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Soft and Chel
message 51:
by
Rachel
(new)
Jul 07, 2016 08:24AM
Kenzie laced her fingers with Ian's as they walked towards the house. His forced smile made her cringe and she made a mental note to talk to him about that. They would have to act every time they went out together when the pack was around to keep up the idea they wanted this but she couldn't live with having to pretend when they were alone. When they walked in and the pack cheered she blushed scarlet while a smile crossed her face.
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A bunch of Ian's friends surrounded him and went on and on about how lucky he was. When they asked about their hatred in the past, Ian informed them that all was well and that they had sorted out their differences. He then lifted Kenzie's hand to his lip and gave her knuckles a light kiss, then glanced at her, his friends rolling their eyes in jealousy. He hated this.... He hated that he had to do that... He hated that he didn't have a choice or a say, in any of this but he decided to stop bitching about it.
Kenzie stood quietly next to Ian, letting him do all the talking. She was a fairly shy person anyway but she was terrified she would mess this all up. She smiled at Ian's reply to the question of their past. She looked up at him, letting herself believe that he actually meant everything he was saying. She blushed when he kissed her hand and then bit her lip at the jealousy from his friends. She smiled at them kindly before looking around, trying to find her own friends.
When his friends left, Ian looked down at Kenzie, "Remember, all of this is about you, so whatever you wanna do." He said, seeing her looking around, "Lead the way." He smiled, looking around for his family. There was something he needed to do, but he really didn't want to... He needed to announce their marriage, but couldn't do it until his parents were there.
Kenzie nodded and gave him a small smile. "I'm just not sure if I wanna talk to my friends or not." She admitted. "I don't like the thought of lying to them about how happy I am." She knew she shouldn't complain but since she was gonna marry this guy she might as well be honest with him.
Ian nodded, "Understandable." He said, "Well, in the meantime are you hungry or thirsty? We've got pretty much anything and everything you like." He said with a small chuckle. "Or we can find someone else to talk to, or go ahead and get everyone's attention and get the announcement out of the way."
"The sooner we can do the announcement the better." Kenzie said to him and then gave a shrug. "Don't we need to wait for your parents though?" She asked and raised an eyebrow at him. As she was talking she led him over to the food table, more out of curiosity than anything else.
Ian followed her, and sighed, "Yes, they want pictures." He huffed and glanced over the table of food, "But whatever, let's get this over with." He hated that he had to do this, but he had no choice, he led her to the front of the crowd and asked for everyone's attention, "Hello fellow pack members!! Welcome to my home, for those who don't know this is the gorgeous one and only Mackenzie Evans, and for the last while she and I have grown very close. It's so nice to have someone so strong and so beautiful and independent by my side. I never want to see any of that change," he looked down at her as he spoke, "Her strength and abilities will bring so much to this pack, and I know we all know why we are here, but I felt it was only fair if I asked properly." He said and got down on his knee, the group gasping and squealing, "Mackenzie Evans... Will you marry me?" He asked, pulling a ring from the pocket of his blazer with a large, sparkling diamond, already got to her size.
Kenzie stood in front of the pack as Ian got everyone's attention. She resisted the urge to fiddle or bite her nails as everyone watched them. That was another reason she didn't want to be Alpha female. There was too much attention and public appearances. She did cringe at her full name but didn't correct him. Her cheeks turned red at all he said about her and her smile was - for the first time - genuine as he got down on one knee. "Yes." She said simply, letting her happiness show in her voice.
Ian smiled, and while he knew everyone was expecting a kiss, but he wasn't ready for that yet. He lifted her up and spun her around the pulled her into a tight hug, smiling widely. The longer the moment the more evident it was that the kiss was missing, but Ian refused. This was all set up only yesterday, and yesterday was his first time speaking to her in 3 years. He refused...
Kenzie squealed when Ian lifted her up and spun her around. She held onto him tightly when he hugged her and hid shyly in his embrace from the crowd of people watching them. She knew now a kiss should follow, it was only fitting after such a sweet proposal, but that was too much. She couldn't fake their first kiss in front of the entire pack just yet. Instead she let Ian go and made a show of wiping her eyes of tears in the hopes that would be an excuse enough to escape to the bathroom to avoid smudging her makeup.
