True Love (The Society #4)

Chapter 14 – Save the Date

Thursday – December 28, 2023

Ash

Tanner still loved me.

I was having a hard time believing it was true.

I’d thought my life was over. I’d almost let the sickness take me several times.

But Tanner loved me.

And I loved him. I’d never stopped.

Which was why I was going to free him with this loophole. I was going to marry Mr. Frost, make Ghazi cry at our wedding and therefore free Tanner from his curse, immediately divorce Mr. Frost, and then live happily ever after with my true love. Tanner freaking Rhodes.

I took a deep breath and knocked on Mr. Frost’s door.

“Come in.”

I walked in and closed the door behind me. “Hey, fiancé,” I said.

“Ash.” He smiled. In that new way. The out-of-work way.

But he probably wouldn’t be smiling that way in a second. Because I was about to come off completely insane. A stage five clinger alert for sure. He was going to think I was a total psycho. But that’s what blowjobs were for .

I walked up to his desk and placed both my hands firmly on it. So that I wouldn’t be tempted to run out of his office screaming. “I had a lovely time meeting your family. They’re all wonderful.”

He raised his eyebrow at me. “Even my grandmother?”

“She was actually my favorite.”

“Interesting.”

I smiled.

He smiled back.

“Speaking of your grandmother, I know how important this wedding is to her. And to you.”

“What wedding?”

“Our wedding, silly bean.” God, Mr. Frost, be cool! Ghazi is listening!

“ Our wedding?”

“Yes.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Babe!” I lifted my ring and flashed it at him. “How many times are we going to have this conversation. An engagement ring is only the first step to locking me down. You won’t truly have me until I walk down the aisle. So I think we should move the date up.”

“Move what date up?”

He was being so dense right now. I laughed awkwardly. “I know we talked about a summer wedding...”

“We definitely did not talk about that,” he said firmly.

“Gah. You like never listen to me when the game is on. Classic man.” I rolled my eyes.

“What game? ”

He was talking too much. I rounded the desk to get closer to him. “The Christmas American football game.”

“Why did you just call it American football?”

Because Tanner is in my head! Damn it! “I always do. You know this.”

“I actually don’t know much about you...”

“Hush.” I pressed my finger against his lips. “I know you don’t know much about my...um...” I looked down at the front of my skirt. “Since we’re waiting for marriage.”

“What is happening right now?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I think we should move up the summer wedding. I don’t want to wait any longer. I’m...desperate for you.”

“You are?” He looked completely shocked by this.

“Yes. So...let’s do the wedding in January. I’m thinking the second weekend. It gives us enough time to plan without being too rushed.”

“Ash, there isn’t going to be a wedd...”

“Summer wedding. Right. There isn’t going to be a summer wedding. Because Grandma was looking frail.”

“Was she?”

“Yes, very.” No, she wasn’t. She’d strolled in like a total boss with her fur coat and her insultingly hilarious comments.

He frowned.

“She told me it was her dying wish that we move the wedding up. All she wants in the whole world is for you to get married. And I don’t want to disappoint her. ”

“She told you that?” He pulled his eyebrows together.

“Yes.”

He stared at me for a moment. And then he leaned back in his chair. “I know I mentioned her will to you. If this is a money thing...”

“Babe, please. No. I mean, of course I want what’s best for you. I know you want to be kept on the will. So I’m happy to move the date up. And even happier to sign a prenup.”

He straightened in his chair a bit.

I think I almost had him. “I’ll let you handle the specifics of that while I handle all the wedding details. You can even put the prenup in a binder if you want. I know how much you like that. Since I know so much about you and everything. Because I’m in love with you.”

“You’re in love with me?”

“Of course, silly.”

“Ash, I don’t know if this is a good idea...”

I leaned forward, silencing him with a kiss.

At first he didn’t kiss me back. But when I ran my tongue against his lips, he parted them. He reached up and buried his fingers in my hair. His kiss was gentle, but sure. The same way he’d kissed me in his bed.

