“Mike, I’m so happy for you both. You’ve no idea. Could this day get any better? Of course, you can marry Mom. And thank you for asking. Although you didn’t need to. I absolutely give you both my blessing, and I know Bree and Killian will too. They love you just as much as I do,” Aiden said as he let me go.
It was so hard to contain my emotion. The young man in front of me who I couldn’t love any more if I tried, had just given his approval for me to marry his mother. And even though I had no intention of proposing any time soon—it wouldn’t be proper for me to place Callie in that position due to Niall’s recent departure—at least I knew when the time was right, I’d ask Callie to marry me, and nothing would stand in our way.
I held back my tears because grown men don’t cry and looked at Aiden.
“Thank you so much, Aiden. You don’t know what this means to me. You have just made an old man very happy,” I stated and patted Aiden’s arm. “Well, you should probably get back to your reception, everyone is waiting for you.”
Then the beautiful Jeni leaned in and hugged me.
“Thanks, Mike, for everything,” Aiden said, shocking me.
Really, he was thanking me?
I should be thanking him. He gave me the one thing I so desperately craved more than anything, the most significant gift this man could receive—the permission to marry his mother.
“You’re welcome. Oh, and Aiden?”
“Yeah?”
“You have lipstick on your mouth,” I remarked as I walked past them.
Aiden seems to always have Jeni’s lipstick on him. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell him to wipe it off. It’s a good thing, I suppose, it proves how utterly in love they are. But, then again, anyone with eyes can tell simply by the way they are with each other. I’m so glad they worked through everything and found their way back because they’re so right for each other.
That was three years ago, and the memory is as fresh now as it was back then. I mean, I am getting on in age, but I’m not senile. Well, not yet. I guess to understand how much I adore Callie, you need to know our story from the very beginning. Back to when we first met…
THEN
… Callie was fifteen, and I was sixteen. Being from a more impoverished family, my parents were always seen as lower-class people. Back in those days, class meant everything, and my family didn’t even register on the scale because we were that poor. So, I tried to work with my father doing carpentry and odd jobs here and there to help financially.
Being fond of cars and motorbikes, I went along to the dirt bike races when I was in my mid-teens. I found myself being welcomed with open arms into a group of young males, who were seen as poor but had enough money and no sense to race their bikes. They taught me everything I know about engines, and I spent nearly every day with the group of guys I called my brothers.
Douglas was the ‘leader’ of the group, I guess you could say. He had all the girls around him wherever we went. I idolized him as I’d never even held hands with a girl, let alone gone ‘all the way’ with one like he had many times with many different girls—well, so he said, and I had no reason to think otherwise. He told us about this new girl he’d seen at the local park near the barn on old-man Harris’ farm. She was prim and proper and completely not like the other girls Doug would typically go for. He told us he wanted to try his luck with a rich girl.
It was all about sex with him. He didn’t care about the girls. At all. Once he’d had his way with them, they were gone, and he was onto his next conquest. This wasn’t my style, but to keep up with the cool kids, I played along and pretended to be one of them.
We arrived at the park, she was there with a guy who also looked like he had money, and they were having a picnic. It was easy to see he was interested in her, but she really didn’t show any signs of reciprocation other than friendship.
“That’s her, that’s the next chick I’m going to lay,” Doug exclaimed, and I cringed inwardly. Even though I’d never been with a girl, the thought of being with multiple partners simply for the fun of it, and not because you loved them, didn’t sit well or make sense to me. When I went all the way with a girl, it would be because she’s the one I’m meant to be with.
“Hey gorgeous, why not dump the douche and hang with some real men?” Doug called out as we approached.
She smirked, and instantly I was drawn to her—her smile, the way her blonde locks fell over her shoulders—it did things to me that I didn’t even know were possible. I felt a twinge in my pants, but luckily, I kept it under control. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever laid my eyes on, and for the first time in my life, I actually wanted someone.
“I beg your pardon, I am not a douche, thank you very much. She’s hanging with a real man, not some gutter trash shit like you guys,” her friend chided so smugly, his toffy tone made me want to laugh in his face.
Her smile never faltered, and as our eyes locked, a surge passed through me. I’d never experienced anything like it before. I knew instantly, I could fall in love with her from that moment.
“Thanks, buddy, but we’ll take it from here. Sweetheart, wanna go for a ride on my bike?” Doug asked, and he winked at her.
I didn’t say anything or try to persuade her not to go. Doug wasn’t the type you would try and take a girl from. If you did, you end up bloody and in a ditch somewhere severely beaten. I was young and foolish, but I wasn’t stupid.
She stood, and her friend huffed as she patted down her dress and walked over to Doug. With a smile, she put out her hand for him to shake. “I’m Callie… nice to meet you. This is my friend, Niall,” she announced, as Doug shook her hand.
“I don’t care about your friend. I’m Doug, remember my name, you’ll be screaming it later,” he said, and her eyes widened in shock.
I shook my head slightly, trying to make her see that going with him was a bad idea, but she never noticed.
Doug sat on his bike, and she climbed on behind, holding him tightly around his waist.