I stay at the same hotel as Kenzie and Cody, just in my own room. We have an entire spa day planned here at the hotel while Ford attends practice and gets ready at home for our sunset wedding.
I’m not surprised when my phone rings just as I slip beneath the sheets and find it’s Ford calling.
“Hi,” I answer.
“Hi.”
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah. Kenzie was trying to talk me out of this, I think. Or at least, like, force me to examine why we’re doing this.”
“Why are we doing it?” he asks softly.
“At first, it was because of the money.”
“And now?”
I sigh. “And now…it’s more.”
“Is it love?”
I’m quiet a long time as I contemplate that. We haven’t even slept together, but I have these enormous feelings for Ford. They started as friendship. We have a solid base. We can talk about anything. We can laugh together. We’ve had afew intimate, sexy moments together that tell me the vibe is right there. And the man can kiss. Holy hell, can he kiss. So good that just the thought of his mouth on mine has my toes curling.
But is it love?
“I think it is,” I finally whisper.
“But you also love someone else,” he says flatly.
“Of course I do. Those feelings don’t just go away.”
“Yeah,” he mutters, and I think he’s tried fighting his feelings for me for longer than he’s ever admitted to me. “We can’t help who we fall for.”
“What if I love two men?” I ask quietly. Two men who just happen to be brothers.
“Then you choose one. And I hope you choose me, Tate.”
I feel the heat of tears pinch behind my eyes. I want to choose him, and marrying him tomorrow will be a big outward sign to the world that I am.
But first, he deserves the inward sign between the two of us.
“I do,” I whisper. “I choose you.”
He lets out a breath of relief. “Don’t change your mind.”
“I won’t. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I love you,” he says softly. It’s the first time he’s said those words to me, and my heart fills.
“I love you, too.” I do. I’m sure of it. I just hope it’s the intimate kind of love you have for the man you’re marrying and not just the love between two friends who can’t live without each other.
CHAPTER 36: Ford Bradley
I Do
Practice is interminable.
