Chapter 27

Gavin

“Gavvy, Gavvy.” Chloe was running down the sidewalk outside the cottage when I closed the door behind me.

“Hey, Beaner.” I got down on my knees to greet her and wrapped my arms around her waist in a hug. Tiny hands grabbed the ends of my hair as she snuggled close. I tickled her cheeks with my beard, loving her giggles. “Where are Auntie Lia and Max?” I asked, standing.

A sensational pair of legs caught my eye from ahead, belonging to the woman I hadn’t been able to hold in my arms since late yesterday afternoon.

“She’s too fast.” McKenna wiped a hand across her forehead, nearly tripping over the last step. “Damn little thing.”

“Enna!” Chloe squealed. Just like that, I was dust when Chloe reached back for her new favorite of the week.

“Oh, no, you little booger.” Eyes narrowed, Kenna poked Beaner in the stomach. Chloe giggled, curling forward in my arms. “I tried to hold you, and all you wanted was Gavvy, Gavvy.”

“Because I’m awesome, right?”

“Mmm, sexy as hell in a suit is more like it.” Kenna leaned forward and kissed me, lingering a while, until Chloe yanked my hair back.

“Ouch.” I winced. “Cock blocked by a toddler. Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Not blocked.” Kenna reached for my hand, a sly grin on her mouth. “Just delayed for a few hours.”

I loved that she’d taken the initiative for once with PDA. Throughout the last month, she shied away from touching me in public. Didn’t mean she was second-guessing us, just that she still had something else on her mind. Today, though, as we walked up the sidewalk and around the building toward the gazebo, it felt like something had changed.

“Did you enjoy your boy time last night?” she asked me.

I pulled her hand to my mouth and kissed the back of it. “Not when all I was thinking about was you.”

“A bachelor party with booze and card playing, yet all you do is think of me? You’re not normal, St. James.”

“Nope.” Never would be either. And for once, I was okay with it.

“Then it’s a good thing I have a soft spot for you.” She dropped my hand and grabbed the side of my pants, digging her fingers into my pockets.

Goddamn, she was dangerous. “Nothing about what’s inside there is ever soft.”

Chloe’s head popped up from my shoulder. She said my name around the thumb in her mouth and blinked.

“Go find Aunt Lia and Uncle Max,” I said, motioning my head toward the chairs.

She grinned as I set her down on the grass, and then her chubby toddler legs ran up the rest of the hill. She was dressed in a little white dress and wore flowers in her hair that fell out every time she moved.

Once she was in Max’s arms, I focused fully on my woman. “You missed me last night too. Admit it.” I pressed my palms on both sides of her neck, dragging my thumb over her pulse. I felt her swallow against my hand, could see her chest rise and fall under the pale-pink dress that barely covered the curve of her swollen breasts. She looked so damn beautiful I struggled to breathe.

She licked her lips. “I missed you…a lot, actually.”

I smiled. The breath from her words warm on my mouth, and the admission burying itself deep inside my chest. Yeah, I wasn’t losing my mind. Something had changed with her.

“Kiss me again.” I lowered my forehead to hers. “Show me how much you missed—”

She did, not even letting me finish.

Desperate hands clung to the front of my suit coat, nails digging into my chest. When she finally pulled away first, I couldn’t catch my breath.

“That enough for you?” And she couldn’t catch hers either.

I stared down at her damp lips and flushed cheeks, then her fluttering blue eyes. My heart tripped over itself in my chest at what I saw. What I’d wanted to see for months.

McKenna Brewer had fallen for me.

“Hey,” Lia yelled from the top of the grassy hill, doing nothing to break apart our stares. “You guys gonna come be part of this shindig, or what?”

I was the first to smile, but Kenna didn’t budge, other than pressing her hand to her throat, her eyes wide with emotion at the same time.

“Let’s go. Mrs. Maxwell is calling.” Confidence had me wrapping my arm around Kenna’s waist, pulling her toward the chairs set up along the top of the hill by the gazebo. She didn’t hesitate this time. If anything, she moved closer to me, as if the pull between us had only grown stronger.

