Page 34 of Eye of the Hurricane (Weathering Doves Harbor #2)
“Of course not, this is a fake relationship,” she whispers back to me. Call it wishful thinking or delusion but I don’t believe her. Something about the tremble in her voice and refusal to look at me when she says it.
I hum low in my throat, letting her out of my space. She’s flushed and flustered which doesn’t feel particularly fake to me.
Cocktail hour and dinner are pretty slow. It finally starts to feel like a real wedding when they open up the bar and start the music. I can’t say it’s the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to, but it’s certainly the most beautiful.
“You’re driving home?” Katherine asks, dragging me to the bar by my hand.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Espresso martini, please.” The bartender mixes the drink and slides it across the bar to her. She moans at the first sip.
Once people have a couple of drinks in them, the dance floor starts to fill out some. Dan and Shay’s “Speechless” comes on and I’m standing before she even gets the chance to ask. I remember camping, I know she wants to go dance to this song .
She sits her martini glass on the table and takes my hand, following me out to the floor.
“I love this song,” she gushes.
“I know.”
We hold each other close and sway to the music. Every other couple dancing seems to be tolerating each other at best. Somehow Katherine and I look like most real couple out here.
One song turns to three then five and I realize we haven’t left this space the entire time. Except of course for her to sneak away for a few seconds for a drink here and there. “There’s The Sun” by Zach Top is playing now.
This whole time we’ve been dancing lazily, her head pressed to my chest and my hands wrapped around her lower back. Maybe it was that last espresso martini or the song but we’re really dancing now.
I’m talking spins, twirls, and dips. It feels silly and we’re definitely out of place doing it here but it’s worth it for the smile on her face when I tip her backwards. I yank her back upright and into my chest. Our eyes are locked on each other.
“Does this feel fake to you, Katherine?” I whisper into her ear. She bites her cheek, fighting a smile. She doesn’t say anything. “Have we been here long enough?” I ask. She nods.
We walk over to the table and she finishes her drink. She hugs the bride and lets her know we’re leaving. She lets her mom know she’s leaving but doesn’t hug her. As soon as we’re out of the double doors taking us outside of the ballroom, I pick her up off of the floor.
“What are you doing?” She laughs.
“You’re too pretty to have to walk in heels like these,” I tell her, adjusting her to sit more comfortably over my shoulder.
“You’re ridiculous! I can walk,” her laughter grows .
“I know you can.” She sighs. I don’t sit her back on her feet until we’re out of the building and outside of the car.
I open the passenger side door for her and she sits down. I crouch down in front of her and pull her left foot onto my knee to unbuckle the strap on her heel.
“Kat, I’ve been thinking about it all night. Please tell me that this space you’ve been asking for isn’t because you have some idea in your head that you have to choose between a relationship and your career.”
“Okay, fine. Yes, that may have had something to do with it,” she admits.
“Why didn’t you say something?” I slide the heel off of her foot and she lets out a breath of relief.
“Because I knew you’d have the perfect thing to say. I knew you’d magically change my mind without even trying.” I throw her heel into the back seat and pull her right foot into my lap.
“You don’t want your mind changed?” I ask, unbuckling the second strap.
“Not right now, no. Regardless of if she’s right or wrong, I have to stay focused until I get this job. It’s been my dream since like forever. I can’t ask you to wait for me,” she admits. I pause what I’m doing and look up to find somber eyes looking back down at me.
“You think asking me to wait a handful of weeks is too much? Kat, honey, I’ve been waiting three fucking years.”
“You haven’t been waiting for me for three years. You’ve just been into me for three years. You were with other people in between.”
“No, honey, I wasn’t.”
“What?” Her eyes go big.
“I haven’t touched another woman since I introduced myself to you outside of our lecture hall my freshman year,” I admit. Her jaw goes slack.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m really not.” I chuckle. “Turns out once you’ve found the best, no one really does it for you anymore.” She shakes her head like she doesn’t believe me still.
“Let me be more clear. Whether you ask me to wait for you or not, I’ll be waiting for you to be ready for this.
Because I can’t think of a single moment any of this has felt fake.
It’s felt awfully real to me, Kat, the entire time.
And I’ve quite enjoyed it, so when you’re ready to jump I’ll be here with open arms ready to catch you. ”
“What if I’m never ready?” she asks.
“I have no doubts you’ll be ready, Kat.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve done my fair share of dating and hooking up, probably your share too. Nothing has ever felt like this. I just can’t imagine a world in which it’s not me and you at the end of it all.”
“It’s not always like this?” she asks and I laugh.
“It’s never like this,” I correct. I finally go back to what I was doing and slide the heel off of her foot, throwing it with the other one. I lift her leg up and kiss her ankle. “Ever.”