JE owns the rights to anything familiar. All mistakes are mine.
Just a short little one-shot in response to a challenge that intrigued me.
I really should have seen this coming, but I didn't, and I think I'm still in a state of shock. I mean, this was Ranger for fuck's sake. He purposely avoided any and all relationships, probably to an unhealthy degree, yet here we were. I knew he'd been a little nuts for her since that very first encounter, but this? I never thought we'd end up here. It was against his very nature and I was starting to get anxious. I pulled at the tie around my neck, feeling like I wasn't getting enough air.
"You didn't have to wear a suit, Tank." I cut my eyes to Ranger and shrugged a shoulder, yanking at the knot one more time.
"You are," I countered, knowing it was a weak argument.
His lips titled at the corners but I wasn't sure if he was amused by me or if that look was for the woman who just entered the room. "Are you ready?" He asked.
"Are you?" I shot back, maybe with a little more force than intended. And then Ranger's eyes left mine and traveled across the room. The little grin turned into a full-fledged smile and he didn't even have to answer because I could see it on his face. He was more than ready. As I watched him walk toward her, I touched the small box in my pocket he'd entrusted to my care and found myself hoping I would one day meet someone who could put a smile like that on my face.
#*#*#*#*#
I really should have seen this coming, but when she called, I nearly fell off my chair in shock. They'd both been avoiding what was right in front of them for so long I didn't think they'd ever get to this place. Estefania...maybe, but Ranger? Not a chance in hell. Zip knew, of course. He always seemed to know these kinds of things, but I told him he was loco. They were too afraid, too caught up in the past and too scared of the future to ever get here...much like I had been. But Zip said if I could do it, anyone could. I was too crazy about him to take offense at the implication.
"Are you ready, Chica?" She looked beautiful in her simple ivory slip dress and grinned at me when I handed her the small bouquet of lilies.
"The suit looks good on you, Hector," she replied, ignoring my question, but then that smile on her face was all the answer I needed. While I watched her cross the room to him, my thumb drifted over my own wedding band as I held the one she'd entrusted to me in my hand.
#*#*#*#*#
I really should have seen this coming but Stephanie had been taking me by surprise from the first time I laid eyes on her. I did everything I could think of to push her away, to get her to hate everything about me but all it did was make her love me more and it made me love her so much it was an actual physical ache in my heart every time I left her side. The only logical solution was to never leave her again. Ever. The night I presented her with a ring and asked her to be mine, she surprised me again with a ring of her own for me.
I took her hand and had to resist the desire to kiss her; that one would have to wait for the Judge.
"Are you ready, Ranger?" She asked, turning her eyes up to mine and making my heart turn over in my chest.
"For you, Babe? Always."