5
ELLIS
I spotted her the minute she walked in the door. Holy fuck, that dress worked miracles on her. She looked even better than she did in high school. The dress hugged her curves, and her heels made her ass sway when she walked.
And the second my bear laid eyes on her? Mine. All he wanted was to claim her. I was so screwed.
Her face showed the signs of maturity. She wasn’t a little girl anymore. She understood pleasure and pain. She understood the heart in ways she never did before.
Her eyes widened when she saw me looking at her. She still wanted me. She still craved the attention of my eyes slipping over her curves, but they didn’t respond the way they used to. I could tell something was stopping her, but I wouldn’t allow that.
Gravity hauled me toward her. I had to get near her, but she kept slipping away. She hurried to the kitchen, and a dozen women engulfed her. No way was anyone with a cock getting in there. She worked with her mother and her aunts to get the buffet on the table. Bodies surrounded her so I couldn’t see her.
A moment later, her mother came into the living room. “Come and get it, everybody.”
The whole crowd came at a run. Brayden caught my arm. “You’re with me, man. Don’t think you can run off and leave me high and dry.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
He dumped me in the chair next to him, so I couldn’t get away. I caught sight of Mckenna’s dress flashing gold and shimmering down the table. I kept calm, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She spent the meal talking to other people. She never even looked at me.
Anger bubbled up in my chest. My bear roared. What was she trying to do to me? Didn’t she know what seeing her again would do to me? Didn’t she know how she drove me crazy?
Was she turned on right now? Did seeing her bring back old memories and old feelings, old desires? Did she ever dream about me the way I dreamed about her? I stole another glance at her, and she never once looked back at me. From the way she acted, anyone would think we never met at all. I could actually start to think she didn’t remember me.
How many guys did she play around with in the last seven years? Maybe some of them were ten times the lay I ever was. Maybe I was too young and stupid to make much of an impression on her. Maybe I squandered my chance to get close to her.
Brayden told everyone how funny I was. He told them all about the great jokes I used to tell, how I kept everybody rolling in the aisles. He kept nudging me in the ribs and telling me to tell everyone that joke about whatever. I didn’t feel like joking, though. I couldn’t get my mind to function.
Of everyone at that table, no one existed for me but her. She filled my whole world. I spent so much time dreaming about her, and here she was. My mate. She was just as enticing as ever. But she was out of my reach. She talked to other guys, but she didn’t flirt with them. Maybe they were her relatives. I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t think straight.
Brayden made some joke about me being preoccupied with my business affairs. Everybody laughed at my expense, but I didn’t care. If I could give them a laugh without taking my eyes off Mckenna, I was happy. I didn’t want to talk to anybody right then.
Dinner broke up, and lively dance music bumped in the other room. Mckenna hung back to help the women clear the table and put the food away. I lingered around in the doorway until I saw her coming back for another pile of plates. Then I moved in to murmur under my breath. “Why don’t you come outside for a walk with me when you’re finished here?”
She actually smiled. “I’d like that, but I have to help Julia after this. We’re going over to pick up her luggage, and then we have to take all the gifts to her place, and the bridesmaids are getting together to plan the bridal shower. Maybe another time.”
I started to say, “Okay, let’s make a time,” but she lugged her plate to the kitchen before I got a chance. Now I knew for certain she was avoiding me, and she did such a good job that I never got near her again.
What the fuck was going on? Why couldn’t we just pick up where we left off? I felt the same way about her, and now I knew she felt the same way about me. What was stopping her from migrating toward me the way I migrated toward her? She must have felt that cosmic pull bringing us together. Our bears wanting to be connected. She must have understood it would happen one way or the other.
Brayden appeared at my elbow with some other reason I had to go back to the living room with him. I went along with it, but I kept glancing toward the door. I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to be somewhere alone with Mckenna.
After several minutes of chatting with the other groomsmen, I caught sight of her heading down the hall. It was now or never. I made an excuse to the guys, and I hurried out to find her returning from the sunroom with a paper gift bag in one hand. It took all my strength not to kiss her then and there. I would have dragged her into a nearby room if I had my way.
I blocked her path again. “Come outside by the pool for a second. I want to talk to you.”
“I gotta go,” she replied. “Julia’s waiting for me.”
I frowned down at her. “You’re not going anywhere until you talk to me. We haven’t seen each other in seven years, and you won’t look sideways at me. What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. I told you I have to go. Julia and all the other bridesmaids are waiting outside.”
“Why are you avoiding me? Why do you keep running off every time I try to talk to you?”
“Come on, Ellis. You know I wouldn’t avoid you.”
God, her saying my name like that stabbed straight to my guts. I would give anything to get her to say my name again, and again. My insides convulsed in knots. I took a step toward her.
At that moment, Brayden’s voice interrupted me. “Hey, man. I thought I asked you to spot me on a game of Quarters, but you keep running off. What’s going on?”
I turned to answer. Quick as a wink, Mckenna darted around me. “Gotta go. See ya later. Have fun with your game.”
I kicked myself, but I couldn’t show Brayden any annoyance. “Can’t it wait, just for a second?”
Brayden stiffened in the doorway. “What’s going on with you, buddy? Every time I turn around, you’re working in on my sister. What’s the big deal?”
I waved my hand. What was the point? She was already long gone. “I’m just trying to talk to her, but she keeps giving me the slip. I haven’t seen her in seven years. I just want to touch base with her, you know?”
Brayden took my arm. “She’s busy. You know how all this bride stuff is. Come and have some fun. That’s what we’re here for. You can catch up with her anytime.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, man. I’ll be back with you as soon as I can, but there’s something I gotta do right now. It’s important.”
Brayden frowned. “What could be more important right now?”
I got away from him as fast as I could. He would never understand about Mckenna and me. That little tidbit could destroy our friendship worse than seven years of not talking to each other, but I couldn’t let her slip away from me again. Now that I had her in my sight, I couldn’t let her go.
I raced down the hall, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. Brightly colored dresses glinted in the lights outside the windows. Car doors slammed, and women laughed. Motors roared, and the cars drove out of the driveway. She couldn’t be gone already. She couldn’t.
Then I saw her heading for the closet in her uncle’s office. That’s where everybody hung their coats when they first came in. Her leg flashed under her dress going through the door. Now was my chance.
I darted into the office. It wasn’t much more than a closet itself, with a desk at the far end and coats draped everywhere. They hung on hangers from the curtain rod and piled the desk and chair. I took one step into the room, shut the door, and locked it behind me.