Is that supposed to make me feel better?
“He didn’t sleep with her, if that’s what you’re thinking. He brought her to make you jealous. Looks like it worked.” I would have to agree. If that was his plan, he was definitely successful.
I hear the sirens in the background, getting closer by the second. I thank the woman and try to move past her, but she stops me one last time.
“He’ll come for you. Eventually. And when he does, do me a favor and give him a message.”
“Ok.”
“Tell him that if he puts his hands on my Juju again, I’m gonna kick his ass myself.”
I watch as the paramedics load Jude onto a stretcher and wheel him out of the church. A tearful Willow, with her hair all a mess and blood all over her dress clings to his hand as she runs along beside him. The groom already left, and while I felt a little sorry for him for the way that things turned out, I’d be lying if I said that the relief wasn’t evident on his face. As it turns out, neither one of them really wanted this marriage to happen. They were just too afraid of what their hearts really wanted.
I can relate.
I take a deep breath, and move out of the chapel, towards the bride’s quarters to collect Willow’s things for her. I’m in the middle of shoving all of her belongings into her duffle bag, when the door opens and my attention shifts.
The second that my eyes land on him, everything else fades away. It takes everything that I have not to move towards him. To not wrap my arms around him and pull him into me. The man looks like he’s just walked through hell and back. His physical appearance is striking. White tuxedo shirt ripped and bloodied, hair an absolute fucking mess, a huge tear up his pant leg.
But that’s not what’s most striking about him. It’s the look in his eyes that gets me. The one that takes my fucking breath away.
Utter devastation sits in his eyes, and as he stares up at me, I lose my willpower to stay away from him. The clothes drop from my hand and I move towards him.
He stands in front of me, his chest heaving from the weight of his breath. My heart races, as I feel his raw heat crashing over me. His eyes are still furious, maybe even slightly scary.
I’ve never seen Wyatt lose control the way that he did inside of that chapel today, yet as scary as it was, I’m not afraid of him. Not in the slightest. In fact, another emotion takes over me completely. I grab onto him before I can stop myself. Before my brain kicks back into gear and tells me all of the reasons why I should keep my distance from the man.
His eyes flash, and then the air shifts. He grabs ahold of me, tugging at the straps of my dress until it falls around my feet. I claw at the buttons on his shirt, desire coursing through me, amplifying at the sounds of his buttons flying off and clinking across the floor.
My hands twist into his hair as he grabs ahold of my ass and lifts me, pushing my body against the door before taking his shaft in one hand and holding me steady with the other.
There’s no warning before he slides inside of me. None of the usual foreplay that I’ve come to know and love about these moments with him.
We’re both too raw, too fucking needy to feel each other to need any of that right now. As he fills me fully, I tug his head towards mine, enveloping his mouth with mine and inhaling every bit of him.
“I’m done playing games with you,” he mutters, thrusting his hips hard against me, causing sensations to build inside of me until I can’t hold back any longer. His name leaves me, in both a plea and a warning. We’ve barely gotten started and I’m already about to explode.
“I’m done pretending that this shit isn’t meant to be.”
Honestly, in this moment, I’ve never recognized it more.
Everything about Wyatt intoxicates me. The way that he looks, the way that he smells, the way that he says my name. There are too many things to keep track of anymore, and frankly, I’m done trying to fight my feelings for him.
Maybe he’s going to hurt me. The chances of that are high, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Because maybe, just maybe, he’ll end up being the only man ever willing to protect my heart. Only time is going to tell that.
As his movements turn frantic, I hold onto him tightly, keeping my mouth on his the entire time. His grunts turn to moans, and the moans turn into him muttering my name, until finally, he’s panting for air and we’re sliding into a messy heap of limbs on the floor.
As the dust starts to settle around us, finally, he turns to me. The hardness that I saw earlier in his eyes is gone. They’re softer, more tender. And they’re filled with an emotion that I feel completely.
“You’ve always been the best thing about me.” His words are hardly above a whisper. “I’m just sorry that it took me so long to see that.”
“I mean, it only took nine years.” I shrug, giving him a taste of one of his usual smirks.
