Chapter 30 #3
Cadence let out a loud, dramatic sigh. “Ugh. You guys are sickeningly cute. It’s actually gross. Do it again so I can get a video.”
“You guys are weird,” Cal laughed, but he didn’t move away. He tightened his grip on me, looking more at home here in the dirt and smoke than I had ever seen him in a VIP lounge.
The music shifted then, the upbeat tempo fading into the opening chords of Luke Bryan’s “Drunk on You.”
Cal groaned audibly, dropping his head back. “Oh, god. Is country music getting worse? I feel like it’s getting worse.”
I grinned. I knew he hated it. Which meant I had to make it a problem.
I started humming along, nudging him.
“Stop,” Cal warned, fighting a smile.
I sang louder, leaning into his space.
“Silas, I swear to god,” he laughed, trying to shove me away, but his hands lingered on my arms.
I looked over and saw Scott pull Jayme into his arms. They were swaying near the fire, Scott whispering something that made Jayme throw her head back and laugh. It was playful, happy, and so simple.
I wanted that. I wanted to be the guy dancing by the fire with the person he loved.
I stood up and held out my hand to Cal.
He looked at my hand, then up at me, eyebrows raised. “You’re kidding.”
“Dance with me, Kincaid,” I said.
“To fucking Luke Bryan?”
“To fucking Luke Bryan.”
He rolled his eyes so hard it probably hurt, but he took my hand. I pulled him up, and he stepped into my space without hesitation. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him flush against me, and he draped his arms over my shoulders, his fingers toying with the hair at the nape of my neck.
We swayed there, the fire crackling beside us, the smell of woodsmoke and pine filling the air.
I kept singing the lyrics softly, just for him, watching the way the firelight danced in his hazel eyes.
He was pretending to be annoyed, but the softness in his expression gave him away. He looked peaceful.
I glanced over and saw Josie and Cadence holding up their phones. They were recording us, snapping photos, grinning like idiots.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Then buzzed again. And again.
I pulled it out with one hand, keeping the other on Cal’s waist.
Josie: Sent 3 photos.
Cadence: Sent a video.
I opened the first one. It was a candid shot of us from a few seconds ago. The fire was roaring behind us, casting a glow over everything. Cal was looking at me with this… expression. He looked completely enamored. And me? I looked like I had everything I had ever wanted right in my hands.
It was the first time I had ever seen us from the outside.
Our relationship had been hidden in the dark, shadows in hotel rooms, glances in locker rooms. I only knew what we felt like on the inside. I had never seen what the world would see if we let them.
We looked… right. We looked happy. We looked like we belonged to each other.
I turned the screen so Cal could see it.
He went still. He stared at the photo for a long time, the music fading into the background for a moment.
“We look happy,” he whispered.
“We are happy,” I said.
He looked up at me, his eyes glassy in the firelight. “I can’t wait to have forever like this. Seeing pictures of us… existing. Just being us.”
The word hung in the air. Forever.
“Forever?” I asked, my voice thick.
Cal nodded, his fingers tightening in my hair. “I don’t know about you, Reed, but I don’t plan on being with another person again. Do you?”
I stared at him. The sounds of my brothers laughing, the crackle of the wood, the twang of the guitar, it all narrowed down to him.
“No,” I whispered. “Never.”
I leaned in and kissed him, slow and deep, tasting the smoke and the sweetness of the night on his lips.
As I kissed him, I felt something settle deep in my bones.
It wasn’t the adrenaline of the ring, or the panic of the secret.
It was heavier than that, and yet, it made me feel weightless.
I had spent so much of my life running, running from my father’s shadow, running from the botch, running from the terrifying reality that I loved this man.
But I wasn’t running anymore.
I was standing in my backyard, surrounded by the people who knew me best, holding the only person who truly knew my soul. And he wanted forever.
I looked at him as we pulled apart, his forehead resting against mine. I looked at the way the firelight caught the sharp line of his jaw, the way his lashes fluttered against his cheeks.
Forever.
I was going to marry him.
The thought didn’t scare me. It didn’t feel like a cage. It felt like the only freedom I had ever truly known. I was going to ask him. Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But soon. I was going to make sure that “forever” wasn’t just a promise we whispered in the dark, but a vow we made in the light.
“What are you thinking about?” Cal whispered, tracing my cheekbone with his thumb.
I smiled, capturing his hand and kissing his palm.
“Just that the music sucks,” I lied.
Cal laughed, the sound bright and clear and perfect. “Yeah. It really does.”
And as we swayed there, under the Carolina stars, I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.