Page 154 of All Twerk, No Play

She tugged a strand of his famous golden hair. "This long hair style is worse in person."

"Your face is worse in person," he said, mussing her hair until she smacked his hand away. And my tension melted, finally believing her assurance that he felt like a brother.

Then Nick reached out for a firm handshake. "I hear congratulations on are in order for your record contract. How'd that go?"

His mischievous smirk implied he didn't care about the contract terms, he wanted a story—ideally one that would embarrass Tori, because he understood that she was secretly shy beneath that public veneer. And I was more than happy to oblige.

"You should have seen the panicked faces when she arrived as my legal counsel, all scurrying to move the meeting from a tiny office into the bougie conference room. The receptionist was whispering and typing maniacally to let the VPs know who was sitting in their lobby," I said, miming their panic as Tori's fluster delighted Nick. "Meanwhile, she's checking her watch impatiently—"

"Let me guess, she gave them that imperious look," Nick said, and then he lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes in a flawless impression. Damn, no kidding he earned those Emmys.

"I don't look like that," she huffed.

"Of course you don't, baby," I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, feeling her relax into me. "When you do it, it's even sexier than thesexiest man alive."

At that reminder of his rank in thePeoplefeature, Nick's cheeks flushed, and I appreciated the irony of my conversation with two wildly recognizable people, both humble about the spotlight.

"So anyway, she marches in and the VPs are all tripping over themselves, like, 'Ms. Blackstone, we weren't aware you were involved,' and she's all, 'I don’t make a habit of letting people undervalue what’s mine.'"

She hid her face in my shoulder as Nick's mouth dropped open. "She didn't."

"She totally did, it was epic," I said, planting a kiss on her head. "She handed over her marked-up contract—seriously, it was so covered in red ink that it could have been bleeding—and said,'He deserves more than these scraps. If Exacta won’t put real money behind him, I have three other labels that will.'"

Warmth radiated through my chest again, remembering the way she ran circles around them. The way she went to bat for me.

I may have taught her how to fight, but there was nothing sexier than watching her fight for me.

"God damn," Nick muttered. "I would have paid to see that."

I laughed. "I can only imagine the advance they would have offered if I dragged you along, too."

He ducked his head, glancing away with a shy smile. I followed his lead, surveying the room: Alex and Grace chatted with an older woman who held Ruby’s hand, maybe her grandmother. Mallory laughed with Grace’s brother Elijah, who held baby Caleb. I searched for Kate, but didn't see her or Paul. And Connor was back at the bar, surveying the room as he chatted with … was that the same bartender from the summer? Was there something in the water at this place that gave everyone that dopey expression?

Alex ambled over, wrapping an arm around both Tori and Nick's shoulders, and Tori handed over her phone for a picture, all three of them beaming as Alex rumbled, "Finally got the gang back together." Then he nudged his brother. "Though it might be a while until we can get Nick back to Saratoga. We can't seem to find a wedding venue with availability for two or three years."

Tori nodded at Alex's story, but she seemed distracted and her shoulders trembled. My girl was great at hiding her fear with everyone else, but not me. Not anymore. I squeezed her closer, a silent reminder that I’d be with her no matter what, and the tightness around her eyes softened.

As Alex complained about the long wait times for wedding venues, Kate slipped the door. Her puffy eyes darted around until Alex's mom approached her, and she gulped down a glass of wine from a passing server.

I leaned closer to ask Tori if she knew anything, but her attention focused on Nick, who was watching Kate with an unreadable expression. Alex’s dad called Alex and Grace on stage, telling some goofy story about cheeseburgers. Mallory’s loud laugh echoed across the room, but all I could focus on was Nick. His body faced his brother on the stage, but his eyes kept roaming to Kate.

A loud round of applause erupted for a champagne toast, and Tori knocked hers back, knowing that was our cue. Her hand never left mine as we walked towards the piano she bought the bar last month.

She’d struggled over the song choice until I reminded her that Alex had zero musical talent so we could do whatever the fuck we wanted. As soon as I’d given her that permission, she’d selected the song that meant the most to her, the one I knew would be ours forever.

Grace and Alex took to the dance floor as Tori’s fingers touched down on the keys. She was still a nervous performer—even after the internet had applauded her rendition of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U'—so I promised to sing with her, splitting the verses.

I sang the first verse, about our future together with the sun shining down on us. It was supposed to be for the couple dancing, but my eyes never left Tori … until Kate escaped out onto the ballroom’s terrace.

A moment later, Nick deposited his untouched champagne glass and covertly followed. Tori must have caught it too, her eyes wide with concern as she sang her verse, promising to never be cold again. We sang our hearts out to each other, two songbirds with complimentary harmonies.

As Grace and Alex danced in a room of people celebrating their future, I felt it in my gut: I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Victoria Blackstone. I wanted the ring on her finger, I wanted to call her my wife. But how could I plan a proposal worthy of a woman like her? Her last proposal had been a business agreement during a board meeting, and the only thing she’d liked about it had been her grandmother’s ring.

Shit … I was going to have to win over her dad, wasn’t I?

The warmth in my chest quickly cooled when Donnelly’s entrance swung open and Paul stepped inside, scanning the room before making a beeline toward the roof deck as we finished the song. Mallory tried to slow him down, but the man seemed to be on a mission.

Grace and Alex returned to the stage to hug Tori. The terrace door swung open again and Nick stepped inside, looking flustered. And alone.

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