Chapter 23
SASHA
“Three cheers for the grumpiest butthead this side of the Quince!”
Griffin’s family cheers. At least, half of them do. Griffin’s dad gives Eli a whack upside the head, and Cassandra rolls her eyes, but everyone joins in, smiling as they raise their glasses to us.
Even Griffin, though it’s hardly more than a curl of lips.
We’re in the backyard at Griffin’s dad’s place, a cute little house on the outskirts of Quince Valley with a big yard that backs up to the forest. The first stars are starting to come out.
We’ve been here all evening, when Griff’s dad—John—invited us back to his place after we signed all the paperwork at the town hall.
After dinner, Reese played a song for us on her acoustic guitar, followed by a few new songs she’s been working on that no one’s ever heard before.
“I think I’m going to faint,” I whispered to Griffin, who just squeezed my hand and kissed my temple.
It was for show, I know, but I sighed anyway, leaning against his shoulder.
Then Reese came over, and we had this amazing conversation about our favorite restaurants in the West Village, and she told me about how she used to manage the restaurant at the Rolling Hills before hitting it big.
It was amazing.
I’ve met celebrities before. It’s exciting, but they’re just people.
What I haven’t done before is get married.
I still can’t believe we actually went through with this.
Yet from the moment I woke up this morning, I knew it was the right thing to do.
I was practically walking on sunshine all day, and even though I kept reminding myself during the ceremony that it wasn’t real, damn if it didn’t feel like the realest thing ever.
As Griffin’s dad tells several of us a sweet but slightly long-winded story about hiking a trail in Spain last year, I sneak a look down at my ring for the hundredth time tonight.
It’s beautiful. Handcrafted. There’s no way Griffin just picked it up from the store.
I steal a glance at him on the other side of the grass now, where he’s standing with his legs wide, arms folded, listening to something Eli’s saying.
As if he feels my eyes on him, he looks over, his gaze locking on mine.
I’m not sure when the switch flipped. Was it back in the city on the way here?
Or on his porch with Chester? Maybe at the swimming hole?
Whenever it was, he doesn’t look like he used to.
He’s not the overbearing, grumpy man from that day at the movie theatre, and he doesn’t look at me like I’m the flighty pain in the ass I was that day.
Well, maybe he still thinks I’m a pain in the ass.
But each time our eyes have met tonight, it’s sent shivers all over me, just like it’s doing now. It’s been happening all night. I’ll look over at him, and he gives this small frown, like he’s checking to see if I’m okay. But sometimes he’s already watching me. Then, cue the butterflies.
“What do you think the expiration date is on pepperoni?” Cap asks, and I realize everyone else has wandered away.
It’s just me and Cap. Did Jude come over to grab his dad to look for something?
Between everyone wanting to talk to me and obsessively looking at my ring finger and Griffin, the whole night has been a happy blur.
I give my head a shake. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Pepperoni. Do you think it goes bad fast?”
“I don’t think the amount you eat affects the expiration date.” Cap’s already eaten the better part of a whole pie by himself.
“I’m just seeing if there’s enough to last me until the end of the month if I ate it every day for lunch.”
“Kids are weird,” Eli warns me as he passes with an armful of wood for the fire.
Cap grins. “You’re weirder, Uncle Eli.”
Eli sticks his tongue out at his nephew.
“You really love pizza, huh?” I ask.
“Love isn’t a big enough word. It’s my favorite food in the whole world.”
I smile. I love the way Cap chats with me like we’re friends. We did kind of bond when he visited London with Jude last year.
“Hey, thanks for coming on your first day of school.”
Cap shrugs. “It was fun playing football with Uncle Griffin.”
The two of them tossed the ball back and forth in the yard when we first got here.
“I still can’t believe you tackled him like that.”
“I’m pretty strong,” he says proudly.
I laugh. “Well, thanks again for being here. I hope it wasn’t too boring.”
“I’ve been to a lot of weddings. They’re totally boring, but this one was okay. Except the stuff in the town hall; that was a little bit boring.”
I grin. I think okay is pretty great as far as nine-year-old boy wedding reviews go.
“It was pretty gross when they were all lovey-dovey, though,” Chelsea says, coming up beside us with Cass.
“Ugh, love,” Cass says.
“Kissing is seriously gross,” Cap agrees.
“What are you going to do when you get married?” Cass asks Cap. “High fives?”
Cap looks horrified. “I’m never getting married.”
We all laugh as Cap backs away slowly, then makes a run for the dog, who’s already stretching, ready for round seventeen of catch with Cap.
“Honestly, that kiss was gross, but only because it’s weird to swoon over a kiss when it’s your brother,” Chelsea says.
“But if it wasn’t Griff,” Cass says, “I think I speak for everyone when I say objectively that that kiss was…damn.”
Cass sighs.
My cheeks heat up as I recall the feeling of him taking me like that. “It wasn’t what we talked about,” I squeak.
Cass rolls her eyes. “Why am I not surprised Griff set expectations for his wedding kiss?”
