Page 24 of Why Not Forever?

“Yes,” I confirm. “Three weeks and two days, but who’s counting, right, honey?”

Tanner lifts a brow at my use of the endearment. It sounded weird when I said it, but we can work on that.

“I’d prefer it was tomorrow,” he responds, lifting my hand to kiss the back of it.

The way his eyes never leave mine as he presses his lips to my skin makes me flush. I want to kick him under the table for being a little too over the top, but he definitely puts on a good show.

“August first?” Liam asks, sounding politely interested, unlike our parents, who seem downright shocked.

“Yes. Invitations will be going out on Monday.” I turn to Mom. “I’m also going dress shopping on Monday. I have to get on that quickly or else I’ll be walking down the aisle naked.”

Tanner snorts. I look at him and he shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says. “I just don’t think I’d mind that.”

This time, I do kick him under the table.

“With something that soon, I’m not sure who all will be able to make it,” Mom says, wringing her hands together.

“Will you three be able to make it?” I ask.

“Of course, darling,” Mom says. “But what about your father’s associates? And the members at the club? And of course we’ll need to invite Beckett Cole, even though we haven’t spoken to him much over the last fifteen years or so. He should be invited anyway, given your friendship with Spencer and how close we used to be.”

“I’m not concerned about if any of them can make it,” I say. “We’re not inviting them. Especially not Spencer’s dad. He’s lucky he got an invitation toSpencer’swedding.”

Mom’s mouth drops open while Dad’s flattens into a line. After a second to recover from that bombshell, Dad says, “If you don’t invite them, you won’t be getting a dime to host the wedding.”

I shrug. “I didn’t want your money, anyway. Tanner and I are paying for it ourselves.”

Tanner slips his arm around the back of my chair, and it feels like we are a united front. Which is something I hadn’t known I needed.

Chapter 9

Tanner

“We’regoingtobelate,” Vic says, as she stops at a red light. She’d come to pick me up from my place and we’re going to Sunday night dinner at my parents’ apartment. We’re going to tell everyone tonight that we’re engaged.

“It’s not far,” I say. “We still have lots of time.”

“How are you so calm?” she asks. The light turns green, and she continues, turning right at the next street.

“How are you more nervous to tell my family than you were to tell your own?” I ask.

“I don’t like lying,” she says.

I point out the next turn and the building in the distance where she’s going to park. “Don’t think of it as lying. We’re leaving out a few details. They don’t need to know every little piece of our relationship.”

She pulls to a stop, and we get out. She looks up at the building with trepidation. “It’s just, I’ve never met any of them before, except Wyatt and Addison. And now we’re going to tell them not only are we together, but we’re engaged.”

She lifts her hand toward her face, then halts the motion, twisting her engagement ring on her finger instead.

“Come here,” I say.

I wrap my arms around her in a hug. She leans into me for a second before pulling away. I let her go as she straightens up, touching her hair.

“How do I look?” she asks.

“Are you kidding me?”

Her eyes shoot to mine.

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