I wasn’t sure if his dying grandmother or the binder filled with a prenup was enough to convince him to go through with this sham of a wedding. But I had a third plan. Men always wanted what they couldn’t have. And I wasn’t offering my body to him until our wedding night. Which meant I could tease him so hard. I started unbuttoning his pants .

“Ash...” he grabbed my wrist. “We’re in the office.”

“I know.” I shook my wrist free and unzipped his pants. “And I also know how much you love fooling around in the office. Because I know you so well.”

He looked down at me like he thought I was completely insane.

And maybe I was. “You have no idea how much I always fantasize about you taking me right on this desk.”

His Adam’s apple rose and then fell.

“Every night, my dreams are full of you.” They weren’t. They were full of Tanner.

It was starting to look like he believed me.

“I can’t wait until we’re married so we can make them all real. But right now, this is going to have to be enough to show you how much I want you all the time.” I pushed his dress pants and boxers down his hips. And I was so relieved to see that he was actually starting to get hard.

I wrapped my lips around his tip and looked up at him.

“Jesus.” He buried his fingers in my hair.

I smiled and went all the way down. I had him just where I wanted him. I went down again and he groaned. He didn’t fuck my face as hard as his brother had. But everything else about him was the same as his brother. His length. His thickness. The time it took for him to fill my mouth. Even his cum tasted like the exact same cookies that his brother’s did.

Awkward.

I wiped the corner of my mouth and sat back.

His chest was rising and falling fast .

“More where that came from on our wedding night, babe.” I winked at him for some reason.

He shook his head like he didn’t believe this was actually happening. “So you’re going through with this elaborate plan to...”

“Move the wedding up,” I quickly said, cutting him off. “Yes. I know it’s what you and your grandma want.”

“You’re really doing all this for...me?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’d do anything for you. You know that. So...second Saturday in January? Lucky 13? Does that sound good? Because I’ve already been discussing the plans with Grandma and she’s so excited. And I may have already made the wedding invitations.”

“Yeah...” his voice trailed off. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Mr. Frost.”

He chuckled at me calling him that. “Ash, I really appreciate this. I know this whole thing was just supposed to be fa...”

Ah! I pulled up my blouse and bra up to flash him so he’d shut the fuck up before he said fake.

His eyes dropped to my breasts and his mouth closed.

Good boy.

And then a window washer slowly came into view in the window behind Mr. Frost.

Oh fuck me.

He started making rude jerking motions as he stared at my tits.

“Is everything okay?” Mr. Frost asked .

“Yup. I just wanted...snuggles.” I pressed his face between my breasts so the window washer couldn’t see me anymore. I made a shooing motion with my hand.

He gave me the finger and rose up to the next window.

Asshole.

Mr. Frost traced his tongue around one of my nipples.

Jesus, Mr. Frost with the wandering tongue. I’d forgotten I’d shoved his head there.

“I think I could get used to this,” he said.

For a few weeks, sure.

He wrapped his lips around one of my nipples and lightly tugged with his teeth.

I moaned, even though I wasn’t that sex deprived anymore. Since I’d just fucked his brother a couple of days ago... I cleared my throat and stepped back. “By the way, did your brother say anything about me to you at all? Perchance?” My voice rose awkwardly with every word.

“No?”

I shrugged like it didn’t matter. But I was so relieved. I felt like my plan was flawless here. The only thing that could mess it up was stupid Silas telling Mr. Frost that I’d fucked him in the shower. I hoped that secret would be taken to the grave. I was shocked that Adriana had never accidentally done something like that to Mr. Frost. Dating twins was hard and confusing.

“I can’t believe we’re really going to do this,” Mr. Frost said.

“You betcha, big boy.” Stop talking.

He shook his head and laughed .

“I should probably get back to work. Before people know what we were up to...”

“About that. We should probably go to HR to disclose our relationship.”

“Love that. Just let me know what time.” That seemed like something Ghazi would love hearing. I walked over to the door. There was something else Ghazi would love hearing. I opened the door. “Love you, babe! See you later!” I blew Mr. Frost a kiss, closed the door, and made my way over to my desk.

Chastity was staring at me in horror. “Did you just say ‘love you, babe’ to Mr. Frost and blow him a kiss?”

