“Oh my gosh, that’s so romantic.” Tiana clutched at her chest.
They watched as Wes approached G, he paused a few feet away. There was a silent standoff, both of them locked in place. At last, Wes raised both hands, palms open in a little shrug, and G let out a trembling laugh. She looked up at the night sky, as if asking for a sign, then back at Wes. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
“Oh no,” Tiana whispered, covering her mouth.
But then he stepped forward and put out his arms, and she walked right into them, lifted hers, and wrapped them around his neck. Niko watched as they embraced, she closed her eyes,and he could see her entire body just relax into him. It was almost as if she’d been holding her breath all these years, and she could finally exhale. Even though they were about twenty feet away, he was fairly certain he saw a tear fall down G’s cheek. And he might be imagining it, but it was like her face changed in that few seconds of time, and she looked more like herself. With just one hug.
Was that possible?
Then Bartlett arrived.
Tiana squeezed Niko’s palm. “Oh shit,” she hissed between her teeth.
Niko leaned in, lips barely touching her ear, “It’s fine. Wes has got this. He’s been prepped.”
They watched the collision play out. Bartlett approached in the direct line of a man who didn’t believe in detours. He pulled at G’s arm. Wes quickly recalibrated and had G positioned behind him, and he stood between the two. But then something Niko hadn’t expected to happen did.
G took matters into her own hands and was wedged between the two men. Not the G who showed up in Hope Falls, taking selfies and being oblivious to the world. Not the G she’d been through seventy percent of their relationship, fiery and trying to pick fights with him. Not the G he’d seen the past few weeks, timid and a shell of herself. She was something new tonight, a composite sketch of the girl he met for the first time in Utah who taught herself to rappel on a dare in Moab, the woman who’d steered her career by the stars of her own ambition. Strong, independent.
She turned to Wes and said something to him, he shook his head, but then she insisted, and he, reluctantly, walked about fifty yards away, far enough for privacy but close enough that he could see her.
When she saw he was out of earshot, G looked up at Brock, and Niko couldn’t hear what she said, but from the look on Brock’s face, it was something he couldn’t argue with. He opened and closed his mouth several times like a bass fish but didn’t actually say anything. Then she removed her ring, put it in his palm, placed her hand on his chest, lifted up on her toes, and kissed him on his cheek. His shoulders looked defeated and sad, but not mad, as she walked away towards Wes.
Tiana turned around, her face filled with wonder. “How did she do that?”
“I have no idea.” He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I had nothing to do with that part. I just got Wes here.”
“She’samazing. How did you mess that up?”
“You really want to know?” He asked, putting his hands on her hips.
“She wasn’t you,” he said, voice unguarded.
She smiled, and he bent down to kiss her, meaning it to be sweet and chaste, but the minute their lips met, the temperature of the night shifted. Tiana’s fingers threaded into his hair, and her breath came out in a soft, greedy sigh. The kiss unraveled quickly, both of them pouring a year’s worth of pent-up longing into it, until Niko’s head swam and Tiana’s knees buckled. He caught her, holding her steady, and for a moment it seemed like the rest of the world had been erased.
It took every ounce of self-control to break the kiss, and when he did, she panted as her nails scraped his scalp. “Do we have to stay since you relinquished your co-Marshall duties?”
Fuck. She was going to kill him.
His hands roamed from her hips to her ass, and he squeezed as he pulled her against his erection. She whimpered. “I just have to do one more thing, and then I will take you home and keep you in bed until after the New Year.”
“What about my classes?” she giggled.
“Get subs.”
“Christmas and Christmas Eve?”
“I’ve developed a sudden allergy to tinsel.” He continued kissing her neck.
“Tinsel?!” She giggled some more. “Tinsel. You can do better. You need help.”
“I needyou,” his hands squeezed again.
“Stop.” She laughed and swatted him playfully on his chest. “We’re in public.”
“It’s science,” he whispered, nipping her earlobe. “Your body chemistry is addictive. That’s why I’m keeping you in bed.”
“Uh uh, I promised your sister we’d go to her house for Sunday dinner.”
