Page 183 of Boss of Me
Sedonia—who brought Luca as her plus one—regales me with stories about her college days with Gunner and Maverick. She fondly refers to them as the craziest white boys she’s ever met, which makes her “crazy by proxy” for agreeing to join their company. When Gunner humorously threatens to fire her, shelets out a throaty laugh and tells me to call her if I ever need backup. We’re definitely going to be good friends.
Halfway across the lawn, Gunner’s other college buddies swarm us, joking and slapping him playfully on the back. When they wink at me and promise to keep his bachelor party PG-13, Gunner wastes no time leading me away, setting off a roar of raucous male laughter.
Swept up in the revelry, people flock to the dance floor. Gunner and I join them, gazing into each other’s eyes as we relive memories of the night we waltzed under the stars. Though the classical music has been replaced by pop tunes, we still get caught up in a sort of dreamy spell. We dance together like no one else is watching, holding each other close whether the song is fast or slow.
When it starts raining, we’re the last ones to dash for cover under the large tent, laughing as we wipe water off each other’s faces. We grin all the way through the five-course dinner and congratulatory toasts.
By the time dinner is over, the sun is setting and the rain has stopped. Twinkling lights and paper lanterns strung between the trees give the lawn a magical, romantic glow.
As the dancing and revelry resume, Gunner and I retreat into the shadows of a massive banyan tree, kissing and nuzzling and whispering sweet nothings to each other.
“Get a room, lovebirds.”
Without lifting his mouth from mine, Gunner flips his brother off.
Maverick laughs. “Is that any way to greet your best man?”
“If he’s intruding on a private moment,” Gunner grumbles, “then yeah, it is.”
I laugh and turn to smile at Maverick. “Enjoying yourself?”
“What’s not to enjoy? Great party. Beautiful scenery. Momentous occasion.” He tweaks my nose and claps Gunner onthe shoulder, chuckling at his scowl. “Not to blow smoke up my own ass, but I deserve a lot of credit for bringing you lovebirds together. I mean,I’mthe one who chose to meet for drinks at The Jaded Zombie that night. And if it weren’t for my perpetual lateness, I would’ve been sitting at the table with you when Marlowe arrived. Which means she wouldn’t have mistaken you for her date.”
I grin at Gunner. “He has a point.”
“He does,” Gunner concedes.
Grinning harder, I stand on tiptoe and kiss Maverick’s cheek. “Thank you, fairy godfather.”
“Yeah. We owe you one.” Gunner slings an arm around his brother’s neck and loudly smooches his cheek, laughing when Maverick groans and tries to squirm away. Their affectionate bond gets me every single time.
“That’s the last kiss you’ll ever get from my woman,” Gunner asserts, placing himself squarely between Maverick and me.
Grinning companionably, the three of us stand there watching the dancers and partygoers, several of whom have already had too much to drink.
Notably Quinn, who’s clutching a cocktail glass and gushing breathlessly to Trace. He’s nodding and sipping his drink, seemingly amused by her take-me-now smiles. She tends to get super flirty when she’s drunk, and despite having a boyfriend, she still drools over Trace every time she sees him. He’s in a relationship and he doesn’t strike me as the cheating type. But I’ve watched enough reality dating shows to know that anything can happen during a tropical island getaway.
My amused gaze drifts to where Ember sits with Lilith, Valeria and Veronica. She’s talking and laughing, the ocean breeze blowing her hair around her face like a golden halo.
Lilith took an instant liking to my sister. A little while ago, I overheard her telling Ember about all the blue chip law firms inAustin. She’s obviously trying to lure her away from Pittsburgh, an endeavor I wholeheartedly support.
As Gunner nuzzles my hair, I look toward the dance floor and break into a grin. My future father-in-law is showing off his moves, twirling Mrs. Calder under his arm and making her dress flare around her knees as she giggles like a schoolgirl.
“Dad’s gonna propose any day now,” Maverick predicts.
“Probably,” Gunner agrees.
A wistful sigh escapes me. “I couldn’t be more thrilled for them. But the house won’t be the same without Mrs. Calder, and I might have to give up custody of Sansa.” I brighten after a moment. “Maybe they could just live with us?”
Maverick snorts. “You wanna risk walking in on them fucking?”
“Jesus.” Gunner punches his brother’s shoulder and scowls. “Thanks for the visual, asshole.”
Maverick’s rumbling shout of laughter draws admiring stares from every woman within earshot. He’ll definitely have no shortage of bed partners this weekend.
He whispers something in Gunner’s ear that has him shaking his head in amused exasperation. He grins and playfully slaps Gunner on the back, then winks at me. “Save a dance for me later.”
“Like hell she will,” Gunner growls.