“I’m only surprised he broke them,” Chelsea says. “But I guess feelings be feeling.”
We all laugh, though mine is strained. Not because it’s not funny, but because Griff and I are not supposed to be having feelings. That’s not what this is about.
Sure, I crossed the line a few times, but that was just hormones.
I bring my hand up to gnaw on my nails, then lower it again.
“So,” Chelsea says. “What’s next now that the fun is over?”
“I guess I need to figure out what to do.”
“You’ve always got a place at the Rolling Hills if you want it,” Cass says.
I’m touched. “That’s so nice, thank you. I don’t know if I’ve got the kind of experience you’re looking for.” Which is to say, not much of anything.
“Well, Griffin would never have married someone who wasn’t self-sufficient, so I’m sure whatever you choose to do, you’ll be amazing at it.”
“Vivian Lau offered me a job at Bijou. I’m kind of considering taking it.”
“Seriously?” Cass asks, her eyes wide. “I’ve spent a small fortune in that place, and that woman barely tolerates charging my card.”
“I can crack her.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Chelsea says. “You seem like the type of person who knows how to handle closed-off personalities.”
We all look over at Griffin, who’s rolling his eyes at something Eli’s saying with wild gesticulation.
Just then there’s a crackle, and a baby wails. Chelsea jumps, pulling a baby monitor out of her purse. “I think that’s time for us.”
She waves it at Seamus, who excuses himself from the cluster of guys next to Griffin and disappears around the side of the house.
Disappointment snags at me. I don’t want this night to end.
I haven’t had such a good time in forever.
But also, going home means being alone with Griffin after all of this.
I have a feeling Griffin’s going to clam up and insist on going to bed, and that’s the last thing I want to do.
Marrying for strategic reasons is one thing, but spending my wedding night alone?
Cass grabs Chelsea’s diaper bag for her, but Chelsea’s still juggling the monitor and her purse. “The baby never sleeps well when she’s not in her own bed,” she laments.
“Do you need help?” I ask hopefully when I realize Seamus went to pull the car around.
“Sure—actually, do you want to come with me? I might need to change her.”
I nearly jump with excitement. “Yes, please.”
Cass laughs. “You’re the first person I’ve ever met who looks excited about diaper changes.”
“It’s more seeing the baby. It’s really the only reason I stay in touch with half my friends from college—I get to hold their babies.”
Cass smiles. “I’ll come, too.”
We head into the house, and a moment later, the three of us are crowded around the fold-up crib set up in their dad’s office.
Chelsea picks her daughter up, giving her a plethora of kisses all over her cheeks. The baby fusses, and Cass hands her a diaper and wipes.
When everything’s taken care of, Imogen coos happily.
“Here, want to hold her?” Chelsea must see my eyes light up, because she thrusts the baby at me.
When I feel the warm weight of her in my arms, feel the jerky movements of her fists, something goes tight in my chest. “I don’t know what it is,” I say, sitting down in the office chair. “But there’s just something about holding a baby that makes everything feel right with the world.”
Chelsea laughs, looking truly touched. “You’re right. Although I’ll be hard-pressed to remember that at two a.m. when she’s waking me up for the hundredth time.”
We all laugh. Then I pull out my phone. “Do you mind if I take a picture?”
“Of course not,” Chelsea says. Cass offers to take it, but I shake my head.
“It’s okay. It’s just to mess with your brother.”
Now both women laugh hard along with me. “I’ve never seen a man so big and tough more scared of something so adorable and helpless,” Chelsea says.
I snap a few pictures, trying to make sure I’m not laughing so hard my eyes are closed. Imogen, meanwhile, looks at us like we’ve lost our minds.
Chelsea lets me carry the baby back outside to meet Seamus. I give her one last nuzzle before handing her back to her mom. When Chelsea and Seamus leave, Chelsea slips her arm around Seamus’s back as he holds their daughter against his chest.
I try hard not to look wistful.
“We better head out, too.” Cass fends off a yawn. “I’m going to have a helluva day tomorrow, seeing as I happily bailed on approximately eight thousand meetings to come to an impromptu wedding.”
I start to apologize, but Cass holds up a hand. “Don’t you dare. This might have been my favorite family wedding yet. But I think Griffin’s going to have a hernia if you don’t go home with him right now.”
I’m surprised by this. “He never said anything.”
He’s standing with his brothers, and now that they’ve said something, I see the way his fingers drum on his arm. How he scratches the back of his head and glances over here. He’s fidgeting.
“I’ve never once seen him stay more than twenty minutes at any family function. An hour if it’s Christmas. I think he gets actual hives at social functions of any kind.”
Something tingles across my skin. “Even with his family?”
“We’re the only reason he shows up at all.”
I look over at Griffin. His eyes immediately draw up to meet mine. “Well, it is his wedding,” I say tentatively.
“His wedding’s not the reason he’s still here, Sasha,” Cass says gently. “It’s you.”