Page 129 of Something Forever

He groans, then holds his hand out towards me. “M’lady, may I have this dance?”

I smile and place my hand in his. He guides me to the dance floor, gathering me in his arms and twirling me like a princess. I sway in his arms, somehow feeling even more in love with him than I did yesterday and the day before that. He whispers in my ear as we cross the floor, telling me all the things he’s going to do to me later, his voice teasing and sultry.

We finish the dance, and Liam gets pulled away by Tim and some of his academia friends. Liam’s starting back at Columbia in the fall, and since he’s going to load up on coursework, it will only take him three semesters to finish. He just finished his summer internship working at a science journal focused on mental health and neuroscience.

Glancing at my phone, I see a text from my mom. Ultimately, I decided not to invite Caroline. My mother and I have a long road ahead of us, but with Liam’s help, I’ve started to accept the reality of who she is and learned how to draw boundaries in my life without feeling guilty. Though I knew it might hurt her to miss her only daughter’s wedding, this day was about me and Liam, and I didn’t want her to ruin it. I didn’t want her here, and that’s okay.

After she realized that Liam and I were staying together and she wasn’t going to get a cent of her mother’s money, she called me nonstop. She left me a bunch of messages saying how sorry she was and how much she missed me, but I ignored all of them. Later, I found out that the reason she needed the money was to pay her latest boyfriend’s bail money. He ended up getting the charges against him dropped, so, eventually, she stopped badgering me.

Liam’s arms wrap around my waist, his body hugging me from behind, his scent and warmth infiltrating my senses.

“You want to call her?” he murmurs against my hair.

I shake my head and turn to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Not tonight,” I murmur, pressing my lips against him.

“You two are relentless,” Abbi interrupts from next to us, Shane at her side.

I roll my eyes. “You guys are worse than we are. Especially now that you’re a trio,” I argue. Abbi found out a few weeks after the All Rhodes opening that she was pregnant. Shane has been so excited to be a father, and even more so when he discovered that they were having a boy, filling their spare bedroom with basketball toys.

“Fair enough.” She rubs her belly with a soft smile. “We’re off. Too old for this shit.”

I give her my best pouting expression. “Already?”

“Girl, you haven’t realized because you two have been connected at the lips all night, but it’s almost midnight.”

Glancing at the clock with a guilty smile, I realize she’s right. Liam just shrugs, pulling me tighter in his arms.

“Your dad is literally asleep, Liam,” Shane says, laughing behind his hand as all of us glance at one of the tables in the back to see Andy leaning back in his chair, snoring. His wife, Stacy, realizes we’ve caught him and elbows him in the stomach, sending him straight up.

We all laugh, and I wrap Abbi in a tight hug. “Love you.”

“Love you, too. Congratulations.”

She hugs Liam and says something in his ear that makes him look at her with confusion. She replies, her voice low, and pats his shoulder. He smiles widely at whatever she told him, then clasps Shane in a bro-hug, the two of them thumping each other’s backs.

As they walk away, I turn to Liam. “What did Abbi say to you?”

He smirks, pressing a thumb softly against my lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

I open my mouth slightly, teasing his thumb. “Don’t worry. I can think of a few ways to get it out of you.”

His eyes darken, and he chuckles. “Ah, classic torture techniques.” He pulls his hand away before the two of us start down a path that is not at all appropriate for a room filled with most of our friends and family.

“She said ‘you’ve convinced me’.”

I furrow my brow. “What does that mean?”

“I didn’t know either, but she reminded me. When we broke up, Abbi said she wasn’t convinced I was the man who could make you happy. I guess I finally convinced her,” he replies cheekily.

Stepping closer to him, I run my hands along the front of his suit, admiring the way it fits against his chest snugly.

“Have I convinced you, too? Are you happy?” he asks, staring into my eyes with a beautiful intensity.

I smile, reaching up to caress his cheek. “The happiest.”

He kisses me again. “Come on. Let’s dance until we can’t feel our feet.”

So we do. For the next hour, we dance until the garden is almost empty and the DJ comes on the mic to ask us if he can go home. Tomorrow evening, we’ll depart for our ten-day honeymoon to Greece. Liam finished his internship a few days ago, and I’m leaving All Rhodes in the perfectly manicured hands of Shatar. Spending ten days in paradise with the love of my life is the perfect way to end the summer.

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