Page 67

The morning of the wedding arrived with a rush.

Raelyn had a to-do list about a mile long to help get Amira ready for the big day, and yet all she wanted to do was lie around in bed with Quinn, as per usual.

However, she had things to do and places to be, so after a quick yet satisfying round of love making in bed, Raelyn set off for Amira’s, leaving Quinn looking both fulfilled and sleepy. It was a good look on him.

As crazy as the entire morning had been, the ceremony was absolutely beautiful.

Raelyn was so happy for both Amira and Brody and was actually impressed at how well Brody’s sword had tied into their castle-like surroundings.

After the ceremony, the wedding party spent a little over half an hour doing group photos around the Chateau, both inside and out.

There were so many natural backdrops for wedding photos at this place.

The fountain, the gardens, the balconies, the winding staircases.

When Raelyn was little and had seen her first wedding hosted by the Chateau, she had wanted so badly to have her own wedding here.

As much as she despised being called a princess, she was at least willing to accept that her wedding day would be the one time that it wouldn’t just be okay to be treated like a princess, but it would be expected.

With the formal pictures out of the way, the wedding party moved into the first ballroom where the tasting room was now cleared out except for the bartenders.

The larger ballroom was being filled with guests for the reception.

On the bar, there were twelve glasses of champagne in crystal flutes waiting for them.

Amala passed the drinks out to everyone, and they all toasted to the new Mr. and Mrs. Kalahan .

“So, when they have kids, do you think they’ll get Amira’s skin tone with Brody’s hair?” Emerson was leaning back against the bar next to Raelyn as the two watched their best friends link arms to drink the rest of their champagne. “Is that even possible? What would that look like?”

Caught off guard by this casual, breezy, tolerable version of her ex-fiancé, she glanced sideways at him, mouth open, ready to make a comment.

She thought better of it, though, and shook her head.

It was probably best not to draw attention to it; she wouldn’t want him thinking she was enjoying his company or giving him a compliment.

“Let’s just hope they look more like Amira, but with Brody’s height. ”

Emerson chuckled, which was a rare occurrence, “Yeah, well, at least they’ll be smart.”

Raelyn couldn’t help the furrowed brow and somewhat stupefied expression as she looked at him.

“What?” Annoyance seeped into his voice now.

That’s more like it.

“You’re just being oddly...pleasant. It’s freaking me out a little,” she admitted.

“I can be pleasant,” Emerson said defensively. “You liked me once. You know I can be nice. I don’t always have to be…” he seemed to search for a word, “combative.”

Both Raelyn and Emerson were laughing before he’d finished the word.

“You can’t even say that with a straight face. Yes, you always have to be combative. And competitive and manipulative.” Raelyn took another sip of her champagne.

There was a silent pause between them as they simply observed the members of the bridal party around them, drinking, laughing, making good conversation, taking selfies.

“Do you ever think about...what our wedding would have been like?” Emerson attempted to make eye contact as he asked this. “Is this what you wanted? Your family’s place? ”

Is this what happens when he drinks wine instead of whiskey? He's not going to try getting sentimental with me, right?

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, she felt the best thing to do was to simply respond, not giving him a reason to think he’d thrown her off guard in any way.

“Honestly, we weren’t even engaged long enough for me to work out the details,” Raelyn replied, determined to avoid his piercing blue gaze.

She was pretty sure it was focused on her face, but for all she knew he could have been staring at her chest or the small bit of flat stomach showing between her top and skirt.

“Doesn’t every girl have an idea of what she wants from the time she’s like seven years old or something?” Emerson pressed, still not taking his eyes off of her.

Seven years old? Quinn...I think I’ve wanted Quinn since I was seven years old.

Raelyn smiled at the thought. The image of him skipping rocks by himself on the beach, and her unexplainable need to have him join her party, and then her life.

“Maybe we do,” she said, unable to conceal her smile at the fond memory. She met his gaze and he looked back at her curiously. “I’m not every girl though, so no, I didn’t have a wedding all planned out already.”

Emerson snorted a laugh, “You’re not wrong about that.” He tossed back what was left of his champagne and set the glass on the bar behind him. “I can’t wait to get into that reception and get a real drink.”

Raelyn was also ready to get into the reception, but for a whole different reason.

