Sloan raised an eyebrow at her husband’s comment and Quen tugged on my hand. I looked down at her with a tight jaw and sighed.
This conversation had gone on for days. In every available moment, Quen bothered me with it. At first, I dismissed her easily as she raised the topic in bed. But when she broached it while in the lab and elbow deep in tissue culture, I knew this was something she wanted, and I was powerless to deny her.
“Go ahead,” I grumbled.
She beamed up at me before looking at Erik. “We’d love for you to conduct ours when we finally decide to get married.”
His blue eyes grew wide, and he shifted his attention to me. “Are you being serious? Because you told me I had no chance in this millennium.”
“Yeah, well.” I sniffed indignantly. “This one has a soft spot for you.”
Erik grinned and pulled her into a hug. “I promise to be on my best behaviour.”
“So many blatant lies being told.”
Quen swatted at me, and I pulled her body back into mine. The place was swarming with Gods and I almost decided not to attend after the dinner with my parents, but Quentin gave me a look that said my existence wouldn’t be worth it if I forced her to miss Elva’s wedding.
I wrapped my arms around her waist so that her back pressed against my chest. My chin rested on her shoulder and Quen let out a quiet laugh as my beard tickled her skin. Elva and Ig took to the centre of the grounds for their first dance and we stood off to the side, watching them with the rest of the Elysians.
“You’re glowing,” I whispered into Quentin’s ear.
“You look handsome too, bubba,” she replied.
“No, darling. You’re glowing.”
She looked down and then snapped her head back towards me.
“Many people are wishing them success in their marriage,” I explained. I jerked my head towards Erik, next to us, emitting his own red glow, and she relaxed against me again.
“This is going to take a lot of getting used to.”
“You’ll get there. You have time.”
Leaning down, I pressed a kiss against the warm skin of her cheek and swayed us to the music as we watched husband and wife twirl around in the grass. Elva’s tinkling laugh rang out loud, and before long, others were invading, stepping into the space to join them. Quen stayed glued to me until Sloan left to check on the children.
“May I steal Quentin for a dance?” Erik asked me brightly.
I was reluctant to let her go. Unwilling for anyone else to take up her time, but she turned around and gave me a quick kiss.
“Promise we won’t cause too much trouble,” she said to me.
I narrowed my eyes. “The pair of you don’t know how to behave.” My gaze fell on my brother, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Look after her, Erik.”
He grinned and pulled Quen away from me, both still glowing as they danced together.
I went back inside to grab myself a drink rather than finding another dance partner. Glass in hand, I leaned against the exterior of the house and watched them. She always drew my eye. In a crowd of a million people, I would fixate on Quentin.
In truth, Erik was the only person I truly trusted with her. I knew he would keep her safe if I wasn’t around. It pained me to admit it, but Quentin was right when she said Erik liked her more than me. The last person he’d been this taken with was his wife.
The pair of them giggled as they danced, completely out of sync with each other, and a smile tugged at my lips. Without a doubt, this was where she belonged and I was glad to see her so relaxed in the presence of Gods.
Let them see her for how she truly was.
Perfection.
Unfortunately, my peace didn’t last for long. Hunter tread across the patio and joined me. When I made to move away, he grabbed my arm. I refused to make a scene, but I couldn’t stand to be around him, unable to forgive him for hurting Quentin again.
“What would you do for her, Grayson?”
