Derek

Hayden had scared the fuck out of me last night. I’d tried calling her from the wedding rehearsal, and when she never answered, I got worried. When I showed up at her house, she was sitting on her front porch swing, crying. I thought someone had died. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened, but I gave her no choice. I wasn’t expecting what came out of her mouth.

I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew she was a damn fine veterinarian. I saw it that day she rescued Bear from the side of the road. After a night of my holding her and telling her it would be okay, she woke up a new person. I had no clue what was going on in her mind, but I could tell the wheels were turning. She sat in the passenger seat of my truck, gazing out the window with a far-off look on her face. Even though she was preoccupied, she was still beautiful as hell, dressed in a light pink sundress with her chocolate-colored hair in waves down her back.

“Care to tell me what you’re thinking about?” I asked her.

Smiling, she grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m thinking about how sexy you look in that tux.”

“As much as I want to believe that, I know you’re lying. What’s really going on?”

She averted her gaze to the window. “I just can’t get over it, Derek. I didn’t do anything wrong. Finding another job will be almost impossible unless I can prove it wasn’t me who cross-contaminated. And that’s going to be hard to do now.”

“Have you talked to any of the nurses?”

Shaking her head, she met my gaze. “I’ll do that on Monday. Today is special for your friends, and I don’t want to sour your mood with my drama. So for the rest of the day, I’ll keep a smile on my face.” Her eyes twinkled. “But you really do look sexy in that tux. I wasn’t lying about that.”

I kissed her hand. “You’re looking pretty hot yourself. Do me a favor, though, make sure Chris keeps his filthy hands off of you during the wedding.”

She burst out laughing. “I’ll try, but you know how he is. He’ll do it just to mess with you.” Since I was going to be standing at the front with Evan as one of his best men, I had to make sure Hayden had someone to sit with so she wouldn’t be alone. Chris was first in line for that position.

When we arrived at Stowe Manor, the guys were all out front, drinking beers and laughing. “Are you going to drink with them?” Hayden asked.

I’d gone so long without it, I didn’t even crave it anymore. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Are you afraid you won’t be able to control yourself with it?”

I looked at her and smiled. “That’s not it at all. I feel in more control of myself than I’ve ever felt. I just don’t need it to have fun.”

She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to kiss me. I held her to me and deepened it, not caring if any of the guys saw. “You’ve come a long way, Derek. I’m so proud of you.”

Chris knocked on Hayden’s window and opened her door. “Stop kissing on my date, McLaughlin. For the next two hours, she’s mine.”

“Keep it up, Waters.” I chuckled. “You’ll be finding your balls shoved down your throat if you don’t watch it.”

Chris helped Hayden out and flipped me off. “You don’t scare me.” Then he turned to Hayden, wrapping her arm around his. “All right, darling, let’s go for a walk. You’ll love the gardens.”

Giggling, she held on to him. “Lead the way.” She glanced back at me and winked. “See ya in a bit.” Once she and Chris were gone, I joined the guys. It was just Evan, Cooper, and Evan’s best friend, Luke Collins. The last time I’d really talked to Luke had been that night at the bar before the accident that took Brianna’s life. She had talked to him privately there, and to this day, I didn’t know what she’d said to him. I never got the chance to ask her.

Cooper slapped my shoulder and gave me a hug, and so did Evan. “It’s the big day,” I said to Evan. “You nervous?”

“Not at all, brother. I’ve been ready for this for a long time now. I see you and Hayden are doing well.”

I nodded. “We are. She’s an amazing woman.”

Cooper chuckled. “Well, I know the guys on the team are happy you found someone. Most of them were terrified of you ripping their heads off.”

“It’s good for them to be scared,” I said with a laugh.

Luke caught my eye and held out his hand. “What’s up, D?”

“Nothing much, man. What’s up with you?”

We shook hands and then he finished off his beer. “Just getting ready to watch my best friend tie the knot. Although I probably need twenty more of these,” he said, setting the beer bottle down.

“Why is that?”

Evan snickered. “He’s walking with Lara down the aisle. Everyone knows she hates him.”

Eyes wide, I turned to him. “You haven’t gotten her back yet? It’s been months.”

Luke’s jaw tensed. “She’s with someone else now. No matter what I do, I can’t get her to listen to me.”

“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.”

He snorted. “What am I supposed to do, apologize on TV, like you did with your girl?”

I shrugged. “It’s a start. Humiliation is part of the step. I did something stupid to Hayden, and I paid the price for it. I had to show her I was willing to do anything to get her back.”

“What did you do to her?” he asked.

The guys averted their gazes and I cleared my throat. “Let’s just say it was almost as bad as what you did to Lara. I’m just lucky enough to have a valid reason for why I did it.”

Evan nudged Luke with an elbow. “I kept trying to tell you not to give up. Now it’s harder on me because she’s dating a guy who could actually be considered my brother-in-law.”

Cooper and I both whistled. “That’s not good at all,” I said.