“Sure did.”

“Why? Are you drunk? Who let you near the banana juice?”

“The what?” I shook my head. “I told him I loved him because I do.”

She laughed.

“I’m serious. We’re in love.” Chastity had been off on a Christmas vacation with her daddy. I hadn’t told her about the fake engagement thing, because I never actually thought it was going to happen. And then when it was happening...she wasn’t here. Literally no one knew about the fakeness except Mr. Frost. And now he was pretending it was real too. So we were all good. But it was hard to lie to Chastity. Especially when she was staring at me like that...

“Stop it,” she said.

“We got engaged over the holiday.” I lifted my hand to show her my huge diamond engagement ring.

She laughed. “Good one. Wait! Is that from Tanner?! He’s back? Ah, did he propose?! Congratulations!” She squealed. “I knew he was going to propose soon!”

Was he? I shook away the thought. “No. Tanner didn’t propose. I hate him. He’s a terrible person. He’s trash.” I hated everything I was saying. Tanner had tried to help Santa for me. And then gotten kidnapped. And he still loved me. I pressed my lips together.

“But...” her voice trailed off. “He loves you.”

My chest felt funny. “No, Mr. Frost loves me. And I love him. Which is why I accepted his proposal. Speaking of which...” I swiveled in my chair and hit the print button on my computer.

My printer whirled to life and shot out one of the invitations I’d been working on. “Here is your save the date.” I handed it to her.

She stared at the save the date. “No.”

“Yes.”

“Girl, you hate Mr. Frost with a fiery passion.”

Stop it, Ghazi is listening. “No, I love him with a fiery passion,” I said really loudly. “He is my soul mate. And we’re going to get married.”

“Why are you talking so loudly?”

“Because I’m in love and I want everyone to know it!”

“You’re talking like an old woman on a videochat.”

“Oh, speaking of old women on videochats! I need to call Grandma.” I’d told Mr. Frost I’d already spoken to her. Better make that real. I pulled out my phone, clicked on Mr. Frost’s grandmother’s number, and video-called her.

“Your grandmother is dead,” said Chastity .

“I know. So sad she won’t be able to come to my wedding. But I’m talking about Grandma. Xander’s grandmother. I love her dearly too.”

“Did you just call Mr. Frost Xander? And how do you even know his grandmother? You are drunk, aren’t you?”

“I met her over the holidays. It was a big family bash.”

“You met Mr. Frost’s entire family? Gross. Did they give you a holiday itinerary in a binder?”

“Shush, you.”

Grandma answered the call and her face popped up on my screen.

“Hi, Grandma!” I said and waved.

“What the fuck is happening?” Chastity mouthed silently.

I ignored her.

“Who is that?” Grandma lifted her sunglasses and stared at me.

“It’s me. Ash.”

She stared at me like she had no idea who I was.

“I’m dating the gay one. Who is obviously not gay. Since he’s marrying me.”

“Oh. Are you the mick?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

She let her sunglasses fall back in place. “Thank you for saving my grandson. He was on the AIDS path if I’ve ever seen it.”

Okay. “That’s actually why I’m calling.”

“Oh no. You saw him getting it in the bum hole?”

“No, Grandma.” I laughed. “Stop it. ”

“Oh, was the boy pitching? I never saw him as a top. I guess that’s a little more manly...”

“Grandma, please. Mr. Frost isn’t gay. I just...” my voice trailed off. “He isn’t gay. Anywho, I just wanted you to know that we moved the wedding up. To next month. Make sure to save the date – Saturday, January 13 th .”

“Did the gay one knock you up?”

I shook my head. “Nope. We’re waiting until marriage.”

She sighed. “So he is gay?”

“No.”

She shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you that he does homo things.”

“We’re very happy. Anyway, gotta go. Save the date.”

“Wait. I’m busy until the end of March.”

Damn it, Grandma! “Fine.” I scanned my calendar. “How about the last Saturday of March then? The 30 th ?”

“If you’re sure you want to marry a gay.”

“Yup. Love you. Bye.”

