Meant to Marry Me
Cake by the Ocean

A few hours later, after more dancing, eating, and drinking, Bree found herself on a blanket under a full moon on the beach with the man she loved, two glasses, a bottle of champagne, two forks, and the top tier of Trent's wedding cake. It was delicious.

"You know, it took her about a month to decide what flavors of cake she wanted," Trent said between bites. They weren't bothering with plates. The cake sat on its original platter between them on the blanket, the gorgeous detail in the white frosting visible in the moonlight. It was a German chocolate flavor with buttercream frosting, and Bree might've eaten the entire tier herself if Trent hadn't been there, and she hadn't already stuffed herself on chicken parmesan. "It's really good," she assured him, taking another bite.

"It should be for what I paid for it," he said with a chuckle. He took another bite, too, and then sat his fork down, clutching his stomach. "It's very rich. In more ways than one."

Bree laughed and also set her fork aside. As good as it was, she didn't have room for another bite. "You know, today did not quite turn out the way that I thought it was going to," she said, unhooking her shoes and setting them aside. Trent picked up the cake and set it inside of the box he'd used to transport it, moving the forks, too, so he could get closer to her. "You can say that again."

She laughed, thinking she might be a little tipsy. "I mean... I didn't expect you to actually go through with the wedding at all. But then, when I saw that you were going to, I expected you to just marry her already. But the whole time, I thought, if you didn't marry her, I'd probably still end up on a plane back to Nashville, and maybe you'd call me in a week or two. Or not."

"You only thought that's the way it would go because that's what happened last time." He put his arm around her shoulders, and Bree snuggled into his chest.

"Maybe a little. But... I never would've imagined that we'd end up together--eating your wedding cake."

He laughed. "Yeah, none of this was what I expected to have happen either, but I'm glad that it did. I couldn't imagine a better way for this evening to end."

Bree leaned up and kissed his cheek, and he turned to face her, capturing her lips. He tasted even sweeter than usual, since he'd been eating cake. "I love you, Trent," she said, softly. "I always have, and I always will."

"I love you, too." He brushed her hair back and smiled at her. "Hey, wanna go stick our feet in the water?"

"Are you serious?" she asked with a giggle. "Yeah. Why not?"

"Why not?" she repeated. She already had her shoes off so she waited for Trent to take off his fancy dress shoes and socks and roll his pant legs up. Then, he stood, pulling her up, and they ran off in the moonlight toward the breaking waves. The water was warm, and there was no one else around. At first, they just splashed around in the surf, but then, the hem of her dress got wet, and the next thing she knew, they were both in the water, splashing each other, soaking wet. They went from splashing to hugging to kissing to making out in the surf. Bree was lying on top of Trent in the sand, the waves rushing up against them, picking up the skirt of her dress and floating it higher and higher around her waist as her lips devoured Trent's, his hands working their way through her wet hair and rubbing her legs as she straddled him. She knew they'd talked about taking it slow, but she loved the feel of his hands on her, and with each kiss, she felt herself meld deeper into him.

Trent flipped them over, and Bree brought her knees up on either side of him. In the moonlight, with droplets of water clinging to his hair and rolling down his face, he looked sexier than he ever had before. "I love you, Bree," he said, his fingers brushing through her tangled hair where it lay on the sand.

"I love you, too." His lips crashed down on hers as the waves crashed against their tangled bodies, and Bree was ready to give him everything to show him how much she meant those words.