Chapter 32
32
RYLAN
The warmth of Joss’s body sank into mine as we swayed together on the dance floor. I would dance with her to any beat, but I’d found the slow songs were my favorites. What better reason to hold her in my arms, against my chest, and feel the steady rhythm of her heart under my hands?
Around us, our friends and family had gathered, but all I cared about was the woman in my arms. My lucky charm. My greatest adventure.
I wouldn’t be alive without Joss. I wouldn’t be here, in this city. I wouldn’t know these people. Without her, I’d still be chasing the high, going from one adventure to the next as I tried to find something that could hold my interest and make me happy again.
Joss made me happy. From the minute I laid eyes on her in that casino in Vegas, my life was changed. My heart was calm. The happiness that flowed through my veins was what I’d been searching for all my life.
She tilted her chin up, giving me a glimpse of her beautiful face, her stunning blue eyes. Her smile made my heart stutter in my chest. “You’re going to have to let me go at some point.”
“Nonsense.” I dropped a kiss to her lips and tightened my hold around her waist. “I’m never letting you go. You’re mine for eternity.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” She rolled her eyes before giving an awkward smile to someone over my shoulder.
I clutched her tighter, and she snaked her arms around my neck, pressing her lips close to my ear.
“You’re cute when you're jealous.”
“Not jealous,” I told her, even as my hands squeezed to hold her tighter.
It was our wedding reception. Why did anyone other than the groom get to dance with the bride?
Joss giggled as someone tapped on my shoulder. Someone whose face I would happily bash with my fist if he so much as thought about touching my wife the way he’d been touching his own girlfriend all night.
I shouldn’t be jealous. I knew that. But Joss and Van’s friendship had always made me stabby, even after I realized she had eyes for no one but me.
“Come on, man,” Van complained, “quit hogging the bride. You’re literally stealing her away tomorrow and disappearing for a month. The least you can do is let the people here gathered to celebrate the both of you see something other than your backs.”
With a grumble, I loosened my grip on my wife, only to shove her behind my back as I turned to him. “What if I don’t want to share?”
The words were barely out of my mouth before Joss squealed and the warmth of her body was ripped away from mine. I spun on my heel and found her laughing as Weston twirled her in a circle before dipping her low.
This time, the smile on her face stole my fucking breath.
Damn, she was gorgeous. Her cheeks flushed red as Weston pulled her upright again, holding her loosely in his arms and dancing with her to a slightly faster song. She flashed a look my way and I swore my heart was going to explode with how much I loved her.
“So.” Van bumped his shoulder against mine. “Where did you decide you’re jetting off to?”
I rubbed my palms together. “So many places,” I started, unable to contain my excitement. “First stop is St. Lucia. Then Joss’s got us booked for a jungle adventure in the Riviera Maya before we head over for some fun in the Galápagos Islands.”
There was so much to do, and no possible way we could get everything we wanted to experience squeezed into a single month. Joss may have tricked me into letting her choose our destinations, but I couldn’t have been happier with her choices.
This woman knew me. Knew there was no way I could spend a week laying on the beach and soaking up the sun—which had been my biggest worry when she insisted on going someplace warm. She went all out, planning every excursion available, not just in one locale, but three.
Scuba diving and zip lining. Hiking through the rainforest and up volcanic mountains. She’d surprised me with sky diving and claimed a little of her own joy by sending us to the Galápagos, where we were going to see as many critters as humanly possible.
She spent so many hours planning out every day, with backup plans in case anything went wrong, that we had enough to fill three months’ worth of vacation instead of just one.
Beside me, Van scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “The Galápagos, huh? Sounds a little more exciting than snowmobiling up north.”
I flinched as if he’d punched me.
Just another reason I couldn’t fault Joss for tricking me. When I’d found out Van owned snowmobiles and a mostly unused house back in North Dakota, I had jumped on the idea of heading up there to spend our honeymoon racing over the snow covered fields.
Joss poo pooed that idea faster than she could have said I told ya so .
“Don’t worry.” Van gripped my shoulder and gave me a hard shake. “My place is still open for you anytime you ask.”
Turning my face toward him, I raised a single brow. “You sure it’s not going to be in use?”
A grin I was still trying to get used to plastered itself to his face as he glanced across the room to his girl. “Yeah, about that. You might want to check with me first before you go making any plans.” He looked back at me, trying—and failing—to school his face. His brow furrowed and a half-assed scowl strained his lips. “You know, in case Patty’s on a rampage. Wouldn’t want to subject you to that.”
“Right.” I shoved his shoulder and let free the laughter bubbling in my chest.
He was so gone for her he couldn’t even pretend he wasn’t already planning a way to sneak her away again.
I turned my gaze back to Joss, finding her in the center of a group of our friends. Hands up in the air, smile stretching her face as she bounced and jumped to the sounds of the upbeat song pumping out of the speakers around the room.
The love of my life.
While I would have been content staring at Joss all night, I was swept up in the sea of dancers. Somehow, despite all odds, Joss and Pops had convinced Ma to show up. I got a quick spin around the dance floor with her before she was off to chat with Joss’s mom—or likely to take a peek at the spider monkey who’d been wrapped up in a baby sling around Mrs. Ward’s neck since the moment she arrived. All of our guests had been curious about the little thing—something we were trying to keep quiet, so she didn’t get kicked out of the hotel.