Ian smiled, it almost seemed genuine, but he thought he was just getting better at faking it. He gently wiped her tears, shaking his head a little at the fact that she had even been able to pull them from her eyes. It was too awkward, he knew that if he didn't do something to please the crowd, the anticipation would never die down, after wiping her tears he cupped her face in his hands and placed a soft peck on the tip of her nose then pressed his forehead against hers, sighing softly
Kenzie looked up at Ian as he cupped her face and leaned in. For a fleeting moment she thought he was actually going to kiss her on the lips and her heart raced in panic. Then his lips touched her nose and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She wasn't ready to kiss him regardless of how fake their relationship was. That was just too much. She smiled despite how she felt inside and moved her head slightly to affectionately rub her nose against his.
He felt the attention towards them slowly die away, he tried not to huff when she rubbed her nose against his. Ian hated all of this cute stuff. He refused to stoop that low. As the crowd went back to their conversations, he looked at her, "I hate this." He whispered through his smile. "How are you so good at this?" He added
Kenzie sighed when people stopped paying them attention. She stepped back from Ian, needing her space, but took his hand again. She laughed softly at his comment and then gave a shrug. "Clearly I'm the better actor." She joked quietly, wanting to try stay lighthearted. There was sure to be more people they had to talk to that night and she didn't want to be all moody when it came to that moment. "You're pretty good yourself. All that stuff you were saying about me before you proposed, it was... Good. Nice. Whatever." She murmured and then looked away before she could embarrass herself any further.
Ian rolled his eyes, "Clearly," he said with a slight chuckle then gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "C'mon, I'm hungry." He said and led her back to the table. He let go of her hand and grabbed two plates, "Just let me know what you want."
Kenzie let him lead her back to the food table. She gently took one of the plates from him with a small smirk. "I think I can manage to feed myself thanks." She said softly and then started to put food on her plate. He was right about one thing. She couldn't see anything that she didn't like on the table in front of her.
Ian Rose a brow, "I try to genuinely be nice to you for once, and you don't let me!!!" He exclaimed with a small laugh, shaking his head, "You're impossible. I hope you know that." He said and gabbed just a few things and then a glass of punch, "Sprry if the proposal threw you off guard, but it was kind of supposed to," he said, glancing at the ring on her finger.
Kenzie giggled and shrugged in response. "I know." She said simply and then glanced up at him from her food. He had a nice laugh and she found herself wanting to hear more of it. "Oh it's fine." She told him then smiled. She looked at the ring and bit her lip. "The ring is beautiful by the way."
He took a bite of one of the finger sandwiches, "I got it from a quarter machine." Ian joked with a chuckled, "Just kidding, I didn't know your style... Or much about you for that matter." He admitted, looking down at his plate, moving his food around. It was sad but true, he was to marry a woman he never got the chance to know because they were too busy hating eachother...
Kenzie smiled at his joke. "Well you did a good job picking it out." She told him honestly and then started to eat some of the food she had put on her plate. What he had said about knowing anything about her stuck at the front of her mind. It was the same for both of them really. "I'm sure that'll change soon." She said simply, sounding neither happy or upset over the idea.
Ian nodded, "My mom says we need to be seen together all the time... So we have to go on dates, do things together and stuff like that." He said and bit into a carrot with a slight sigh, "We're going to be spending a lot of time together..." He admitted softly.
Kenzie wrinkled her nose up at the thought of having to go out all the time. "That'll be fun." She muttered with obvious sarcasm. She shook her head at herself and tried not to think about the bad things even though there was so many of them. "Well it gives us plenty of time to learn to like each other." She said more optimistically.
"At least I'm likeable," he challenged softly, "I mean, how many boyfriends have you had in the last year?" He asked with a small smile, honestly not trying to pick a fight, just being honest. He was kind of an ass sometimes and most of the time he didn't see what he was doing or saying wrong.
