Chapter 38
38
“ T his is torture,” Claire breathes, and I hear the frustration and amusement in her voice.
“It’s called edging,” I whisper.
She giggles, bumping her shoulder into mine.
“I’m not going to make it.”
I swat her ass.
“You got this.”
“You can’t hear it, right?”
I shake my head, enjoying every second of this.
She sharply inhales, squeezing my hand, and I kiss her cheek.
I can’t wait for what comes after this party.
“We need to say congratulations to Emily and Nicholas before we leave.” I chuckle, noticing her cheeks are a little pink now.
“No,” she says with a breathless laugh.
“Yes.”
She whimpers.
Actually whimpers.
Fuck do I want to leave right now.
But this is too fun.
“I could always turn it up more …”
“No!” She grabs my hand, guiding me toward the happy couple.
“Congrats!” I say, clapping Nicholas on the back, then lean in to hug Emily.
“Thank you.” Emily beams, absolutely glowing.
But something flickers in my mind when I glance down to see the ring.
She doesn’t have a champagne flute.
Is this a shotgun wedding?
I squeeze Nicholas’s shoulder slightly, making a mental note to catch up with him soon.
“This was beautiful,” Claire says, a little too fast.
Most people wouldn’t notice the slight shift in cadence, but I do.
The tight breath beneath her words has me holding back a smirk.
I press my fingers into the small of her back.
I can’t wait to have my hands all over her.
I pull out my phone to check the timer, but before I even glance at the screen, she snatches it from my hand.
She probably thinks I was going to adjust the setting, and I stifle a laugh.
“We have to get going,” I say, stuffing down my amusement.
“Claire’s back to mom duty this afternoon.”
“Thank you again for giving me the time off,” she says to Nicholas.
He nods and gives my shoulder a squeeze.
“Hopefully Jake was good to you.”
“Very.” Claire exhales, shooting me a mischievous glance.
The heat in her eyes.
I won’t torture her anymore.
“Beautiful day for this. Congrats again.”
Nicholas and Emily smile, and I take Claire’s hand, ready to go back to her place.
The build up all morning has been incredible, and I can’t wait to claim her, to give her another reason why we are the perfect match.