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“Fuckin’ finally,” I heard someone shout but didn’t know who spoke the same words that bounced around inside my head.
I wasn’t a sentimental guy by nature. But my emotions got the better of me. And no matter how hard I tried to mask my relief, my happiness, my gratitude that she’d said yes, my eyes glassed over, blurring my vision as I struggled to catch my breath. When we broke apart, a lone tear escaped and trailed down my cheek, but Edana wiped it away with her thumb before anyone could see. The only other time she saw me cry was when I’d sat by her bedside after her attack all those years ago.
Everyone came up to us one by one, congratulating us, most of the guys proclaiming “It’s about time” while the women got all gushy, some asking how soon it would be until we did the deed. I barely had time to register one question before they fired another one at us. We literally just got engaged. I wasn’t thinking about the date and everything that went into planning a wedding. Sure, I wanted to make it legal sooner rather than later, but we needed to get through the night before we decided on anything else. I was content reveling in the satisfaction Edana had finally said yes.
“I didn’t think this day would ever come.” Jagger clasped my hand and gave me a side hug. “Congrats, man.”
“Thanks. And that makes two of us.”
Along with the older members of the club, Jagger had witnessed the majority of my and Edana’s relationship. He’d seen the good, the bad, and the ugly—a poignant depiction of our rocky journey as a couple.
He clinked the tip of his bottled beer to mine, pushing a strand of his blond hair out of his eye. “Get ready for the barrage of information that’s gonna come at you. I remember when the only thing Kena wanted to talk about centered around the details for the wedding. It drove me nuts. But I wasn’t dumb enough to tell her that.”
The rumble of his laughter elicited a similar sound from me. “Smart move.”
I wasn’t a man interested in the finite details of anything. Just tell me what to do, where and when, and I’d take care of it. So, if and when Edana rambled on about all things wedding related, and make no mistake, the woman could talk about a singular thing for hours, I’d remind myself that she’d finally given me what I wanted after all these years.
Leaning against the bar, I took in the sight of everyone present, looking at them through different eyes. It might sound odd, as if I’d suddenly become a new man, but in a way, it was exactly how I felt. Again, not a sappy guy, but there were some things in life that made a man question himself. What he thought. Believed. Trusted. This was one of those times.
When we were younger, being tied down to the same woman day after day, year after year, wasn’t something we wanted. In fact, most of us fought against it. But then life happened. War happened. And it was the love of a good woman that got us through. Me included.
The older I got, the less I took things for granted. I had a firsthand account of how quickly life could be altered, be snatched away in the blink of an eye. Hell, I had a second and thirdhand account of that shit.
Lost to my rambling inner thoughts, I was surprised when Ryder appeared next to me, holding a half-sleeping toddler. “We’re gonna get goin’. Silas is gettin’ fussy again, and if this boy throws another fit, I’m gonna lose my shit.”
“You rhymin’ now?”
“Not intentionally. That’s how tired I am.” He glanced behind him before turning back to me. “You wanna take him for the night? I’ll pay ya.”
“For as tempting as that is, especially after such an enticing selling point for the kid, I’m gonna have to pass.”
“You better not still be tryin’ to pass off our son on more people,” Braylen chastised, walking up next to him, and reaching for their boy. Her gaze swung to mine. “Congrats again, Hawke. I’m very happy for you two.” Her bright smile faded when her attention swiveled back to the dark-haired man beside her. “Let’s go.”
“This is what you have to look forward to when you get hitched, brother.”
“I heard that,” his wife said, and while I laughed, he looked a bit put out. I was sure it was hard having to raise an eleven-year-old and a toddler at his age. Our age, I supposed I should say. We weren’t close to death’s door, but we weren’t in our prime either. Some would say we resided in the sweet spot of life. Tell that to every ache and pain I experienced when it rained, or when the temperature dipped below a certain degree.
“We’re gonna head out too,” Prez said, approaching from my right, Sully’s hand clutched in his. “Good job today.”
“Good job?”
“Yeah. Good job in gettin’ your head out of your ass. Finally.” Marek was halfway to drunk, the glassiness of his eyes a telltale sign.
Sully tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear before stepping forward to give me a hug. She tugged on her hand to dislodge it from his, but he didn’t budge.
“Cole,” she said, the only one to ever call him by his first name. “You can loosen up a bit.” Her tone was lighthearted, her face contorting in slight annoyance when he didn’t comply.
“Not gonna happen. Don’t need your lips on his face.”
“I was just gonna give him a congratulatory hug.”
He sniffed, cocking his brow in the silence that followed.
Wanting to tamp down his jealousy, which I completely understood all too well, I rubbed Sully’s arm and flashed her a smile right before Prez tucked her back into his side. And instead of her chastising him, she looked up at him in adoration. She was used to him. Had he not been drinking; he might not have reacted so abruptly. Then again, maybe he would’ve been worse. Sometimes, Marek was unpredictable, especially when it came to his wife.
After they’d left, I sat there for a time, staring at everyone who remained. I found amusement watching Trigger and Cutter sitting on the couch together, talking about God only knew what. Trigger’s mouth was going a mile a minute, doing most of the talking. And because Cutter was a man of few words, and whose patience ran short, he was gonna get up and walk away in the next minute or so because that was just what he did when he didn’t want to be bothered any longer. No one took it personally. He treated everyone the same.
As my gaze shifted toward the center of the room, I clocked Ace and Linc sitting at one of the tables together, Chelsea on Ace’s lap and Maddie sitting close to her man, our VP’s second oldest. Zander, Stone’s youngest, sat across from his brother. Even though he was younger than Linc, he was taller, his dark blond hair the same shade as their dad’s.
