Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Rais?”
“Rais might possibly be the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Oh is he,” I deadpanned.
“Do you see him over there?”
I groaned.
“He and his girlfriend are, like, blinding together. Can you imagine how gorgeous their kids will be?”
I would not spend a moment more on Rais. Or Sienna. “So you’re saying Locryn reminds Tatum of me, and that’s the appeal?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “She loves you, I suspect she can see Locryn’s gooey center under all the bluster, and if he stuck around, he’d be her new favorite person.”
“I’m gonna go throw him outta my house,” I announced, turning away.
He grabbed my arm and took my face in his hands. “Stay here and kiss me instead.”
“Yeah, okay,” I agreed.
I so appreciated everyone being there, and was a bit overwhelmed that they wanted to be. I had gotten a call from Croy about how sorry he was he couldn’t make it, but he was stuck on a job where he and his partner had tracked a guy to Alaska and were currently freezing their balls off on a stakeout in a motel that charged by the hour.
“I would much rather be attending your nuptials, but we’ll visit in the spring. Dallas has a two-day meeting there, and afterward, we’ll be crashing with you.”
“I can’t wait,” I said sincerely.
Brann called me as well, apologizing, but his oldest daughter’s first winter formal was the same evening, and he had to be there to put the fear of God into the “little asshole” who was escorting her.
“Really? Asshole? Isn’t the kid like fourteen, fifteen?”
Silence.
“You don’t think you’re overreacting just a bit?”
“Just you wait,” he told me.
It sounded ominous. I promised if he needed backup, I would get in the car. We were only an eight-and-a-half-hour car ride apart. He said he’d keep it in mind and invited me to visit. The fishing was great, he said. I could ask Cooper.
“This coming summer, and I’ll bring Luke and the kids.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said with a sigh.
I was over the moon to have Rais meet Luke, despite Luke finding him so very gorgeous, and I was thrilled they’d hit it off. When your best friend liked your spouse, I couldn’t imagine anything better. He pledged to visit after the holidays to do some skiing and hang out, and Sienna was excited to return to sit in the house, on the sectional she already loved, and veg with the kids. After talking to Dar, she was sure they all liked the same movies.
She caught me in the kitchen after we cut the cake Owen had flown in from his favorite bakery in Chicago. It had three layers—tiramisu, chocolate, and strawberry swirl—and was utterly amazing. I had no idea cake could be that good.
“It can,” he said flatly, eyebrow raised as he walked away with a slice of the tiramisu. He wasn’t messing around, and it was one of two gifts from him and Jared, he said.
I was curious what the second gift was, but in that moment, I was far more invested in what Sienna was about to tell me.
“Thank you for selling us your beautiful apartment, Nash.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. “I just—I love him so much. I mean, the moment we met it was like, Oh, there you are. Where have you been? And now this transition, for both of us, has been simply seamless.”
“As though it was meant to be.”
“Yes,” she barely got out, her breath catching as I took her into my arms.
“What the hell?” Rais groused at me. “Why’re you making my girl cry?”
“I’m your girl?” she asked as Cooper appeared, the man who had been her first friend from our crew, the one she’d visited Chicago to see, before she fell for Rais.
“Of course,” Rais said adamantly.
“Don’t want to look like a raccoon right now,” Cooper insisted, handing her a tissue that she dabbed at her eyes with.
“No, of course not, but why is the now so vital?”
When I let her go and she turned, she immediately understood why the present moment was so important. Rais Solano was down on one knee, holding an open box, a lovely maroon velvet one, that held a six-carat emerald-cut diamond solitaire. He’d spent a fortune, but he could. He’d told me earlier, when he showed me the ring, that he was nervous. I advised him not to worry and, of course, I was right,
“Ohmygod, yes,” she blurted out.
“I haven’t asked yet,” he pointed out.
“I don’t care.”
His smile lit his face. “I want you to marry me and be with me forever.”
“Yes,” she repeated, holding out her hand. “A million times yes.”
We all took pictures of the two of them, because really, they should have been in ads for diamonds with how beautiful they were together.
She didn’t wait for him to stand. As soon as the ring was on her finger, she took his face in her trembling hands and kissed the breath out of him. I was wildly happy for them both, and what a great memory for them to share with us.