Chapter Twenty-Four
Flynn
“Please join me in welcoming the new Mr. and Mrs. Scott Harvey.”
I bring my fingers to my mouth and whistle loudly as Scott practically carries Ivy into the ballroom.
His arm is wrapped so tightly around her waist, holding her so close to his body, that she’s barely touching the floor.
They make their way through the crowd of people, everyone smiling and cheering.
It’s not a large wedding. Scott’s parents invited a few friends, and the rest of the guest list is mostly teammates and a few teachers from Ivy’s school. There are no more than a hundred people here, but I think that’s exactly what they wanted.
The woman standing directly in front of me leans back, her shoulders pressing into my chest, her head rolling onto my shoulder. She sighs, a smile painted on her lips, aimed at the couple.
When her eyes flicker up to mine, dark lashes showcasing the brightest blue, my heart seems to skip a beat. I’ve come to realize that the heart skip, the racing pulse, it’s all going to be normal from now on. It’s the effect Katie Murphy has on me.
One I know she’ll likely have on me forever.
“They’re happy, right?”
“If they were any happier, they’d be taken away to be studied.
” I drop my head, pressing my lips onto the exposed skin of her shoulder.
My hands find her hips, and I tug her back into me.
Her surprised squeal makes me smile, grazing my teeth over her skin.
My palms slide around her waist, fingers slipping over the satin fabric wrapped around her body.
The light blue creases under my touch, and Katie lifts her hands to stop my movements.
“Don’t play with my dress, it’s expensive.”
“Did I pay for it?” I say, turning my head to look at her. Her eyes sparkle, her lashes painted and surrounded by makeup. She’s stunning. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her since the moment she walked down that aisle earlier.
“Obviously.”
“Well, it’s mine to ruin then, isn’t it?” I lift an arm, trapping her chin in my fingers and angling her head so I can drop a kiss on her lips. She sinks into me. Her mouth moves with mine, and we get lost in the feeling. But, only for a moment.
“Stop it,” Katie says, pulling her lips away. I pout and lock my arms around her tighter, keeping her from stepping out of my orbit. “We’re supposed to be watching their first dance.”
“Who cares,” I murmur, leaning in to kiss the corner of her mouth. “They’re swaying back and forth in the middle of a room. Not much to miss.”
“These are our friends.”
“But I don’t like kissing them the way I like kissing you.”
“You’re annoying.” She shakes her head but doesn’t pull away when I kiss her again. When we break apart, she sighs and leans back into me, resting her head on my shoulder, and looks up at me.
“I missed you last night,” I tell her quietly, not looking away from her face. “And this morning.”
“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. We only slept in separate rooms down the hall from one another.”
“Too far,” I say, my thumb dragging back and forth across the satin fabric of her dress as I hold her. “How was this morning? Manic?”
“Actually.” Katie’s gaze flickers back to the dance floor, where Scott and Ivy are wrapped up in one another, swaying from side to side. Just like I said. “It’s been the calmest week of my life. I expected Ivy to be out of her mind stressed, but Scott’s made it pretty damn easy.”
“He’s a simp.”
“He’s in love.” She playfully hits my hand. “He organized a driver to take her to all the appointments this week. Organized a spa day. This morning he had breakfast delivered to the suite—”
“We,” I interrupt. “We had breakfast delivered. I was a part of the ordering.”
She narrows her eyes at me before rolling them and smirking. “Fine, you as well.”
“Thank you.” I kiss her hair.
“As I was saying.” Her hands drop, fingers curling over my forearms as if she’s silently telling me not to let her go.
As if I would. “Ivy’s been so calm. This morning was a dream.
Everything was on time, and she was ready with plenty of time for photos.
There were a few tears about her parents and her grandparents. ”
“Wouldn’t be Ivy without a few tears,” I say gently, squeezing my arms around her. Ivy loves to cry; at movies, at books, at commercials. If it’s even the smallest bit sad, she’ll have a tear in her eye.
“I think it helped having the empty seats in the front row. The spaces for them.”
“That was a nice touch,” I say, lips pressing into her hair again, just above her ear so no one else knows. “It was a good idea, Rockstar. Proud of you.”
Katie flushes a deep shade of pink, and her eyes drop to where her hands are covering mine. She wriggles her fingers. Her empty fingers. Particularly one. On her left hand.
I so, so badly want to give her a ring.
