Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Finn
I love weddings. There’s free food, and I get to dance my ass off all night. What isn’t there to love?
I’m even more excited today because Riley’s coming with me.
Well… she isn’t exactly coming with me, but she is coming with us to the wedding. I’ll get to dance with her and secretly hold her hand under the table. I’ll count that as a date in my book, even if she would deny it if I said so.
Cole walks out of his office with his phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear. He fastens the buttons on the shirt sleeves while wrapping up the call.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll talk to you on Monday.”
When we started the business together, I was young and just wanted to work with my hands. I was more than willing to take over more of that role, while Cole handled the management side of things.
I’ve found these kinds of things irking me more and more lately.
I have no idea who he was just on the phone with. I don’t have the desire to know every detail of my brother’s life, but I would like to be more in the loop with the workings of our company.
I want to take on more responsibilities, not only for myself but also for Cole. He doesn’t need to shoulder everything.
Now isn’t the time to talk to him about it. I’ll have to find my balls one of these days and actually have the conversation with him.
He slides his phone into the pocket of his dress pants. He looks more like a mob boss than a mountain man in the all-black outfit.
I smooth my hands along my light gray dress pants and lavender dress shirt. My hair is pulled up into a more tamed bun than I usually tie it into.
Dressing like this isn’t something I would want to do daily. I have no idea how businessmen wear suits every day. The thought of sitting in an office chair all day with that type of clothing on makes my skin crawl.
I know I look good, though. It doesn’t really matter what I think. I just hope Riley likes it.
“Why did we have to dress up this much?” Theo asks, still buttoning up his maroon dress shirt.
“It’s a wedding,” I say.
“Sometimes weddings aren’t this formal,” he says, tucking his shirt into his black dress pants.
“Have you met Sienna?” Cole says, laughing.
Theo tilts his head to the side. Sienna would want a big day to celebrate the big love she’s found.
All our heads turn in unison, even Cole’s, when Riley makes her descent down the stairs.
She’s wearing a dark blue satin dress that hits just below her knees—the thin fabric molds perfectly against her lean curves.
Dainty straps wind over her shoulders and crisscross across her bare back. With each step she takes, we’re all given a peek at her sinfully long legs when the slit along the side rides up.
Whoever made that dress deserves a damn award because she looks fucking stunning.
She stops at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes bounce between the three of us.
“What?” she asks, nervously sliding her hands down the fabric. “Shit. Do I not look okay?”
Her concern finally snaps me out of the daze she cast me into. I walk over, kissing her forehead. With her heels, I don’t have to bend down as much as usual.
“That dress isn’t just okay. It’s perfection.” I lean in, whispering in her ear. “Not as beautiful as the woman wearing it, though.”
She steps back, swatting my chest. There’s a slight blush on her cheeks.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she says, letting her eyes roam over me. My chest puffs up a little, seeing the approval in her gaze.
I step away, grabbing my wallet and phone from the dining room table. Theo pulls her into his arms, whispering something that makes the blush deepen on her cheeks.
Cole hasn’t moved a muscle since Riley walked down the stairs a few minutes ago. He looks utterly mesmerized by her, but he seems angry that she still has this effect on him.
“Fuck,” Riley mutters under her breath. “I didn’t think this whole wearing this dress in the middle of the winter thing through.”
She reaches for the puffer-style jacket that she’s been wearing the whole trip, but she lets her hand fall back to her side.
I rush in behind her, wrapping her in my arms. She lets out a yelp of surprise. “Don’t worry, angel. I’ll keep you warm.” I nuzzle my face against her neck.
She places her hand against my face, trying to shove me away. “You’re going to mess up my hair.”
Her hair is simple, with her natural waves on full display. She just added a few braids to pull some of it away from her face.
I step away, holding my hands in front of me. “Forgive me?”
“Depends,” she says with a shrug of her bare shoulder. I want to run my tongue over the smooth skin.
Focus.
“I promise to be good the rest of the night,” I say, feigning innocence.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Here,” Cole says, stepping in behind her. He drapes his suit coat over her shoulders, his fingers trailing down her arms.
Her mouth falls open, staring at him over her shoulder. They stay locked in each other’s gaze, his fingertips still touching the back of her hands.
It’s like everyone else around them disappears. An electric current travels through them.
“Don’t argue with me. Just take it. Okay?” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. If I weren’t standing so close, I never would have heard him.
I think she surprises all of us, even herself, when she whispers, “Okay.”
Cole’s eyes widen a fraction before he gives her a single nod and steps back. She slides her arms into the sleeves, silently following Cole into the garage.
Theo and I share a look as we follow behind them. What is happening?
I don’t know what spell they cast over each other, but something seems to have shifted between them.
When Cole holds open the passenger door of his truck for her, she willingly climbs in. She even slides her hand in his, so he can help me up.
Did they get body snatched?
I feel like we’ve stepped into an alternate reality. Their getting along is the best way to keep Riley from running for the hills, so I won’t second-guess it.
Theo and I silently slide into the backseat, while Cole gets behind the wheel. The two of us keep our mouths shut for most of the drive, scared to pop the bubble of peace existing around us right now.
I swear I see Riley’s eyes flutter closed when she inhales with her nose pressed against the jacket.
We make our way to the historic mining museum in town. It isn’t a typical wedding venue, but Sienna has found a way to make it work.
There aren’t a lot of indoor venues in a small town like Aspen Springs, and they didn’t want to wait until the weather warmed up to tie the knot. They’re so in love that waiting even a few more months wasn’t a possibility.
That’s the kind of love I want. It’s the reason I stopped all the casual hook-ups I had enjoyed for years. I want something more, something real. Casual one-night stands quickly lost their appeal once I came to that realization.
Riley slides Cole’s jacket from her shoulders when we step far enough away from the slight chill following us inside. “Thank you,” she says, handing it back to him.
“I’ll give it back before we leave,” he says, sliding his arms in the sleeves. His eyes flutter closed when he runs his hand over his face, no doubt catching a whiff of Riley’s scent lingering on his jacket.
Riley leads the way with the rest of us following behind her like lost puppies. We walk down the hallway to the crystal room where the ceremony is being held.
It’s a large room with two full walls and part of the ceiling covered in colorful crystal formations. It’s always beautiful here, but the way everything is set up makes it even more stunning.
We find four chairs at the end of a row and take our seats. Riley could have stepped out of the way, letting Theo or me sit next to Cole.
But she sits down beside him, like it isn’t a catechistic event. Theo sits on her other side, with me on the end.
The wedding isn’t huge. There are fewer than one hundred people here. Most of them I know from around town.
Hadley walks out from a side door in a burnt orange bridesmaid dress. “Can everyone take their seats now?”
Like dutiful little ants, everyone finds their seats and the room quiets. Music starts to filter through the speakers as Grayson, Warren, and Tucker walk in together.