Kenzie frowned at his question. "The amount of boyfriends I've had has nothing to do with whether or not Im likeable." She told him, somehow keeping herself from spitting the words. She looked at the rest of the food on her plate that was completely untouched. She had lost her appetite. "Do you want any of this or should I just throw it all away?" She asked Ian, her voice much softer than before.
Ian shook his head, "I'm not hungry anymore." Tossing his plate away, and taking her with it. He looked out to the crowd and sighed, "Do you think they're buying it?" He asked, worried about disappointing his pack. It had been Ian's dream to become the alpha and that's when reality set in. He had to Marry Kenzie, and he had to get along with her. The strength between the two of them would reflect within the pack, and he had planned on being the strongest leader this pack had ever had.
Kenzie nodded and then tossed her plate away. She looked up at Ian and shrugged. "They seem to be." She said honestly as she looked around at their pack. She really didn't want to disappoint them which was party why she was doing this in the first place. She looked back at Ian and gave him a small smile. "It'll get easier the more we do this." She said, trying to reassure him. At least that was what she hoped.
Ian sighed softly, "I hope so...." He admitted softly. Instinctively he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his side, and looked down at her, "So what plans do you have for the wedding?" He asked, hoping it was nothing too crazy, then again he wasn't very traditional. He didn't know what he wanted which is why he so okay with her planning the whole thing.
Kenzie couldn't help but gasp in shock when Ian pulled her into his side. She relaxed against him though. As long as she could pretend that this was all real and believe the lies they told their pack she could keep the act up. "I have some ideas but nothing much. Do you have any preferences?" She asked and looked up at him. "So in a church or not, traditional or not, the colour theme?" She prompted.
Ian shook his head, "Whatever you want, but I don't do cheesy." He informed her and sighed. He didn't want to lie or pretend, so he tried to imagine Kenzie as a young woman that he might actually love, which made it easier to not push her away when she relaxed against him. "What's your favorite color?" He asked her, looking down at her
Kenzie nodded and made sure to remember that. Sure she was getting to do all the planning but it was his wedding day too, even if he didn't want it to be. "Dark blue." She answered his question. "You know how the sky is at night when there's just a bit of light left before it goes really dark and full of stars?" The words had slipped from her mouth before she could stop them and caused her to blush as she looked away again. "Sorry. I just completely nerded out on you there." She murmured.
Ian chuckled softly, "Dark blue..." He repeated and nodded. "You weren't "nerding out" you just justifying so it was clear." He said, teasing her. When she blushed he shook his head, he found it cute when girls blushed and we're all shy about it, but it still surprised him when he found her cute when she turned away from him with bright red cheeks.
Kenzie rolled her eyes as he teased her. She looked back up at him after some of the heat had left her cheeks. "So what about you?" She asked, just moving on from her moment of embarrassment. "What's your favourite colour?" She asked curiously. It was such a basic thing to know about a person but not knowing it only reminded her how little she actually knew about him.
"Red," he said with all seriousness, "You know like when you get embarrassed and your whole face turns that red color that no one gets to see because you're always hiding your face?" Ian continued to tease. Making girls blush was one of the things he was very good at and he loved doing it. He didn't care whether or not he liked Kenzie he liked her or not, he liked making her blush.
For a moment Kenzie thought he was being serious but then he kept talking and she realised he was just teasing her again. Of course she did blush again because of his words. She didn't look away though for no reason other than to prove a point. "That's not funny." She pouted but her eyes said otherwise as they shined with amusement.
He tapped her nose with his knuckle and laughed, "Who's laughing?" Ian asked with a wide smile. "I never thought you'd be this naive." He said shaking his head, "Or is it just your amazing acting?" He asked with a roll of his eyes.
"I believe you're the one laughing." Kenzie pointed out and then rolled her eyes too. She bit her tongue and looked away to avoid giving him a snappy comment. It was bad enough that they would bicker when they were alone they didn't need to do so in front of the pack. "Should we not be doing something more? I mean this is our party but we're just standing at the side not talking to anyone else." She said softly, changing the subject.
