“I had it under control,” Shea said with a grin, “Oh, by the way, I told her I love her.”

Grace whipped her head over from where she was fixing a drape, “Say what? When?”

“Before we had dinner with mom and dad.”

“Wow, what did she say?” She put her hands up, stopping him from answering, “Let me guess, ‘Oh Shea, I love you, too!’” Grace said in just about the worst country accent Shea had ever heard, and he thought he was bad at it.

“Actually no, she didn’t say anything.” Grace stopped laughing and looked over at Shea, surprised.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, she apparently doesn’t love me. And it’s driving me nuts.”

“Well Shea, not everyone falls in love at the same time, give her a minute.”

“I know, but I just want her to love me. I mean, I don’t know what else to do. I’ve completely changed for this girl and it just doesn’t seem to be enough.”

Grace giggled, “You are acting like a chick, Shea. Yeah, you’ve changed and it’s great. Believe me, I’m the first one to say so. But gosh, let her be. It’s not like she doesn’t have feelings for you. It’s obvious she does.”

“I know that, Grace, but I want to hear her say it. To me.”

Grace scrunched up her face, shaking her head, “You’re turning into a sissy.”

“I am not!”

“You are! What are you going to do next, write her a poem? Haha, or maybe serenade her.” Grace bent over, laughing her ass off. Shea froze as he prayed Elli would never say anything about him singing to her. He knew that Grace would make his life a living hell if she ever found out.

Maybe he was turning into a sissy.

“Shut up!”

“No really. Like, can you imagine it?! Haha, you’re standing there with a guitar, singing some sappy Backstreet Boys song or something.” She was actually slapping her leg as she filled the ballroom with her laughter.

Shea didn’t think she was funny.

“You suck,” Shea said, crossing his arms as his sister, his twin, laughed at his expense. When she finally calmed herself, she looked up at him.

“Oh, shut up, you know its wicked funny,” she giggled.

“I’m not laughing.”

“Party pooper. Anyway, like I said, give her time. I didn’t tell James I loved him until Ryan was born, and that was almost a year into our relationship. You’ve jumped the gun, telling her at three months. I know this is your first time, but damn Shea, give her some time.”

Shea shoulders slumped and he let out a frustrated sigh, “Is it too much to ask for, just to know I’m loved?”

“Aw, brother, I love you,” Grace said, batting her eyes at him before bursting out in a fit of giggles.

“Oh God,” Shea said, rolling his eyes as he started for the door, “I’ll see you tonight. Good job in here.”

“Shea, I love you. I do, so much! I love you! Bye!”

Damn twin.

Mud baths, massages, facials, oh my!

“This is the life,” Elli basically moaned as she leaned back into her puffy chair, having her feet done. She held a glass of champagne in one hand and a chocolate covered strawberry in the other.

“I will have to make sure to thank Shea extra long tonight.”

Everyone giggled as they sat back, enjoying their pedicures.

“Hell, I might have to help,” Reese said as one of the workers stood behind her chair, rubbing her shoulders. That earned her a round of giggles as everyone just basked in the treatments they were getting.

“In your dreams,” Elli teased back.

Reese laughed as she nodded her head.

“Hell yes, in my dreams. That dude is sex on legs. Jeez, he’s so pretty.”

“He really is,” Piper gushed.

“Hey, you skinny hoes, back off my man!” Elli laughed.

Reese and Piper giggled, and Elli couldn’t remember the last time she felt so relaxed and happy. Being with her friends and getting pampered was the greatest start to her birthday. And the way everyone was talking, tonight was going to be even better.

After getting their feet and hands done, they headed up to the hair salon. Elli sat in the chair as a girl named Andee starting doing her hair. After getting it washed and trimmed, Harper came over, smiling down at Elli.

“Okay, so we are covering the mirror.”

“Huh?” Elli asked as two other salon workers came over and covered the mirror with a black sheet.

“You can’t see what she does.”

“Why?” Elli complained.

“It’s part of the surprise, so shut up.”

Harper walked away, sitting back in her chair, leaving Elli frustrated. She hated not knowing what she looked like. What if this chick jacked her hair up or made her makeup look crazy. It was driving her crazy as she sat, letting the Andee girl do whatever she wanted with her hair. After about an hour and a half, Andee was finally done with Elli’s hair and makeup.

Elli stood up as everyone came over to her with smiles on their faces. Everyone except Trice had intricate up-dos, with flowers or feathers in their hair. Everyone looked so classic, so beautiful.

“This isn’t fair! I wanna know what I look like!”

Everyone laughed as Harper came towards her a blindfold in her hand.

“Oh come on!” she complained as Harper carefully tied it over her eyes.

“Don’t ruin it. Shea’s worked hard, okay?” Harper whispered in her ear as the world went black around her.