Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
SERENITY
Something had changed the moment I told Hunter about Vera showing up at our hotel room door. He carried himself like his muscles were straining and the energy pouring off him was like static electricity crackling in the air.
He’d gone silent as we finished getting ready, not speaking a word until I stepped out of the bathroom, dress on, hair in place, and makeup perfected.
“Damn,” he said on a breath, his eyes going hot as he took me in. “Sere, baby, you take my breath away.”
I moved into him, unable to help myself.
He looked so damn delectable dressed in all black.
The slacks and jacket looked like they were tailor-made for his impeccable body, and in typical Hunter fashion, he’d foregone a tie, choosing instead to keep the button at the collar of his black dress shirt undone.
A part of me wanted to say to hell with the wedding, and climb him like a tree. But another part of me wanted to show him off. I was proud to be on his arm tonight, and I wanted the world to see that I’d landed my dream guy.
“What do you say? You ready to roll?”
And just like that, those storm clouds came rushing back in, hovering over him.
I didn’t understand what was going on or why his mood was flip-flopping so damn fast. I asked him on the elevator ride down to the ballroom if something was wrong, but all he did was take my hand and give me a wan smile before insisting, “Everything’s great, Wildcat. Just not a huge fan of weddings.”
Tessa and Bryce were waiting near the elevators when the doors opened in the lobby.
“Oh my God,” Tessa exclaimed the moment she saw me. “Sere, you look beautiful.”
I blushed at her compliment and scanned her up and down. “Right back at you, babe.” I took her hands and leaned in, placing a kiss on her cheek. “That dress is something else.”
Bryce pulled his wife flush against his side, his eyes brimming with heat and adoration as he gazed down at her. “My woman looks incredible in anything,” he proclaimed proudly.
I felt a bit sentimental as I watched them together. They really did make a beautiful couple, and I was unbelievably happy both of them had been able to find their happy ending after so many years of sadness and pain.
I snapped out of my musings when Hunter’s arm came around me, gently pulling me against his strong, solid body so he could press his lips to my temple.
The tender action brought a smile to my face as I tipped my head up to look at him. The storm clouds were still there, but a bit of light shined through as he locked gazes with me.
“You good?” I asked quietly.
“I’m good, baby,” he insisted before using his hold on me to turn us both, starting in the direction of the ballroom where the wedding ceremony was taking place. “Let’s get this over with so I can get you back upstairs and strip you naked.”
A shiver worked its way over my skin, and I had to clamp the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning. Now was so not the time.
We were greeted at the large, ornate double doors by two teenagers dressed in crisp, black tuxes. The moment we stepped into view, their faces broke into huge, shit-eating grins.
“Uncle Hunt!” the younger of the two exclaimed.
The switch in Hunter flipped again as he pulled me with him.
“Liam. Lookin’ sharp, kid.” He reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair, making his cheeks flush.
The older boy came over to join his brother, and Hunter quickly made introductions.
“Luke, Liam, this is my girl, Serenity.” I melted a little at hearing my girl.
“Sere, baby, these are my boys, Luke and Liam.”
Both of them preened under Hunter’s attention, and it was obvious how important they all were to each other. After discovering all the loss Hunter had suffered in his life, it filled me with relief to know he at least had this.
“It’s so good to meet you,” I told them, smiling wide. “Hunter’s spoken so highly of both of you, I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Liam blushed even deeper and ducked his head while Luke shifted his cheeky grin to the man he called uncle and declared, “Well done, Uncle Hunt. She’s a stunner.”
Now it was my turn to blush as Hunter pulled me into his side. “Don’t I know it, boy.”
Luke’s grin grew even wider.
“What am I, invisible?” Bryce declared from behind us.
The boys shifted their excitement from seeing Hunter to Bryce and greeted him and Tessa with the same level of enthusiasm. They chatted as long as they could before Luke announced, “We’re pulling double duty as ushers before walking Mom down the aisle, so we better get you guys to your seats.”
