“So, are you saying you wouldn’t change a thing?”
He’s quick to counter. “Would you?”
It doesn’t even take me a second to think about it. “No, I wouldn’t,” I answer him honestly.
His smile is warm, eyes vulnerable. “Neither would I.” And I see that he, too, is telling the truth.
I rest my head against his chest and hold him a little bit tighter.
We continue to sway softly, him humming along to the lyrics, until we both receive a tap on the shoulder.
Snake and Alice stand before us looking downright gorgeous. I never in my life imagined Snake to wear a tux but he did for the big day. Now, of course, he only wears the white button down with the bow tie untied around his neck and the first three buttons undone. His sleeves are rolled up to his forearms and his hair is perfectly disheveled. He looks every bit the motorcycle rebel.
Alice glows before me in her black evening gown stitched with stars made of crystals. The front is a deep v and it’s backless. She looks absolutely stunning with her hair pinned half up half down in loose waves. Her reception dress is just as beautiful as her wedding dress.
Oak and I stop dancing to the music but still hold each other.
“Married looks good on you, brother,” Oak compliments him.
Snake smiles, the kind of smile only Alice can evoke, and he kisses her tenderly on the top of her head. She melts into him, as always. They’re so perfectly suited.
Snake then claps Oak on the shoulder, winking at him. “Perhaps one day I’ll say the same to you.”
Oak’s hand on my hip squeezes and as I look up at him I find him already staring down at me. “One day,” he says it as a promise and my heart flutters in my chest.
“I want to thank you,” Snake says to me and I raise a brow at him. “Oak and I have always been close. And I know he’s my brother by cut but to me he’s a brother by blood. And I know he’s been fighting for a long time. It’s been a long hard battle, one I’ve fought alongside with him whether he wanted me to or not, but it took you fighting with him to give him the peace he’s always denied himself. And I thank you for that, Grace, I really do. You don’t know what it means to me to see my brother not punishing himself anymore.” Snake’s voice turns gruff towards the end with unshed tears.
My own eyes have gathered tears themselves. I press my fingers under my bottom lashes to help not ruin my makeup anymore than I already have tonight. “We’re all fighting a war we don’t want to lose. He just needed to see that he didn’t have to fight alone.”
“I’ll be the sword,” he murmurs against the top of my head.
“And I’ll be the shield,” I reply to him.
“I always knew you two would end up together,” Alice says with a smug smile. She points her finger at Oak while playfully narrowing her eyes at him. “Even when you told me not to get my hopes up I just knew there was no way you could resist her.”
“Well, it’s a good thing she never gave up on me,” Oak teases.
I turn in his arms and raise myself up on the tip of my toes. Even with my heels he bends slightly to meet me the rest of the way. “And I never will,” I vow. I seal it with a kiss that he returns.And somewhere in between the kiss Alice and Snake make their departure.
My skin becomes flustered once again when our kiss comes to an end. Just when I’m ready to ask him to sneak us to the nearest room for privacy I see him make a hand signal to the DJ.
I raise a brow at him, placing my hand on my hip. “What are you up to?”
“I’ve had the pleasure of dancing with you all night but I want to dance to a song that’s ours.”
“We have a song?”
He nods his head all shyly. I find it adorable. This big mammoth intimidating man is shy about picking out a song for us.
God, I fall in love with him a little more.
With the palm of his hand on my lower back he pulls me in. As the music begins I know the song. Breathe You In by Dierks Bentley croons softly through the stereos.
But what makes the butterflies in my stomach swarm and my heart beat rapidly is Oak signing the song to me as we dance.
And as the song comes to its end he cups my face in the palm of his hand. “I never saw a future. Punished myself everyday for a reason to keep living. Then you, Grace. You happened. You brought this dead man to life. Gave me a million reasons to see the beauty in living. I see a future, a fucking bright and happy future. And I want that future with you, baby. I want to wake up beside you every morning and fall asleep with you in my arms every night. I want to hear you say my name for the rest of my life. You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Oak.” My voice trembles.