Collin nodded from the front of the altar, the grin on his face widening when he looked down at my hand along the curve of Kenna’s waist. With a nod back, I sat us down next to Max, who held Chloe in his arms. Lia was on his other side, while Kenna snuggled up to me from the right. Mrs. Montgomery was at the end of the chairs, a handkerchief in her hand as she looked up at her son.

Collin and Addison had decided they didn’t want anyone to stand with them, and we were all okay with it, especially me now that I had my hands on my Kenna.

“You look beautiful, by the way.” I leaned over and pulled her hair out of her face, nuzzling my nose against the crook of her neck. She smelled just like the flowers hanging off the gazebo ahead. Sweet and summery.

She shivered, her thigh going flush with mine as she crossed her right leg over the left. I lowered my hand from around her waist, needing to touch skin. I pressed my palm to the top of that thigh and rubbed my thumb in a circle just below the hem of her dress.

“You’re a tease,” she purred.

“And you’re in love with me, so it’s only gonna get worse.” It was meant to be a joke but came across as honest. Real. And when she leaned her head back to look me in the eyes, I didn’t see the run in her face this time. I saw the rawness of an I love you too on those lips I wanted on mine. She may not have spoken the words out loud yet, but two times now I’d seen their meaning in her gaze. And for now, that was enough.

Music started playing from a speaker somewhere behind us. A breeze lifted a strand of my hair that brushed against McKenna’s cheek. She reached up, smiling as she grabbed the strand, then twisted it around her finger before she turned to focus on the reality of this day.

Our best friends were getting married.

As I stood and turned to look down the aisle, Kenna followed suit, her hand never leaving mine. Addie was at the end of a white runner, looking like summer and winter wrapped up in one white dress. She was gorgeous. I had to admit that, but nothing compared to the woman at my right. The one who’d stolen my heart. The one I couldn’t stop looking at as what sounded like Adele played through the speaker.

I watched Kenna more than Addie. Her free hand went to her mouth and she cried, big, wet tears dripping down her face. But behind her fingers, I could see a smile on her cheeks. This wasn’t just her best friend getting married, I knew that. But her sister too. Just as Addie had become my sister in a way.

Thinking of Collin and all he’d been through, I turned, finding his father by his side, an arm around Collin’s shoulder before he took his seat. Mr. Montgomery looked at his wife as he approached, then back at his son, and finally to his granddaughter, who was already up and trying to get to her dad.

Like the hero he claimed to be, Max scooped Chloe up and set her on his shoulders. Lia sat next to him, dressed in a pink dress that matched Kenna’s.

A groan sounded, catching my attention. It was a pained sound, like someone was trying not to explode with excitement. When I smiled and looked up, I saw Collin, this time with a hand over his mouth, rubbing furiously. He looked seconds away from falling at Addie’s feet when she finally approached his side.

“Fuck this.” Collin growled, grabbing her around the waist. He kissed her, and she kissed him back, and neither stopped, not even when the music did.

I shook my head, forgetting all my own senses as I yanked Kenna even closer. Her lips pursed, but then I kissed her cheek, and as if my mouth were magic, she relaxed against my shoulder, folding into me.

It was right where she belonged. Where I always wanted her to be.

The officiant cleared his throat when the kissing between Addison and Collin wouldn’t stop. Whispering something under his breath, Max put Chloe down, and we all watched the little thing run toward Addie and tug on her white dress from behind. Grinning, Addie reached down and lifted her, cooing at how beautiful she looked.

Collin was the first to speak. “Not gonna apologize.” He nodded once at the officiant before he continued. “Haven’t kissed my girl since last night, and that’s a long time to wait for me.”

Addie tugged on the end of his tie with her free hand. “And we have the rest of our lives to kiss, silly.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing a little. The two of them were weird as shit. And I loved them like family.

Collin grabbed Chloe from his soon-to-be wife, kissing the blond troublemaker on the nose before handing her to his mom. Mrs. Montgomery held her granddaughter’s hand and offered her a sucker.

The ceremony droned on after that, and normal wedding stuff was said. Collin and Addie spoke some vows, but my mind was occupied with the woman at my side. Her eyes never stopped watering, her lips quivering too. She was crying, yeah, but they were happy tears. The only kind I ever wanted to see on her face again.

