Saved (Tempted #2) (15 page)

West hadn’t been himself since that night at the hospital. But I understood. Marion fought the cancer for two months but a week ago she lost the battle. The cancer won.

Dressed in solid black, we walked out of the church. Our next stop was the graveyard.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Emma’s father said, patting West on the back.

“Thank you,” he mumbled before walking to his car and getting inside.

“How’s he holding up, Maddie?” Mr. Everly asked me, looking at West in his Camaro.

“He’s not,” I told him, giving him a small smile, “I’ll see you at the graveyard.”

I walked as quickly as I could to join West in his car. I knew he wanted to get this day over with.

“You okay?” I asked, closed my door.

“I’ll be better after today. I’m sorry that I’ve been so distant, Angel.”

“I completely understand, Babe. We can talk about this later. We don’t have to do this now,” I told him, kissing his cheek.

“Thank you,” he whispered, wiping his eyes.

Clearing his throat, he drove toward the graveyard. Not five minutes later we were sitting in the parking lot.

Looking over at West, I saw him staring into space. I knew what he was doing, he was trying to get his head in the right place before having to face all those people again.

I knew because I was doing the same thing. I missed her too.

We had been sleeping at Frank and Marion’s house because West wanted to be with her as much as he could before she passed.

I told him that I could stay at the apartment if he wanted to be alone with them. But he told me he didn’t want to be alone because his parents and brother would be there. And he wanted to be around them as little as possible. I couldn’t blame him.

“You ready, Babe?” I asked, fighting back the tear that were begging to be released from my eyes.

I hated to see him like that. He already hurt enough throughout his life.

“Yeah, let’s go, Angel. But please don’t leave my side,” he said, looking down at the floorboard.

“Never.”

We spend a few minutes looking at each other. That was the first time in two months that I had seen flashes of my West.

And that made me smile. Until I remembered where we were.

Getting out of the car, I grabbed West’s hand and got as close to him as humanly possible.

As we walked closer to the graveyard, I thought about how much Marion loved West and me as a couple. She always pulled for us and never gave up. Even when we did. She was so excited about us getting engaged and wanted us to start a family.

She was our biggest fan.

Seeing Frank leaning against a huge oak tree, we headed his way.

“Hey, Frank,” I told him, rubbing his back.

“Hey, Little Girl,” he said, smiling with his mouth but not with his eyes.

West and Frank only nodded at each other.

The three of us walked over to sit under the tent where Marion Stevens would be laid to rest. The weather was clear blue just like her eyes. And a cool breeze was blowing. It was a perfect day to be outside.

I blocked out most of the funeral. Not because I didn’t care but because I’m a crier. I always turned into a blubbering mess during them. And I needed to be strong for West.

Getting up from the white fold up chair, I saw Emma and Roman walking our way.

“West, how are you?” Emma asked, wrapping him into a huge hug.

“I’m okay, Ems. How’s that baby doing?” he asked, rubbing her baby bump.

“Good. I think I might have a future soccer star in here,” she said, laughing.

But it was a strained laugh. Like I said West hadn’t quite been himself, so everyone treaded carefully around him.

Roman pulled West into a hug without any warning. And it wasn’t some silly one arm guy hug. No, it was a full on hug. Ethan must have seen them from where he was standing because him and Grace walked over. Ethan quickly joined in on the hug fest.

They were like brothers. Always had been.

“We’re going to head on back to the house. See you guys there,” Emma said as she and Roman headed to his car.

Grace and Ethan followed behind them.

Grace was the worst person to be around when something sad was going on. She had absolutely no clue how to comfort you.

Looking up at West, I saw a scowl on his face. Following his gaze, I saw his mom putting on quite the show.

“I miss her so much,” she screamed through her crocodile tears as her husband and Andy tried to hold her up.

And the Oscar goes to…

West started to walk toward her and I knew he wanted to rip her a new one. But I placed my hand on his bicep trying my hardest to hold him back. He didn’t need to involve himself in that kind of drama.

“West, let it go. She’s not worth it,” I told him, pulling him in the direction of the car.

He didn’t put up a fight. I needed to get him away from her as quick as I could. I wasn’t sure why she was still around but I knew one thing, she wanted something. I just didn’t know what yet.

People like Lillian Stevens always had a hidden agenda. She was the lowest form of low. And she wasn’t ashamed of it, it was as if she embraced it.

How dare she act that way when everyone knew how she really felt about Marion? Watching her act so disrespectful made my stomach turn inside out.

Getting in the car, we drove to West’s grandparent’s house. Everyone would be there. But he passed the road to the house.

“Where are we going?” I asked, looking over at him.

“I can’t go there. Not today, not with my parents there,” he said, gripping the steering wheel.

Recognizing my apartment building, I instantly knew what he wanted to do.

Cuddle.

And I couldn’t wait.

He got out of the car and walked around to let me out.

The black strappy heels I had on were killing my feet. I mean they were literally squeezing the life out of them.

Just as I was about to slip them off and walk upstairs barefoot, West scooped me up. Carrying me up the stairs, he stayed completely silent.

“Babe, you have to take me up four flight. Let me down I can walk,” I said, trying to fight myself free from his grip.

“I lift weights at the gym that weigh more than you, Angel,” he said, tighten his grip on me.

Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes.

When he pushed the door open I looked around. I hadn’t been in my apartment in a few weeks. West needed to be close to his grandmother and I needed to be close to him.

It’s scary to think that when you meet the right person you would do anything for them. I would gladly uproot my life for him. Without even stopping to think about it.

But as scary as it was it also felt so right. He needed to hurt and vent. And he needed me to help him do that. He knew that I would put everything on hold for him because I knew he would do the exact same thing for me.

We had a movie type of love. It was calm and crazy. It was innocent and passionate. It was quiet and loud. It was hurt and happiness. It was everything wrapped up in one.