Ian shrugged and took her hand, "Who would you like to talk to?" He asked looking down at her, taking a moment to look at her hair, those curls look very nice by the way," he complimented then lost his thought again, pullin on one of the curls then letting it go to spring right back into place.
Kenzie shrugged and glanced around at the pack. "I should probably speak to my friends so they don't think I'm being rude and horrible." She admitted though she was still reluctant to do so. When he played with her hair she looked back at him. "Thanks." She smiled. "I thought I should try look nice for a change." She said jokingly.
Ian chuckled softly, "Lead the way." He said with a small smile. Kenzie honestly looked very nice, and for Ian being the player he was, giving young ladies compliments like that did not come naturally. The more he watched her, the more he realized all of the mean hurtful things he had ever said about her appearance were wrong. He wasn't going soft or anything, he just finally took the time to notice how beautiful she really was.
Kenzie nodded and then walked over to where her friends were all standing together. She should be with them, gossiping about whoever Ian's bride to be was with them. That was how she had always imagined it. Never that she would be said bride. She rolled her eyes at herself and then slid her way into her friends' circle, pulling Ian with her. "Hey." She said softly, biting her lip nervously before her best friend Julia engulfed her in a tight hug which made Kenzie drop Ian's hand.
Ian had a thing with almost every girl in his pack, and unfortunately he had a thing with Julia. "Hey Jewel." He chuckled, calling had the pet name he gave her, watching Kenzie. Julia was another the battle that he and Kenzie had fought about. Ian just watched, listening to their conversations.
Jullia let go of Kenzie and then looked up at Ian. "Hey you." She said softly and gave him a smile before turning back to Kenzie. Much like with Ian's friends, her friends launched questions at her. When asked about how they had hated each other she bit her lip before telling them, "Our parents had a thing on or whatever and so we were both there. We somehow got talking and realised how much we both liked each other. Things just kinda fell into place from there." She looked at Ian, keeping up the act of the happy couple, and smiled.
Ian smiled at Julia then listened as Kenzie was drowned in questions about the two of them. He couldn't help but smile at the little story she made up, it was kind of cheesy and cliche, but something was better than nothing, right?
That story seemed to satisfy the other girls and they just started talking about everything and anything. Kenzie still felt guilty for lying to them but she had tried to stick to the truth in her story as much as possible. She may have twisted the truth for some parts however. After a few minutes of talking and being genuinely happy for the first time that night she excused herself from their company, not wanting to make Ian stand through their babbling any longer.
Ian wasn't quite sure whether or not he was invited to the conversation so he didn't intrude. However he did continue to listen, and chuckled softly when the girls laughed. Then a disturbing thought returned to his mind, kissing her. They're first kiss couldn't be at the wedding ceremony, sure it would be fitting but it would be too awkward and too uncomfortable for both of them. As he was lost in thought, Kenzie pulled them away and he snapped back into reality.
Kenzie slipped her hand into his again and looked up at Ian. "You looked like you were getting bored standing there so I thought it was best we moved on." She explained softly as they walked to somewhere else. She didn't know where to stop so she just looked at Ian for suggestions. There was no one else that she was really desperate to speak to now she had seen her friends.
After a few more hours the party was finally over and it was time for Ian to take Kenzie home. He led her to his car and opened the door for her then climbed in himself, "Well that was exhausting." He sighed, then looked over at her as he started the car, "You know, I've learned more about you in the last three hours than I ever thought I'd know in my entire life?" He said with a small chuckle, pulling out of the driveway
Kenzie followed him to the car and then got in. She put her seatbelt on and leaned back, exhausted after so much smiling and pretending she loved every minute of that party. At least the food was good. "Yeah. That's very true. Though I still feel like I don't know anything about you." She pointed out as she turned her head to look at him while he drove her home.
Nothing has ever been more exhausting in his life. This party felt like it lasted forever and having to keep Kenzie right by his side was excruciating. "Well, what do you want to know?" He asked her, glancing at her as he drove though not towards her house. Though the food at the party was good, it wasn't a meal, so he decided they'd stop for a proper dinner
