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“It doesn’t really matter, right? Who needs a career when you obviously married for money.”
The gleam of victory in his eyes should make me queasy, but I know something Rick doesn’t—the truth.
“I married Shane because I wanted to take care of him, because, obviously, no one had ever done it before.”
The arm around my waist tugs me closer as I feel Shane’s surprised exhale against my neck.
Though I’d intended on keeping my side of this verbal squabble mostly deflective—I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you—I suddenly want to berate this man for not doing better by Shane. How dare he have such a tender soul in his care and mistreat him. A cutting barb sits on the edge of my tongue, but then I remind myself that hurt people hurt people.
Even though his behavior is rotten, Rick probably has demons I know nothing about.
A bloom of compassion fills my ribs as I exhale slowly.
“I’m sure you did the best you could.” My multicolored wedding ring gleams in ambient light as my fingertips brush Rick’s jacket sleeve.
He flinches like I burned him.
“Don’t patronize me. I made Shane the athlete he is today. I taught him dedication and hard work. I taught him how to win.” He practically growls the last sentence. “You wouldn’t be enjoying your cushy life without the time and effort I invested.”
“You’re right.”
Of all the things I’ve said, this simple statement catches Rick off guard. His lashes flutter, and his chin tips up like I just planted one against his jaw. Then a smug smile spreads over his face, highlighting an uneven scar just below his bottom lip. He clearly thinks he’s just won.
“And I’m right,” I continue. “You taught him how to survive, and I’m showing him what it’s like to be loved just as he is. A person needs both.”
“Willow.”
Shane’s awed voice in my hair makes my heart give a heavy thump, but I’m not done yet.
“I wish that for you someday,” I tell his father, genuinely meaning it.
Rick sputters, scowls, and then mutters an excuse before storming off in Cody’s direction.
I give myself a mental high five, combined with an imagined running man-style happy dance, before remembering that I just dropped the L-word in front of my husband.
Right.
Time to face the music now that I’ve burst my delightful little bubble.
Except, before I can turn around, the string quintet stops playing as the wedding coordinator announces the happy couple. Dustin looks markedly better, if not a bit sheepish, and Layla remains impossibly stunning. Shane doesn’t let go of me as I clap and cheer for them. When an instrumental version of “Unchained Melody” begins from the jazz band set up on the low-lying stage, he sways me in tiny increments.
When the music seamlessly shifts into “The Way You Look Tonight” and other couples crowd around Dustin and Layla, Shane spins me to face him. One hand presses against the small of my back as his knuckles tip my chin up. The careful sweep of Shane’s eyes over my face draws a string tight around my heart.
Then his thumb traces over my bottom lip, and a whimper staggers out of me. Shane’s responding smile is the perfect mix of adoring deviousness. I want to capture the essence of that grin on my palette and cover an entire canvas with it. My skin flashes hot as Shane lowers his lips to hover above mine, close but not touching.
“I’m going to be bad at this,” he says, his warm breath tickling me before he places a chaste kiss at the corner of my mouth. “Like skee-ball.”
My lashes flutter closed. “Bad at what?”
Shane’s forehead presses to mine as he releases a long, slow exhale.
“Telling you I love you.”
My eyes fly open, catching Shane’s furrowed brows.
“I don’t know how to tell you how much. I don’t have the words. It’s like seven stadiums stacked end to end.” He frowns. “I’m getting this wrong. I shouldn’t be using sports analogies. I just—” A gusting sigh escapes him. “You mean so much to me, Willow. And you take such good care of me, and I…I want to be good for you too.”
My fingertips tremble as they frame his face. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
