Aria squeezes my hand, and I lean closer.
I ask quietly. “You okay?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
I give her a pointed look. “Really?”
Her eyes shine a little, but her smile stays. “Really.”
After dinner, Lindsey cuts into the cake, and Aria takes the first bite. She closes her eyes like it’s the best thing she’s ever tasted.
I lean back in my chair and watch her.
“What?” she asks.
I stare at her mouth. “Nothing.”
She tilts her head. “You’re staring.”
I nod, already thinking about what I want to do to her when we get home. “I know.”
Her smile grows. “Why?”
“Because I can.”
Her cheeks turn pink again, and I’ve decided that I love making her blush.
Miller groans from across the table. “Can you two not be like that over dessert?”
Logan points his fork at him. “You’re one to talk.”
Lindsey laughs, and Bree joins in, and soon everyone is giving everyone else a hard time.
I take all of it in. My wife is sitting beside me, eating cake with one hand while the other sits on my thigh. I get to see her smile and laugh and cut up with my family. To think that I almost lost this makes me pause. I’m not sure what I would do without Aria, but I hope I never find out.
No, I’m not going to take a second of this life for granted. I’m going to live it, loving my wife and doing my best to give her everything she wants. Whatever that may be.
EPILOGUE
ARIA
One year later
My body reacts, and I’m pretty sure Penn is probably watching me.
That’s how it’s always been with him. Even in a yard full of people, even with everyone talking and laughing around us, I know when my husband’s eyes are on me.
I look up from the blanket spread across the grass, and sure enough, there he is, standing near the grill with Logan, Miller, Ozzy, Guy, and Zach, holding a bottle of water in one hand and watching me like I’m the only person here.
My heart does that same ridiculous thing it’s done since the day I met him.
I smile at him, and his face softens immediately.
God, I love that man.
“Aria,” Bree says from beside me, “he’s doing it again.”
I look at her. “Doing what?”