Luke rolled his eyes and huffed. “Now do you see what kind of shit I’m in?” Cars started to pull into the parking lot, so we walked inside the manor while the guests signed in and picked their seats. It was almost time for the ceremony, but I grabbed Luke’s shoulder and pulled him to the side. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

His brows furrowed. “Go for it.”

“The night of the accident, Brianna talked to you about how to get Lara back. I know you were kind of drunk, but do you remember what she said?”

The last thing I remembered coming out of her mouth were screams. I wanted to hear what she’d said before she was taken from me. Luke licked his lips and averted his gaze, smiling as if he could see it all playing in his mind.

“I never got to tell you how sorry I was for your loss. She was a sweet girl,” he said solemnly.

I nodded. “I know.”

He blew out a sigh and leaned against the wall. “Let’s see. First she told me I was an idiot for leaving Lara after our night together. I already knew that, but of course, it was too late. Then she told me not to ever give up, that if I truly loved Lara, I would do everything in my power to get her back, even if I had to sell my soul.” He swallowed hard and looked down at his hands. “But then the very last thing she said reminds me of what you did for Hayden at the game. She said that no amount of humiliation could ease the pain of a lost love. Those were her exact words. I guess that goes with the part of selling my soul.”

Closing my eyes, I could still see Brianna’s smiling face. She’d said the same thing to me once. It was the same advice I’d taken when I wanted to get Hayden back. “Take her advice, Luke. I know you have your pride, but if you want Lara back, you have to be willing to sacrifice it all. Is that something you can do?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, but then his gaze caught something on the staircase. It was Lara and Kate, Summer’s bridesmaids, coming down the stairs.

“I can do it,” he promised, keeping his focus on Lara. “I won’t let her get away again, no matter the cost.”

Chris and Hayden walked inside, and she waved at me before taking a seat. I wasn’t going to let her get away again, either.

The ceremony went by quickly, and I couldn’t have been happier to watch my best friend say the vows to the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Chris tested my patience during it by putting his arm around Hayden and pulling her in close. The pain on his face during those times, along with the pure joy on Hayden’s, had me chuckling on the inside.

“So what exactly were you doing to make Chris look like he’d just shit himself?” I asked Hayden quietly.

She spooned a piece of cake into her mouth and snickered. “I was pinching the inside of his thigh. He’s going to have marks all over.”

Chris turned our way, and I burst out laughing. He flipped me off and I smiled even wider. “That’s fucking classic. I guess I don’t need to kick his ass, then.”

“Nope, I did it myself.”

The next song was the first slow one of the evening. “Want to dance?”

Nodding quickly, she finished her cake and took my hand. I pulled her to me and kissed her lips, sucking on the bottom one. Her eyes darkened and she bit her lip. “You had frosting on your lip. I had to get it off,” I explained.

“I bet. Maybe I should put frosting on other parts of my body as well.”

The thought of licking anything off her body made my dick twitch. I held her tighter so she could feel what she did to me. “You might not want to say things like that in public.” She giggled and tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her. “Not so fast, love. You’re stuck with me until my cock goes down.”

I tried my best to get the dirty thoughts out of my head, but it was hard with her so close to me. However, when I saw Evan walking toward us with his baby daughter in his arms, I froze. I hadn’t wanted to be around their daughter because if Brianna had lived, our child would be around the same age. Surprisingly, seeing the little girl in Evan’s arms didn’t bother me like I’d thought it would. She had the same golden-blond hair as her mother.

Hayden sensed my distraction and looked up at me. “Derek, you okay?”

I nodded behind her. “We have company.” She turned around and stood beside me as Evan and Summer approached.

Summer opened her arms and I hugged her. “You make a beautiful bride. Evan’s a lucky man.”

She winked at me. “And I’m a lucky woman.” Then she turned her attention to Hayden. “This must be Hayden. It’s nice to meet you.”

They shook hands. “Same to you,” Hayden replied. Her eyes lit up when they landed on the beaming baby. “Your daughter is so adorably cute.”

Summer agreed with a nod. “Do you want to hold her?”

“Of course! I’d love to.” Hayden held out her arms and Evan placed his daughter gently in her grasp. Hayden looked like a natural. In that moment, I could see myself having a family with her.

“D, you okay?” Evan asked me.

Sighing, I averted my gaze to him. “I am now. Do you mind if we step aside for a minute while the ladies talk?”

“Sure,” he said, looking curious.

For the longest time, I’d kept my true feelings from my best friend. I loved Evan like a brother, but I had to get everything off my chest.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said. When I had his full attention, I took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you realized or not, but after the accident, I hated you.”

He held up his hand and placed it on my shoulder. “I already know, D. You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“You already know what?”

His gaze turned sad. “That you hated me for saving you. I knew you would, but I also hoped you’d forgive me, too. I didn’t want to lose you.” He blinked back the tears, and I could feel my own eyes burning.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” My focus drifted to Hayden holding Emma Grace in her arms. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met her. Do you forgive me for being a jackass?”

Evan chuckled and hugged me tight. “There’s nothing to forgive. Now come and meet Emma Grace. She’s going to want her uncle D to hold her.”