Page 149 of When You Blush

It’s a fucking mess.

She’s been back in town for almost a year, and I was doing so well at ignoring that she even existed.

Until that goddamn day at the resort when I found her bent over the cooler, and every memory I have of her flashed through my mind as if no time had passed at all.

Her sweet laughter.

A body that would make the gods weep.

Every whispered secret, every second of being inside her, and the goddamn torment she caused.

She’s off. Fucking. Limits.

“So the wedding’s in two weeks,” I say to Beckett, trying to shift my focus.

“Twelve days,” he says with a nod. “I’d do it today. I just want to marry her. I don’t care about the party or any of the hype.”

“Women care,” Blake says. “Shit, I’m being flagged over. Sorry, guys.”

Blake hurries over to his fiancée, kisses her passionately right there in the middle of the dance floor, and everyone whoops.

Beckett’s pulled away, and I walk to a table and have a seat by myself, then check the time.

I’ve only been here for thirty minutes.

“Hi, Uncle Brooks.” Birdie climbs in my lap as if it’s as normal as breathing for her.

Which it is. This peanut knows that she has all of us wrapped around her little six-year-old finger.

“Hey, baby girl. Why aren’t you out there dancing with the others?”

She looks out at the dance floor and shrugs. “Because you looked sad.”

I nudge her chin up and smile down at her. “I’m not sad, sweet girl. It’s a happy day. Uncle Blake’s going to get married.”

“I know. I like Harper. She’s a baby nurse.”

Nodding, I kiss her hair.

“Now it’s your turn.”

Sure that I’ve misheard her, I raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Everyone’s getting married, Uncle Brooks. Now it’syour turn.”

“Why do you sound like my mother?”

Birdie giggles and lays her head on my chest. Christ, I love this little girl.

“You know, not everyone ends up getting married. Sometimes, people are happy staying single.”

“Why?” She frowns up at me. “It’s so much more fun to have people around.”

“Not always.” I pat her back for a few seconds, then scoot her off my lap. “Go dance. You’re so good at it. Go show them how it’s done.”

“Will you watch me?”

“Of course, I’m right here.”