Page 134 of Creeping Beautiful

Indie aimed a smile at him now. “We do today. I am no longer a teenager and I want to celebrate.”

“You’re not old enough to drink yet, either.” That was McKay, who was only half paying attention again because he was plopping pancake batter onto a skillet.

“Jesus Christ. You are all a bunch of old men. Don’t ruin my birthday before it even gets started. Have a freaking drink.”

She started pouring up mimosas and handing them out. McKay paused his cooking, took a glass, and smiled at Indie like she was the light of his life.

And she was. I knew that. We all knew that. McKay loved Indie so fiercely hard it made my heart ache for him.

Then we all had a glass and Indie lifted hers up. “To the first day of my twenties.” She paused to huff out a laugh. “You know, I never really thought I’d make it this far.” She looked at each of us in turn, her face a little more serious now. “I would not be here without you guys. So… thank you.”

And that… that we could drink to. So we did. We drank, and McKay gave Maggie the first batch of pancakes. And he cooked some more. And Indie refilled our glasses and we drank those too. Donovan was teasing Mags, trying to steal pancakes off her plate. And I just… watched them as all this happened.

Really and truly thankful that I bought Indie at that auction ten years ago.

We had a little family here and it was good. Everything was good.

Until Nathan St. James showed up at the door.

That was when things really got weird. And I’m not specifically talking about Nathan. So. Whatever. Regardless of what Indie thought, I was not jealous of that kid. Not ever. I didn’t like him. And I didn’t think he was good enough for Indie. Especially after I caught him with that cheerleader from high school. But it wasn’t him.

It was her.

She was the weird thing that day, not Nathan.

She kissed me.

And I did kiss her back. I could lie and say I didn’t want to, or I wanted to take it back after it happened, but I did want to kiss her and I didn’t want to take it back.

I wanted to do it all again.

Because the God’s honest truth was… I loved her. I had always loved her. From the first moment I saw her in that snake-wrapped cage, I loved her.

And by this time, her twentieth birthday, I wanted her.

The only thing standing in my way was McKay.

So when he walked out after Nathan left and Indie kissed me like I was the only man in her life, I followed him. I wasn’t even thinking about Indie in that moment. I know what I said over the years.

I paid for her.

I paid for everything, come to think of it.

She is mine.

But I knew, one hundred percent knew, that Indie was not mine.

She was ours.

And if I had her, he would have her too.

That’s not McKay’s style. At all. Believe me, I have tried. If the way I feel about Indie is love, then the way I feel about McKay is… obsession.

But he’s even more traditional than I am. Donovan was always more progressive, and I wasn’t sure Donovan mattered, really. He was here, he was there, he was all over the place when it came to Indie.

But McKay. He was different. If he walked out, everything would fall apart. This house of cards we’d been building with Indie for the past ten years would cease to exist.

That was always what I loved about our life. That it was something shared. I knew better than most that having everything in life except people you love to share it with was no way to live. And when I bought Indie, I made a promise to myself. Two, actually. One, that she was not coming home with me to be my plaything like the other girls who were bought on that island. Two, that McKay was my first priority, no matter what. He was my best friend. And when he said he would do this with me, when he agreed to be on my team… I agreed to be on his.