The Upside of Love Read online

  She looked at me and raised her eyebrow. “Your ticket isn’t even for this flight. Do you need us to call someone for you?”

  Why does everyone keep asking me that? “No. I’m sorry,” I replied as I looked down and slowly walked away.

  I went to the window and looked out at the plane as the tears started to fall. I wasn’t feeling well and it was the overwhelming sickness that I might never be with him again.

  34

  Lily

  I sat down in the chair for a moment to compose myself. Everything that had happened today was strange. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Did I even want to? I took in a deep breath and got up from the chair. I started to walk away when I heard my name from a distance.

  “Lily?”

  I stopped for a moment and turned around to find Luke standing a few feet in front of me. I ran to him and threw my arms around him as tight as I could.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry for everything. Why are you here? You were on the plane!”

  He looked confused but happy at the same time. “We have to switch planes. This one was having mechanical issues. Do you believe it?”

  “Yes. After today, I do believe it. I believe everything, including you. I’m so sorry, Luke. Please forgive me. I love you so much and I can’t lose you.”

  He grabbed my face and smashed his lips against mine. “Lily, you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.”

  “Yes, I do. I love you.

  “I love you too, babe. God, I can’t believe this.” He smiled as he picked me up and spun me around. “What happened? Why did you change your mind?”

  “We can talk about that later. Let’s go back to the hotel. We have so much to catch up on.”

  “We sure do, babe. We sure do.”

  ****

  Luke

  We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. She felt warm again. She fumbled in her purse for the keycard as I had her up against the door, passionately kissing her. She handed me the card and I inserted it as the green light flashed and I turned the knob.

  “Wait,” I said as I broke our kiss.

  I held the door open with my foot and I picked her up and carried her inside. She smiled as her arms were wrapped around my neck.

  “Babe, I want to make love to you so bad. But we have to take your temperature first.”

  “What?!” she exclaimed.

  “You feel really warm.”

  She sighed as I sat her down on the bed. “Fine,” she said as she stuck the thermometer in her mouth. It beeped. She looked at it and then at me.

  “It’s 100.5 and I don’t care because we already mixed saliva, so you’re going to get it anyway.” She smiled as she pulled me down on top of her.

  “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to make love to you. I was just saying you felt warm.”

  My lips trailed her neck as she fumbled with the button on my jeans. Once she managed to get them unbuttoned, she unzipped the zipper and stuck her hand down the front of my pants. I moaned.

  “You have no idea how much I’ve missed this,” she gasped.

  “Kind of like I missed these.” I smiled as my hand grabbed her breast.

  Her hand was stroking me up and down and I felt like I was already going to come. I stood up, kicked off my shoes, and stripped out of my clothes. Lily sat up and did the same, except for her bra. She left that on and smiled at me. She knew how much I loved to take it off of her. I climbed on the bed behind her as she sat straight up. My tongue made tiny circles around her shoulders and upper back as my hands unhooked her bra. I reached in front of her and lightly took hold of both her breasts, kneading them and pinching her hard nipples. Her moans increased as she placed her hands on mine, guiding my hands around her breasts.

  “God, I love you, Lily.”

  “I love you, Luke.”

  She turned around so she was facing me and sat up on her knees. My hand found its way in between her legs as my fingers plunged inside her and my thumb slowly rubbed her clit. She arched her back and started making the “ah” sounds as she ran her fingers through my hair.

  “You’re so wet. I think you need to be wetter, though,” I said as I brought my mouth down to her. My tongue softly circling around her swollen area was arousing her even more. She began to thrust her hips as my tongue dipped inside of her and played around.

  “Oh God, Luke. Baby, what are you doing to me?” she asked with bated breath.

  “Making you come,” I whispered as my tongue circled her clit and my fingers went inside her. I brought her to the edge and smiled as she released herself on me.

  She pushed me back and climbed on top, but not before sucking me off for a few minutes. Her mouth wrapped around my cock was the hottest thing to me. I loved watching her. She brought her lips to mine and gently climbed on top of me. I was so hard and more than ready to be inside of her. She lowered herself onto me and began slowly moving. Looking at her full naked body making love to me was amazing. Our lips were locked tight as I thrust myself inside her. We both gasped as I nipped her bottom lip. She broke our kiss and her lips traveled from my chin down to my nipples. She licked each one before sitting up and moving her hips in a circular motion. I couldn’t get enough of her. She felt so good.

  “Lily, you feel amazing.”

  “So do you. You’re so hard,” she said as she leaned back and placed her hands on my legs.

  I grabbed a hold of her hips and moved her back and forth on my cock. She was swelling and getting ready to have orgasm number two.

  “You’re so warm inside. Lily, I’m going to come.”

  “Me too!” she yelled.

  She sat straight up and rode me faster as her legs tightened at my side and we both came at the same time, calling out each other’s names. She collapsed on top of me and hugged me tight. Our hearts beat rapidly together as our breathing began to slow. My hands traveled softly up and down her naked back. It felt so good to have her body near mine again.

  “You need to take some Motrin,” I whispered in her ear.

  She let out a laugh as she rolled off of me. “Really, Luke?”

  “Yeah, babe. Really.” I winked.

  35

  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, yo
u 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.

  36

  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.

  About The Author

  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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  Playlist

  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