Page 54 of Just My Type (The Boston Hearts #3)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

NOAH

“ O kay, so you can, like, really dance,” Hannah says, voice a little incredulous as I spin us in a slow circle in the middle of the dance floor.

The band is playing “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran, and Hannah is wrapped in my arms. My lips brush the shell of her ear as I whisper the lyrics that sound like they were written just for us.

A shiver works its way down her spine, her head falling to my shoulder and her arms tightening around me.

And me? I’m so in love I could die.

“You bet I can. I’m romantic as fuck.”

Hannah laughs, leaning up to kiss my jaw. “And exactly how many women have you wooed with these superior dancing skills of yours?”

I chuckle, running my nose up her jaw and kissing her temple, rubbing slow circles on her lower back as we dance. “I’m a one-woman kind of guy, Han. My wife is the only woman I want to woo with my superior dancing skills.”

She leans back a little to look at me, her eyes sparkling with amusement. I just fucking love to see it. “You wife, huh? ”

I lean in and kiss her cheek. “My.” I kiss the other cheek.

“Wife.” I cover her mouth with mine, giving her a long, slow kiss as the music soars around us.

We break apart just as the song comes to an end, the band switching to something faster.

But neither of us moves. We just stand there, looking at each other, eagerness and need and words and words and words we don’t say yet swirling around us.

It's like all the words are there, right on the tips of both of our tongues, but we both know that this room full of my family and hers, our friends, and Jordan and Jo’s palpable, contagious joy isn’t the place for them.

The anticipation is delicious.

“Drink?” I ask, breaking us out of our bubble.

“Yes.” Hannah glances around almost like she’s surprised that we’re in a room full of people. “I could use a Sprite.”

Taking her hand, I lead her to the bar and we get in the short line.

I stand behind her, my chest pressed to her back, and wrap my arms around her waist, unwilling to let her get too far away from me.

She seems to agree because she rests her arms over mine and doesn’t move them, even as we order our drinks and step to the side, glasses in hand.

Spinning in my arms, she eyes her drink contemplatively, then turns her head to look at the container of straws sitting on the bar, her nose wrinkling adorably. “I really wish I had a Twizzler.”

I laugh, smacking a kiss to her cheek and reaching into the inside pocket of my jacket, pulling out a small package of Twizzlers. “Ask and you shall receive, Gorgeous.”

She looks from the package to me. “How long have those been in there?”

I shrug. “Since I got dressed.”

“You brought Twizzlers to my sister’s and your brother’s wedding because…why exactly?”

I set my drink on the bar and open the package myself, pulling out a Twizzler and biting off the ends, plunking it into her glass.

“Because Jordan and Jo are obsessed with Fireballs for some weird reason, so I didn’t think they would have Twizzlers lying around their wedding.

You like to drink Sprite with a Twizzler straw, so I brought them for you. ”

Hannah shakes her head. “How are you even real?” she mutters.

I laugh, tossing an arm around her shoulders. “I really am quite something, aren’t I?”

Hannah looks up at me, her face suddenly serious. “You’re not just something, Noah. You’re everything. I have something to show you.”

I turn to face her as she sets her drink down on a table.

“Okay,” she says, a small smile curving lips I’m desperate to kiss again. “You’re either going to think this is the best thing ever, or you’re going to run absolutely screaming for the hills. There’s really nothing in between.”

I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, trailing my finger down her jaw and over her collarbone, grinning when she shivers. “If you’re showing it to me, I already love it.”

Hannah glances around and then takes my hand, pulling me to the side and turning us so she’s facing one of the soaring stone pillars that surround the space, and I’m facing the room. Without saying a word, she flips down the neckline of her strapless dress.

It takes me a second in the dim light of the room to register what I’m looking at, but then my stomach flips and my heart lodges in my throat. Because pinned to the inside of Hannah’s dress, right by her heart, is a small silver band.

Her wedding ring.

“Han…” I breathe, my hands coming up to cup her face, my thumbs running over her cheeks. I can’t look away from her face, and for the first time in my life, I am entirely without words.

“I like keeping it with me,” she says quietly, her words for me and me alone.

“I know it started out as kind of a joke after we decided to stay married for the summer—that we would wear them when we went out together somewhere and pretend to be a couple. But I liked wearing it, it turns out. And when I can’t, I like having it close.

