The wedding is tomorrow. The ending we agreed to is coming fast.
But standing here with Nadia in my arms and the future stretching out uncertain and terrifying and full of possibility, I realize I'm not ready to let her go.
And I'm starting to think she's not ready to let me go either.
CHAPTER SEVEN
NADIA
Valentine's Day dawns bright and cold and full of promise.
I wake up in Callum's bed again, wrapped in his arms like I've been sleeping there for years instead of days. Sunlight streams through the windows, catching the silver in his hair and the peaceful lines of his face.
He looks younger when he sleeps. Less guarded. The permanent furrow between his brows smooths out, and I can almost imagine the boy he was before tragedy and responsibility turned him into the mountain he is now.
I could get used to this.
The thought arrives without the usual panic that follows it. No immediate urge to run or sabotage or find the flaw that will justify my inevitable retreat. Just a quiet certainty that this man, this grumpy, demanding, secretly romantic man, is someone I want to wake up next to again.
And again. And again.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. Yasmine's name flashes across the screen with a text that's more exclamation points than words.
Yasmine:
WEDDING DAY!!!! Hair and makeup at 10! Don't be late!!!
I slip out of bed carefully, trying not to wake Callum. He stirs anyway, reaching for me with his eyes still closed.
"Where are you going?"
"Bridal suite. Hair and makeup calls." I lean down to kiss his forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you at the ceremony."
"Mmm." He catches my wrist and pulls me back down for a proper kiss, morning breath and all. "You're going to be beautiful."
"I'm the maid of honor. No one's supposed to look at me."
"I'm going to look at you." His eyes open, gray and warm and full of something that makes my chest tight. "I'm not going to be able to look at anyone else."
I kiss him again because I don't trust my voice. Then I force myself to pull away and get ready, because if I stay in this bed one more minute I'm going to blow off my sister's wedding entirely.
The bridal suite at the venue is chaos when I arrive. Yasmine is already in her robe, surrounded by stylists and assistants and our mother, who's directing traffic like a general commanding troops.
"Nadia!" Yasmine spots me and waves frantically. "Get over here. We're running behind because Aunt Patricia showed up an hour early and threw off the whole schedule."
I spend the next four hours in a whirlwind of curling irons, makeup brushes, and champagne that starts flowing well before noon. My bridesmaid dress is a deep burgundy that Yasmine chose specifically because it looks good on multiple skin tones,and when I finally see myself in the mirror, I barely recognize the woman staring back.
She looks happy. Relaxed. Like someone who got thoroughly fucked and fell asleep in strong arms and woke up believing that maybe, just maybe, things might work out.
"You're glowing." Yasmine appears beside me, stunning in her white gown with delicate beading that catches the light. "Is that the Callum Ridge effect?"
"Maybe."
"Definitely." She grins. "Mom spent twenty minutes this morning telling me how impressed she was with him. Mom. Impressed. With a man you're dating. I didn't think that was physically possible."
"He's easy to be impressed by."
"He's gorgeous is what he is. And the way he looks at you?" She fans herself dramatically. "Like you're the only person in the room. Tyler used to look at me like that before we'd been together for three years and I started leaving hair in the shower drain."
