Page 3 of Endless Love: Novella

COLTON

“This was a great idea.” I raised my bottle of lager to Valentina, whose idea it was to have a clambake tonight. There would be enough activity over the next few days and more than enough opportunity to dress up and behave ourselves in front of guests and cameras.

Tonight, we lounged around on the beach, arranged on blankets and chairs circling the fire pit dug earlier in the day. Rose sat in my lap, now dressed as casually as I was, both of us stuffed full of seafood.

Noah, Lucian, and Evan tossed around a football while Miles chatted with Mom’s cousin, Spencer, who had come from LA for the wedding. He and Miles were on the verge of patenting some new technology. I didn’t know much about it, as it wasn’t my area of expertise, but they sure as hell seemed invested as they continued their conversation apart from the rest of the group.

“Am I going to get any time with you tonight?” Aria asked Miles, winding an arm around his. She shook a finger at Spencer, who chuckled when she chided, “It’s not fair to monopolize one of the grooms.”

“You know I would never dream of getting between a bride-to-be and her groom.“ He laughed, but there was something hollow in the sound. He was Mom’s cousin, in his early thirties and lived it up in LA while he made his mark in the tech world.

He raked a hand through his dirty blond hair, looking down into his empty beer bottle. “I think I need a refill.” He must have thought no one was looking when he slid Miles a furtive look, which hinted at a conversation that needed to be continued elsewhere.

Miles played it off, turning his full attention to Aria. “Hey, now,” he teased. “You’re three days away from being stuck with me forever. You can’t wait five minutes for me to finish a conversation?”

“What can I say?” she asked. “I’m greedy for you.” The way they looked at each other spoke volumes. It left me grinning at Rose, who touched her head to my shoulder and laced our fingers together.

“I need a glass of wine!” My Aunt Evelyn settled in a cushioned lounge chair positioned between Mom and Olivia. She wore the happy but exhausted look of a woman whose twin daughters were about to get married and had driven her crazy for the past six months of planning. “Whoever thought a double wedding was a good idea…”

Uncle Magnus stepped up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m pretty sure it was you. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

Dad laughed from his chair on the other side of the fire. “Those are pretty bold words, you know. Haven’t you learned by now you never remind a woman of the things she’s said?”

“Excuse me?” Mom folded her arms, eyes narrowed. “Do you want to repeat that?”

“Spoken with love,” he insisted in a light voice, laughing with Uncle Magnus.

“You want to know the secret to a long marriage?” Aunt Pepper asked, winking at us from her chair beside Uncle Connor. “It’s letting your husband think you agree with him even when you know he’s wrong.”

“When have I ever been wrong?” Uncle Magnus asked, making us all laugh.

“Honestly,” Aria interjected with a sigh once the laughter died down. “I think we’ve had the best possible example of what makes a good marriage.”

“Agreed.” Valentina jumped up from her blanket and scurried over to Uncle Magnus, throwing her arms around his waist. “Thanks to you two.”

“Did you ever see it turning out this way?” Uncle Connor chuckled, a glass of scotch in his hand. “The kids growing up, getting married, tying the families closer together. It’s incredible the way things unfolded.”

“I still feel like I have to pinch myself,” Mom admitted. “How did we become the older generation? When did that happen? I feel just as young tonight as I did on my wedding weekend.”

“Even if we can’t drink as much and still expect to be functional the next day,” Olivia pointed out, draining what was left in her wine glass. “And I think that will be it for me. Oh, youth. Don’t you kids take it for granted,” she warned us.

I didn’t feel so young anymore. There I was, a married man with my eighteen-month-old daughter asleep in my childhood vacation home, on the grounds of which an elaborate wedding would soon take place. One of the grooms had been my best friend since we were teenagers. Nothing about this felt real, but there was no denying it. “I’m turning into an old man,” I admitted to my wife, who looked at me with wide eyes that glowed in the firelight.

“That’s not true.” She laughed lightly and shook her head. “Don’t listen to Mom. You know how she gets at times like this. All sentimental and emotional and stuff.”

I wasn’t so easily convinced. “It’s true, though, isn’t it? We’re the responsible adults now. One day, we’ll be the ones sitting around a bonfire while our kids are on the verge of getting married.”

“We should be so lucky.” She planted a chaste kiss against my cheek, then brushed her lips against my ear, whispering, “Want to reclaim a little of your youth, Mr. Black?”

There was nothing in the world that could get me hard in an instant the way her flirtatious whisper did. “What did you have in mind?” I asked, playing dumb while fighting the thickening in my boxer briefs.

“I think I could come up with something.” She glanced around like she was checking to make sure nobody was paying attention, then got up and began heading toward the house. I followed her without saying a word since nobody would ever accuse me of ruining a good thing. And when Rose got that look in her eye, it meant good things were coming.

The silence inside the house was almost deafening after hours spent talking and laughing. Rose crooked a finger, already halfway across the kitchen after entering from the back porch. “Where are we going?” I asked, caught between laughing and lusting once my attention landed on her perfect ass. It swayed hypnotically, leading me out of the kitchen and into the great room.

Once I realized she was on her way to the stairs, I jogged to catch up and take hold. “I have a better idea,” I growled out and pulled her into the powder room beside the stairs instead.

“In the bathroom?” she whispered, giggling as I closed the door and flipped the lock.

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