And I wouldn’t have changed anything about it.

Looking around the beauty salon, I saw Emma getting her hair done for her big day. She was finally going to be Mrs. Charles.

When we were little we used to plan out our future weddings. We’d talk about everything from our dresses to what flavor cake we’d have. We even picked out which Backstreet boy we would marry.

I loved Nick and Emma loved Kevin.

Laughing at the memories, I heard the door open. Looking up, I saw West walking through the door. And he was carrying a bag full of boxes in his hand.

“How are you guys not high on hairspray?” he asked, coughing.

“Babe, what are you doing here?” I asked, getting up from my chair.

“I have some gifts for Emma,” he said, holding up the bag for me to see.

“What about gifts for me? I thought I was your girl,” I said, pouting.

I had to make Emma think I had no clue what was going on. But I did. And I couldn’t wait to see her reaction.

“Oh, quit being so cute. I’ve got a gift for you later,” he said, winking at me.

“Promise?” I asked, batting my eyelashes

“Promise. Now, give me a kiss. I’ve gotta give Emma this shit, or I mean gifts,” he said, leaning his face closer to mine.

Our lips met. But not for long because the hair dresser cleared her throat indicating that it was my turn.

“Ain’t you sweet?” West asked her as he pulled away from my mouth and shooting daggers with his eyes.

Laughing, I pecked him lips quickly and walked over the salon chair.

“Emma, before I give you this stuff you have to promise me something,” he said, sitting on the chair across from her.

“What?” she asked, smiling because knowing him it could have been anything.

“Don’t start crying until I get done and I’m out the door.”

“I’ll try,” she told him, looking down at the bag.

“The first box if from Maddie. It’s something old,” he said, pulling a small box from the bag.

Emma looked at me as she reached for the gift box. Opening it, I saw her eyes well up. Inside was the silver friendship bracelet she gave me when we were twelve.

I promised to keep it forever but for Emma’s big day I made an exception. It was the perfect something old gift.

“Mads, you still have this? That was years ago,” Emma said, still looking down at the bracelet.

“I know but it was special to me. Our friendship is the oldest thing I have to give you. It’s even older than that bracelet,” I told her, laughing to keep from crying.

“West, will you put it on me?” Emma asked, holding out her wrist.

Nodding, he walked over and hooked the bracelet on her. After he was done he walked back over to the bag and pulled out another box.

“This box is from Ethan, Grace, and me. It’s something new,” he said, handing her the box.

She pulled the ribbion loose and opened it. Reaching inside, she pulled out a silver locket engraved with her wedding date. And inside it had a picture of her and Roman on one side and a sonogram of their baby on the other.

“I love it,” she said, rubbing her fingers over it.

Just one look at her and I could tell the waterworks were about to start.

“No, no! I’ve still got something borrowed and something blue. Suck it up,” West told her, focusing his attention on the bag.

Big softie.

“This is something borrowed. It’s from your parents,” he said, giving her the next box.

As soon as she opened it, I recognized it. It was this beautiful diamond and pearl barrette that her mom wore on her wedding day.

I remember admiring it in the pictures of her marrying Emma’s dad.

“Mom, I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” she said, smiling at her mother.

West put his hand in the bag one more time and retrieved the last gift.

“And this is from Roman. It’s something blue,” he said, handing her a beautiful bouquet of blue roses.

Gasping, she gently pulled them from his hand.

“These are so pretty,” she said, smelling them.

West started to walk toward the door. Nodding and smiling.

“What in the hell are you doing?” I asked, shaking my head.

“I’m trying to get out before she unleashes the hormones,” he said with a cheesy smile.

“Without saying goodbye to me?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Angel,” he said, walking over to me and bending down so we were face to face.

He literally took my breath away. Was it possible for him to get better looking since when he dropped me off a few hours ago? Because it happened.

He was like an extremely sexy freak of nature.

He tipped my chin up and gave me a panty melting leave you wanting more kiss.

“I love you,” he told me, pulling away from me.

“I love you.”

Watching him walk to the door, I felt two things. I felt lucky and I felt guilty.

I felt lucky because I was just that, lucky. I was lucky to have him in my life. Lucky that someone like him loved me.

But I felt guilty because I was still hiding a ticking time bomb from him. And I knew he was going to be pissed. With good reason.

“Can I have him for the night?” the hairdresser working on Emma’s hair asked as soon as he was out of hearing distance.

“No can do. He’s mine,” I told her, feeling my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jeans.

Well, mine for now. Looking down at my ring, I tried to clear my head of those thoughts. It was Emma’s wedding day and I had to focus on her. Not on myself.

Pulling it out, I expected it to be West with a song.

But it wasn’t.

Luca- I think it’s about time West and I had a talk.

Me- Please! Why would you do that?

Luca- Because I wanted you Maddie. I wanted you and you chose him. So, I want you to feel what I felt. You deserve it.

I knew I couldn’t talk him out of it. I was surprised he had held off that long but more surprising than that is him telling me how he felt about me. I didn’t know why he though we were so serious.

For me it was always West. And he knew that.

Or at least I thought he did.

If he told him tonight that would disrupt the wedding. Emma and Roman’s day would be destroyed all because of my dishonesty.

Me- Please don’t ruin Emma’s wedding.

Luca- I won’t. I’m not that much of an asshole. But tomorrow morning I’m going to stop by the shop. Enjoy your day.

How could I enjoy my day after that?

I knew West needed to know. I knew he deserved to know but I couldn’t bare the thought of a life without him. Or the thought of him loving somebody else.

But I had a feeling I was going to have to.

“Mads, what’s wrong?” Emma asked with a concerned look on her face.

“Nothing,” I lied and did my best to muster up a smile.

Everything.