Be Mine, Always

chapter thirteen

Melody’s POV~ Present Day

        Ever since our kiss a week ago memories of the past have come swarming my mind. I sit at work, staring at the computer screen, begging for the last hour to fly by so I can get home. As I space out, staring at the ever slowing clock, a memory tickles the outskirts of my mind. 

        The summer day was hot and my flip flops slapped against my feet with each step as I walked toward Xander’s house. It was nice to be the one visiting him for a change, not that he knew I was coming. I wanted it to be a surprise. The ring he gifted me three nights ago sat heavily on my ring finger and I couldn’t stop fidgeting with it. 

        I hadn’t taken it off since he slid it on my finger that night in my bedroom, my parents had noticed but written it off as some kind of promise ring between two kids. It didn’t bother me that they didn’t understand the bigger commitment that the ring symbolized. Xander and I wanted to be together forever and we wanted to bind ourselves in marriage as soon as we turned eighteen. 

        Just the thought of being Xander’s wife made my belly tingle. After two years together, we had every serious conversation a couple could have. Babies? None. Marriage? A definite. Would he support me as a writer? Absolutely. Contraception? Always. Any big discussion, we had had it. I told him bluntly I wouldn’t be like those people on 90 Day Fiance who are engaged but have no understanding of others values, such as whether they want or can have kids, what religion the child would grow up in, everything. 

        Giddiness filled me as I caught sight of his house and I rubbed my hands together as I got closer. I thought I saw a slew of people in the front lawn, but I ever so rarely wore my glasses that I couldn’t tell, but the closer I got, the more I saw. Those were indeed people sitting in the front lawn. 

        My hackles rose a bit at the sight of the middle aged men and a handful of younger guys sat in the lawn with a grill smoking in the air. There were a few girls wearing daisy dukes and bikini tops. I felt as if I stepped on the set of a music video with the way they were lewdly placed over men twice their age. 

        A hazy look glazed the girls eyes and I noticed all of the hand bottles of beer. My stomach churned at the thought of young girls intoxicated with men of questionable reputations. I spotted Xander’s father and it all clicked into place for me. This was his fathers gang. Holy fuck, how many times had Xander told me I couldn’t come over on a weekend because his dads gang would be there? 

        I’m so fucked. 

        I tried to ignore the men leering at me. I’m much more covered than the girls in their laps, but maybe my crop top and shorts makes it all the more enticing for them. My skin crawled as I paused in the driveway, unsure if I should go in. That would be trapping myself in a space that I don’t know very well, with men who I have no doubt would take liberties with a girl alone. 

        Xander’s father noticed my hesitation and smirked from his place in a folding chair. “Ah, Melody, right?” 

        My heart stopped and my mouth became dry. Fuck. I nodded and smiled politely. “Yes, sir,” I murmured. 

        He scoffs. “No need to be so stiff with us, girl.” He turned, spinning around the gathered men. “Boys, this is Melody, our Xander’s girl.” He turned those familiar eyes on me, beckoning me toward him. 

        I stayed rooted to my spot, not stupid enough to put myself in the thick of a lions den. My heart thumped in my chest. “I-I am just looking for Xander, is he here?” I asked stupidly. Clearly he wasn’t or he would have thrown a temper tantrum at his father and whisked me away.