Page 93 of Sweet Oblivion

A round of laughter sparks throughout his family, which Ryker ignores.

His gaze settles on me, like I’m the only person here. The only one who matters. And I force myself not to squirm under the weight of that stare.

“I want to thank you all for coming tonight on such short notice. In typical fashion for our family, this was a little last-minute, but none of us have ever been that good at waiting for what we want.” He looks up and down the table. “ I didn’t plan on any of this.”

A few soft snickers come from behind me. The girls this time, I think.

But Ryker doesn’t even look their way. Too focused on me to have been paying any attention to them. “But here’s the thing, I don’t think that matters. Because some things... the things you don’t plan end up changing your life in ways you can never imagine. Some of them, like falling off a quad andlosing your hearing are put in your path to teach you what strength and perseverance means to a man. Other things... things like finding the woman you’re going to spend your life with, they sneak up on you. Delaney didn’t come into my life the way I expected her to, and trust me, I tried to get her in my life for months before she was ready. And she shot me down every time.”

The snickers come from every direction this time, and my face flames as Ryker takes my hand in his.

“But she showed up for me in every way that mattered when I needed her to.”

My breath catches because that’s not how I remember it happening.

He saved me.

“And whether she realizes it or not...”—his voice drops lower into that octave that makes my knees weak—“she changed the game. Completely.”

“It may not be easy, but nothing worth having ever is. Dad always said we were best under pressure, and I get it. It’s easy to be with someone when everything is going well. But when the world crashes in on you, and you know you have a partner standing next to you, helping you hold that weight... and you still want them there. You still choose them. That’s where the good stuff starts. That’s where it lives.”

He lifts my chin up, and butterflies take flight in my stomach.

“It might not have happened the way I thought it would, but it happened the way it needed to for us. And this time tomorrow, I get to call this incredible woman my wife.”

He presses a chaste kiss to my lips, and I melt as he lifts his glass high. “So cheers to finding the right person.”

The silence is deafening until it’s not.

Until everyone holds their glasses up in a riot of cheers and whistles and applause.

But I don’t see any of it. Barely hear it. I’m too busy focusing on the man staring at me. The one who just announced to the table that he chose me, like he wasn’t forced into this.

And the scariest thing of all is how much I believe him.

“You okay, Bambi?”

My lashes flutter as he sits back down.

“You’re staring,”I whisper.

“So are you.” His knuckles graze my cheek, and I fight a chill.

“Good speech,”I add softly, not sure what to say or how to feel.

Ryker leans in and presses his lips to mine, ignoring the hooting and hollering happening around us.

“Ryker . . . Everyone’s watching.”

“Let them watch.” He grins against my lips. “One more day, Bambi.”

One more day.

DELANEY

Sometimes the push you’re waiting for has to come from you.

—Delaney’s Secret Thoughts