She wanted to zoom through dinner and toasts and get straight to the dancing.

She had always loved the dancing portion of wedding receptions, but after Quinn’s make-shift prom and homecoming, she couldn’t wait to get him back on the dance floor.

And here, there were nearly five-hundred people to watch as she showed him off in front of everyone.

Sorry, ladies, Quinn Casey is off the market .

It wasn’t long before the wedding party made their entrance, and the bride and groom were introduced to the ballroom full of guests.

At the head table, Raelyn scanned the tables for Quinn and found him at one close to the front.

He was sitting with Chris, Jett, and Victoria, and there were a few other guests sharing their table.

On Quinn’s right was a woman with a natural bronze tan, long shiny hair that was nearly black, and she was wearing a tight-fitting red dress.

Raelyn couldn’t tell from where she sat, but she suspected the dress was short.

It seemed odd that Quinn was sitting between this woman and Jett.

Assuming she was single, it would make sense for Jett to trade places with Quinn so he could chat her up since he’d come without a date.

Raelyn watched intently as this admittedly gorgeous woman talked to Quinn, leaning in and making her rather large bust more pronounced. Seriously, those things were about to pop out of her dress. Raelyn’s eyes narrowed as she continued to watch their interaction.

The woman laughed at something Quinn said, tossing her head back gracefully and placing a well-manicured hand on his upper arm. Her laugh sounded whimsical and feminine. Quinn was grinning, too, as he leaned toward Jett and motioned to the woman who still had her hand on his arm.

Hands off what’s mine, bitch.

Raelyn angled her head toward Amala and asked, “Hey, who’s that girl next to Quinn? Skimpy red dress, XL ta-tas.”

Amala skimmed the crowd until she saw where Raelyn was looking. “Oh, dang. She needs to put those babies away,” Amala said, eyes widening. “I’m not sure, actually. Might be a friend of Brody’s or something.”

Unsatisfied with that explanation, Raelyn huffed and tried Tessa on her other side. Again, Tessa didn’t know, but admitted she had been silently envying the woman’s perfect cleavage that looked photoshopped.

Raelyn stared, intensifying her gaze as she focused on Quinn. She hoped he would feel her glaring at them and look up. His hand was on his water glass in front of him and Raelyn couldn’t help noting his body was angled ever so slightly toward the voluptuous creature next to him.

Look up here.

See my face.

Switch spots with Jett.

Quinn Casey, stop talking to that woman and look at me.

Oh! It worked!

Quinn smiled wide when he found Raelyn staring intently at him, but his smile faltered for a second when he saw the narrow-eyed glare. She cocked one eyebrow and nodded toward the mystery woman and mouthed, “What the fuck?”

His smile returned. Glancing at the woman and back to Raelyn he mouthed, “Are you jealous?”

Um, yeah!

Attempting to make her glare look more threatening, she tried mouthing to him again that she needed to keep her hands to herself. He failed to lip read this message, so Raelyn rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone off the table to text him.

Raelyn: Tell her to keep her hands off.

She watched as Quinn read his phone, then looked up at her with an amused, near laughing expression. Raelyn was not laughing. She was giving her best Don’t Mess With Me stare with a little bit of attitude. Quinn bent his head over his phone as he wrote her back.

Quinn: I’ve never seen you jealous. It’s kinda cute.

Cute?!

Raelyn scoffed and lifted her gaze back up from her phone to see Quinn still smirking in her direction .

Raelyn: Switch places with Jett. She can hit on him instead.

Quinn laughed again at her message when he read it and looked up at her, mouthing, “Seriously?”

Raelyn nodded vigorously and made a criss-crossing motion with her hands, gesturing to Quinn and Jett, and said, “Switch.” Quinn chuckled, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head.

He leaned toward Jett and got his attention again.

Raelyn watched as he spoke and made various hand motions between the two of them and pointed to his seat.

Jett leaned forward and took a look at the woman on the other side of Quinn, shrugged, then got up so they could swap places.

Once in his new seat he looked back up at Raelyn, “Happy?”

She smiled in response, and he laughed again, shaking his head. Her smile brightened when she saw the woman’s confused and disappointed expression. It was brief, however, as she looked Jett over and realized that he wasn’t too bad either. He wasn’t Quinn, of course, but he did look good tonight.