Forever Yours [Series Two of Bittersweet Disasters]

[57] Ooooh, Yay, Perhaps I'll Be Getting Another Sister-In-Law

♥︎♡♥︎ DEZERAE PARKER ♡♥︎♡

{2:48 pm} "DEZERAE, CAN I ASK YOU a question?" Nova asks as she enters the living room.

"Of course," I answer, marking my page in my book and turning my undivided attention to her. "What's up?"

"What is Jake's favorite food? Like, is it something specific or is it something like spaghetti and meatballs?"

I chuckle softly under my breath. "His favorite food is Chicken Chimichanga and his favorite dessert is S'mores Brownies. Why'd you ask?"

"Well, our one year anniversary is Friday," she responds, fidgeting with her hands, "and I wanna make something special for him. Do you know where I can find those two recipes?"

Grabbing my phone, I turn to her. "Here, I'll find them for you and send you their links," I acknowledge. "What's your number?"

"555-4798."

Opening a new message, I type her number in and then send the links for the Chicken Chimichanga and the S'mores Brownies.

After several seconds, her phone bings and she smiles at me. "Thanks, Dezerae."

I return a smile. "You're welcome. Wow, things must be serious with y'all if y'all are already celebrating your one year!"

Nova blushes crimson red as she giggles softly and nods. "I guess Jake just wanted to make sure we actually went somewhere before he told y'all," she answers softly. "That's why he waited almost a whole year before he told y'all. Honestly, we're great together. I think he's going to propose to me soon."

"Really?" I grin widely at her. Sitting up and leaning over, I wrap my arms around her sideways. "Ooooh yay, perhaps I'll be getting another sister-in-law soon."

She giggles softly as she wraps her arms around my right arm. "I'm just so glad that Jake is 'nothing' like my ex," she whispers, fidgeting with her fingers. "Honestly I think I'm still severely scarred from the things my ex had done to me and I broke up with him nine years ago. Your brother is amazing and he has managed to slowly discover all my shattered pieces and put them back together."

Tugging away from her, I cock an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Nova sighs softly as she gazes down at her uncontrollably shaky hands. Silently, I watch as a few tears roll down her cheeks, but she quickly swipes them away. Then, she peers back up at me. "Please, please, please," she practically begs, "don't tell anyone I told you this. Especially your brother. I know Jake and I have been together for almost a year, but I haven't told him the full story yet. So please just keep this between you and me. I'm going to tell him the full story when 'I'm' ready."

I hold my pinky out and she wraps hers around mine and we pinky swear. "I promise this'll stay between us," I acknowledge. 'Wow, I haven't pinky swore with anyone since like middle school!'

Releasing a heavy sigh, Nova brushes her fingers through her blonde curly hair. "April 2010. I was fifteen, a sophomore in high school. My parent's had just separated and I was struggling pretty bad with it. My best my best friend, Tristian, decided to set me up on a blind date with her 'older' stepbrother's best friend," she pauses for a second to exhale a shaky breath and she giggles anxiously under her breath.

"Reason why I emphasized older like that is because her stepbrother, Garrett, was four years older than me so I was kinda confused why my 16-year-old best friend set me up on a blind date with someone who was probably four years older than me." She sighs heavily and rubs her wrist lightly.

"Anyway, this was a blind date, so of course I was nervous as crap and I thought he was going to be a complete douche you know. I had only met Garrett a couple times, so I didn't know him well enough to trust this. But Tristian was my best friend and I knew she wouldn't set me up on a blind date with someone who was a total tool. Skip to that night, Tristian dropped me off at the restaurant where I would be meeting him and then she left. When he got there, I was shocked. He was probably the hottest guy I had ever laid my eyes on. He had gorgeous black hair with a few blonde streaks and it was spiked up. He had gorgeous, captivating deep green eyes, naturally tan skin, a small scar above his eyebrow but it gave him that edgy, bad boy look. But I loved it. I figured out that night that his name was Tyler and he was nineteen. Anyway, over the next month and a half, Tyler and I got to really know each other. He had told me that back in March 2009, he got a full-ride scholarship for his football to University of Nevada—about three hours and seven minutes from where I lived. He also told me that when he turned 18, he gathered half of the large chuck of money he had set aside for college and bought a large, roomy one bedroom apartment that was about ten minutes from his university and he loved living on his own. Another thing I figured out was that our age difference didn't really matter. Tyler was an amazing person and I really hoped he saw us going somewhere you know. Now before you ask, yes my parents were still separated and they were going through filing a divorce so obviously they did not know I was talking to a 19-year-old and I didn't really want to tell them because I knew I'd probably get an earful from both of them if they found out."