Chapter Seventeen #2
Honor and Gray stood near the center of it all, champagne flutes lifted as they gazed at each other like the rest of the world narrowed to just the two of them.
Carson and Layne hovered nearby, heads bent together, smiling at some private moment.
Oaks and Shiloh were off to one side, Shiloh animated as she told a story that left everyone within earshot laughing hard enough to wipe their eyes.
Aspen looked radiant, regal even, her arm looped through Colt’s as they talked with Juliette and Theo.
Fern caught pieces of their conversation as Crew whirled her closer, and heard the affection in their tones.
Navy was tucked against her father’s chest, Rhae’s arm wrapped around them both, and Fern noticed the way Denver’s hand drifted low, resting possessively and tenderly over Rhae’s abdomen.
It was…beautiful.
Messy and loud and loving and real.
Finally, her gaze landed on Willow and Decker in deep conversation with Felicity and Gabe. Upchurch stood a little apart, watchful as ever. When his gaze met Fern’s, he inclined his head once.
She nodded back, a silent acknowledgment of everything she owed him.
She felt Crew shift slightly in her hold, and saw him exchange a look with Church—just a brief nod as understanding passed between them.
Then Crew turned back to her. The heated intent in his eyes made her insides clutch with want as he cupped her face and kissed her.
His lips moved over hers, soft and sweet and slow, like he was sealing a vow between them.
“I love you,” he said quietly against her lips.
“I love you too.” The words came from the pit of her soul.
“I’m never letting you go.”
Her smile curved against his lips. “Good. Because I’m not letting you go either.”
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t standing on the edge of something.
She was in the middle of it, in the arms of the strongest man she’d ever known. Right where she belonged.
She rested her head against his chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heart, letting the sounds of the celebration wrap around them. She saw the happiness everywhere she looked, but she knew true joy as she lifted her gaze to Crew.
She rose onto her toes and kissed him—slow at first, then deeper, sliding her hands into his jacket to ride along his chiseled pecs as instinct overrode caution.
He kissed her back with a heat that curled low in her belly, his grip tightening on her waist in a possessive way that made her knees soften.
In heartbeats, she knew things could heat up between them fast. When they pulled apart, her breath came shallow.
Tipping her face up to his again, their gazes locked. She had walked away from everything that broke her—and walked straight into this.
Into a love that didn’t demand she lose herself to earn it.
She would choose this life.
She already had.