The Legacy (Off-Campus, #5)

by Elle Kennedy

“It was awful,” Garrett corrects. “And I will not be marrying you, Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis. Sorry to break it to you. Now do it again.” “Fine.”

This is my third proposal attempt, because as it turns out, Garrett Graham is goddamn hard to please. I wonder if Hannah has this much trouble satisfying him.

“Allie,” I start. “Look into my eyes,” he orders. I clench my teeth and look into his gray eyes. “Stop squinting.” I open my eyes wide.

Logan snickers. “Dude, you look like you’re possessed. You need...

“Allie, you’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” I begin, keeping my gaze trained on Garrett. “Ain’...

I swivel my head toward him. “No commentary, asshole. You guys are supposed t...

“I am. I’m offering feedback that she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to your sorry ass. Without that woman, you’d still be screwing your way through life, arguing cases in a courtroom and making an obscene amount of money, driving a Lambo or some other obnoxious sports car and—y...

Garrett snorts out a laugh. I just sigh. These two idiots, along with our friend Tucker, whose wedding I’m in town for, are closer to me than my own brother. Which says a lot, becau...

And, yeah, now that Tucker and Sabrina are finally tying the knot and we’re all in Boston to celebrate with them, I guess I have wedding fever. I didn’t know that happened to dudes, but there you go.

Somehow, I found myself picking out a ring at Tiffany & Co. yesterday morning, and I haven’t looked back since.

“Veto,” Garrett interrupts. “You can’t insult her in the proposal.” “But it’s a compliment,” I protest. “I love the drama.”

“Yeah, but women don’t want to hear they’re drama.” “He’s right,” Logan chimes in. “I told Grace she was being dramatic when we got stranded on New Year’s and she lost it.”

Logan runs a hand over his buzzed hair.

Why would you buzz your hair?! NOOOOO.

“Would you eat me if I died first?” I ask him. “Oh, for sure. You too, G.” Garrett sounds intrigued. “You’d eat us for sustenance, but you wouldn’t eat your girlfriend?”

“I couldn’t. It’d feel completely wrong. The idea of cutting into her perfect flesh…” He shudders. “Nope, can’t do it. I’d rather die. Also, if she’s dying, I’m dying right along with her. I can’t live without her.”

This time, I lead with the whole can’t-live-without-you pitch, while Garrett clasps his hands over his heart, nodding along. Encouraged by his response, I hurry on.

“No! You’ve gone off the rails,” Garrett chides. “That’s way too sexy. Sexiness plays no role in a proposal.” “I disagree,” Logan pipes up. “I say go even sexier.”

“Don’t listen to him.” “More sexy,” Logan argues. “Less,” Garrett shoots back.

This is impossible. I don’t know how I’m ever going to get through this proposal. I’m not good with romantic words. I’m good with dirty, telling her I want to screw her brains out. I’m good at telling Allie I love her, because I do. I love her with all my heart. Why does a proposal need to involve a whole damn speech?

“He has a point,” I tell G. “See?” Logan crooks a beckoning finger at me. “C’mere, big boy.” I snicker as I lumber over to him.

“Damn, you smell good, dude. What are you wearing?” “I ran out of body wash so I’m using Grace’s,” he answers with a grin. “It’s fucking delicious, right?”

The diamond gleams in the light fixture above our heads, causing Logan to gawk at me. “Jesus, that thing is so shiny, it’s gonna burn a hole in my retina. It didn’t shine this bright when I was across the room.”

“Trust me, we’ve talked about engagement rings before. She likes ’em big.” I wink. “Big rings too.”

“Allie,” I say to Logan. “I love you so much. You changed my entire life when you decided to bless me with your love. You make my world better.” “Sexier,” Logan murmurs.

“Every time I’m with you, my heart feels like it’s going to explode.” I pause. “And so does my dick.” From the corner of my eye, I see Garrett shake with laughter.

Logan, however, nods his approval. Our gazes are locked in disturbingly intimate eye contact. “You’re the only one for me, baby....

I don’t know if he’s messing with me or not. I decide that he is, so I play along. “You have no...

I lean forward, still holding the ring box in one hand. I place my other hand flat on his muscular thigh. Logan narrows his eyes. You...

“Every time I look at you, I can’t even fathom that you’re mine. Your beauty is otherworldly. It makes me want to rip your clothes off. You make me so hard.” My hand skims up his chest toward his collarbone. I’m desperately trying not to lau...

There’s a brief silence. Then Logan’s mouth falls open. He turns to Garrett, wid...

“Chills,” he breathes. “Genuine chills, man. Look.” He rolls up his shirt sleeve to show me...

Two pairs of eyes stare at me in disbelief. “The wedding?” Garrett echoes. “Are you nuts? Tucker will rip your balls off.”

“You can’t ask someone to marry you at somebody else’s wedding,” Logan balks.

Preach

“All right. Chill. I’ll come up with something else.” “You better.” Garrett shudders. “That’s almost as egregious as Logan wanting to give them Alexander as a wedding gift.”

I gape at Logan. “Are you insane? You can’t curse their wedding with that demon doll.” “Oh, but you can ruin it by stealing their thunder?” he retorts.

Hell, these days I even love Sabrina, who I thought was an uptight bitch in college. But we squashed our beef a long time ago, and I can’t deny she’s been good for Tucker. And a great mom.

“We’re twenty-five,” Logan objects. “That’s not too young, is it? I mean, shit, sometimes I’m so beaten up and bruised after a game, I feel ancient.”

Fully developed frontal lobe at 25, so at least there's that

Unfortunately, G can’t be rid of him entirely because Phil Graham is still a legend in the hockey world. But I’m pretty sure Phil played till he was forty-two, which is impressive.

Dang that's ancient for hockey players

It’s still surreal to think I’ve been acting on the number one show in the country for the past few years. And it’s going to suck so hard to say goodbye, but I’m one of those people who believe in going out with a bang rather than a whimper.

“You bringing the boyfriend to the wrap party next week?” Trevor asks. “Because you know Malcolm’s gonna want to get one final look at the golden god.”

I snicker. Our costar Malcolm, my on-screen brother, has a huge crush on Dean and scampers after him like a puppy whenever Dean visits set. I don’t blame him.

Dean Heyward-Di Laurentis is possibly the most attractive man on the face of God’s green earth. The first time our director met him, she spent an hour trying to convince Dean to get into acting. She even offered him a role in her next movie. But ...

I feel my cheeks heating up at the memory. I swear, our sex life is off-the-charts hot, but I’d expect no less from the man who was once the biggest manwhore at Briar University. A...

More than that, I couldn’t ask for a better partner, period. He’s attentive, sweet, funny. He even gets along with my dad, which is a huge fe...

So far, I’ve only flown on it twice, and the one time I tried asking Dean’s mom, Lori, how much I owed them for the flights, she laughed at me and told me not to worry about it.

ME: On my way to the airport. See you in a bit. DEAN: Be safe. DEAN: Can’t wait to fuck you.

I swallow a laugh. I used to be caught off guard by the frank way he talks about sex, but these days I’m used to it. And if I’m being honest with myself, I sorta kinda love it.

It feels like old times again. Our college days. I didn’t realize until this very moment how much I missed seeing my friends every day.

The thing about women is, they hold themselves to a much higher standard than you hold them to.

“I missed you,” I say thickly. It’s been three torturous days, and I hate being away from her. “Missed you too,” she whispers back.