“What I meant to say, Gia, is that I love you. Deep down I think that I always have. I just didn’t realize the feeling because it’s one that I’m not used to.” He inhales slowly, and then shakes his head. “Of course, my timing’s impeccable as always. And I don’t expect you to say anything at all. The way that I treated you was shitty. I believed what I wanted to believe instead of just listening to you. I know that I don’t deserve you, I mean for fuck’s sake, you just witnessed the worst day in my entire life. You have every right to…”
I press my finger to his lips, shushing him before he can say anything else.
“I love you too, Wyatt.”
I’ve always been a firm believer in what’s meant to be will find a way. I held on to a lot of anger at this man, when in all reality, had we tried to make things work in the past, it would have ended blowing up in our faces. I still would have ended up marrying Cole. Being Delilah’s mother was always my destiny.
But Cole and I weren’t meant to be in the long run, and truth be told, I think that deep down, I always knew that Wyatt was the one that I was supposed to end up with. We just had to wait for the stars to align in order for us to make a go of it.
I’m just as guilty of wrongdoing as he is. In fact, maybe even more so. He didn’t sleep with me back then because he knew that things would fall apart. This time, I used sex as a means to get even with him, and it nearly wrecked us both.
“My life is a complete mess right now.” He sighs, letting his head fall back until it bangs against the door. “I don’t even know if Willow will ever speak to me again. And Jude…”
“Relax.” I squeeze him. “I’m sure she’s mad at you, but Willow adores you. You’re just going to have to talk to her. And Jude,” I shake my head. Honestly, I don’t know if there is any coming back from what just happened between he and Wyatt. Only time will tell on that one.
“Did you know about her and Jude?” I definitely didn’t, so I respond with a single shake of my head. But I’m in no way surprised by it. I didn’t know who the bad boy in her history was, but I knew that there was one. Her hesitation was obvious, and it reminded me too much of myself to not recognize it. But as things tend to do, they worked themselves out.
The wedding itself was one hell of a debacle, but if she wouldn’t have forged ahead, and tried to do the right thing, Wyatt and I would have never ended up here, entangled in each other, and uttering our words of love that are so damn overdue.
“So, where do we go from here?”
“Hopefully home to shower.” I laugh, looking over the incredibly sexy, yet beaten to shit man lying next to me. “You’ve got another man’s blood on your clothes, dirt on your hands and now we’re both drenched in sweat.”
“That’s not what I meant, smart ass.” He lifts me with ease, smacking a kiss to my lips before handing me back my dress. I pause for just a moment, before grabbing his face again and kissing him long and hard.
“All jokes aside, I say that we go wherever this leads us.” Our eyes lock, and a million emotions are exchanged in the blink of an eye. “And wherever that may be, just know that I’m all in.
”
“Me too.” He sighs against me, running his nose into my hair and inhaling. “As long as you’re down with forever, then count me in, Princess.”
Epilogue
Wyatt
Decked out in a white tailored suit, I dip my head and breathe in the salty air, taking in the way that the sand feels beneath my bare feet. Palm trees wave around me, and the Seagulls call from high over my head.
I’m far from home, my stomach all twisted in knots, waiting impatiently for her. My hearts bursting, nervous anticipation filling me whole.
I hear my guys next to me, murmuring quietly, but I tune them out. They think that I’m nervous, and honestly, maybe I am. Just not in the way that they’re thinking.
Once upon a time, I swore that I’d never settle down. When I uttered such things, it was because I was still nursing a broken heart over the one woman that I had to leave behind. It had nothing to do with not wanting to get married, it was due to not ever wanting to feel so fucking broken again.
But this time, it’s different.
Since Gia agreed to see where this thing between us led, I’ve done everything in my power to prove to her that I was in it for the long haul. The days of moving from one woman to the next are long behind me. A distant memory. Now the only focus that I have on my future, is the gorgeous brunette who stole my heart all those years ago.
I think back on the last year that’s passed. Colton Andrews was introduced to my old friend, karma, after what really happened between he and Gia came to light. He got a good old-fashioned ass kicking, and then was immediately sent packing by my coach. Once the XFL caught wind of why he was released from the Saints practice team, they banned him from their league as well. Last I heard, the guy was flipping burgers on the other side of the state. Can’t say I’m sorry to hear that.
