Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Chapter 34: The First Step

Kendra’s P.O.V:

When I first entered Daniel’s and Grace’s home, I did not expect things to get this awkward, but for some reason, it was.

Ty was here as well and Victor had gone back to his apartment this morning to freshen up so that no one finds out that we’ve been spending our nights together, so we had arrived at different times. But as soon as we’d all sat down at the table to discuss wedding details, an enormous awkwardness had spread over the room.

I get that me and Victor had a reason to be awkward in public, since Grace didn’t know that I was screwing her brother and Daniel did...but even Grace seemed to stare at everyone awkwardly. Or maybe it was just the nerves?

We were all seated at the humongous dining table, wine glasses in hand and a bunch of catalogues in front of us, trying to help the to-be-wed couple decide the venue, pick flower arrangements and fabric for the dress, but so far we hadn’t done much progress. How could we when we were trying so desperately to hide our skeletons inside the closet...err...under the table, maybe?

A beeping sound cut through the awkward silence that has settled over the room like an early morning fog.

“That must be the cake. I'll get it.” Daniel took the opportunity to make an escape.

“I'll help!” I got up from the table before Grace had a chance to offer.

“Okay...” Grace gave me a weird look before turning to chat with Ty and Victor.

“That move was pretty obvious,” Daniel said to me as soon as I came inside the kitchen, out of everyone's earshot.

“I’m sorry,” I scratched the back of my head. “I didn't know what to do.”

“So you decided to follow me around?” Daniel asked while putting in his oven mitts. He was wearing a grey T-shirt with black sweat pants and his hair fell into his forehead like a silk curtain. Daniel truly was deadly handsome, and yet, I didn’t feel attracted to him in the least. In fact, I felt more at home with him than I ever had with any other guy, with the exception of Victor, of course.

“You said you'd be my big brother, right?” I asked a bit scared to find out if that offer was still on the table.

Daniel froze halfway through getting the cake out of the oven and I felt my throat close up. But then he stood up slowly and put the steaming hot cake on top of the kitchen counter and took off his mitts. Then he rounded the counter and held out his hands for me. “Come here, kiddo.” He said and I felt air fill my lungs once again.

I run straight into his arms and Daniel closed his arms around me, engulfing me in his warmth. I hadn’t thought it would matter; hadn’t thought that I’d need someone’s support this desperately...but I did. I’d been on my own for far too long and it was starting to wear me out.

“I'm ready,” I whispered into his chest.

For a second I felt Daniel stiffen, but then his shoulders relaxed and he rubbed my back comfortingly. “You made the right choice,” he told me before letting go. “But when are you going to tell Grace about it?”

The thought itself made me cringe. “I don't think I'll ever be ready for it.” I shook my head. “But I can't stall forever...I'll tell her once I start therapy.”

“Which starts tomorrow,” Daniel informed me curtly, much to my dismay. “Don’t give me that look; you've already made the decision but if you stall any further, you'll never be able to do it. Trust me, I know.”

I rubbed my hands over my face. “Alright. Tomorrow.”

“Good,” he handed me two plates, each holding a slice of cherry cake. “Now go serve these.”

Grace’s P.O.V:

“They're taking awfully long to bring a slice of cake to the table,” Tory mused.

“What are you implying exactly?” I frowned at him. He seriously didn't think that Daniel and Ken-

“Here you go!” Ken came out of the kitchen at that Instant, balancing four plates of cherry cake in her hands, followed by Daniel who was holding the cake stand and a couple other plates.

“Sorry for the wait ladies and gentlemen! I'll be your waitress for the evening. Today's special will be Chef Daniel's authentic Italian cherry pie,” Ken curtsied as Ty gave a warning shout of ‘don’t drop the cake, bitch!’Ignoring her, Ken placed the plates on the table in front of the rest just as Daniel cut up another slice and placed it in front of me.

“It's not pie, Ken,” Daniel frowned at her as he distributed the cutlery.

“Well, pie sounded classier,” Ken flipped her curls back over her shoulder and plopped down on the chair beside Ty. “So, who was implying what?” Ken looked at me expectantly and I felt my cheeks heat up.

“Of course you heard that,” Tory grumbles under his breath and Ken shifted her gaze from me to him, her eyes locking with his for a good ten seconds before she shrugged and went in for a bite of her cake. I frowned.

“Grace?” Daniel asked in his oh-so-sexy Italian accent, snapping my attention back to him and I felt like my cheeks were about to explode as I shrunk into my chair.

“It wasn’t her, it was me.” Tory held up his hands in surrender. “I was...err...speculating...how you two were taking so long to cut up a slice of cake.”

Ken and Daniel looked at each other in alarm and for a second my heart thrashed against my ribcage, that was until I noticed the mischief in Ken’s eyes. “Did we just get caught?” Ken asked Daniel in a dramatically high pitched voice, placing a hand on her chest for added effect.

“Hush love!” Daniel said just as dramatically. “Our love is of the spirit, spiritual, the highest form of love ever present on this sphere, none here can measure its depth!”

An awkward silence descended upon the table and I could almost hear crickets chirping in the distance...and then the entire table erupted into fits of laughter as Ken and Daniel high fived across the table.

“John Donne much?” Ty shook her head at them and popped one of the garnish cherries into her mouth.

Daniel simply turned to me and with his hand at the back of my nape, hauled me in for a bone melting kiss as several throats were cleared around the table. But neither of us cared as Daniel proceeded to kiss the life out of me and then some more. We were panting hard by the time Daniel pulled away, his eyes holding some very wicked promises as he pressed his forehead against mine.

“No one care come between us, ever.” He whispered hoarsely. “I won’t let that happen.”

“Amen,” Tory raised his fork with a piece of cake in it. “Let’s cheers to that, shall we?”

We all agreed and cut a small piece of cake and held out our forks

“Mmmmmmmm!” She moaned. “This is soooo good!”

And that was how the awkwardness melted away and all of us were able to focus on the task ahead. By the time we all sat down for some lovely dinner, made by none other than Chef Daniel, we’d been able to decide a colour for the bridesmaid dresses, the dishes that would be served at the wedding as well as the wine and the colour for the groomsmen’s tux.

Tomorrow, I’m going to start therapy. I’m going to start a new chapter in my life and hope that the ones I’d left behind don’t come to bite me back in the ass. But of that, tomorrow.