Without the distraction of the boys, Hunter grew stiff once more as we took our seats and waited for the ceremony to begin.
In an effort to distract him from whatever was messing with his head, I leaned in and whispered, “I can see why you love those boys so much. They’re pretty incredible.”
He gave me a soft look and linked his fingers with mine, lifting my hand to brush a kiss against my knuckles. “You’re incredible.”
God, he made it impossible not to love him.
I blinked, warmth blooming in my chest and spreading far and wide. “You make me happy,” I blurted, unable to stop the words from pouring out. “I need you to know that. One day at a time. But no matter what happens in the future, know that you made me happy.”
He pulled in the deepest breath before squeezing his eyes closed and pressing his forehead against mine. “You undo me, sweetheart.”
The music started and the moment was over as everyone turned to watch the wedding party start down the aisle.
Hunter
“You make me happy.”
The words played over and over in my head on a steady loop as the bridesmaids made their way from the back of the ballroom to the altar at the front.
Vera’s husband-to-be, Oliver, stood front and center, his throat bobbing on a thick swallow as he shifted from foot to foot anxiously.
He was the complete antithesis to the kind of man Craig had been.
It wasn’t necessarily a fair comparison.
After all, I didn’t know this guy from Adam.
The boys said he was nice and treated their mom like she walked on water, but he was the kind of dude who sat behind a desk all day long, crunching numbers and creating spreadsheets.
He’d probably never experienced anything worse than a papercut, for Christ’s sake.
As if reading my thoughts and agreeing completely, Bryce leaned in on my other side and asked under his breath, “That’s the new guy?”
I grunted in the affirmative.
“Guy looks like a fuckin’ shrimp.”
Tessa hissed and shoved an elbow into her husband’s ribs. “Be nice. He could be a very . . .” She struggled to find a compliment before finally settling on, “sweet man.”
“Well, I sure the fuck hoped so, because I don’t know what else the man could possibly have going for him,” Bryce returned in a hushed voice.
In response, Serenity snorted, drawing my attention. She was desperately trying to suppress her laughter and hiding her hysterical grin behind her hand.
I hadn’t been looking forward to this day one goddamn bit, but with her by my side, it suddenly felt so much easier.
Then again, most things seemed easier with her around.
The music swelled, the Wedding March picked up, and the doors opened, revealing the woman who had me tied in knots from the first moment I met her years and years ago, the only woman I’d convinced myself I’d ever love.
I hadn’t seen her in so long, that first glance of her walking down the aisle in that glittering white dress was a blow to the gut. She was still as beautiful as I remembered, but there was something different about the feelings stirring inside me.
Memories of the past slammed into me like a wrecking ball, but my heart didn’t clench and start to race like it used to, and I realized in that moment, I’d been putting the memory of Vera on a pedestal for so long, I hadn’t allowed anything else to live up to it.
She smiled, that perfect, straight white smile that you’d expect to see in a toothpaste commercial as her eyes darted around the room.
She was only feet away from our aisle, when our eyes locked, and her smile faltered.
Something shifted over her expression as she held my gaze captive.
It looked a whole hell of a lot like melancholy, but before I could give it more thought, Serenity’s delicate fingers squeezed my hand and pulled me back to the present, throwing my focus from Vera to her.
When I looked down, that bright, sunny smile I loved so damn much was gone. Her face was pulled into a frown, and I knew she had seen everything that had been coming off Vera and slamming into me.
I knew I’d fucked up royally, not controlling my reaction, when I tried to tighten my hold on her hand, but she pulled away, clasping her palms together and tucking them into her lap.
She might not have known exactly what she just saw, hell, I wasn’t certain myself, but she knew whatever it was, it wasn’t something that should’ve happened as long as she was sitting by my side.
I spent the rest of the ceremony wracking my brain, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to say to Serenity, how I was going to fix this.
And by the time the officiant pronounced Oliver and Vera husband and wife, and the crowd stood to applaud the happy couple, I wasn’t any closer to a solution.