(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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I WAS HOURS AWAY FROM witnessing the most over the top wedding in the history of weddings. The future Mr. & Mrs. Statham had somehow managed to make this one day event cost over ten million dollars, and the details definitely reflected the costs. 

Everything was custom-made for the occasion and everything looked as if it belonged in a fairytale wedding magazine.  From the millions of flowers petals that clung to the aisle in their bright pink, yellow, and white colors to the chairs that bore multiple silk sashes with “S” broaches, to the building that my brother literally had built just for this occasion.

I’d honestly never seen my brother look this happy in his life, and I knew without a doubt that he’d found the person he belonged with for eternity. (And I was also slightly jealous that he’d beat me to it.)

“If your brother has this much money to spend on one day,” Kelly said, adjusting my headband in the bathroom mirror, “I think we should totally let him fund our next café. I’m just saying.”

I laughed. “He asked me about that a few days ago, actually. He offered me to give me five hundred thousand dollars, strings-free for our next café.”

“Because he believes in the café that much?”

“No, because he wants me out of Statham Industries.” I laughed. “He said my last few good weeks of good work don’t make up for all the bad weeks before.”

“Is he firing me, too?” She smiled. “I’ve only been here for a few weeks.”

“He’s willing to throw in an extra two hundred thousand if you quit,” I said. “Something about you spending more time on Video-Chat with me than doing any actual work?”

We both laughed.

“Are you going to say something to Corey today?” she asked. “I saw him out there staring at you. He looks pretty sexy.”

“He always looks sexy.” I shook my head, hating that despite our current estrangement, my recent dreams were all filled with images of him making love to me. “But no. I think we’ll just be associates with time.”

She gave me a blank stare.

“What?”

She opened her purse and pulled out her phone, showing me a text Corey sent her minutes ago.

Corey: Kelly, can you please tell Hayley that she looks absolutely stunning today, and that if she thinks I’m not going to talk to her while we’re at this goddamn wedding, she has another thing coming? Thank you. 

I reread the message and rolled my eyes. “He could’ve texted me that.” I pulled out my phone and saw that he did, in fact, text me that.

“You don’t have to forgive him,” she said. “But you still have feelings for him, and you should at least hear him out.”

“I may do that after the wedding.”

“You may?”

“Yes.” I was still slightly upset. “I may.”

She finished adjusting my headband and I told her I’d meet her at the reception after the wedding was over.

I headed down the hallway, back toward the bridal suite. I was halfway there when Corey stepped in front of me. Looking as cocky and confident as he did that night at the rooftop party, he locked his green eyes on mine—daring me to move away.

“Hello, Hayley,” he said.

I didn’t speak, and I tried not to smile at how much sexier he looked up close in his black tuxedo. 

“You look beautiful,” he said, looking at my dress. “Absolutely beautiful.”

Still nothing.

“Hayley...” He stepped closer. “Hayley, look at me.”

I finally caved. “Yes?”

“Can I talk to you outside, please?”

“No.”

“Okay, well—” He cleared his throat. “I’m honestly not going to ask you again, so if you don’t want me to toss you over my shoulder and carry you out of here, I suggest you take my hand.”

He held out his hand, and I crossed my arms.

“I’ll follow you, but I’m only giving you five minutes,” I said.

“I only need two.”

I checked my watch and followed him to the private garden on the side of the building. I started to take a seat on the stone bench, but he grabbed my hands and pulled me close.

“I miss you, Hayley,” he said, the words rushing from his lips. “I fucking miss you.”

“I can’t say the same.”

“Bullshit.” He squeezed my hands a little tighter. “I haven’t been able to sleep since I foolishly broke up with you. All I do is think about you and what you’re doing, what you’re up late baking, and how much longer you’re going to ignore me... I also think about fucking you a lot.”

“Really, Corey?”

“Sorry.” He let my hands go and pulled a folded sheet of paper from his jacket. “The written version is a lot better.” He unfolded it, looked at the words—as if he was confirming he had it memorized, and then he took my hands again.

