Her attention refocuses. “No, he doesn’t.”
“I talked to him earlier. He knows. He approves. Now dance with me before I’m left with no choice but to go make a fool of myself out there alone.” I curl my fingers in—a motion I hope makes her think of me doing the same stroking elsewhere—beckoning her out of the chair, and I give my hips a little wiggle to make her smile. “Come on. Be my girl for tonight, and dance with me. I promise to rub my dick all over your ass, because I know you love that.”
She squeezes her eyes shut. “I’ll dance with you if you promisenotto do that.”
“I already told myself I would, and I really hate going back on my word.” I take a few steps back, gesturing toward the empty patch of moonlit gravel that I intend on making into an impromptu dance floor. Then I hold my index finger and thumb no further than a hair’s width apart. “Maybe ateensybit of dick rubbing?”
And because she and I seem to be made of magnets, she unwittingly stands. Her palms smooth over the silky fabric of her dress, and Whit shakes her head with a laugh that fills the hollow of my chest. “No rubbing. The last thing I want is to give Jonas a talk about the birds and the bees before bed tonight.”
I snare her wrist before she can change her mind, pulling her into the open space where the sounds of nature are nearly as loud as the music. She steps in close, looping her arms around my neck, and her pelvis presses against me. For a moment, I lose myself in the way her eyes appear almost black, pupils blown out in the dark, staring wide-eyed and wondering up at me.
For a long time, we simply sway, gravel crunching underfoot. The party grows farther and farther away, until we’re the only two people on Earth.
“I made a mistake,” I whisper.
She narrows her eyes, fingertips stopping their slow twist of my hair.
“I shouldn’t have left that night. I should’ve sat there and said what I wanted to say…and what I wanted to say was that I am always going to choose you, Whit. Over the possibility of any other future, I’ll choose you and Jonas every time. If there’s one thing I want both of you to know deep in your bones, it’s that even if you feel you have nothing else, you have me. Always.”
The fabric of her dress bunches in my grasp. If I have nothing else, I have her…for a moment, anyway. And I intend to hold her as close as she’ll allow, for as long as she’ll allow.
Whit sniffles with the cutest nose twitch I’ve ever seen from anyone except a baby bunny. “Colt…me pushing you away was choosing you. B-but I—”
“I realized something over the last few weeks. Do you want to know what it is?”
“Well, I just want—”
I’m terrified this is moments away from becoming breakup round two, where she finishes me,Mortal Kombatstyle. If that’s what she wants, I refuse to let it happen before I’ve said all the things I rehearsed with Betty last night.
So I cut her off, even though I’m aware I look like a dick for doing it. “I realized I won’t be happy with a family unless you and Jonas are part of it. I don’t give a shit about some woman Imightmeet one day, because sure…maybe she can get pregnant and make some cute-ass babies. But it won’t fucking matter, and I won’t fucking love her, because I already know she won’t make me half as happy as you do.”
Her hands slip from their shaky position at the nape of my neck to frame my face, and there’s nothing slow or unsure about the way her lips crash into mine. It’s fireworks scattering colorful ribbons through the star-sprinkled sky. She presses up on the balls of her feet, deepening the kiss, letting our lips mold together.
I draw her closer and tighter, feeling the warmth of her against my chest. The vanilla scent of her hair softens every sharp edge, and stars dot the backs of my eyelids.
“I think everybody saw that,” I say against her mouth.
“I don’t care.” Her bottom lip brushes mine. “I needed a way to shut you up.”
I’m brimming with the urge to throw her over my shoulder and haul her out of here. To feel her naked and wet and coming undone with my cock inside her again. Fuck, it’s all I can think about. All it took was a simple kiss. I’m a goner.
“What I wastryingto say is…I want you. I want us.” Whit’s searing green eyes stay steady on mine. “You came crashing into my life, and you turned it all upside down, and…somehow you fixed it. You made me believe in things I never thought I’d have—things I never thought Jonas would have. I know we’re not easy….” She licks a rogue tear pooled in her Cupid’s bow. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted toleave. But you’re the easiest thing in my life. I need you to be my person.”
“I told my mom I was going to marry you after that first night we played video games here. Your contact name has beenFuture Wifesince you gave me your number. And it’s not just you, Whit. I fell for Jonas, too. When I see him working hard on the ranch, standing up to bullies, or kicking my ass at video games—I’m so damn proud of him. Not like some guy dating his mom, not like I’m simply stepping in for a little while. Proud of him like he’s mine.” I blink back the slight glassiness blurring my view of the world’s most perfect woman. “I’m afraid I haven’t wanted to leave since the day I met the two of you.”
Her cheeks turn the prettiest shade of pink at my confession. “I might’ve wanted you to leave that first day…when you wore that heinous shirt. But not since then.”
“I promise to never wear that shirt again,butI’m gonna need to hang on to it. Put it in a box or something so we can laugh about it fifty years from now.”
“You think we’ll still be together in fifty years?” There’s something hopeful in the delicate lilt of her voice.
“I don’t think either of us have a choice, honey. We’re binary stars.” My lips press to the cold tip of her nose. “We’re meant to orbit one another for the rest of our lives.”
“I hope you’re right,” she says on an exhale.
I let a kiss linger on her forehead, relishing the scent of her hair the way I last did in the laundry room. I knew we’d get back here eventually, but the rush of holding her against my chest hits differently now, tonight. We’re dancing slowly to a song I’ve heard a million times—though from now on I’ll associate it with this moment—and my heart drums proudly in my chest.
“You’re my primary star, Whit.”
