“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled.
“Your grandmother would be so proud of you—as well as your parents. You two make a beautiful couple, and I could see the strength of your love even when you couldn’t. I have no doubt you both will support each other when you’re weak and love each other through it all. Always remember to be honest, be humble, and love even when it’s hard.” He raised his glass higher. “To Nicholas and Verana.”
I swallowed down the lump of emotions working their way up my throat along with the chilled bubbly liquid.
Before I could finish, silverware clinked against glasses, signaling us to kiss.
Not wasting any chance I got, I pulled her back in my arms and glued my mouth to hers, nibbling her soft lips. When she did the same to mine, flicking her tongue along the sting, I set my glass aside and used both arms to dip her back and deepen the kiss.
“Get a room,” Xander shouted.
I stood us upright and turned a devious smile his way. “Oh, I plan on it.”
Vera slapped my chest but laughed, the lightest blush coloring her cheeks.
“How long do we have to stay?” I asked her.
“Hmm…” she pretended to ponder, pinching her lips. “I’m thinking all night. We may party until dawn. I mean, Rae is already asking the bartender for tequila.”
“I don’t think so. They can do all they want, but I’m thinking two hours at most.”
“Wow, impressive.”
“What?” I asked.
“I was thinking I’d be lucky to make it an hour.”
“God, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Now, we just need a good reason to vanish.”
“It’s okay. We can say we’re not feeling well. We can blame it on the champagne.”
I clinked my glass to hers. “Sounds perfect. Just like you.”NovaVera and Nico left two hours ago, but a few of us had moved the party to the bar.
“Come on,” Raelynn whined. “I want to play with Naughty Nova.”
I gave her a deadpanned stare as she waved the shot of tequila in my face. She knew it was my weakness, and after the stressful week of meeting deadlines for my new job, I could use a night to let off steam.
“Maybe we can try and Instagram Patrick,” she said in her seductive voice, following it up with kissing noises.
Just hearing his name brought forth a slew of emotions tied to a million memories.
“You’re horrible,” Austin grumbled next to Rae.
“I’m the best, and you love me,” she said, smacking a kiss on his cheek.
“Someone has to.” He rolled his eyes but continued to watch her even when she turned away. Rae tortured him, and he always turned her down, but it was so obvious to everyone but her why he never took her up on a one-night stand. He wanted so much more.
“Come on, you were laughing right along with me,” she said to him.
The last wedding we’d had for Nico and Vera had started with a ton of tequila and ended with me twerking on the dance floor while Raelynn scrolled through Instagram, stealing pics I swore to kill her over if she ever posted.
No, she never posted.
But she had seen Patrick start an Instagram live video that he notoriously invited fans to join. Lucky Raelynn requested to join under my handle and magically got picked. She’d greeted him, announcing she only knew of his band because her friend was half in love with him. At that point, unbeknownst to me, she turned the camera on me mid-ass shake. I had no idea any of it was going on and shimmied toward her, rapping along to Missy Elliot.
Yeah, I didn’t want to repeat that performance. But just the memory of it had me wanting to drink the embarrassment away.
“Give Austin your phone,” I ordered.
“Oh, come on.”
“Do it,” I said again, taking the shot.
“Fine.” She gave him her phone, and he shoved it into his pants pocket. “I can’t wait to hunt for that later,” she said with a wink.
“Jesus,” he murmured.
She laughed before leaning her ample cleavage on the bar to get the bartender’s attention. “Three more shots, please.”
We did our shots, and my phone vibrated just as another was handed to me. I dug in my pocket and downed the drink.
“Come dance,” Rae pleaded.
I looked down at the screen.
Text Message from Rockstar.“Take Austin. I’ll be right out,” I said distractedly.
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Austin grumbled as Rae tugged him past me.
“Oh, we both know you like it,” I shouted.
That had him shutting up.
Just like every time his name popped up my heart picked up pace like an unstoppable freight train. A picture of a carved pumpkin and strong, long fingers holding it in place accompanied a text message.
Rockstar: Remember when your mom made us all carve pumpkins?
Me: Ha. Yeah, like we were the Brady Bunch. That was the first year after our parents married.