“Hayley, I’ve liked you since you climbed through my window on that rainy day in Ohio,” he said. “I’ve always thought that you were my best friend, long before Jonathan. And even though you stopped talking to me when you went away to college, I still thought about you—a lot. I wanted to know what you were up to, what type of friends you were making, what type of guys would be my competition if I ever had the chance to pursue you properly.”

I raised my eyebrow.

“I’ve thought a lot about what you said at dinner that night we were out by the sea—why you stopped taking my calls, and I wish I’d known that you thought I was laughing at your journal entry that day because I wasn’t. Not in that way, anyway.”

“There’s only one way to laugh, Corey.”

He smiled. “I was laughing because I thought it was cute, not out of malice. And I’m pretty sure I dumped that girl for reading your shit without permission three hours later. I also vividly remember telling her that you were prettier and I was more likely to marry you one day than her.”

I blushed, but I didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry for hurting you.” He looked directly into my eyes. “I honestly should’ve told your brother to go fuck himself when he gave me that ultimatum,” he said, surprising me. “Best friend or not, I didn’t need to cave to what he thought was best for you because I know that I’m what’s best for you. And I feel like we’ve never had a chance to fully be together, back then or now, but I’m not willing to accept a what if. I need to know what we could be if we gave it a true chance. Since we don’t have to hide anything anymore, I’m begging you for another chance.”

“And if say no, because I’m long over you and over us?” I asked.

“I’d say you’re lying to yourself.” He pressed a light kiss on my lips. “But I’ll also say I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to admit it.” He let my right hand go and reached into his pocket, pulling out the charm bracelet he’d given me weeks ago. He clasped it onto my wrist and pulled his sheet of paper out again, reading it for a few seconds before taking my hands.

“There really is a paragraph in my letter about how much I miss fucking you, but if you don’t want me to read it—”

“I don’t want you to read it.” My cheeks reddened again. “I can assume what it says.”

“Well, I also miss making love to you, and I want you to know that you were my first regarding that.” His voice was hoarse. “And you’re also the first woman I’ve ever loved—even though I didn’t know it at the time. I know it now. And I also know that if you don’t take me back today, I’m going to keep asking every day until you do.”

I stared into his eyes, waiting for him to finish.

“Hayley Statham, will you please take me back so I can make this up to you?”

I was silent for several seconds.  Then I smiled. “I’ll think about it, Corey Walters.”

“What is there to think about?”

“Well, for one, you still owe me quite a few dates.”

“I can definitely take you on those dates.”

“Two, I know you hacked my phone so I couldn’t block your number or your voicemails. For a potential boyfriend, that’s pretty scary behavior.”

“It’s desperate behavior.”

“So, you’re admitting that you did that?”

“Absolutely.”

I held back a laugh. “Three, if I take you back today, you’ll need to promise that if we do ever get serious, and if we do ever get married, that our wedding will be nowhere near as over the top as this one.”

“You mean, you wouldn’t want a thirty-thousand-dollar dessert bar or eighty-thousand-dollar dinner?”

“No.” I smiled and felt him pulling me close. “I’d just want you.”

“Is there a fourth thing?”

I nodded. “And a fifth.”

“Name them.”

“Four, I need you to promise that if you act like an asshole toward me one more time—like, one more time, you’ll have to do a lot more than a speech to get me back.” I paused. “But I also need you to show me that you really do love me every day after today.”

“I do.” His lips covered mine, and his hands went to my hair—softly threading it with his fingertips.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, relishing in the familiar, sweet feel of his lips against mine.

“Is this a yes to taking me back?” he whispered against my mouth.

“I’m still thinking about it,” I whispered back. “My final answer will depend on the make-up sex, preferably rough make-up sex.”

“Well, we have two hours until the ceremony starts,” he said, slipping his arm around my waist. “Would you like to handle this now or later?”

“Right now.”

He led me back inside the building, down a small hallway, and into a private parlor room. His mouth latched immediately on mine as he pushed my back against the wall.

Slowly unzipping the side of my dress, he helped me step out of it, but then he stared at me.

“Wait. What was the fifth thing you wanted?”

“To move in with you again.” I smiled. “But no rules this time.”

Returning my smile, he pulled me down to the floor and positioned me on top of him. “I can definitely agree to that.”