Read The Upside of Love Online
Authors: Sandi Lynn
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Coming of Age, #Romance, #New Adult & College
Lily
I took some Motrin like Luke said I had to and got up from the bed.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To get the room service menu. I’m starving.” I smiled.
“Me too.”
Luke climbed under the covers and I climbed in next to him as we looked over the menu.
“What time is it?” I asked.
He glanced over at the clock. It’s eleven-thirty.”
“Oh, well, then we need to be looking at the overnight dining menu.”
“I think I want the burger.”
“Me too.” I smiled as I kissed his lips.
After I placed our order, I snuggled against Luke’s chest as he stroked my hair.
“Lily, what made you change your mind about us?”
I slowly closed my eyes
. Do I tell him? Do I lie because I don’t want him to think I’m crazy?
“If I tell you, then you’ll think I’m crazy and I mean certifiably legit crazy.”
He chuckled as he kissed my head. “I would never think that.”
I sat up, took in a deep breath, and told him all about Philip. “And as I was calling his mom, he got up from his seat and I’ll never forget what he said to me.”
“What did he say, babe?”
“He said, ‘Take what I’ve told you today and rebuild your relationship. Clear your mind and see the truth for what it really is, not what you think it is. Second chances are always the best in life.’ Then he walked away and when his mom answered, she told me that he had died a year ago of pneumonia.”
“Are you serious? Lily, that’s an amazing story.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“No. I don’t. Think of all the events that happened involving us. Hunter and Brynn, the tickets, the accident, you moving in next door, our friends hooking up and getting together, you meeting Philip, and my plane having mechanical problems.” He smiled. “Think about it, Lily; we were meant to be together, probably since the day we were born. I think we are the true meaning of soul mates.”
He was right. If you put everything together like a puzzle, it all fit neatly together. Every event that we endured and every person that crossed our paths played a significant role in our lives. Once you link everything together, it all made sense. Room service arrived and I quickly put on my robe as Luke pulled on his jeans and opened the door. The man wheeled the cart in, set up the table, and Luke tipped him before he left. We ate our burgers, talked, laughed, and made love two more times before going to sleep.
****
Luke
Waking up with Lily wrapped up in my arms was something that I missed so badly. I placed my hand across her forehead. She felt a little warm, but not as warm as last night.
“Are you checking me for a fever again?” she mumbled.
“Yes,” I said as I pressed my lips against her forehead.
“What do you lips say?”
“They say I love you.”
A smile graced her face as she opened her eyes and looked at me.
“And I love you.”
“Why don’t we take a shower, get dressed, grab some breakfast, and then go for a walk. I have someplace I want to take you.”
“You forgot something.”
“What?” I asked in confusion.
“You forgot to say that we had to make love.”
“Oh, believe me, babe, I didn’t forget that.”
We climbed out of bed, took our shower, made love, got dressed, and then headed downstairs to eat. Once we finished breakfast, I took Lily’s hand and we headed towards the place I couldn’t wait to take her to. Once we stepped outside, I stopped and looked at her.
“If you’re feeling up to it, we can walk. It’ll take about fourteen minutes to get there. If you’d rather cab it, we can do that. It’s up to you, babe.”
“I want to walk. It’s a pretty nice day out and we can explore the city.”
We walked and did a lot of window shopping. Lily was so happy and so was I. My phone beeped with a text message from Sam.
“Dude, I thought you were getting in last night.”
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you that the flight was rescheduled due to mechanical problems.”
“When are you flying out?”
“I’ll let you know.”
We were coming up to the store I wanted to take Lily to, so I started to slow down. She looked at me.
“Why are you slowing down?”
“This is the store I wanted to go into with you.”
She looked up and then at me. “Luke, this is Tiffany’s.”
I smiled as I led her inside. “Why are we here?” she asked.
“Lily,” I said as I took hold of both her hands. “When I lost you, my world ended. My heart stopped beating and I felt like I was dead. You are the most important thing in my life and my world. I would die for you. I never want to lose you again and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re my soul mate and I love you so damn much. Will you marry me, Lily Gilmore?”
A tear fell from her eye as she brought her shaking hand to her mouth. “Yes. Yes. Of course I’ll marry you, Luke.” She smiled as she wrapped her arms around me.
I picked her up and twirled her around as the customers and employees clapped and whistled for us.
“Let’s pick out your ring. I wanted us to pick one out together.”
“What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?” she asked as she kissed me.
Lily
All the rings were stunning, but I found one that Luke and I both loved. We both knew right away when I tried it on that it was the one because it fit perfectly, just like we did. I was the happiest person in the world and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone that we were getting married.
