“Axel—”
Mathew shoved Axel hard enough to dislodge his arm from my shoulder.
Big mistake.
Axel moved like lightning, pinning Mathew against the outside wall with a muscled forearm pressed to his throat. Every tattoo on his torso seemed to come alive as his muscles flexed and coiled with power.
“Axel!”
“You ever show up at her door uninvited again, and we’re going to have a very different conversation,” Axel said, his voice deadly calm. “Dakota told you no. That means no. Accept that it’s over and move on.”
For a moment, I thought Mathew might actually apologize. But I knew how his mind worked, how his father’s bullying had twisted him into someone who saw every challenge as a threat to his masculinity.
When Axel released him with a look of disgust, Mathew straightened his rumpled shirt, his gaze bouncing between Axel and me with something cold and calculating.
“You made the wrong choice, Dakota,” he said quietly, his tone sending an unexpected chill down my spine.
Then he turned and walked away.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said once he was gone.
“You don’t deserve to have to keep telling him that it’s over.”
True. I hated that things had to end this way with Mathew, but at least there was no way he’d misunderstand this anymore. At least now, he knew it was truly over.
And he’d move on …
53
BREAKING: MAN WHO PHOTOSHOPPED ROMANCE NOVEL COVERS, NOW LIVING IN ONE. #IRONICTWIST
AXEL
Dakota and I locked eyes as she stood next to the other bridesmaids, sharing an intimate moment that belonged only to us before the collective gasp of the crowd cascaded through the audience.
Everyone rose to their feet.
Tessa glided forward, ethereal in white silk that pooled behind her in an endless train. She didn’t acknowledge the hundreds of guests watching her with hushed awe. Didn’t notice every meticulous detail she’d obsessed over in her planning: the archway of white roses and peonies, the cascades of ivy draping the stone walls, the hundreds of flickering candles casting everything in golden light.
The only thing she saw was Blake.
He stood at the front of the altar, looking like he was about to cry and trying desperately not to. The expression on his face hit me square in the chest. Something I never would’ve understood a few months ago, but now felt in every fiber of my being.
It was the look of a man who’d found his purpose. His soul’s other half. His reason for existing.
And standing here, watching as one of my closest friends was about to marry the love of his life, I knew with absolute certainty that I would make Dakota my bride. That pathetic “proposal” she’d called me out on when we’d been making love hadn’t been a proposal at all. She deserved something magnificent. Something worthy of her. Complete with a brand-new ring, created just for her.
Ryker stood as the best man on Blake’s side, lips curved in the slightest smile. Which was as close to emotional as the criminal lawyer ever got. Then, second, stood me. And then third, Jace, looking annoyingly dignified in his tux.
I’d been calling him Number Three all day, and he fucking hated it.
Worth it.
The fourth groomsman spot remained empty. I worried that Knox’s absence at the wedding might be hard on Dakota. But either she was handling it well or choosing to focus on the positive: two of our closest friends were getting married today.
And that was worth celebrating.
Scarlett, Dakota, and Faith were dressed in matching colors of peach, but I only had eyes for Dakota.
