"Oh Lord, not this Amy stuff again." He clamped his hand over mine as I held onto his arm. "I'm interested in you, but you know that."
"I do, and if I was free, I'd return your interest, but I'm not. I'm in love with my biker boy." I got into the back of the car and was grateful that Kade got in the front with Bart and left my sister to get in the back with me.
He turned around and pinned me with a hard stare. "And, if that ever changes?"
"Then, I'll come looking for you first." I smiled and leaned back.
*
Dinner was great with Kade there, and I could so easily see myself fitting into his life, and him fitting into mine, but he wasn't Tate. Not in the slightest.
We stopped at the door, and he watched me with desire in his gaze, but I ignored it. Allison gave Bart a quick kiss and turned, jogging up the stairs and calling after me to join her.
"Night." Kade reached out and touched the side of my face. "No chance at all, right?"
"Nope. Not even a little one." I cupped his hand on the side of my face and smiled at him.
"That's a lucky guy you're with. He knows that right?" He moved closer.
I released him and pushed at his chest. "He knows. Get out of here before I have to pull out some of my self-defense moves on you."
"Yeah, cause that makes me want to leave," he laughed.
"Night, Kade. See you tomorrow at the wedding." I turned and jogged up the stairs feeling good. I dropped down on my sister's bed and let out a long, girly sigh. "That was fun."
"You seemed to really enjoy Kade. Why are you so dead set on being with this other guy? Because it pisses Mom and Dad off?" She moved up beside me and propped her head up on her hand.
"No." I looked over at her. "Because I like him a lot. I want him in my future."
"Really? Maybe you should borrow my dress and get married tomorrow. That would be a win-win, for me and you." She tried to smile, but her expression saddened. "I want to love someone like that."
"Like what?" I reached over and brushed her hair back from her face.
"In a way that I didn't care about what it meant to be together or what it cost. That strong bond between two people that nothing could break, least of all the pressure of their parents." She rolled onto her back. "I don't know if I can do this tomorrow."
"Then don't." I moved onto my side. "You'll miss out on the greatest adventure you could ever have."
"Fending off Mom and Dad?" She smirked.
"No, silly. Being in love."
Chapter 29
Tate
I'm not sure I could have been any more nervous about going out to meet up with Val at her parents’ place. I was a grown man, and yet felt like a wayward teenage kid as Sam and I walked through the department store at the mall.
"Dude, I can't thank you enough for saying you'd go with me out there today. I honestly feel like I'm going to barf." I reached for a white button down shirt and held it up to my chest. "Yeah? No?"
"No worries, man. You know that I'd never leave you out to dry. Besides, I almost want to see if these rich bastards are going to act like trash in front of their wedding guests. I can't imagine that Val's father is going to be able to hold back his anger at seeing you."
"Yeah, you're not helping, at all." I put the shirt back on the rack and growled before tugging at my hair. "Maybe I should just tell her that I can't make it."
"Tate, you know she needs you out there. Stop acting like that. We need to get your clothes and get over to the Gamma house soon, though. We have about two hours before we need to be in our seats at the wedding. Hurry up." He leaned against a rack of jackets and gave me a look.
"Alright, well help me find something. I've never worn one of these monkey suits before." I checked the price tag and almost passed out. "What the fuck? This is insane. I'm not spending that much on an outfit I'm going to wear once."
"You'll wear it a lot more than you think you will." He pulled out his wallet as I lifted my hand.