

I whipped my long hair behind me. “Are you kidding? It takes hours to do my face.” I sucked at joking and laughed. “Yeah, baby. Just let me re-brush my hair and touch up my makeup.” I got up to get ready to meet up with our best friends.

We had to enjoy what time we had left with them before they became sleep deprived parents.

“Wait!” Jason rushed over to me. I turned around, looking for the danger.

“What’s wrong?”

He chuckled and took my chin in his hand. “Nothing, Syd. I just wanted to kiss you before you put on lipstick and got upset I rubbed it all off.”

Damn, he was a sly devil, and he was all mine. I sealed my lips with his. Our kiss was never dull. It was always fireworks and made me wish for more. I wanted my hands on his bare chest and his arms wrapped around my waist. God, I could make love to this man forever and still want more time.

He broke our kiss, running the back of his hand up my cheekbone. “Damn, Syd. You get prettier every day. How do you do that?”

I tilted my head a little and bit my bottom lip. “Secrets of a bad girl can never be revealed.”

Jason shook his head. “I’m a lucky man.”

“Yes, you are.” I winked at him and turned to walk toward the bathroom. He slapped my ass and whistled at me.

Boys, ugh.

Deep inside, I loved it. We toyed with each other daily. People said we were still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage, and soon we’d lose the magic and be dull and colorless like everyone else. That only happened if we let it. If we stayed close and open, that was the key. All my classes talked about communication and staying in each other’s lives. We could have our friends and private time, but at the end of the day, we needed to know where we were in life, that we were always on the same page.

We were on the same path. Our dreams lined up just like the stars at night. We were a damn fairytale in the making. It was so damn sappy that it would’ve driven the old Sydney insane. Today, I enjoyed shaming the old me. God, I did so many things she never would in a million years, and I was proud of that.

***

The four of us ate at Raven’s Bar and Grill. Amelia’s pregnancy went through a growth spurt, and her belly had become a full baby bump. She rubbed it a lot when talking as we waited for our dinner to arrive.

“How are your online classes?” I asked my best friend.

She shrugged. “I’d rather be in class to ask questions, but at least I don’t have to worry about waddling class to class.” Her gaze went down to her belly. “The baby just kicked!” She grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach. “Do you feel her?” The excitement made her hazel eyes shine.

I felt a flutter under her skin. The baby was rolling around. I wondered what that felt like to Amelia. “Yes, I do feel her.” I smiled and looked over at Jason. He matched my smile. Damn, I was so scared of pregnancy, but with Jason next to me, I knew I’d be able to make it, though I’m sure I’d still have my mini panic attacks.

“I love when she moves, when I’m awake anyways.” She took a sip of her ginger ale. “It’s not so lovely when I want to sleep.”

Hunter nodded and lifted his glass of coke up in the air. “To sleep!”

The four of us laughed as we clinked our glasses.

A couple about our age stumbled into the restaurant with wild hair and reeked of liquor when they walked past us to the restroom. It was crazy to think I was like them only a couple years ago. How life changed so rapidly. I was on the other side, thinking people were insane for getting married and/or having babies, and now I’m through the looking glass. This life was more precious than I ever thought before. Why waste it partying and not remembering most of the events? I’d rather watch films and fall asleep on a man who loved me more than anything on earth.

We ate burgers and talked about classes and boring adult stuff. Well, the old me thought so. The new me loved talking about Amelia’s upcoming baby shower my mom and I were hosting. Her parents were very involved too. Kylie was so excited. She sent a bunch of photos of baby stuff she saw while shopping in LA to Amelia and swore she needed to be the first to take pictures of their daughter when she greeted us with her presence.

Amelia’s pregnancy changed her artwork. It was so colorful, and she enjoyed painting baby animals, especially giraffes. That baby was going to have her own art gallery before she was a day old.

Hunter and Jason liked hanging out and playing video games together and having a few beers.

As for me, I cut back on Jack, but I did take a shot here and there when an intense essay or test came up. When I got extremely pissed and cursed at my laptop, Jason would take me away from it and we’d go on a walk or play a card game, anything to get my blood pressure to go back down. I think he took more care of me than I did of him, but I did my share. My mom taught me some dishes to make so I could feed my hubby. He also loved to cook, so it worked out.

Life had a cycle, a routine that never changed much. I went to a different class some days, and others, I never went to class. My hours at work weren’t the same, but things were pretty vanilla. I loved it. I didn’t feel like spiraling out of control anymore. The summer didn’t tempt me like a misleading siren. We still planned on going to Malibu, but my only desire was to surf and beat Jason.

I wasn’t broken anymore. My heart was fully healed. The scars were still there, but they were like a badge of honor, of courage. I faced my demons and lived to tell the tale. Jason made me whole. He turned out to be the prince that little girl dreamed about so long ago and gave up way too soon. “Happily ever after” could happen. It wasn’t the perfect ending like in those fairytales. We had to work on our marriage daily and learn how to live as a couple. We took the days as they came, and the nights were my favorite.

No, we weren’t boring and only had sex in our bedroom. We went to concerts and had sex in the backseat of my Charger, hidden in the shadows of the parking lot. We did a quickie on the midnight light rail when barely anyone was on the train. Plus, there were some spots in certain state parks that had our seal as well.

Jason and I found a way to heal. Our broken hearts mended each other. My heart had pieces of his and vice versa. In the end, we pieced each other together, and that was how we were going to remain forevermore.