Grandma stared into the screen. “Did the mick just say she loved me?”

I hung up on her and turned to Chastity. “See?”

“What exactly am I seeing? That Mr. Frost’s grandmother is a raging homophobic who also hates Irish people for some reason?”

Well, yeah. I guess she’d seen that. “I mean that this whole thing is real and how in love with Mr. Frost I am. I mean Xander. It’s so hard to remember to call him that because he prefers Mr. Frost in the bedroom. ”

Chastity pretended to gag.

“Stop it. I need you to pull it together and be my maid of honor.” I changed the date on the save the date and printed out a new one for Chastity. I handed it to her. “Change of date. So...yes for the maid of honor thing?”

“Not for this sham of a marriage.”

“Chastity! Single Girl Rule #38: Being a maid of honor is the most sacred duty in a woman’s life.”

Chastity stared at me. “No, that’s rule #39. Single Girl Rule #38 is: Every girl deserves a big cock on her birthday, which I already gave you during your birthday weekend girls’ trip!”

Did she? I still didn’t remember anything about that weekend except for the gif I’d seen of me blowing some photographer on the street... “Whatever! Single Girl Rule #39 then. I’m forcing you to be my maid of honor. You can’t go against the rules.”

“Girl, you’re madly in love with Tanner. I know he messed up and disappeared for a month...but that doesn’t change how you feel.”

“He’s dead to me.”

“Dramatic much?”

“I don’t understand why you can’t be happy for me.”

“Because you’re in love with Tanner...”

“Would you stop saying that? I’m not in love with Tanner!”

Chastity looked like she wanted to shake me awake. “You were in love with Tanner the moment you first saw him. You were completely infatuated. Which is why you stalked him for months... ”

“ He stalked me . Period. He’s a crazy stalker and he...he...smells of soot and poo.”

Chastity shook her head. “No he smells like whatever Nigel bathes him in. Some kind of intoxicating musky soap. Nigel smells of it too.”

“Nigel doesn’t bathe him. Or maybe he does. Maybe they’re gay together. Who knows? I don’t. And I don’t care. Because they’re both dead to me.” I hated everything I was saying, but I needed her to stop talking about me loving Tanner or Ghazi wouldn’t believe I loved Mr. Frost. I just needed her to go along with this, damn it! “And if you don’t agree to be my maid of honor right this second, you’ll be dead to me too, you whore.”

“Whoa. Aggressive much? #MicksAreAgressive. Fine. Whatever. I’ll be your maid of honor. Obviously. I would never break a Single Girl Rule. But this discussion isn’t over.”

“Yes it is. I’m very busy.” I started printing out more save the dates.

“Stop printing those.”

“No.”

She tried to reach over to delete the file, but I swatted her hand away.

“Ash, please. You hate Mr. Frost. He’s the literal worst. He’s a demon in a suit.”

“A sexy demon in a suit.”

Chastity made a grossed out face. “He might have tight little ass and a big dick, but evil is still evil.”

“Well his cookie cum is delicious. And I get to gobble that up for the rest of my life. Yay marriage. ”

“I just feel like you’re about to make a terrible mistake. This feels like Joe all over again. I didn’t interfere enough then because you said you were happy. But I wish I had. And I’m not making that same mistake a second time.”

“Please do.”

“Are you high? Is that it? Did someone drug you? Was it that grandma lady?”

“My grandma would never.” It was strange how quickly I adopted other people’s relations. First Jacob. Now Grandma. I reached toward the print button again. As soon as this wedding was over, I could hang out with my grandson again.

“Print as many of those as you want,” said Chastity. “This wedding isn’t happening.”

“It sure is.” I printed out 200 invitations. This was going to be the wedding of the century. And it was going to be so damn romantic that Ghazi was going to cry a flood of tears.

“I guarantee that you will not be walking down the aisle to anyone but Tanner.”

“Tanner’s a ho-bag and I hate everything about him and his dumb face and stupid suits. I’m marrying Mr. Frost.” I stared at Xander’s name on the save the date. Soon that would be Tanner’s name. As long as Chastity didn’t mess this up for me.