“I have an idea. Let’s send a mass video of us telling everyone that we’re engaged.”
“That’s a great idea. Who’s going to take it, though?”
“We’ll find someone in Central Park. Let’s do it there.
Luke loved the idea and we walked to Central Park. We walked over by the fountain and saw a young girl sitting by herself.
“Excuse me. Would you mind taking a video of me and my fiancé?”
“Not at all.” She smiled.
I set the phone to video mode and Luke and I took our place in front of the fountain.
“Go,” the young girl said.
“Hi, friends and family.” I waved.
“Hey, everyone.” Luke waved.
“We’re sending you this video because we’re going to stay in New York for a while longer. We have some news we wanted to share with you. I love this man so much!” I said as I pointed to Luke.
“And I love this woman so much!” he said as he pointed to me.
“And guess what? We’re getting married!” we both said at the same time as I held up my hand with my ring on it.
“We love you all and we’ll be home soon! Bye.”
“Bye.” Luke waved.
“Oh my God, that is so awesome!” the young girl said as she handed me my phone. “Congrats to you!”
“Thank you.”
She walked away and we sent the video to all of our family and friends. We took a seat on a bench by the fountain and Luke took hold of my hand and brought it up to his lips.
“There are two sides of love; the upside and the downside. We’ve experienced both sides and I don’t ever want to see the downside again. From here on out, babe, this is what the upside of love is. Us. Together forever. Loving each other no matter what life throws our way.”
I brushed my lips against his. “You are the upside of love, Luke Matthews.”
It wasn’t long before our little moment was interrupted by both of our phones blowing up. We looked at each other and laughed as we turned them off and spent the rest of the week exploring New York and making up for lost time.
****
Two weeks later
“Give me my goddaughter.” I smiled as Giselle and Lucky strolled into the bar.
“She’s not just your goddaughter, don’t forget.” Gretchen smiled as she leaned down and kissed Isabella’s head.
“I know that, but I will be her favorite godmother.” I winked.
Gretchen laughed and put her arm around me. “I’m so excited to watch the boys play. It seems like it’s been forever. What song are they doing?” Gretchen asked.
“I don’t know. Luke wouldn’t tell me. I tried to threaten him with no sex, but all he had to do was smile and I was on top of him.”
“I am so happy for the both of you. I knew you’d come to your senses eventually. You said you’d tell us what happened to make you change your mind,” Giselle said.
“I will, but not tonight. It’s a long story.”
Luke’s dad took over Cody’s position on a part-time basis and I couldn’t have been happier. Luke and I both agreed to wait about a year before getting married. I wanted to make sure that my career and the studio were off the ground and running, and Luke wanted to make sure things stayed calm at the bar. Neither one of us was going anywhere and we wanted time to plan the perfect wedding. I told Luke he was in charge of it since I’d already done it once before. He laughed and said that he’d gladly accept the challenge. Charley was so happy about the wedding that she wouldn’t stop talking about it at Annie and Tom’s house the other night. Lucky officially moved into Giselle’s house and they became an exclusive couple. Gretchen didn’t know this yet, but Sam bought her a ring and was going to propose to her on her birthday next month. Maddie and Adam were very much in love and Charley told us that her dad started staying the night. I bet you’re wondering about my sister and Hunter. Well, they’re getting married in a couple of months and Luke and I are attending the wedding. According to him, we need to go celebrate the couple that brought us together.
Luke walked over to me and kissed Isabella on the cheek. “You’re turning me on holding that baby.” He winked.
I smiled as he walked to the stage. The bar was packed and it seemed like more people came when they heard that Luke’s band was playing. Luke picked up his guitar and he winked at me as he started to play “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
“Oh, I love this song,” Gretchen said as she began dancing to it. “I always wondered what it was about.”
“It’s about eternal love.” I smiled as I walked towards the front of the stage and watched the love of my life sing to me.
This was without a doubt the upside of love, and I was loving every second of it.
Sandi Lynn is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who spends all of her days writing. She published her first novel, Forever Black, in February 2013. Her addictions are shopping, romance novels, coffee, chocolate, margaritas, and giving readers an escape to another world.
Please come connect with her at:
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Inside Your Heaven ~ Carrie Underwood
As It Seems ~ Lily Kershaw
Peace ~ O.A.R.
The Mess I Made ~ Parachute
Better In Time ~ Leona Lewis
Heal ~ Tom ODell
Nothing Left To Lose ~ Mat Kearney
Chandelier ~ Sia
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper ~ Blue Oyster Cult
Love Remains The Same ~ Gavin Rossdale
Our Story ~ Graham Colton
Tomorrow Is A Long Time ~ Nickel Creek
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You ~ Bryan Adams