Ever since she told me she wanted to just be us, to wait for a little while before making any major, life-changing decisions, it’s taken everything in me not to rebel and ask her anyway.
But I suppose it would be wise to take her home first. Introduce her to my folks and show her where I grew up. I also need to ask her parents for permission.
I remind myself for the thousandth time that we have time. There’s no working around the season, no wondering if our plans will be messed up because I’ll be out of town. We just get to be us.
“Have I told you how gorgeous you look?” I whisper into her ear.
She smiles softly. “About a hundred times.”
“It’s true.” I duck, pressing my lips to the spot just beneath her ear. “You’re stunning.”
“You don’t clean up too badly yourself, Reed.”
I hum, ghosting my lips over her skin as I pull her in tighter. “Don’t tempt me, or I’ll drag you out of this ballroom right now. I don’t care. I’ll make you come in the hallway again.”
“What is it with you and wanting to fuck in public places?” She giggles as she swipes a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. People are starting to move about now, the crowd watching the happy couple disperse as they look for their seats.
Katie taps my arm, her signal that she wants me to let her go, but I just hold her tighter. I can’t help myself when I whisper in her ear, “You make me horny.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You exist.” With that, I uncurl my arms from around her body, freeing her. She lifts the glass of champagne to her lips, smirking, but her eyes don’t leave mine. They shine, the challenge and heat evident, swirling around.
When she turns, her hand reaches back behind her as it looks for mine.
I slip my palm against hers, my fingers locking around them, and I let her drag me across the room toward the bridal table.
I take my seat next to Katie, Ivy next to her.
At Scott’s side, his parents sit, chatting quietly to one another.
“You good?” Katie asks Ivy as I slip my jacket from my shoulders.
Ivy’s face lights up as she leans away from Scott to hug her best friend. “Perfect. I’m perfect.”
“You look perfect.” Katie grins. When they lean back from one another, I scoot my chair closer to Katie’s, my thigh pressing against hers.
I stretch my arm back, pulling it behind me so I can lean it across the back of Katie’s chair. Her hair falls down her back in loose curls, and my fingers are itching to get amongst the silky strands. I love playing with her hair.
As I’m stretching, a nerve pinches and I groan, quickly pulling it in and cradling it against my chest. Fuck. That hurt.
“What?” I glance over at Katie when she speaks, her voice low and dripping with concern. Her body is completely turned toward me now, her hands hovering over the arm cradled against my chest. She’s staring at me, her eyes flickering between my face and my arm.
“I’m okay.”
“You groaned. Is it hurting?” She shifts closer. “Damn it. I knew you shouldn’t have taken it out of the sling for today.”
“The doctor said I was fine to go without.” I slowly stretch my arm, allowing the tight and healing muscles to ease into the new position. I rest it on the back of Katie’s chair, my finger hooking around a curl immediately.
“Are you sure?” Her hand drops to my thigh, and she squeezes her fingers. “I packed it. I can go and get it for you from upstairs.”
I smirk, rolling my eyes. “Of course you did.” I lean in, crowding her as I put my face right in front of hers. “I promise, I’m okay.”
“You’re absolutely sure?” She glances around my face as if she’s desperately trying to find a sign of the fleeting pain that went away the moment I slowed my movements down.
“Yes, baby. I’m good.” I lean in, kissing her gently. I sink the hand leaning over her chair into her hair, cupping her neck and keeping her lips on mine.
Since my injury, Katie’s hovered. She hovered beside me at the doctor’s appointments.
At home during the recovery. At the back of the crowd during the press conferences, as we told the world about the injury and that the Super Bowl game was going to be my last. At home, she fusses and clicks her tongue whenever I do something that takes it too far.
Like rearranging furniture in one of the spare bedrooms to turn it into a home recording studio for her to keep singing.
Or, getting on my knees in the shower and throwing one of her legs over my shoulder.
But, then again, she’s also been attentive.
Loving. It’s strange because before her, I thought the end of my career would destroy me.
After her, it seems like it’s come to a natural end, like I was waiting for something that meant more to me than playing football, until I admitted to myself that maybe I’ve been done with playing for a little while now.
Not the game, not altogether. I love the game, but playing? I think I’ve been done for a while.
“Love you,” Katie whispers as she pulls back. My hand drops, but I keep it on her back, my fingers tangled into the ends of her hair.
***
“You married that.”
“I know.”
“Did you know she was like this?”