“Here,” Hailee says, passing me a protein bar.
“Where did you get that?”
“You didn’t think that Rett only made us carry around supplies of tissues, did you? Girl, I don’t know what you’ve done to that man, but please, keep doing it,” Hailee begs as I rip into the packet and take my first bite.
“Mmm, so good,” I mumble as we head toward the bar where everyone has gathered.
The second I see Everett up ahead with two glasses in his hands, my speed picks up, and I notice Freya keeps step right beside me.
Hailee drops off, though, and when I turn to find her, she’s looking down the hallway, heading back to the ceremony room with narrow eyes.
“E-excuse me,” she stutters. “I’ve just got to…” Her words trail off as she races down the hallway and slips around the corner.
I’m about to comment on her disappearance when a dark shadow falls over me.
“Mocktail for the most beautiful girl in the room,” Everett rasps.
“Don’t say that in front of Parker,” I giggle, happily accepting the drink. “You did good up there,” I praise proudly.
Everett smirks. “I’m surprised you could see through your tears.”
“I couldn’t, but as far as I could figure, you handed the rings over at the right time, so well done.”
“Thanks, sweetheart. I can’t believe I just participated in my little sister becoming a Storm.”
72
EVERETT
I’ve been to a handful of weddings over the years, but nothing comes anywhere close to how incredible today has been.
Watching Parker and Linc’s hands tremble as they clutched each other throughout the entire ceremony, seeing the smiles on their faces and the tears in their eyes as they promised to love and care for each other for the rest of their lives, it hit me in a way no other has before.
I’ve always been sitting in the crowd, wondering why. Why bother with the stress that planning a wedding causes? Why spend all the money just for one day, and mostly for everyone else?
But today, it all made sense.
Watching Linc and Parker celebrate the love they’ve found together with everyone important to them, it was like the most obvious thing in the world.
It never ceases to amaze me how the arrival of one person—okay, two—in my life has changed how I see everything.
My life is no longer just about me. I am no longer number one. And I love it.
I love everything about the life we’re creating together.
For the first time in my life, I’m excited about something other than hockey and partying.
I’ve forgotten what it’s like to go out at night and not return until sunrise, barely remembering what happened just an hour ago, and I am more than okay with that.
Now, you couldn’t pay me enough to drag my ass off the couch and away from the warm body that will be tucked into my side as we watch something on the TV, or simply watch the sun set as we talk about our days, our hopes and dreams for the future.
Hailee might have come up with a plan to turn my life around, but I didn’t think it would do anything. I certainly didn’t think it would lead us to this moment right here.
I twirl Bea around on the dance floor, spinning her back into me, close enough that her bump gently hits my stomach.
“Who knew you’d be such a good dancer?” she teases, gazing up at me with a twinkle in her eye.
“I thought you’d have figured that out the night we met,” I rasp, loving the way she shudders as my breath races down her exposed neck.
