Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
He blinked — once, twice — and then, he shoved back from the table, his chair grinding against the floor as he fell to his knees. He wrapped Giana in his arms, burying his head in her chest as his shoulders shook.
“Come on, guys,” Leo said. “Let’s give them a moment.”
He nodded toward the dance floor, and we all followed, but not before the girls and I snuck another look back and found Clay’s massive hands spreading over Giana’s belly, his eyes thick with tears.
“I’m going to be a dad,” he breathed a question up at Giana.
When she nodded, he broke entirely, and we all tore our eyes away, linking arms and letting out unnaturally high-pitched peals of laughter as we ran to the dance floor.
The band was a hit, transitioning from the soft music that had played through dinner into a broad range that pleased everyone from twenty-one to eighty. We danced in a circle, mostly around Julep and Holden, though we all took turns doing stupid dance moves in the middle. I laughed particularly hard when Zeke, Holden, and Leo did some sort of mime act that involved them stuck in invisible boxes.
We were all sweating by the time Clay and Giana joined us, and the guys wrapped Clay in a loud bear hug of congratulations while the ladies swarmed Giana. We fawned over her, taking turns touching her stomach even though nothing was showing yet. Julep said she hoped it was a girl. Riley tried to pester her for names. And I just gave her a high-five for finding a way to make a book-related joke about her pregnancy.
Soon, we were all dancing again, and more and more players joined us.
Braden and Blake started a train at one point, pulling me right between them and giving me no choice but to join. When we were dancing in a circle again, Kyle held up his phone to show us the photo he’d posted of all the guys in their tuxes before the wedding. It had half-a-million likes already, along with thousands of comments — most of them from women who were heartbroken Holden was wifed up now. He’d garnered quite the following after the starting quarterback for the Panthers was injured near the end of the season and Holden stepped in, taking them all the way to the playoffs. They went out in the first round, but once again, Holden was in the spotlight.
I had a feeling he’d live his entire life there.
When I was sweating so much I had to down an entire glass of water to keep from overheating, the band finally gave us a break with a slow song. They crooned out a beautiful rendition of “Scenic Drive” by Khalid and Alicia Keys, the male and female lead singers somehow making it sound even better than the original.
Leo took me by the hand as the first notes played, pulling me to the edge of the dance floor that was the least crowded. His hands found my hips and held me close as I threaded my arms around his neck.
For a while, we just swayed to the music, our eyes dancing over one another as soft smiles played at the corners of our lips. I’d never been to a wedding before, but there was something about being surrounded by such young, promising love that made me want to lean into Leo and tell him how much he meant to me in a hundred different languages.
As if he felt the same, he tugged me in even more, until I could rest my head on his shoulders and close my eyes as we danced. I inhaled his scent, his soul, intertwining mine with it and absentmindedly wondering what our wedding would be like.
There wasn’t even a doubt in my mind now that it would happen one day.
“What’s on your mind, mi amor?” he asked, his words low and sultry in my ear.
“Forever,” I answered softly.
Leo pulled back on a smile. “With me?”
“And Palico.”
“Of course,” he said, but his smile leveled out as his eyes searched mine. “I can see it.”
“Me, too.”
“What do you think,” he asked, nodding to the grand scene around us, the garden lush with plants and flowers and trees, the lights golden, the band more expensive than our mortgage. “You want something like this, too?”
I let out a long breath, considering. “Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe, just you and me and a quiet beach somewhere far away.”
“An elopement?” Leo asked, surprised. Then, after consideration, he nodded. “I could get down with that.”
“Yeah?”
“Hell yeah. But,” he said immediately. “You know there’s no way we can get away without having my mom there.”
I laughed. “Would never dream of it.”
“But you do want to get married?” he asked, almost tentatively.
“I do.”
“And kids?”
“Um…” I cringed. “Maybe we could be the cool aunt and uncle?”