Loving Storm (Ashes & Embers 5)

“All sex with you is awesome.”

We slowly part, and I hunt around the room for something to clean myself up with. I settle on tissues from a box on the table where all my makeup is still spread out.

“Everyone’s going to be wondering where we are,” I say nervously as we get dressed and try to make ourselves look like we didn’t just go at it like wild rabbits.

He flashes me his wicked boyish grin. “Everyone knows exactly where we are.” He zips up my gown and plants a kiss on the back of my head. “It’s your day, baby. You can do whatever the hell you want.”

I turn to smile up at him. “It’s our day.”

Chapter Ten

When we enter the reception hall, everyone claps and cheers—and I’m sure I turn red as a lobster—but Storm just pulls me into his arms and kisses me, making everyone cheer for us even more.

Although we hired a band so Storm’s brothers and cousins could enjoy the night with their dates, Talon and Rayne are going to sing a duet, a love song they wrote for us, with Lukas playing violin. While we kiss, they go on stage together and Talon grabs the mic.

“Ladies and gentlemen…Storm and Evelyn Valentine!”

Storm pulls me to the center of the dance floor as the sweet sound of Lukas’s violin fills the room. After a few moments the band joins them and Talon starts to sing, and his voice is soulful and raw, singing a love song just for us. When Rayne crosses the stage to stand with Talon, she sings her part just as beautifully, and tears spring to my eyes.

Storm peeks at me as our bodies move together. “Hey, no crying or I’ll pull them right off that stage.”

I rest my head on his shoulder. “It’s just such a beautiful song,” I say tearfully. “They put so much heart into it for us. I love it. I love them.”

“I love you.”

I stare up into his eyes, feeling as if my heart will burst with adoration for him. “I love you, too. This is the happiest day of my life.”

“Get ready, baby, because it’s going to be the first of many.”

And I believe, with Storm, there’s no doubt at all that’s true.

After our dance, we walk around the room, hand in hand, to greet all our guests. In lieu of a gift, we asked our guests to donate to our favorite local pet rescue and shelter, owned and operated by the Grace family, who are longtime friends of the Valentines.

Finally, we’re able to sit down for dinner, and then we cut the cake, which as Gram mentioned a few weeks ago, is almost too pretty to cut and eat, with icing that looks like real snow. Sitting on the very top layer are a bride and a groom with long hair, standing next to a pickup truck, that Storm had custom made by the same girl who made the snow globe he gave me for Christmas after we first met. Gram carefully takes the ornaments and the tiny top layer from the cake and puts them in a gift box for us to take home.

The night has been such a whirlwind of dancing, talking to guests, taking pictures, and kissing my husband, that I don’t even realize until after we have cake that I can’t remember the last time I saw Amy. I scan the room once again, but don’t see her anywhere. She’s not even at the bar flirting with the cute bartender.

Next to me, Storm is in a conversation about the band with his brother, Asher and their friend, Tor. I lightly touch his arm. “I’m going to go look for Amy. I’ll be right back.”

We kiss, and I head toward the other side of the room where I spot Ivy and Lukas standing by the door talking.

As soon as I approach them, Ivy throws her arms around me. “Evelyn! We’re so happy for you two.” She beams. “You look gorgeous, this dress is amazing.”

“Thank you. Asia did an amazing job.”

“You look like an angel. The winter theme kicks ass,” Lukas says.

“Your violin solo was beautiful. Thank you so much for doing that for us.”

He raises his glass of champagne toward me. “Anything for you guys.”

“Hey, have you seen Amy?” I ask them. “I can’t find her.”

They shake their heads. “No,” Ivy says. “Not since right after the ceremony.”

My brow creases. “Okay…I’m going to go hunt for her.”

I leave the reception hall and head toward the ladies’ room, all sorts of worries circling through my mind. Maybe she got sick? Or maybe something happened and she had to leave? It’s not like her to just disappear. I thought for sure she’d be hovering over me all night, fixing my hair and telling me to stand up straight.

Halfway down the hallway, I see her come out of a doorway on the left, with Mikah swaggering behind her with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He heads in the other direction, toward the exit door on the far end of the hallway.

“Amy…” My steps quicken as we approach each other. “I’ve been looking for you.” Close up, I realize my best friend, who always looks impeccable, is a bit of a mess. Her lipstick is smudged, her eyeliner is smeared, and her hair is ruffled up in the back. “Where have you been?” I ask.

She fluffs up her hair with her hands. “I was dancing. It got really hot in there so I went to get some air.”

I don’t recall seeing Amy dancing at all.

“Dancing?” I repeat, raising an eyebrow. “On your face? What happened to your makeup?”

She swipes the eyeliner remnants beneath her eyes with her fingertips. “I told you, it was hot.”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I give her a thorough once-over. “What are you up to? You look all sorts of frazzled.”

Refusing to meet my eyes, she continues to walk toward the reception hall with me following her. “Don’t you have a husband to dance with or kiss or get wall banged by?”

“Oh my God, you heard us?”

“The whole place heard it.”

I shake my head. I’ll worry about that embarrassment later. Right now I want to know what she’s hiding.

Grabbing her arm, I slow her down. I have no idea how she’s walking so fast in heels when I can barely keep up with my flats on. “Amy…I know when you’re not telling me something. What did you do?”

“Not what…” A sly smile crosses her lips, showing off her perfect white teeth. “But who.”

“Oh shit. Who?”

“Mikah.”

“Mikah! Are you kidding me?” I ask in a hushed tone.

Turning to the right, she pushes the ladies’ room door open and I follow her inside. “What happened?” I demand after I check to make sure no one else is in here.

“We hooked up,” she says simply, washing her hands.

“Hooked up? What does that mean?”

She stares at me like I have ten heads. “It means we had sex, Ev.”

“What?! Where? And why?”

She folds her arms over her chest. “Relax. It was in a closet. No one saw us.”

“I can’t believe this. Why would you do that?”

“Every time I’ve seen the band, I’ve always been so busy drooling over the bass player I never really noticed how hot Mikah is.”

“Please tell me you didn’t have sex with my husband’s brother.”

“Why are you freaking out? We’re adults. It was consensual.”

“It was in a hallway closet. With my one hundred guests just down the hall! Including his mother and his grandmother. What’s wrong with you?”

“Um, hello? Remember when you and Storm were going at it in a storage room in a club with hundreds of people milling around? I distinctly remember guarding the door to make sure Michael didn’t show up.”

I rub my throbbing temple. “Okay. Point made. But Mikah? He’s a jerk, Amy. He’s not like Storm, Asher, and Talon. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him have an actual conversation. What happened to new hair, new Amy, new guy?”

She reaches into the neckline of her dress and fixes her bra, adjusting her boobs. “I don’t care if he’s an asshole. He’s hot and he’s fucking wild. We’re going to meet up later, he has a room here at the hotel for the night.”

I let out an

exasperated sigh, not surprised that Mikah has a room here. He obviously planned to hook up with someone. Anyone.

“Please don’t, Amy. Nothing good will come of this.”

“I’m not like you, Evelyn. I need to get the D on the regular or I go stir crazy.”

“The D? What does that even mean? What language are you speaking?”

“The dick. Cock. Meat puppet. Call it what you want. I need it. And Mikah’s definitely got it. If Storm is anything like him, damn…now I know why you couldn’t resist.”

My jaw clenches. “Please don’t compare Storm to him. Storm has a heart of gold. I’m not sure what Mikah’s deal is, but he’s rude and obnoxious.”