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“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” she whispered. Then, she leaned up and gently brushed her lips over mine in a soft kiss that spoke more volumes than any passionate one we’d shared before.
I hoped my expression conveyed everything I didn’t say. And by her little smile, I knew I’d succeeded.
“Oh, my God!” Athena yelled, tears swimming in her eyes the moment we walked into the clubhouse.
Balloons floated up to the ceiling upon our entrance, and everyone cheered, “Congratulations!” I flinched at it all, but the sort of unwelcome surprise was worth seeing how happy my wife was.
My wife.
Fuck, that still sounded near impossible to me. But that was what she was. Despite how quiet I was, despite my need for silence sometimes, she still chose me. Unlike so many other people in the world, she never saw my differences as something to change.
She saw them as something to love. And fuck, if I wouldn’t cherish her for the rest of my life. She deserved so much more than I could ever give her, but I would strive every day to be the man she needed me to be.
“Congratulations, man,” Remi said, coming up to clap me on the back as Athena was dragged into a heartwarming hug by Cecily and Chelsea. Chelsea’s military boyfriend, who was apparently home for a couple of weeks, was standing by the bar with Adler and Beau, drinking a beer.
I grunted in response. Remi chuckled and stepped back, giving me some space. “You want some cake? Chelsea spared no expense on it, and apparently, none of us are allowed to touch it until one of you gets a slice first.”
My lips quirked in response, but I inclined my head nonetheless, silently telling him to lead the way. He wasn’t the least bit worried about if I wanted cake. He just wanted me to get a slice so he could have some.
I loved my brothers; they were one hundred percent the best family I could have ever asked for. But goddamn were they predictable.
Athena slid up next to me as I picked up the knife laying on a plate beside the cake. “Cut it with me?” she asked, laying her slender fingers over mine. Tingles raced up my arm. I hoped we never lost the intense passion and love between us.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers in a silent answer. With her beaming next to me, we sliced down the three-tier cake together, more cheers from our family ringing out around us. After I fed her a piece of cake, I gave her the plate and stepped back, letting everyone else swoop in on the sugary food. Cake just wasn’t my thing.
“You made her the happiest woman alive today,” Athena’s grandfather, Raul, rumbled as he stepped up next to me.
Strangely, he hadn’t taken offense to how quiet I was. His wife, Melanie, was still struggling to get the memo that I really wasn’t a talker, but at least they weren’t offended. She just thought she’d be the one to break my “tough” shell, as she put it.
Hated to be the one to break it to her, but if her granddaughter couldn’t even get me to open my mouth a lot, she sure as hell wasn’t.
“It’s not easy for me to allow another man to take care of her,” Raul quietly continued, “but I know you’ll do right by her. I can look at you and tell she’s the center of your entire universe.” He held his hand out to me, and immediately, I clasped it, shaking his hand. “Continue to make her happy, Seb, and welcome to our family.”
Athena quickly rushed up to me after he walked off, quickly getting drawn into an animated conversation with Elliot. I looked down at my wife and reached up, swiping my thumb over her bottom lip where she had a little bit of icing. Her eyes heated when I pressed my thumb to the seam, and she parted her lips, licking the icing off.
