And suddenly, she is way too far away.
My feet are moving before my brain even registers it, my entire being centered around three words.
Get to Olivia.
So, I do exactly that.
My legs eat up the distance between us, and nothing in the world matters more in this moment than getting my arms around her. I register in the dim recesses of my brain that we are supposed to be keeping this a secret. That kissing her right now would be a bad idea. But then she gives me a wicked grin, her eyes changing, filling with a kind of mischief that turns my heart buoyant. Makes me feel lighter than air. And I hear her words as if she’s speaking them out loud.
Bring it on, baby.
Fuck. Yes.
In three strides I’m in front of her, one arm sliding around her waist and the other hand cupping her cheek as I take her mouth with mine. It’s the perfect kiss, full of heart and heat and so much fun I practically laugh at the joy of it. It’s slow and deep and she melts against me, her arms around my waist and her body pressed to mine, fitting perfectly against me as if she was made for me and me alone.
I think she was.
Our hearts beat out the same rhythm, my senses filling with her lilac scent, and I could keep on kissing her like this for a hundred years and it would still never be enough. There is no amount of her that would ever be enough. She is my heart and soul and my entire fucking universe.
“Oh, holy fuck.”
We don’t jerk apart at the sound of Gabe’s voice. Instead, I ease back, the room slowly coming back into focus, my hand still on Olivia’s face and our eyes locked together. “You look so pretty,” I murmur, my thumb sweeping her cheek, my other arm keeping her locked against me. “The prettiest girl in the world.”
She smiles, kissing my jaw. “I think the image of you in a tux walking towards me like I was the last person on earth is going to be burned into my brain for all of eternity.”
I lean in and kiss her again. “I like the idea of eternity with you.”
I love you.
“Same goes, my guy.”
“I’m sorry, but what the fuck am I looking at right now?”
At Gabe’s disgruntled question, Olivia gives me a wink and turns, keeping her back to my chest and my arm locked around her waist as she faces Gabe. “Did you have a question?”
Gabe’s jaw is slack as he looks from me to Olivia, his mouth opening and closing like he’s trying to figure out what to say but can’t quite get there. I thought I would be nervous telling Gabe about Olivia and me, but I’m not. He’s my best friend and one of the best people I know. He loves Olivia, and he wants her to be happy, and no one in the world will work harder to make her happy than I will. But it looks like he might need a minute to adjust.
“I think maybe we broke him,” I murmur to Olivia.
Molly snorts out a laugh and Amelia giggles, and out of the corner of my eye I see Amelia’s husband, Elliot, grinning.
“Wait, Uncle Brian, was Liv the reason you were smiling down at your phone earlier?” Maddy asks from behind me. “Are you guys, like, dating or something?”
“Yeah, Bry, are you guys, like, dating or something?” Jeremy asks, his tone wildly amused.
“Who’s dating?”
I glance behind Gabe, who is still gaping at us, to see Asher walking up with his wife, Julie, Ben, and Ben’s wife, Hallie.
“Liv and Brian, apparently,” Maddy says, sounding decades older than her twelve years.
“No shit,” Asher says, wide smile on his face. “Baby Sullivan finally gets her man! Love this for both of you.”
I can practically feel Olivia’s eyeroll. “If you call me baby Sullivan again, I’m going to cut your balls off, and then you’ll never have that football team full of kids you want so badly.”
Julie cackles out a laugh and leans into her husband, one hand on her very pregnant belly. “Savage, Liv. I love it.”
“Hang on,” Ben says, studying us. “Did this start the night of the snowstorm? Brian covered for me at the bar so I could leave before the weather got bad.” He beams at us. “Did I do this?”
