“Why not? Now’s a good time as any,” he says, taking my hand from his chest and kissing the area below my thumb adoringly. “Weddings get me thinking about these things.”
“All right. Let’s do this.” I crack my knuckles like I’m preparing to throw down. “You actually think we might last and get married?” We’re now face to face, unable to wipe the smiles off our faces.
“Hell, yeah.” A big, bold grin from Kayden. “We go big or go home, Lucky.”
The joy in my heart starts fizzling like the champagne that was in my hand.
“Kids?” I prompt.
“Two. A boy and a girl. I don’t care which one comes first,” he says without hesitation. “We’ll name him Max, after Maximus, because that name is cool. And the girl—Clarissa, after my sister.”
My face hurts from smiling. I’m stunned at just how much he’s thought about this and the beautiful future he has imagined for us. It’s not like I haven’t stopped to think about it either; the future has always been something that felt murky and distant, but with Kayden, it has never looked so crystal clear.
“You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?” I whisper, heart swamped with adoration for this man.
“Of course I have,” he says, pouring every ounce of affection and love into his words. “I like to think that there is a future for us. I’m not in this relationship to see how it goes, Sienna. I’m in love with you and I’m in this for the long run.
If you’ll have me, of course.”
Kayden’s words melt my already fragile heart. I lean forward and brush my lips against his. I still can’t speak the words he so desperately wants me to say, but I hope I can show him by kissing him fervently like this—a gasp-stealing, world-dissolving kind of kiss and wrapping us both in a happy, blissful bubble.
Later, he guides me onto the dance floor to join the rest of the guests and engulfs me in his arms as we dance to the myriad of ballad songs played by the band. Even as they play Ed Sheeran’s “Give Me Love,” which Kayden naturally detests, he still lets me have a go at it, leading him throughout the song and swaying circles with me.
After a while, I excuse myself to head to the bathroom situated inside the estate house. Fortunately for me, it’s only a short walk through the garden into Founder’s Room—a saving grace for my bladder, which has been holding in five glasses of champagne like a champ. After relieving myself, I step back into the hall leading to the reception tent outside.
It’s sparse with furniture, with only a few satin-sheeted tables and dusty miscellaneous items from a previous wedding. I begin to make my way back, but my entire body freezes when the silence in the hall is suddenly punctuated by the voice of the one person I definitely didn’t wish to hear from today.
“Haven’t had a chance to catch you all day. But looking at you right now made the wait worth it.”
My expression twists into a scowl. “What do you want, Jax?”
I force myself to look at him. Decked out in an all-white tuxedo and impeccably polished designer shoes, with his blond hair gelled back smoothly in a middle part that I used to beg him to do but that he refused until today. He leans casually against one of the empty reception tables, finger circling the rim of the champagne glass resting in his hand.
The warm light flooding from the reception tent through the stone casement windows shades the contours of his freshly shaved face beautifully, but at the same time, illuminates the vicious spark in his eyes.
There’s nobody here but the two of us.
My mind immediately starts screaming danger,DANGER!
“Where’s Beth?” I ask, hoping I can distract him enough so I can slip away.
“Don’t know.” Jax gives a cold shrug. “But I’m here to talk to you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you, so scram,” I snap back impatiently.
His jaw tenses as he takes in my rejection, as if this is the first time I’m doing that. He strokes a hand down his face but it does nothing to relieve the muscle pulsing in his jaw.
“Do you think it’s easy for me to see you out there? With him? If you’re trying to get back at me for the Beth thing, it’s working, okay? I want you back,” he says gruffly. I roll my eyes. Of course it’s a dick-measuring contest with him. Me being happy with another guy is the only thing that’s going to send a dagger straight to his ego.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m done with you, Jax?” I seethe at him. “I’m with Kayden now. And unlike you, he’s actually good to me.”
“Good to you?” He echoes, disgusted at my answer.
“What fun is good?”
“As opposed to what we had?” I struggle to control my temper. “Me constantly pining for you, begging you for scraps and slivers, and you feeding me just enough to keep me around? And when I thought I deserved more, you got scared and cheated with the one person in world you definitely shouldn’t have cheated with?” I scoff. “I’d say it’s a major step up from that.”
“Come on. What we had wasn’t all that bad.” His eyes flame with heat as he walks over to me, his shoes clacking against the teak flooring. Each step he takes puts me on full alert. “It was us against the world. Two rebel fighters living it up, destroying everything that was in our path and claiming what we deserved. That’s you and me, princess. It doesn’t get any better than that.”