Noah’s peering into the crowd. “I don’t know him.”
“The florist that owns Petal & Thorn.”
“Oh, we should get him to do the wedding!” he exclaims excitedly.
I was so caught up in the proposal, I never thought about the actual wedding. Noah standing in front of me wearing a suit, exchanging vows. Surrounded by our little family. My stomach flutters excitedly. “Yeah, we should.”
Abbie drops into her seat across from me, guzzling some water. “Where’s C gone?” I ask, looking around.
“Bathroom,” she responds, but she’s got a strange look on her face, like she’s up to something. I tilt my head at her, but all she does is prayer hands like she’s an angel.
Then I hear it, the beginning of “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey. I throw my head back, laughing loudly, causing Noah and Aiden to stare at me. Both wearing pleased expressions of surprise. Abbie starts drumming her hands on the table to the beat. Our ultimate drunk in college song Ciarán made us learn choreography for.
“Where is he?” I shout to Abbie over the music. She shrugs, eyes searching Velour.
I turn to Noah. “Please don’t love me any less for this,” I say, still laughing.
He clutches the back of my neck, bringing me in for a heated kiss, right in front of everyone. “Baby, nothing could ever make me love you less,” he says with conviction. I feel myself preen. “In fact, I have a feeling anything you do here is going to make me love you even more.”
I’m grinning like an idiot at him.
Then, from the corner of my eye, Ciarán bursts through the crowd, electric sliding toward us with a shit-eating grin. He starts belting out the song while pointing at me and Abbie. Shoulders rolling, finger guns aimed, hips swaying.
It’s not his usual sinuous movement. It’s what he would callCheesy Stripper Chic.
Then the invisible lasso comes out, aimed straight at me. My cackle could be heard in the next town over. Ciarán spins so his back is to us, blazer dropped down his shoulders as he shimmies before locking eyes with me and winking, gesturing with his finger to come dance.
I’m up in a flash, Abbie following suit.
Ciarán grabs my wrist, drags Abbie in with the other, and suddenly we’re in formation, the same ridiculous one we alwaysdid in college. He snaps his fingers over his head and rolls his shoulders. Abbie matches him with dramatic hair flips, and I commit. Hard. At one point, all three of us drop into a squat and thrust upward in perfect sync, and people around us clap. I’m pretty sure I hear Noah shouting,“I’m gonna marry that guy!”I’m also pretty sure future me will regret nothing about this moment. I feel like the old Gabe again. No, better. I feel like someone who fought to come back to himself. This is the new Gabe—healing, self-aware, and finally able to see his own worth.
When the song ends, we’re breathless. My stomach and face hurt from laughing and I have a stitch in my side. I look around, people are closer than I’d like, and everything is loud, but I’m here. I’m not hiding or running. My eyes search for Noah, and he’s already watching me with a massive smile. I don’t think he’s ever looked happier. I crook a finger for him to join me. He holds up one in response, winking before making his way to the DJ. A minute later, “Take My Hand”by Picture This begins playing.
Noah jogs over to me, cutting through the crowd. It’s like watching some strange stop-motion video of the life I get to have. Every time the lights flash over him, he’s closer. Little snapshots in time, ones I’ll never forget. When he reaches me, strong arms encircle my waist as he starts singing the words to me.
My Noah is as bad a singer as he is a dancer, which only makes me love him more.
He grabs my hand and tries to twirl me… except he turns the wrong way and bumps into someone’s shoulder, apologizing mid-spin. Then he does this goofy half-grind that absolutely doesnotmatch the beat, and I swear my heart grows three sizes watching him.
Capable hands cup my ass and hoist me up until I wrap my legs around him. “What are you doing?” I squeak through a chuckle.
He presses a firm kiss to my lips. “Taking my future husband for a spin.”
Future husband. I let my head fall back and grin at the ceiling while Noah spins me. When I look down again, I see Abbie and Theo dancing, and Noah’s still singing happily.
But what I see next has my brows furrowing. Ciarán is by the table, standing between my brother’s spread thighs, fisting his shirt. He pulls him up and starts walking backward, dragging him onto the dance floor. Not only that, but Aiden isgrinningat him.
My eyes snap to Noah’s. He follows my gaze back to them before letting out a booming laugh and spinning me faster. So fast, everything blurs.
I close my eyes, let my head drop back, and enjoy the moment. Music thrums through my bones, lights flash behind my eyelids. My heart is taking off on a wild gallop. But it’s not fear, it’s proof.
Proof of life.
Proof of love.
Proof ofme.
EPILOGUE
