Page 94 of Reckless

But because she’s looking at the man she loves like every hard road she ever walked somehow led her here.

And standing in the middle of a room full of people cheering them on, I can’t think of a single person more deserving of a happy ending.

***

The reception turns into the club at its absolute best.

Music spills out across the room, and the dance floor fills fast, brothers, Old Ladies, and everyone in between moving without any grace and plenty of enthusiasm.

Deek’s speech starts so poorly that I genuinely worry for him, three separate attempts at a joke that lands nowhere close to funny, before it turns somewhere real near the end, something about brotherhood and the family you build instead of the one you’re given. And by the time he finishes, Koa is on his feet clapping so hard that Deek eyes him with open suspicion for the rest of the night.

Bear dances with Ro in the far corner, guiding her around the floor with the easy familiarity of two people who’ve found their rhythm and have no intention of ever losing it. Across the room, Penny has Millie laughing about something, the sound carrying over the music just enough to make Anchor grin before his hand settles against the small of Millie’s back like it’s the most natural place in the world for it to be. Neither of them seems to notice anymore. Funny how the little things end up meaning the most—the unconscious touches, the automatic smiles, the certainty that the other person is exactly where they’re supposed to be.

I’m standing at the edge of the dance floor watching everyone lose themselves to the music when a cold bottle appears in the corner of my vision.

I smile before I even turn my head—Ghost. He holds it out to me without a word, already knowing I’ll take it.

“I was wondering how long you’d leave me standing here before deciding I looked thirsty.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “I was running an assessment.”

God, he is such a nerd. “Oh?”

“Mm…”

I let out a small laugh. “And?”

He leans back against the bar. “And the assessment concluded.”

Raising my brow, I tilt my head at him. “So, what did you conclude?”

He looks at me from the corner of his eye. “That you looked thirsty.”

A quiet laugh slips out of me as I take the bottle from him, our fingers brushing for the briefest second. “Did you just make a joke?”

He scowls. “I don’t joke, Objection.”

“You’re really running with that nickname, huh?”

“It suits you.”

“It really doesn’t.”

He grins. “You’re just proving my point.”

I roll my eyes, take a sip of my drink, and neither of us seems in any hurry to move away, standing shoulder to shoulder while the dance floor carries on in front of us. He’s close enough that I catch the familiar scent of leather and cedar every time someone brushes past us.

And it still does ridiculous things to my heart.

“You okay?” he asks after a moment, his eyes following Marley and Nitro as they disappear into another slow turn across the dance floor.

He isn’t looking at me.

I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t want to. I think it’s because if he does, he might forget how to look anywhere else.

“She got everything,” I say, watching Marley laugh at something Nitro is whispering into her ear. “I’m ridiculously happy for her.”

A pause settles between us before he speaks again. “What about you?”