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I watch as he rushes off somewhere, but I’m sort of stuck here in maid of honor mode.

My mind races with possibilities, and ultimately I force myself to believe that he just went to call Harper again.

I hate being next to Owen. His cologne makes me queasy as I glance over at him, and he’s staring down at me with some look in his eyes that tells me he’s going to try to win me back.

But he can’t win me back.

Even if he hadn’t bruised my wrist last night, there’s no way I’d ever get back together with him.

My heart is with Travis, and the more time I spend with Owen, the more I believe that same heart was never really with him. He was a means to an end, and hindsight is clear in that. I thought he could give me kids, give me the family I dreamed of, and I allowed myself to believe my sister when she pushed and pushed for us to be together.

But as it turns out, the family I always dreamed of is ready for me. It’s right in front of my face, the perfect man and his ten-year-old girl. And maybe someday we’ll be blessed enough to fill the home with another baby or two or more, or maybe we already have everything we’re destined to have right now.

All I know is that I want to read dirty books to Travis forever. I want to be there to watch Harper grow—not just as a reader in the way I’ve always felt with other students, but I want to see her transform from a little girl into a teenager and then into a woman. I want to hold her hand through those transitions just as I hold Travis’s through those same transitions for completely different reasons.

I’ve already stepped into their family, and they both grabbed onto me with open arms to welcome me in. I want to stay there forever with the two of them.

I was so sure I knew who Travis was that night he hit on me, but I was dead wrong. Instead, I’ve found a kind and compassionate man, an incredible father, someone who can make me laugh, and someone who will stand up for me.

He’s my future, and the man I’m being forced to stand beside right now is nothing more than a mistake of my past.

“Your dumb jock loser boyfriend ditching you already?” Owen asks as we both watch his retreating figure walk through the doors back into the hotel.

“You’re an idiot,” I grunt at him.

“He is. Can’t you see that? Can’t you see you deserve better?” he asks.

“Better than you, yes,” I grit out.

“He’s a criminal, Vicky. He punched me in the face. That’s what you want?”

“You’re not exactly innocent,” I hiss at him as I hold my wrist up for him to see the bruise. “And I’d love to see him do it again.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. But he won’t. He’ll behave here, for me. For Vanessa. Once we’re back in Vegas, though…”

That seems to give him an idea, and I worry immediately I just added fuel to the fire.

He’s going to do something. He’s going to provoke Travis. I just know it.

“Do you remember the night we met?” he asks softly.

“I know what you’re doing, and it isn’t going to work.”

“What am I doing?” he asks, the innocence in his voice far too fake.

The coordinator calls us up front, thankfully putting an end to the conversation he’s trying to start. Digging up old memories isn’t going to push us back together.

If anything, it’ll only pull us further apart. I’m not interested in a reconciliation. I got my ball back, so as far as I’m concerned, there is absolutely no reason for me ever to have to interact with this man again after this wedding.

Even if that means spending less time with my sister.

I wish she could see how toxic he is. I wish she would believe me when I say I’m better off without him. He hurt me in ways I didn’t even realize until I got together with someone so unlike him in every way.

Before I knew him, I assumed Travis Woods was as arrogant and selfish as my ex.

But as it turns out, they are nothing alike. Travis just gave up his entire life for a daughter he never met. He gave up a week with her to be here with me.

Just thinking about it makes me want to cry. The mere thought of how far I’ve fallen for him is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

The rehearsal is over, and we head to dinner. I find Travis outside the restaurant waiting for me, and he looks a little…flushed. Like some mix of giddy and nervous as he stands there flipping a coin into the air and catching it.

“Where’d you go?” I ask.

“Nowhere,” he says innocently, and I just narrow my eyes at him as we head into the restaurant.

Once we’re all finished with our meals, and we’ve all ordered one final round of drinks, the best man stands.

Travis’s hand finds my leg as if he’s reaching over to comfort me before Owen even gets started.

I have a bad feeling about this, especially after his words earlier to me.