More words were spoken; rings were exchanged. I think Maxwell might even have cracked a joke, but my body, my mind, my everything was consumed by thoughts of Kenna and me having our own wedding one day. A day when I’d vow to her that I’d be her savior, no matter what happened, no matter where we were.

McKenna was my piece of forever.

As if she could hear my thoughts, she faced me, kissing me lightly on the lips.

“I love you.” I couldn’t help but whisper the words. I needed her to know my feelings, my thoughts.

Her fingertips lingered on my beard, as my fingers lingered on her face, and it wasn’t until Max smacked me upside the back of my head that I realized the wedding was over. And McKenna hadn’t run when I said those three words.

* * *

McKenna

Before I could say I love you too, Gavin turned around and smacked Maxwell’s arm.

We stood and clapped as Collin scooped up Addie and cradled her to his chest. He all but ran down the white runner, nearly tripping as he darted around the corner of the inn. Eyes wide, I glanced toward the front of the altar, then back at Max, Lia, and Gavin. The two guys shared a look while Lia slapped her forehead and said, “My brother’s a fucking idiot.”

“Um, someone wanna fill me in on where they’re going?” I was still trying to wipe my dang tears away. Heck, I didn’t get to say congrats or hug my best friend.

“You don’t wanna know.” Gavin wrapped his arm around my waist. The four of us walked toward Collin and Lia’s parents, along with Chloe, who was still content with the sucker she’d scored from her grandma.

“Um, yeah. I do.” I dropped Gavin’s hand and put mine on my hips, waiting.

“Oh, jeez, you two suck. I’ll tell her.” Lia punched Max in the shoulder and looked at me. “Addie told Collin they could try for another baby as soon as the wedding was over.”

My nose scrunched up. Ew. Collin was such a douche bag. “So, what, he was literally going to take her up on it? As in, right now?”

“Yep.” She nodded, then walked to her parents, hugging them something fierce. Not one of them seemed concerned with what had just happened.

What the hell was wrong with these people?

“You hungry?” Gavin leaned over and pressed his palm against my stomach.

I froze.

As did he.

Our eyes met, and then he grinned—just a little. It was the first time he’d touched my stomach like that. He must have felt what I’d been noticing for weeks. The tiny balled-up bulge.

“It’s… Is that…”

I nodded.

His eyes widened. We’d been naked together a bunch of times over the course of the last month, but only today had the bulge finally made its appearance.

I cleared my throat, unsure of the warmth in my chest. Unsure if I liked it or wanted it gone. “It’s a baseball with limbs right now.”

He took another step closer. A look of concentration filled his eyes. The sun peeked from behind a cloud, haloing around his head and face while he stared down at his hand over my stomach. Awe filled his eyes as he spread his fingers, covering the small bulge that was our baby.

Our baby.

At the thought, I swallowed. Hard. The normal lump that appeared when I thought of this child slid away. The idea of having him or her didn’t send me into the pits of regret anymore. Gavin and I had made some strides that I hadn’t thought I’d be able to make with a man, which got me to thinking: Could I have this baby with him after all? The concept was so foreign and distracting that I almost didn’t hear his question.

“Have you, um, felt it move yet?” His eyes narrowed in concentration as he moved his hand around even more.

I shook my head, slowly, the sensation sending my heart fluttering. “Soon though. Apparently fourteen weeks is a good time for first movement.”

His eyebrows arched. “Have you been, I don’t know, reading up on this?”

I nodded. Again.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” His expression said it all, though, whether he knew it or not. I’d given Gavin a gift with that admission.

“Me neither.” Mainly because I had no idea what I was doing. I just didn’t want the feeling in me to stop.

He stepped closer, dropping his hands to his sides. But instead of pulling away, he kissed my forehead, inhaling. “I meant what I said.”

“I know.” I meant what I wanted to say.

“And you don’t have to say it back. I—”

“Gavin, stop.” It was my turn to press my hand against his face. “I love you too, okay?”

His eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks. “You do?”

“I do.” The problem was, I had no idea what to do next.