“Cute,” Wes deadpanned.
I looked up to see the man smirking at my brother. I recognized him, but I wasn’t sure from where.
Morgan chuckled. “Hi, Corbin. Nice to see you again.”
“It’s always a pleasure to see you.” His eyes shifted to Wes. “You,on the other hand…”
“Oh,please,” Wes scoffed playfully.
“You’re not still salty with me, are you?” Corbin joked. “I mean, you did end up with the girl. And it was just one little date.”
Gabe snorted beside Wes, and Corbin laughed as he reached out and shook his hand, then Wes’s and Blake’s. “Tate! Levi!” Corbin called. “Look who it is!”
Two other men beneath the tent turned—the younger looking one grinned, while the other’s unimpressed expression didn’t change the slightest as they approached.
It wasn’t until I saw the gold ‘B’ logo on the younger man’sshirt, as well as all over the tent and its products, that I realized who it was.
‘B’ forBlackwood.
As in Blackwood Distillery.
I didn’t know them personally, but I was familiar with the Blackwood brothers. Their family owned the largest whiskey distillery in South Carolina. Corbin, the oldest, was close friends with Lucas, and their connection led to Wes, Gabe, and Blake becoming friends with Corbin and his brothers during their teenage years. I could have sworn there were four brothers, but only three Blackwoods were present.
“Been a while since I’ve seen your ugly ass around,” the one man said jokingly as he shook Blake’s hand.
“Still as much of an asshole as ever, Tate,” Blake quipped with a chuckle.
Tate almost cracked a smile at that.Almost. “Yeah, well, I got a reputation to uphold and shit.”
“Meanwhile, Levi hasn’t aged a day,” Wes joked. “Still looking like a teenager.”
Levi, who was clearly in his twenties but the youngest one there, smirked, stroking his sharp jawline. “You’re just jealous you don’t look as good as me, Callahan.”
“Where’s Luke and Callie?” Corbin asked.
“Callie wasn’t feeling well—she’s expecting, and is currently suffering through morning sickness,” Morgan said.
“Expecting?” Corbin beamed. “Well, shit. Here…” He turned, reaching down into a box and lifting a bottle. “Give this to them with our best wishes. I knowshecan’t drink it now, but when the time comes,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s our honey infusion.”
We stayed and chatted with them for a while before makingour way through the rest of the festival, then retracing our steps and heading back.
After leaving the festival, Blake and I stopped by his house to get Maverick before heading toward Lucas’s and Callie’s. After putting Maverick in the backseat, we drove into the outskirts of Bayport. Blake lifted our intertwined hands, brushing his lips against my knuckles, and I glanced over at him and smiled.
It felt almost unreal to be so content, like I had finally found my footing after so many years of searching.
I spent years being in love with the idea of love. I was in love withhope. I was a sentimental dreamer who wore my rose-colored glasses with pride. And when cracks started forming in those precious lenses of mine, that’s when fate decided to finally step in and intervene.
No, I didn’t know what the future held for us, but for all of my hopeless romantic daydreaming, for the first time, I knew deep in my soul that Blake was it.
It was odd to think the guy I’d known my whole life, only as my brother’s best friend, was the one my invisible red string was tied to.
Maybethat’swhat fate had planned all along.
The girl who believed she had to fix everything, and the man who came to her broken and showed her she didn’t have to.
In the end,hewas the one who fixedme—by showing me that I didn’t need to fix anything that was truly meant to be mine. And he also showed me that what I wanted out of love and a relationship wasn’t as far-fetched as I started to believe.
Because Blake Pierson waseverythingI ever wanted and then some.
