“What?” she asked.
“I...”
She turned slowly. “Do you like it?”
He stood up from the couch, and moved to her, pulling her hard up against him, the hug so unexpected it took her breath away. All she could hear was her own heart beating in her head, and then his as her face was pressed to his hard chest.
He released her quickly, the whole thing lasting maybe one second.
“Oh,” he said. “You’re just really fucking beautiful. And I am... I am damned proud of you, Rue. Look at you. We’re grown-ups. But you’rereallyone. You made it.”
It was so sincere, and so deep that she just didn’t know what to do with it.
“Thank you,” she said. “I wanted it really bad.”
He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, and her stomach swooped. He smiled, and she felt like everything was going to be okay. Everything.
He linked his arm with hers and turned to the side. “I should be giving you away, you know?”
She looked up and caught their reflection in the mirror just behind her dining table. Her in a wedding dress, and him in a black T-shirt and a black cowboy hat right beside her. She just stared for a second. Andthen it was like someone had slapped her and she had to look away. She took a step back from him. “You could,” she said. “You... you could.”
“It’s okay. Nobody needs to give you away, Rue. Besides. You been banging that guy for eight years.”
“Stop,” she said. And she laughed, the tension in her chest dissipating. Thank God.
“You have to stop, because it’s ridiculous.”
“Newsflash, Ruby. I am ridiculous.”
“It’s part of your charm,” she said.
Sue arrived about ten minutes later, and made final adjustments to the dress, which she completed right there because they were so small.
And then it was time for Justice to go back to work on the ranch. And she felt relieved after a fashion. Which was an odd sensation, but there had been something heavy about the whole day. She wasn’t in the mood to unpack it. It was just the impending change of it all. But she was fixed in her decision, and she was happy about it.
And the truth was, she and Justice would weather the change in their relationship. They had weathered everything else.
Now the only thing she really had to worry about was surviving her bachelorette party.
Chapter Four
Arizona and Fia had gone entirely overboard with their help for the bachelorette party, and Justice adored them for it.
He opened up a bag that was filled with absolutely garbage party favors. They were humiliating. They were embarrassing. They were tasteless as hell. And he loved them. “You are brilliant,” he said, reaching into the bag and taking out a necklace that was made up entirely of small, miniature naked men.
Arizona grinned. Like a shark. “We want her to be dressed up for the party.”
“She’s going to behorrified,” he said.
He had lied a little bit when he’d said that the party was going to be tailored to her needs. The truth was, he had done her a kindness by deciding to have it at King’s. Keeping it all in the family. Because it was going to be raucous, and he was going to pull her out of her comfort zone. Because that was what best men did on the eve of their friend’s wedding. It was just what happened. It was whatneededto happen.
“I can’t believe she’s getting married,” Fia said, looking a little bit wistful.
“Why do you say that?” Justice asked.
“It just feels very final,” Fia said, shrugging.
“Final in what sense?” he pressed.
