Chapter Twenty
Two Weeks Later
Erica
It’d been a crazy two weeks of trying to get this wedding planned without Lilly knowing it and on top of that, trying to keep Chase’s and my relationship a secret from them. It was hard going from being able to hold hands or kiss somewhere, then having to keep at least two feet away from each other while Lilly and Greg were in the room.
I was ready the second I woke up this morning to be able to scream it from the rooftops, but now, standing here at Lilly and Greg’s wedding reception, I had no idea when was the right time. But I knew for a fact it wasn’t right at this very moment. I wanted to be out in the open with Chase, but I didn’t want to impede on Lilly’s big day. It had taken them long enough to get here. I wanted them to revel in the glory for as long as they could before we stole the spotlight of the next couple of our little group.
I watched as Lilly worked the small room that was filled with only our friends, Greg’s family, and surprisingly enough, Lilly’s family even stayed after the ceremony was over. She never had much of a relationship with them, but in all, we were her family and it showed with how much support we gave them.
Chase was standing to the side, talking to Jack and Greg while Max had Alexa on the dance floor. Chase lifted his hand slightly and waved over to me. I waved back, making sure Lilly hadn’t caught the action. In fact, I couldn’t figure out exactly where she had gone to. One minute she was in front of me and now she was gone.
“You should ask him to dance.” Lilly’s voice filled my ear and I whipped around to find her standing right beside me with a wide grin on her face.
“Who?” I was cautious with what I said. I had no idea if maybe Lilly had someone else in mind for who she thought she could set me up with.
“Chase, of course.” She rolled her eyes at me and my mouth fell open. She was being her usual blunt self, but I hadn’t expected her to say Chase’s name.
“Why would I ask Chase to dance with me?” I still tried to play dumb, since I had no idea what Lilly’s motive was here.
She grabbed ahold of my shoulder and turned me to face her. She looked gorgeous in her wedding dress and was the star of the whole room, so of course I knew everyone was looking at us now. I snuck a look over at where the guys had been standing before, just to confirm my suspicions. Chase’s eyes were trained on me with worry.
“Erica.” Lilly started off with a huff. “I’ve known you’ve liked Chase for a long time.”
“You have?” I tilted my head. Lilly and Alexa had made little quips here and there, but nothing ever solidifying that they knew I had feelings for Chase.
“The way you look at him. Your interactions together. I knew something was going on, I just couldn’t place it.” She turned me toward where Chase was standing. “You like him. You probably even love him. So.”
She shoved me toward Chase.
“Go get him.”
Lilly’s words rang out to me as my feet had a mind of their own, stopping just in front of Chase. His eyes were wide and my heart sped up. This was the moment. This was when I would decide if we were going to become publicly known to everyone. That I could reach out in this moment and hold Chase’s hand or kiss him, or ask him to dance. So, I did all those things.
I placed my hand in Chase’s and leaned forward, reaching up on my tiptoes, and kissed his cheek.
“Want to dance?” The words came out a little shakier than I would have liked, but it hadn’t mattered to Chase. The megawatt smile that formed on his face was the answer I needed as he pulled me onto the dance floor and wrapped me in his arms.
We swayed to the slow music filling the small room and we didn’t dare look at anyone else. Our eyes remained on each other, knowing the whole game had changed. That this was the first step to our forever, not all those weeks ago, not our first kiss, or when he called me wife. But this.
Us standing here in front of all our friends, declaring something I never thought would happen. This was the start of our forever.
“What’s going on?” Greg asked from the side of the dance floor. Lilly was laughing at him, then everyone plus Chase and me started in on the hysterics.
“What’s so funny?” Greg appeared honestly confused and I think it just hit the nail with the hammer.
“Oh, hon.” Lilly kissed him on the cheek and patted his head. “Chase and Erica are dating.”
“Wait. What? For how long? Why didn’t you say anything to me, man?” Greg directed his questions to Chase. I waited to see what he was going to say, but his eyes were on me again.
He was asking the silent question to me. Did we want to tell them our home story? I nodded and Chase gave everyone the answers they had been waiting for. Not just Greg, but all our friends who were asking in that moment. We had been able to keep to ourselves for long enough, and now, now it was time to share it.
“Erica and I met when we were seven.” Chase began. “I had to leave Atlanta when I was nine because of my father’s career, and that meant leaving my peaches behind.”
Chase’s grip tightened on me and he told our friends the story, but my eyes stayed on him, even when they became misty with remembering.
“But he came back to me, our first year of high school.” I added and placed a hand on Chase’s chest at the memory of him walking into the class room. “It was a mix of emotions at fourteen and neither of us spoke up about remembering who the other was.”
