Dingo hesitates. “It’s nothing serious. Just some stomach thing. Her doctor said it’s messing with her gut bacteria or something. She’s on meds, she’ll be fine. I’ll go check on her.” He gets up, leaving behind a thick silence. I glance at Anna, then at Johnny, and we all wear the same uneasy expression.
“I don’t buy it,” Anna mutters. “Something’s not right.”
The Slayettes all nod.
“I guess they’ll tell us when they’re ready,” Hux says, unusually thoughtful. “All we can do is be here when they do.”
He’s right. But something tells me he knows more than he’s letting on.
Colt’s mum chimes in before anyone else can speak. “Huxley is right. Let them come to you. Now eat up, everyone, your breakfast is getting cold.”
The day passes quickly, and most stay well into the evening, but by midnight, Colt and I are finally alone and making our way to bed.
“I think our parties went well, don’t you?” Colt asks as he closes the bedroom door behind us.
I glance back at him with a smirk. “I think we missed most of our parties and ended up in this bed a little too early, but I doubt anyone cared.” I pause. “Well… except maybe Dad. He definitely cared.”
I giggle, but Colt doesn’t smile right away. Instead, a more serious look casts over his face as he pulls off his long-sleeved shirt and tosses it aside.
“I feel like I’m finally making progress with him,” he says, raking a hand through his hair. “And then something small happens, and he comes at me with that tone, the one that has me biting my damn tongue instead of biting back. It’s not fear exactly, just… I don’t know. He knows how to get under my damn skin.”
I tilt my head, watching him. There’s no weakness in his words, just the weight of trying to prove himself to a man who doesn’t give that trust easily.
“He’s testing you,” I say gently. “And you keep passing, even when he doesn’t let you see it. He knows you’d go to war for me. That’s what matters.”
Colt gives a low grunt, then looks me over as I shimmy out of my dress, letting it fall to the floor beside his shirt. His gaze heats as it drags over my body, and the edge in his expression softens into something entirely different.
A half-smirk curves on his lips. “I don’t care how hungover I am, baby. I can’t get enough of you.” He steps in close, his fingers gliding down my arms, reigniting a delicious fire in my belly.
“No teasing this time. Just slow, dirty, old-fashioned love making,” he murmurs, his voice low and rough, then finishes with, “for at least half the night.”
A breath catches in my throat. “Well, who could say no to that?”
Chapter Twenty-One
DEE
One Week Later
I can’t believe it.
This time tomorrow, I will be Mrs. Deliah Slade.
It’s taken Colt and me years to get to this point—years filled with ups and downs, heartache, healing, and a couple of near-death experiences. But through it all, one thing has remained constant—him. Us. And now, I can say with complete certainty, I’ve never felt more connected or in sync with another human being. I used to wonder if soulmates were real, if that kind of deep, magnetic bond actually existed.
Now I know.
If soulmates are real then Colt is mine.
Without a doubt.
I’m lying in bed without him for the first time in what feels like forever, and it’s unsettling not waking up to his warmth beside me. He stayed at Anna and Johnny’s last night—tradition,they said. All the guys are getting ready over there and will arrive just before the ceremony. It’s happening right here at our home, our manor, out back, where everything is being set up.
Anna has organized it so perfectly. The ceremony is down by the lake beneath the big weeping willow tree. Colt and I spend a lot of time there—it’s peaceful and grounding. He often goes to write under that tree. It’s his quiet space, his sanctuary, and I’ve watched him fill pages in that spot with lyrics that cut straight to the bone. We always said that if we got married, it should be there.
And here we are.
Anna is my maid of honor—there was never any doubt—and Huxley is Colt’s best man. Sia, Kira, and Joseph make up the rest of my bridal party. Joseph is technically the unconventional bridesmaid, and while he refused to wear a dress—thank God—he didn’t hesitate to say yes. I was a little worried he might feel weird about it, given our history, but he was thrilled when I asked. He’s been one of my biggest supporters through everything. Even though he’s my ex, he stands beside me today more like the big brother I never had. And honestly, I can’t imagine this day without him.
