The cue music started, and as I guided Lydia down the aisle to the altar, images of her walking down this aisle with Charlie, making her way to me, floated around my head. I could see it. Us tying the knot. Being able to call her my wife. Vowing to love her until death do us part and meaning every word of it.
I chanced a glance at her now.
Yeah, I could make those vows today, and Iwould mean every word of it. Lydia Wilder held my heart in a vise grip, and I was pretty sure she had since she was eighteen years old.
We got to the altar and had to separate to our specific sides. She trailed her fingers down my arm before we parted, and it took everything in me not to kiss her right here in the middle of Wyatt and Maeve’s ceremony.
The only good thing about us having to part from each other was that now I could look at her, and damn did I like what I saw.
24
Sebastian
Weddings didn’t typically make me cry, but from the moment Wyatt shook Jackson’s hand and brought him in for a hug before Maeve wrapped her arms around her brother, squeezing him tightly, I was a goner.
Jane’s flower girl routine hadn’t lasted more than ten steps before she made a beeline for her daddy, and Charlie had to scoop her up, making all of the guests laugh. Sheila cradled Veda, and instead of having sides for the bride and groom, Maeve’s mother, Josie, sat beside them, entertaining the girls whenever they started to get noisy.
The vows were beautiful, and the kiss was as obscene as Wyatt could get away with. Overall, it was a great ceremony, and I was happy to see Wyatt up there, completely smitten with his wife. But throughout the entire thing, my gaze kept shooting over to Lydia, catching her eye and sending her a subtle wink.
During the happy hour, when the guests could drink and socialize and the wedding party was off taking pictures, the hall was transformed into a reception room. The DJ waskilling it with dance hit after dance hit. Dinner was delicious. I would have taken food off Lydia’s plate beside me if I didn’t think she’d stab me with her fork.
She was out on the dance floor now with Maeve and a group of women from town. She spun around, shimmying her hips as she moved to the music.
“What’s up with you and Luke?” Wyatt asked. We were standing together near the bar, Wyatt, Wes, Reid, Claire, and me. Luke and Scarlett were having a dance party of their own, Luke wrapping his arms around her from behind and holding up her heavy eight-month-pregnant belly.
“Hmm?” I peeled my eyes away from Lydia to glance at Wyatt. “Oh, nothing,” I said, my gaze immediately homing in on Lydia again.
“Okay, what’s up with you and Lydia, then?”
Shit. These guys had been my lifelong friends. It didn’t seem like a wedding was the time or place to blow that up. But I didn’t want to lie to them either. I knew Lydia’s standpoint on it. She wanted to tell her entire family weeks ago, but after my blowout with Luke, I was more hesitant to shout it from the rooftop.
I turned my attention back to the group. Everyone’s eyes were on me, waiting for my response. “We’re, um…”
“You can’t take your eyes off her, man,” Reid said.
“So, I’m not very subtle, is that what you’re saying?”
“You’re really fucking not,” Wes said in his deep, rumbling voice.
I swallowed back my trepidation and scratched at my stubbled jaw. “We’re kind of… together. We have been for a few weeks now.”
My eyes bounced between all of them, gauging theirreaction. Wyatt nodded slowly, but a slight smirk tugged at his mouth. Reid and Claire both looked at each other, having a silent conversation that I was pretty was meant someone owed someone money. Wes’s impassive face gave nothing away. But at least none of them were jumping down my throat.
“Are you fucking serious? None of you have a problem with Seb fucking around with Lydia? You’re all okay with this?”Aaand, here we go again.Luke decided now was the perfect time to rejoin the group, leaving Scarlett on the dance floor with Lydia and Maeve.
“First of all,” Wyatt said, throwing his hand up to stop Luke’s tirade, “who Lydia dates is none of my business. As long as he’s treating her right,” he added, his brows raised at me. I nodded my assent.
I would never hurt Lydia. I had done that once when she thought I used her to score some juvenile points in a dare. It killed me to think that she went years thinking that I thought it was meaningless, when in reality, it meant everything to me. Never again would she doubt how I felt about her.
Reid stepped in, confusion furrowing his brows. “Second of all, Seb’s a good guy. Why wouldn’t we be good with this?”
“What’s this really about?” Wes asked. As a private investigator, Wes knew when to dig for more information.
“She’s just getting out of a shitty relationship. I don’t know all the details, but it wasn’t good. She should be healing from whatever the last asshole did to her. And when she was alone and vulnerable, Seb decided to set his charms on her. He’s taking advantage of her.”
My head snapped to him, a rush of rage pumping through me. “That’s not what this is.” I seethed. “I know about her ex.The shit she went through. She knows about my history, my financial struggles right now. No one is going into this blind. And I would never take advantage of her.”
“Like you did when she was eighteen?” Luke challenged.
