Badly Behaved

Ransom and I join the others, indulge in way too much food, and spend hours we didn’t know we’d manage to stay awake for laughing and chatting with our friends.

As my mother readies to leave, she comes to stand opposite of our chairs, and lowers a rectangular white box in front of me.

“Oh, shit. Another box,” Beretta whispers, not so quietly and my mother actually laughs.

My eyes widen in surprise and she clears her throat, making me chuckle.

“Open it,” she instructs.

So, I lift the top, unveiling a golden key chain, but this time it’s not just a J hanging from its end. There is a single, dangling, heart-shaped diamond that glistens from the shine of what’s draped beside it. With the lengths of each varying the slightest bit, there are three letters, one representing Ransom, and two more, a fraction smaller for Beretta and Arsen.

Moisture stings at the backs of my eyes and I lift my gaze to meet my mom’s.

“You’re the diamond, and they’re the reason for which you shine.” Her voice cracks the slightest bit, and I offer a small smile.

“It’s beautiful, Mom, thank you.” I pull the item from its box, gently placing it in my palm for an even closer look, and I hold still when her hand falls over mine, squeezing.

My eyes snap to hers.

“You were beautiful, Jameson. The red suited you well.” She jerks her chin.

I swallow, nodding slightly, and her lips pull into a tight smile.

She looks to Sienna with a true kind smile. “That’s a beautiful necklace, dear.”

I smirk but I’m shocked when my mom pulls another small box from her purse.

“I was going to give these to Jameson today, but I think they’re better matched for you.”

My mom places the gift just beside Sienna’s right hand and while Liam holds it still, Sienna lifts the top.

He gasps, her eyes snapping to my mom’s. “I don’t...”

“You can, dear. They will match beautifully.” She nods, and I hold back moisture from my gaze as I look from the pearl earrings to my mom.

“Thank you so much,” Sienna nearly cries.

I mouth the same to my mother and she smiles.

Her and my stepdad say their goodbyes and soon, everyone else is nearly passing out at their tables from a night of no sleep.

We thank the restaurant and pile into the limos once more.

Beretta lays out across the seat, his head in Arsen’s lap, hand in his man’s hair, and turns to us. “I love you guys.”

“Right back at you, man.” Ransom tosses a small pillow at him, but Arsen knocks it away with a grin, dropping back against the seat.

“Tonight at ten?” Beretta asks with a yawn.

Arsen looks from me to Ransom and nods, so we nod right back.

Tonight at ten.

Every single one of us falls asleep on the drive home.

It’s after midnight, just twenty-four hours after our wedding, by the time we’re pulling onto a dirt road in a little town called Hilmar.

From what we saw on the way in, there’s not much here outside of a store or two and what looks to be a school of some sort, which should make this a whole lot simpler than the last time we did something like this.

Like before, Arsen and Beretta grab the gas cans and I flick on the torch while Ransom rounds the small shack looking home to kill the power. This time though, it’s Arsen who draws a line of gasoline from the door to the edge of the yard and he who tosses the torch to send the baby up in flames.

But this time we don’t run.

We wait until the front door flies open so we can witness the fear as it lights up the man of the hour’s face, the moment he realizes he’s trapped inside.

His hair, while shining a light silver near his ears, is the same mahogany blonde as the silent man at my right. He seems just as tall as him too, and I’d bet they share the rich navy color eyes as well, not that I care to look into this man’s.

Not after what he did to Arsen and Arsen’s mother.

It’s clear the moment he recognizes his son as his face goes ghostly white, and the flames around him grow larger.

The coward before us turns to run.

We don’t know if the asshole ever made it out the back or not, but we know for certain he didn’t escape through the front.

With our heads held high, we slide into the black convertible that started it all.

Flames light up the sky behind us and Ransom slips his hand in mine, pulling it to his lips as I smile at the night around us.

This right here, this is the life I was meant for.

Cali and Jules were right all along, these three are a little crazy.

But they’re my kind of crazy, and I wouldn’t have them any other way.