Page 59 of This

“So,” he says, “Colorado? What on Earth prompted you to go there?”

“Hey, I can Rocky Mountain with the best of them. I learned to fish a few weeks ago when Dane visited.”

Technically, I only held the pole. He put the worm on the hook, cast, and reeled in when I squealed and dropped the pole at the first tug on the line. So, when Ford quirks a questioning brow, I pretend to adjust the strap on my heel.

As we’re being told to line up, Keaton bounces her way over. She squeezes my hands before she rushes back with Patrick to hide behind the archway for authenticity. The other bridesmaids and groomsmen start down the aisle, but before our turn, Ford glances over his shoulder. My skin prickles when his smile slips. I don’t need to look to know why, but I do anyway. Bentley strides in, late for his usher training, his hair pushed back and focus on me from the first step through the arch.

I drag Ford down the aisle, not keeping the spacing between us and the others. We part ways at the end, and I take my place off to the side. After Keaton and Patrick join us at the front, the officiant requests we practice the entrance again. She squints at me, probably having labeled me the troublemaker, but I own it, giving a hair flip on my way past.

By the time we get back to the starting point, Chevy has steered Bentley in the other direction. Ford and I reset with everyone else, and once again, we wait our turn. He’s keeping his distance now. I contribute it to a death glare issued by his brother, but then I catch a glimpse of Dane walking through the parking lot. He combs a hand through his hair and hugs Keaton’s shoulders on his way past, saying something to charm her scowl into a half-smile.

Ford steps aside when he reaches us. The bachelor party must have bonded them because they exchange a nod, and Dane slaps him on the back.

“Thanks for keeping her upright for me.”

“Careful,” he says, backing away. “She pulls to the left.”

Being the bad girl of the wedding party, I start to back-talk, but Patrick clears his throat as our cue to go. Dane cocks his elbow out for me, and we head down the aisle.

“Where were you this time?” I ask.

“With the old man.” He glances to the side where his grandpa is pacing, on the phone. “I needed to run a few things by him.”

We’re walking too slow, dragging out our time together. If that isn’t enough to earn me another chastising look from the officiant, when we reach the end, Dane dips down to kiss me.

“I’ve really missed that dress,” he says. His eyes lowerto my cleavage, one side of his mouth perking, and then he kisses me again before he goes to stand beside Liam.

Dane Masters, the gray-eyed rebel to my blue-eyed badass, breaking rules left and right.

After we’ve run through theceremony once and practiced walking until I’m rid of my defiant ways, we head for a veranda set for dinner. Not all of Keaton’s family is in attendance tonight, but the core group of cousins she grew up with is representing. Liam’s sister flew back from North Carolina. Her little girl is an absolute doll and completely in love with Keaton, mirroring her every gesture.

“I could never do that,” I say. “Raise a human.”

Dane rests his arm on the back of my chair, his hand rubbing my shoulder. I like how he always touches me. No matter where we are, some part of him wants to feel a part of me.

On the opposite side of the room from our table, the entire garage is seated together. Bentley rubs his jaw. He’s been watching us since we sat down, his brothers doing the same to him. They won’t give him a chance to pull anything, a promise reinforced when Chevy looks up and winks at me.

“I can get on board with that,” Dane says, bringing my attention back. “I’ve managed to keep from screwing myself up, but put me in charge of an entire life? They’ll be fucked.”

With him being one of the stablest people I know, I disagree. A house, a career, secure in himself—if anyone should be reproducing and bringing up the next generation, it’s someone like him. I think about telling him such but stop myself. He might agree.

The servers clear the plates, and people begin migrating toward their rooms for the night or to the bar, which is staying set up for a while longer. We intend on a stop at the latter after he drops his suit off in his cabin. He’s sharing one with Liam. When he flips the lights on, the place is a disaster. Neither of us bats an eye, though, having seen Liam’s apartment before Keaton got her hands on it.

“The guy is serious about living one last night of the single life.” Dane hangs his suit in the closet while I uncover Liam’s from the floor.

I hook the hanger next to Dane’s, and he catches me before I turn. He runs his hands around to my backside, grinning down at me. “How long before you think he’ll come back from walking Keaton to your room?”

I drape my arms over his shoulders and purse my lips, pretending to think it over. “Long enough.”

“Impossible,” he says. “I never get enough.” He drags the tip of his nose over mine, his hands creeping lower. “Weekend trips and even the last five days…” His brows draw in, his voice a slow rasp that travels through my core. “I always want more time. More you.” His mouth covers mine, the feeling behind it matching his words.

But his lips stall, and he groans, letting me go to fish his phone out of his pocket. “Keaton’s looking for you.”

“What?” I grab my phone out of his other pocket, where I stashed it earlier. “Why didn’t she—”

Dead. Which means she’ll more than likely have a stack of notes waiting when I get back.

“Well, I guess we’re back to me sneaking onto your balcony later,” he says, leading me out of the cabin.

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