Unexpected: A Love Story Read online

  In front of our closest friends, and family, we wed. I didn’t have the over-the-top dress, and Nick was dressed in slacks and a linen shirt. In my hand, I held a single red rose. It was exactly how I wanted it to be, me and Nick telling each other how much we loved one another, and how we’d overcome any challenges thrown our way.

  “Girl,” Nicole said as she tugged on my arm. “I can’t believe y’all just up and got married.” She leaned in closer. “Didn’t even let us get in one last bachelorette party.”

  I nodded towards Jennifer. “We have Jennifer.”

  Nicole smirked. “Now you know.” We laughed as Jennifer and Laila left their guys and stood beside us.

  “Let’s get a picture, ladies,” Laila said holding up her camera. We pulled off an awkward selfie before she said, “Okay, one more for the haters out here.” She held out her ring finger. “Left hands in the circle.” We each added our hands to the circle and she snapped the picture.

  “Tell us again about this ring,” Jennifer said holding my ring finger to admire the ring.

  The engagement ring was rose gold with a beautiful diamond, and fairly traditional, but the wedding band was surrounded in garnet jewels. “Apparently, he had the engagement ring for months before he proposed, and thought rose gold would match my skin tone more than silver or gold,” I looked at the wedding band and said, “and the wedding band, along with the red rose I carried today, are because we decided to make our anniversary February third, and because February usually is covered in roses, he added the jewels as a reminder.”

  Jennifer stared at me and squinted her eyes. “But today isn’t February the third.”

  I laughed. “Right, we never made it to our one-year anniversary.” I shrugged. “Just go with it,” I said. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

  Nick found me and asked, “Could I borrow my wife for a minute?” The girls nodded their heads and I walked away with him to a quiet corner of the bar. “I’ve been avoiding them a bit, but we should go speak to our parents together.”

  I agreed. Nick’s dad was still being petty over him opening the bar, and our surprise wedding probably didn’t make a case for Nick being rational. “Hey,” I said, “whatever he says, just remember we live life by our own rules.” I winked and kissed him on the lips.

  “Well…” His mother grabbed me in her arms. “This was unexpected.” She pulled back and said, “But beautiful still the same.” She looked around the bar then grabbed Nick in a similar embrace. “Baby, this bar is amazing. You’ve done an excellent job.” He smiled then looked towards his dad who hadn’t spoken a single word.

  His dad asked, “Monica, can I give you a hug?” I opened my arms and we embraced. “Congratulations,” he whispered into my ear. “Welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered back.

  Nick stood by as his dad grabbed his cocktail from the table where they were seated. “Nick,” he closed his eyes briefly before continuing, “I’m proud of you.” I watched Nick as his jaw relaxed and a smile spread across his face. His dad pulled him into a one-armed hug. “Grab one of these great cocktails y’all make, and let’s toast.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” I said. The brunette helped pass around champagne flutes. “Thank you all for being here. It means a lot to the both of us to be surrounded with our closest family and friends. Without each of y’all we may not have made it this far.” I smiled. “To a lifetime.” We clinked glasses.

  Nick leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Dr. White-Collins, we need to wrap this party up.” He looked me in my eyes. “The bar is closing soon.” I scrunched my nose, because we had the bar to ourselves, and since he was the owner there wasn’t a closing time. “You and I have somewhere to be.” He kissed my neck and I knew exactly where that somewhere was.

  I placed my glass on the bar top and announced our departure to the group. They followed us to the parking lot where we climbed on the back of Nick’s bike and rode off to celebrate our nuptials, between the sheets.

  Author’s Note

  Unexpected is bitter sweet, it marks the last story of my girls from L.U. When I started Freshmen Fifteen, I created Laila, Nicole, Jennifer, and Monica, and over the years they’ve become family. I expected Freshmen Fifteen to be a standalone book, but quickly realized there was more to the story, so much more.

  I’m glad each of the ladies found their happily every after, and I hope you enjoyed reading each of their stories.

  Cheers to friends, love, and amazing sex!

  ✩✩✩✩✩

  Unexpected is my tenth book as an indie author, and if you’ve been rocking with me since my first, hugs and kisses to you!

  If this is your first dip into my stories, you have some catching up to do. But welcome to the tribe.

  As an indie, I thrive off of word of mouth and reviews, please leave your review on a eBook retailer site, Goodreads, and feel free to blast me all over your social media too.

  My creative spirit thanks you for the love!

  About the Author

  J. Nichole received her bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Florida A&M University and a master’s degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

  J. Nichole has spent the past ten years as an IT Consultant. She is married with one daughter.

  For more information:

  www.NotTheLastPage.com

  Also by J. Nichole

  Love 101 Series:

  Freshmen Fifteen

  Sophisticated Sophomore

  Summer Fling

  Grown & Sexy Senior

  Creative Love

  Running from Love

  City Lights: A Short Story

  Christmas Secrets: A Short Story

  Boyfriend for Christmas

  Coming Soon:

  #FutureHusband