“Let the man breathe, Levi,” Shane added.
“Absolutely not. You don’t get to breathe if you’re holding out on me!”
“It doesn’t matter.” I took a sip of the wine at the table and the taste seemed more bitter than usual. “It’s not going to work out.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m an idiot. Because I have awful timing.” I chuckled through the pain. “Because I already ruined things pretty much the first time I opened my mouth. And because…”
“Because?”
I looked over at my dad, currently entertaining the newfound Thornton side of the family. My chest tightened at the idea of ending up just like him, all business, all miserable. It was the path I’d been on my entire life, one I’d never even questioned until right now. Being like my father seemed like the perfect deal, the respect, the power, the control…
And then, my eyes drifted over to Dylan.
He was with Jolene, playfully spinning her in time to the music. They were dancing to some pop song on the reception floor and laughing their heads off. Each of them had champagne flutes, every so often posing for photos in front of the cameras. Dylan looked so beautiful that it hurt to look at him, his perfect smile, and his laughter somehow cutting through the crowd. He was everything that I never even knew I wanted, all happiness, all honesty…
“Where are you going?” Levi asked, as I stood up from the table, already heading over to the dance floor.
“I think I’m about to do something insane. Back me up when this all blows up in my face?”
“Always!” Levi applauded, while Shane gave me an approving nod. “Go get ‘em!”
A few moments later I was standing in front of Dylan, who was still dancing with Jolene. He smiled as soon as he saw me, waving a hand around the room. “I did it! I actually did it! This turned out way better than I expected! Don’t tell Amber I said that though?—”
I cut him off with a kiss, my hands wrapping around his waist, my chest pressed close to his. Dylan tried to move away from me, wide-eyed and confused. “Cole! What are you—you’re lucky barely anyone saw that?—”
“I saw it.” Jolene smirked. “And I am not above spreading some gossip when it’s good.”
“Jolene! Don’t! Cole—” I cut him off again, deepening the kiss. This time, the room fell silent around us, as I held Dylan even closer.
“What are you doing…what are you doing…” Dylan was nervous, his hands lightly shaking. “Cole, are you drunk?”
“Nope.”
“But why would you just kiss me like that? In front of everyone?”
“Because you’re mine.” I quirked an eyebrow. “I thought we already established that.”
“Oh, my God!” Amber appeared right in front of us. “Is this real? Is this actually happening?”
“If you’re asking if we like each other, then yes?—”
“Dylan Reid is going to bein my family!” Amber squealed with excitement. “My future brother-in-law! Oh, my God! This is the best wedding present you could’ve ever gotten me, Cole!”
“Hold on. I didn’t say anything about—I don’t even know if Dylan wants to?—”
“I’d let you do whatever you wanted with me, Cole Stratton.” Dylan’s eyes were locked on mine.
And I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. I was about to go in for another kiss, when I heard my uncle coughing beside us, clearly wanting our attention.
“I knew it.” Virgil grinned. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Did you? Tell me?”
“Oh, please. I was watching you lovebirds from the very beginning. It was obvious where this was going. Just as obvious as the moon landing being fake.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “You have to try harder than that to pull one over on me.”
Virgil patted me on the back. “I’m happy for you, Cole. It’s a hard world out there. It’s nice to find someone who’ll spot you. That’s the kind of thing people spend their whole lives looking for. Smart of you to not let it slip away from you.”