“I suppose tradition holds that the best man gives a speech at the reception,” Owen begins. “But tonight I’d like to say a few words. Jake and I first met at work. A friendship blossomed from there, and when I met his lovely girlfriend, I knew they had what it takes to make it last forever.” He glances at me. “We’ve been through a lot together, from new management at work to the start and end of other relationships. I’ve also had the pleasure of knowing the maid of honor, Victoria, for a number of years. We dated for a while, but it didn’t work out. I’m glad to still call her a friend even though she’s pretending to be in love with somebody else. Just kidding, Vicky. I’m glad we can still be friends, and I wish Vanessa and Jake all the best. They make sacrifices for each other instead of choosing their own happiness first. They make decisions together instead of apart. To the happy couple.” He holds up his glass in a toast.

Owen somehow managed to turn his entire speech into an insult directed at me, and I feel Travis stiffen beside me as his hand flexes on my leg.

He’s pissed.

He wants to punch Owen again, and I want him to.

I lean over and press my lips just below his ear. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”

And then I stand and start gushing. “I guess we’re doing speeches. I’m just so happy for you, Vanessa. I know you’ve wanted this since you were in high school, and I’m so happy to see your dreams coming true. You two really have it all—the beautiful children, and the everlasting type of love we all deserve. Congratulations.”

I leave Owen out of my speech completely, focusing instead on my sister and the reason why we’re here, and then I sit as everyone clinks glasses.

My dad says a few words, and Jake’s dad does, too, and then Vanessa and Jake thank us all for coming before heading out first to do whatever it is lovers do the night before their wedding.

“Want to go for a walk on the beach?” Travis asks me quietly, and I nod. We say goodbye to my parents, and then we head outside for a walk.

I’m exhausted after an incredibly long couple days, and tomorrow won’t be any less stressful, but somehow this walk on the beach is everything I didn’t know I needed.

The waves crash against the shore, the sound soothing and rhythmic.

“I’ve always loved the ocean,” Travis says.

“Did you grow up close to it?”

“I remember going to the beach as a little kid a few times with my parents. It was maybe fifteen or so miles away from home.”

“There’s no beaches in the desert of Vegas, but we took some family trips to San Diego or Mexico when I was younger,” I say.

“It’s always felt like a great place to just reset to me,” he says. He stops and stares out over the water. The moon glows high in the sky and casts a long beam of light across the water, and I nestle into him a little as he draws me in close.

He glances down at me. “Owen followed us out here,” he says quietly.

I turn just slightly, and sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure back toward the resort that seems to be watching us. He’s out of hearing distance, but he can probably see our silhouettes in the moonlight.

I glance up at Travis, and his eyes seem to be practically glowing in the moonlight.

He drops a kiss to my lips, and when he pulls back, he asks, “Should we give him a show?”

I chuckle, not sure what he means but ready to join the ride anyway. “I’m game.”

He leans down to kiss my temple then whispers close to my ear. “I have a surprise. It has to do with the thing we agreed to late last night.”

My brows knit together as I can’t quite piece together his meaning in time, and suddenly he’s kneeling down in front of me and my jaw is hanging open.

“Maybe this is crazy, but that’s love, and I love you, Victoria. Will you marry me?” He pulls a box out of his pocket and flips it open.

My hands go to cover my mouth in shock for a beat, and then I squeal. “Yes!”

He pulls the huge rock from where it’s nestled in the box and slides it onto my finger, and then he stands and pulls me into his arms.

He kisses me, and once the initial shock wears off, I realize this is part of the show.

It’s for Owen’s benefit.

A spear of disappointment lances through me.

He leans down close to my ear. “Thank you,” he murmurs. “While everything right now is confusing and the meaning of all this is hazy, I know one thing for sure. I couldn’t let you walk down the aisle tomorrow on another man’s arm without my ring on your finger.”

I pull back out of his embrace to look at him, and he looks bewildered by the admission.

In all honesty, I’m bewildered by it, too. He’s claiming ownership over me, and something about him taking what’s his should be barbaric and disgusting, but it’s not.

It’s sexy.

It’s romantic.

It’s him fighting for me. It’s him standing up for me in the face of the jerk who made me the butt of his joke during his speech tonight.

It’s him giving a mother to his beautiful daughter.

All of that combined together…it’s pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted out of a husband.