My sister ended up marrying Jude about six months after her original wedding debacle, and once again, Gia planned one hell of a wedding for them. Jude and I eventually sat down and worked out our differences. He apologized for going behind my back and sleeping with my sister. I apologized for kicking his ass, even though in that moment, he had it coming.
I was tempted at least a dozen times during the first few months of us officially dating to ask her to marry me. I bought the ring two days after Willow’s first wedding, letting it burn a hole in my pocket while I waited for her to be ready for me to ask the question. I already knew that’s where we were heading. I had no doubts that she was meant to be mine forever. But Gia needed time to let it sink in.
It wasn’t fear or not having faith that we would work out, but she needed time to figure me out, and to learn how to live with the fame of being my girl. I needed time to prove to her that I was never going to walk away from her again, and I needed to show her that I had no intention of breaking her or Delilah’s hearts.
We happened fast, both times. But I suppose that’s just how love is. It slams into you and knocks you off balance. We stumbled a few times as we tried to figure it out. But even through those times, I always knew what we had was built to last.
By the time that I got down on one knee, I couldn’t even get all of the words out before Gia was screaming the answer that I wanted to hear.
Willow leans over, nudging me gently before whispering in my ear. “Don’t be nervous. You’re not nervous, are you?”
“Fuck no,” I mutter, swinging my eyes to the opposite end of the beach, waiting for my girl to make her appearance. Nervous is the last emotion that I’m feeling right now. Anxious anticipation? Hell yes. I want her to walk down this damn aisle right now, so that I can officially make her mine. I’m all done waiting.
But then, I catch a glimpse of her in her white dress moving towards me. The second that my eyes land on her, my breath whooshes out.
How on earth did a girl like that fall in love with a guy like me?
Gia stands just beyond the white chairs set up on the beach, her arm linked with her dad’s. We decided that a location wedding was what we preferred, since her first wedding was in the church and honestly, look at how that one turned out.
While I was hesitant about it at first, now I realize that this was the way that it was always meant to be. The wind whips her dark hair around, causing the ache in my chest to turn in to a full-blown throb.
She waltzes towards me, causing my heart to race. After ten years of waiting, finally, I get to officially make her mine.
I don’t think that I take a breath until she’s next to me. Her dad gives me a confident nod, before releasing her hand into mine. As we stare at each other, everything else fades away, as it always does when her eyes meet mine.
I lean in, and whisper, “The second that you say I do; we’re starting on the baby making. Are you in?”
She giggles, her eyes flirtatiously moving up to mine.
“I’m hoping for at least six. Does that sound ok?”
“Sure does, Princess. In fact, I’ve already signed the deal for the minivan ads…”
She grabs my face and kisses me hard, causing our guests to erupt into cheers. To hell with waiting for her to be announced as mine. I grab ahold of her, dipping her low and kissing her hard. The second that I pull away from her, I glance up at the minister.
“We need to make this quick, ok? I’ve been waiting ten years to make this girl mine. I don’t think I can wait a second more.”
We recite our vows, preach our words of commitment, forever, and love. Always fucking love. They’ve been said a million times already, usually while we’re lying in bed and I’m staring down at her, letting my heart bleed every word that I’ve ever felt for her, but now we’re just repeating them in front of God and our guests. The rings are placed on our fingers, and we’re announced to the crowd. I glance at her one last time, before sweeping her into my arms and running her right back to our condo.
“It’s you and me, Princess. We’re in this forever, now. You ready?”
“Hell yes, I’m ready. Now let’s go get started on number one of six.”
The end
About the Author
Ever since she was a little girl, Elizabeth Perry always knew that she wanted to be an author. Writing stories is a dream come true.
Her free time is taken up shuffling her youngest daughter all over God’s green earth, which she complains about often, but wouldn’t change for the world.
She is a true romance addict and a firm believer that every story deserves a happy ending, no matter how hard it is to get there.
She runs on coffee, probably cusses too much, has been known to tell terrible “Your mom” jokes, and says “that’s what she said” more than any grown woman should.
She is married to the love of her life, and is currently in the process of living out her own version of happily ever after.
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Hard Pass (Saints of Love Book 3) Page 20