I’ve been carrying it everywhere since the night you took me to the Common and made me scream at midnight.

” A pretty flush spreads over Hannah’s face and she looks away from me. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” I say, gripping her chin with one hand to keep her eyes on me while I reach into my pocket with the other. “It’s not stupid at all.”

I look down, and when Hannah follows my gaze, I open my hand and hear her sharp intake of breath when she sees my own wedding ring lying in my palm.

Looking back up at her, I see everything I feel reflected in her eyes.

We may be standing in a room full of people, but this moment feels like it’s for us and us alone.

It’s her and me. Us. And it’s perfect.

“I’ve kept it with me since the morning we woke up in Vegas.

This isn’t a joke, and nothing about it has ever been pretend for me.

The way I feel about you—about us—is very, very real.

My feelings are big and important and they’re not going anywhere.

They’re forever kind of feelings, Hannah.

” I slide my hand around to cup the back of her neck, taking a step closer to her as my fingers tangle in her hair. “I feel very forever about you.”

Those words crack something open inside me, and the love I’ve kept locked up for so long comes pouring out.

I know she feels it without me having to say a single word because her eyes light up even as they blur with tears.

One escapes, and I wipe it away with my thumb, then tap my thumb on her face three times.

At the familiar motions I feel—like, literally actually feel—my heart and soul tangle with hers, linking us together from now until the end of time.

Me and Hannah. Hannah and me.

It’s as easy as breathing and absolutely inevitable.

“I feel very forever about you too. We should tell everyone about us. I mean, about the whole accidentally married part. I think they know about the other stuff.” Her voice is quiet and strong, with a steely determination that sets me on fire.

This woman, who has been through so much and has every reason in the world to walk away from words like forever is giving them to me instead.

It should be illegal to be this happy. To be this in love.

I feel my grin spread so wide I’m shocked my cheeks don’t just crack, and when Hannah’s grin mirrors mine, I lean in and capture her mouth, needing to taste all that happiness for myself.

My thumbs stroke Hannah’s cheeks as I take the kiss deeper, groaning when she rises to her tiptoes and plasters her body to mine.

When she presses her tits to my chest and sucks on my tongue, all the blood in my body drains to my cock and I wrap an arm around her waist, yanking her closer to me.

She gasps into my mouth, and I wish desperately that we were alone and horizontal so I could peel this dress off her and worship every inch of her body while I tell her how much I love her.

I love her.

It only occurs me to in this moment that I never actually said the words, and I break the kiss gently and drop my forehead to hers to do exactly that.

It doesn’t matter that it’s Jordan and Jo’s wedding and everyone we know is in this room.

Or that we probably should be with all of those people instead of hidden away in the corner.

All that matters is that it happens now.

Hannah’s tongue sweeps along her bottom lip, and the air around us crackles with anticipation and words unsaid as our eyes search each other’s as we stand out here on the ledge, both of us ready, finally, to jump.

“Hannah.” Her name on my lips is a prayer. “I?—”

“There you are!”

At the sound of Jo’s voice, Hannah and I both startle, the spell between us broken. When we turn, it’s not just Jo, but Amelia, Hallie, and Hallie’s best friends Molly, Julie, and Emma, all with shit-eating grins on their faces .

“Well, I guess the third Evans sister is off the market,” Molly says, her voice filled with fun.

Julie links her arm with Molly’s, mischief in her blue eyes. “Looks like the Wyles brothers are dropping like flies too. Good choice, Hans. There’s just something about a golden retriever of a guy.”

Hannah laughs and wraps an arm around my waist, leaning into me. “There is, isn’t there?”

I grin at all of them, loving these women. I know they’ve been friends with Hallie for years, and the vibe when they talk to Hannah is all big sister. “Bet your ass there is.”

“You look happy—both of you,” Emma says, a smile lighting up her face. The way she studies Hannah reminds me of Cooper’s all-seeing gaze, and I wonder how much she knows about what Hannah has been through the last few years.

“Yeah, yeah, happiness all around. Can we go dance now? I’m the bride so you have to do what I want, and what I want is to dance with my ladies.” Jo practically radiates happiness mixed with the impatience that is uniquely her.