Page 66 of That Kiss

I straighten my shoulders and clutch my bouquet as the back door of the house opens and we start down the stairs toward the aisle.

“I’m ready.”

“How was the honeymoon? Did you end up parasailing like you said you wanted to?” Brooklyn takes a bite of her donut.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Chicken out?” Ranger teases.

“Just didn’t get around to it.” Decker’s hand slides over my leg beneath the table, coming to rest on my knee.

“What about water skiing? Did you end up just belly-flopping repeatedly? Because that’s what happened to me.” Dolly frowns at Ranger. “Thanks to someone taking off too fast in the boat.”

“I, um, no, I didn’t end up trying it, actually, but I’m sure if I had, I would have belly-flopped.”

“Damn, what did you guys actually do then?” Tyler asks, pouring himself a glass of orange juice before offering some to Brook.

“Oh, oh, God, no.” Brooklyn waves a hand in front of her face then covers her mouth. “I’ll be right back.” Her chair shoots backward and she runs toward the bathroom, all of us watching her take off.

“The morning sickness from this pregnancy is really kicking her ass,” Tyler says, standing up to go check on her.

“Ugh, poor thing. I hope it doesn’t last her entire second trimester,” Amelia adds. “Mine finally went away by around week 20, but this time,” she looks down at her protruding belly and places her hand on it, “I barely even had it during the first trimester.”

“I can’t believe you’re both pregnant at the same time.” Dahlia smiles. “Almost makes me want to join the club.” She bumps Ranger’s shoulder.

“You’re not gonna hear me say no to that.” He nibbles her ear, making her fall into a fit of giggles.

Decker leans over, his hand now beneath the hem of my dress, resting on my bare knee. “You sure you don’t want to tell them what we did our entire honeymoon?” His whisper is gruff.

I turn my face slightly to look at him, reaching my hand up to clutch his chin gently. “Don’t you dare.”

“Mmm, is that a threat?”

“Okay, okay, you two,” Tyler interrupts us when he and Brook come back to the table. “So, now that you’re in love and all that—married, settled in the house,” he looks over at his brother Trent, and then at Ranger, “who the hell are we going to tease about getting their head out of their ass anymore?”

The table bursts into laughter just as Milly and Kent arrive and take a seat. “What’d we miss?” She glances around the table.

“I was just asking ‘Who are we going to razz now that these two finally got their shit together and fell in love?’ I kind of liked teasing them.”

We all glance around the table at each other when the bell to the restaurant chimes and Adrienne comes bouncing through the door, her always-bright and cheery demeanor a welcome surprise.

“Hey!” She runs over to Deck and me, enveloping us both in a warm hug. “How was the honeymoon? I want to see pictures!”

“Hey, it was great! So warm and beautiful. I didn’t think you were gonna make it today. Milly said your flight got canceled last night.”

“It did, but then they ended up getting me on the last flight out of Chicago, which was super-late, and was to Cheyenne and not Denver, but thankfully, Scotty was actually up there, so he was able to give me a ride home.”

She smiles at the waitress who appears by her side, and she puts in her order. I look over at Brooklyn and Tyler, who both have inquisitive looks on their faces.

“Scotty?” Brook mouths at me. Dahlia’s smiling from ear to ear.

“Well, looks like you guys might have just found your newest victim,” Decker says just as the waitress walks away from our table.

“Don’t encourage them,” I whisper to him, but it’s too late. I can already see the wheels turning in our friends’ heads.

“Scotty is such a sweetheart.” Brooklyn smiles at Adrienne. “What a gentleman.”

“Mm-hmm.” Adrienne reaches for a glass of water and takes a sip. “So anyway, about the honeymoon . . .”

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