Page 15 of Worlds Collide

With Wolf.

This is my reward for sacrificing so much of my identity for the past decade. I couldn’t let all that blood and trash money stay in my mother’s greedy hands or go to my uncle. Now I’m making sure to use it to put some good out into the world, so I expect the rest of my life to be filled with fun, happy moments, and they will involve everyone gathered around the table.

I won’t let the rest of my life be the sad, boring, dreary gray it’s been up to now.

There have been some good times, of course, but now I’m going to set new goals, and they will all be focused onmyhappiness.

“Morning,” I tell the table at large but looking straight into Wolf’s stormy eyes. He looks annoyed, pissed off is more like it, and fucking delicious.

As we all settle in to have a big breakfast I think carefully abouthow I’m going to proposition him, what I need to say to get him to be the first man I have sex with. I’ll probably need some liquid courage tonight, and that will more than likely be easy to achieve since it’s a very open bar.

Come hell or high water I’m gobbling him up tonight.

Wolf Storm better get ready to be seduced.

I go backto my room and get into my suit after a more thorough shower, then go right back to the Crawford house to see what I can help with when it comes to preparations.

Iris has everything under control it seems, and sends everyone who isn’t family out to the beach to have pre-wedding drinks almost an hour before the ceremony is set to begin.

That’s when I stand around my friends, hear about their summers, their families, their jobs, and nervously drink down three glasses of champagne before Iris finally instructs all the guests to find seats in the area besides the big tent where the officiant is already waiting for everyone.

The ceremony is the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen. Mike and Theo leave no one with a single doubt that they’re perfect for each other and forever devoted to their relationship. My eyes stray more than a handful of times to Wolf during the vows. He looks pensive and calm. He isn’t scowling at all and his eyes never leave the grooms as they each vow to give everything they have to the other man.

When it’s over, the whole group of friends—that’s gotten a lot bigger since our college days—is called to go over to where the official photographs are being taken, and we wait in the summer sun for our turn.

I love seeing the way Derek absolutely loses it when Mike and Theo walk over for hugs of congratulations, and I can’t help but look for Wolf. My stomach bottoms out when I still don’t find him when we’re directed by the photographer to pose. I open my mouth to alert them that we’re missing Wolf when I hear him right behind me.

“You gonna stand in front of me for the shot, little rich boy?” The deep, lazy drawl has goosebumps breaking out all over my body, and maybe that’s why I stumble in my haste to move aside.

I get my balance just in time, and squeeze in between Bennett and Wolf. He wraps his arm around me loosely and I need to force my face into a relaxed, happy smile because the sudden, stark need to feel his strong hold around my waist is fucking distracting.

I walk next to Adam as if in a daze when we’re told to go to the tent for cocktail hour, or something like that, and next thing I know I have a lemon gin and tonic in my hand and am taking the first refreshing sip.

Okay, CJ. Just breathe and be yourself,I tell myself when we get to our table and I sit between Adam and Carter. I’ll get my shot to get the whole group together when we don’t have an impatient photographer pushing us along.

Derek still looks wrecked by his overwhelmingly good emotions when I see him sit down at the table next to ours. I can see a devilish smirk in his husband’s face so I can guess Hawk’s teasing him mercilessly for it.

The vows were lovely, of course, but I never thought the emotionless man would ever react like this. He does have a special bond with Mike, everyone knows that, but it’s still pretty surprising.

Wolf is once again looking around stoically, barely hearing his brother and Derek bickering, I’m sure, and I wish I felt brave enough to walk over there and strike up a conversation. But there’sno way I can hit on him in front of all our friends—and especially within hearing distance—before I even tell them I’m bi.

So I stay in my seat and settle in to celebrate love and life.

There are a lot of people here who I’ve seen over the years at the million charity balls and galas my parents always made me go to, and though I greet a few of them when they walk by the table, I don’t go out of my way for any of them.

I do smirk when I realize there are some people constantly turning to look my way then away. Those are “close friends” of my parents—or as close a thing to friends as my parents are capable of having—and I just bet my recent financial changes are having the intended effects on them.

Trepidation.

I really just want them to not come anywhere close to me. If they forget about my existence then honestly, I’ll be pretty happy with that.

I don’t want them shaking in their boots from the thought of just how much power I now have over them. Over a lot of people. The last thing I want is to be anything like my grandfather or my parents, so I happily ignore them and chill with my friends.

Once we’re done with one of the most amazing dinners of my life, I see Harrison stand and go up to the stage that’s set up with instruments and a DJ booth behind it. He takes the microphone and tilts it to check if it’s on, then faces all the guests.

“Hello everyone. I’d like to thank you for joining me in celebrating the love of Theo and Mike. Please join me in wishing them the happiest of lives together.”

We all raise our glasses and Harrison points his at his son’s table.

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