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“So?” she prods me as I take my seat.
“A little while,” I say, vaguely.
Her eyes sharpen, and she leans back, lazily swirling the remaining champagne in her glass.
“When did you know it was real?”
Her question surprises me, digging deeper than I expect. I think, but my mind zeros in on the pretty blonde girl standing in a dark parking lot, who’d locked her keys in her car, asking me with hope if I was a carjacker. Then it skips to the moment I pulled up in front of the hospital to where she sat on the curb. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes vacant as they stared at the pavement, her teeth nibbling on that plump bottom lip. She’d just ended her future, and she called me. I had felt it deep in my core at that moment, and somehow, I knew. I knew when I flicked on the hazard lights and got out of the truck to get her, instead of waiting for her to look up and see me there, fifteen feet away, that I was doing so much more than just picking her up.
I wanted to be the one to put her back together.
“April,” I say. It was Wednesday, April fifth. It was ten o’clock in the morning and it was drizzling outside, but not too cold.
Liza is watching me, an odd mixture of awe and disappointment churning in her murky-green eyes. She doesn’t say anything as the lights dim and her parents are announced. Faye’s parents follow, and then Faye walks in, on the arm of Andrew, the best man. She beams, and to anyone else there, she must look like a beautiful, confident woman. But I see her tender insecurity, the discomfort at being the center of attention. As she approaches the table, I stand, my shoulders tensing when she gets closer and Andrew doesn’t let go of her. He kisses her cheek and I clench my jaw.
“Hey,” she says, her hazel eyes finally meeting mine.
The relief in them when I take her hand and gently tug her to me squeezes my heart. I kiss her button nose, then her full, perfect lips, but nobody notices because they’ve announced the newlyweds.
The band strikes up a Ray LaMontagne song as Edie and Dar go straight into their first dance. I thread Faye’s fingers between mine, kissing her knuckles as I feel the lyrics deep in my bones. She’s the best thing that I’ve had in my life in a long time. Possibly ever. And the thought is sobering. Because as much as I want to keep her right where she is, to hold her close and protect her as I look around the room, at her parents, their friends, her family, I don’t know if I can be enough for her.
Rick’s words circle back to me, his warning about being sure I’m ready to work my ass off for her. That I need to make myself good enough for her. I kiss her fingertips and she looks at me, her eyes soft, her lips relaxed in a sweet smile.
“You okay?” She sounds apologetic, and I nod, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist.
“You look beautiful,” I whisper.
Her cheeks flush the prettiest pink, and I think of other places on her body that flush that exact color. My eyes drift to the swell of her breasts, remembering the way her puckered nipples were so perfectly pink when I tugged them between my lips. The thought sends a jolt to my dick.
“Mind out of the gutter, Mr. Cooper,” she says. But her formal use of my name doesn’t help things.
I lean in, brushing my nose against her ear. “How long before I can tear that dress off you?”
“I hope you don’t tear anything,” she says with a huff of a laugh. “I happen to like this dress.”
“If we have to stay here all night, you’ll be lucky it’s not left in shreds.”
She smirks up at me, and her eyes flicker around the reception hall.
“I have maid of honor duties,” she says, regretfully. “But maybe I can sneak away…”
I love the dot-dot-dot I can hear at the end of her words, and I readjust my pants, trying to be as subtle as I can.
But then it’s time for speeches and someone hands her a microphone. She’s eloquent and sentimental, but I’m the only one who can see her leg shaking, the way her free hand trembles slightly.
I listen raptly, and when she stumbles over a turn of phrase, I stroke the side of her knee through her dress, and she visibly settles into her stance. It feels fucking amazing to see her react like that. To see that just a quick little reminder that I’m here for her can settle and calm her through a tough moment.
She finishes her speech and everyone toasts the couple. It’s a success, but there’s no applause. The moment isn’t about her, it’s about the couple, and Faye doesn’t seem to mind the lack of acknowledgment. Her grace astounds me, and I feel utterly inadequate.
But then she smiles at me. And her expression matches the way I feel inside. I kiss her, stroking her cheek as I do. And it feels real. It feels so real and I never want to let go.
But then I have to, because she’s pulled away for yet another photo that Edie needs help with and once again, I’m left to the wolves.
“You’re good together,” Liza says, her voice so different from before. “I’ve never seen her look at someone like that.”
I nod my thanks and try not to read into it too much. But there is a soft, malleable part of me that craves the words to feed my ego.
“Like what?”
