Salvation (Surrender 3)

“Better?” he asks with a smirk.

“Yes, maybe we should skip this thing all together and finish what you started.” My hand moves to cup his cock.

Desire and lust flash across his face, but he stops me and steps back. “I’d love nothing more, but we’re expected. Let’s go.”

He hands me my purse and leads me to his car. On the drive to Chloe’s house, I wish we would have agreed to a restaurant. That way it would be acceptable to have dinner and leave. No dwindling or risk for crazy conversations. Robbie’s hand squeezes my knee to stop it from bouncing.

“Want to explain why in the hell you’re so jittery?”

“You know, my actual birthday isn’t until Monday. We could have done dinner Monday night.”

“This gives us an extended celebration.”

“Why couldn’t we go to a bar, like we did for Finn? I’m not sure what you guys did for your birthdays growing up, but mine were extremely low key. Sometimes, they were non-existent. So—”

“Stop, promise me you’ll calm down, relax, and enjoy it. There’s a lot of things I want to give you in our life, but tonight is about showing you how special you are.”

He squeezes my leg again and then reaches over to grasp my hand. “I feel like I’ve already got my birthday present. I have you.”

His eyes meet mine and grow soft. “Then the rest will be gravy.”

When we pull up to Chloe’s house, we are the last ones to arrive by the look of the amount of cars in the driveway. “Robbie, I need you to do me a favor. Please tell them you had a phone call or something that held us up. I’ll absolutely die if Chloe starts talking about sex making us late. Jenna and James will literally see me turn purple with embarrassment.”

He laughs and then kisses my cheek. “Okay, babe. Whatever you want. But my dad’s not stupid.”

“Great,” I mutter, getting out of the truck.

All conversation stops when we walk in, and I gasp in disbelief. Finn, his parents, Raven, Declan, along with the Hayes, and my family all stare at me with wide smiles.

“About time you showed up.” Cruz comes to me, takes me in his arms, and swings us in a circle.

“Oh my gosh—” I can’t even finish my statement before Raven runs up to hug me next.

“Happy birthday, Ember!”

Over the next few minutes, I’m wrapped in arms, kissed on the cheek, and even hauled over Alex’s shoulders as everyone greets me. I’m rendered speechless. When I finally find my voice, it’s loaded with emotion.

“Little Star, don’t you dare cry! It’s time to party.” Cruz sweeps me into him and leads me to the bar. “What’ll it be?”

I spot my favorite wine and look at Robbie, who winks. “Wine.”

For the first time in my life, I enjoy being the center of attention. Jenna gushes over the design I did for her, and Chloe offers to make the dress once we have the fabric. Evelyn, Finn’s mom, asks me to meet with her next week to discuss a sketch for a formal dinner at the Governor’s mansion.

Aunt Chloe announces dinner, and everyone piles in the kitchen, leaving me alone with Raven. She looks at me nervously before speaking.

“I want to be mad, but I can’t. Robbie told me how much you mean to him. He also told me how he lied to me back in March because he was protecting you.”

“When?”

“He gave me a surprise visit last week. At first, I was upset, mad, hurt. But I get it. He wants to protect you from the craziness in my life. Declan agreed with him wholeheartedly. It’s hard to be angry when he told me he’s in love and you’re his priority. I can’t believe I didn’t know how serious you two are.”

“Raven, you’ve been busy with graduation and the wedding reception. We aren’t even on your radar.”

“It s

ucks that we leave for the summer tour in a few days. I’d have loved to plan a few nights out with the four of us.”

“I never wanted him to lie. My life is fucked up.”