It meant everything to Joss to be able to have her parents and siblings here. Since Peter’s arrest, she’d been trying to heal the break in her family that her ex had caused.
That was one more reason I was grateful that Van had offered us the use of his house. Though their towns weren’t neighboring, they were close enough that we could see her family and still have some time to ourselves.
I turned away from Ma and Joss’s family and found my wife dancing with Pops. Though the beat of the song was fast, Joss kept her swaying at a slow pace that Pops could keep up with. He shuffled back and forth, his suit making him look so different than I’d ever seen him before.
My heart swelled. My two favorite people in the world got along better than I ever could have hoped. Joss, with her heart of pure gold, had connected instantly with Pops. She reached out to him every week, ensuring my stepdad was doing okay and had everything he and Ma needed. And because of her, the two of us had grown closer as well.
As the song came to a close, I stepped toward the two of them, extending my hand. “Can I cut in?”
Pops stepped back, smiling wide as he offered Joss’s hand my way. But I surprised him, giving Joss a quick peck on the cheek before I held on to Pops’ shoulders the way she’d just been.
“Can’t tell you how much it means to have you here.”
His eyes, which had already been on the watery side after his dance with Joss, now threatened to spill some tears. “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, kid.”
The two of us peered over at my wife, who was dancing with her arms around both Cheyenne and Dakota, the three of them looking thick as thieves and—knowing what I knew about my wife’s best friend—likely to get into some trouble. Pops nudged my chin with his knuckle.
“You sure know how to pick ’em.”
A beaming smile threatened to tear my face in two. “Sure do.”
“Smart. Kind. And, if you don’t mind me saying?—”
“Gorgeous,” the two of us said together. We both let out a laugh.
I turned back to my stepdad, sobering as I looked at his weary face. “You going to be alright while we’re gone.”
“Psh.” He shook his head. “You’ve nothin’ to worry about, kid. Been taking care of myself and your Ma for years. One month without you calling to check in on me won’t be too much of a hardship. Although…”
“What?” I asked, panic making my heart thump harder in my chest.
“Don’t s’pose you’d convince your wife to call and check in while you’re gone?”
My jaw dropped to the floor. “Pops! You dirty old man!”
His laughter made me feel lighter than air. “Like I said: You sure know how to pick ’em. You’ve got a special one there. Don’t you mess this up.”
“Promise,” I told him, my throat squeezing tight at the mere thought of it. “I’m done messing things up with us. From now on, I’ll just stay on my knees and worship her for the rest of her life.”
“Probably for the best.”
“Damn right.” I glanced back at where Joss was, and that panic gripped me once again. Joss wasn’t with Cheyenne and Dakota. The three of them were missing, and when I scanned the room and found Dakota by the table that had food spread across it, I twisted away from Pops, ready to run over to him and ask him where the hell my wife had gone.
Only, I didn’t have to. Because before I could take my first step his way, Joss led Chey and a handful of event staff out of the back room, and my mouth began to water.
Not seeing Joss for all of a couple minutes was enough to make me want to melt at the sight of her now. In her beautiful wedding dress—the same one she’d worn for our wedding in Vegas—she took my breath away.
But it wasn’t just Joss that had my mouth watering. It was the trays of food in the event staff’s hands.
Some might call our wedding cakes a bit extravagant. Trying to pick just one proved an impossible feat, so we settled on five. Almond, chocolate, strawberry, German chocolate, and a chocolate strawberry cheesecake.
The tables set up for them had plenty of space for slices of each to be cut and laid out. But as I watched the staff place their trays in those empty places, I began to realize Joss had tricked me once again.
And once again, I couldn’t have been happier.
On the trays were dozens of chocolate covered strawberries, multiple kinds of mouthwatering donuts, and massive tubs of ice cream, complete with all the toppings and fancy glass bowls.
Joss turned from the spread, her lip caught between her teeth, her blue eyes scanning the room until she found me. She let go of her lip, let them tilt into the most stunning smile, as she saw me rushing toward her.
“Hot damn, gorgeous. Tell me I didn’t just die and go to heaven.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, giving into the kiss I pressed against her lips before she snaked her tongue out and licked into my mouth. “Does this feel like heaven?” she asked when she finally let me free of the spell she’d wrapped me up in.
“Absolutely.”
She smiled against my lips as I kissed her again. “Then you’re in for a treat.”
Her sweet breath mingled with mine, and my heart beat faster as I peered into her eyes. I licked my lips, tasting bits of sugary frosting and…
“Say it ain’t so.” I tugged her toward me, glancing over her shoulder until my gaze landed on exactly what she must have eaten moments ago.
“Raspberry cream filled.” It was just a whisper, but it could have been a goddamn air raid siren for as loud as those three words were in my ears. Forget watering—my mouth was fucking dripping saliva onto the ballroom floor when Cheyenne’s voice squawked over the DJ’s speakers.
“Dessert is served!”
“Come on, baby,” Joss whispered again, her lips grazing the skin near my ear as she squeezed me against her body. “I got you all of your favorites.”
“You’re my favorite.” I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to hers. “You are, and always will be, my favorite adventure.”
“I love you, Rylan.”
I stole one more lick of her raspberry taste. “Love you too, gorgeous.”
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