“Impatient,” he said.
My nose brushing his, I angled my head so that our mouths were a hairsbreadth apart. “You have no idea,” I told him.
“And beautiful.” He kissed the edge of my lips. “So beautiful.” The other side.
Every inch of my body vibrated dangerously, his lips hovering over mine for a beat. Our eyes met, locked together like that, and I saw the challenge he held in his.
Sliding my hands up his chest and around his neck, I curled my fingers around the curve of his skull and pushed up on the balls of my feet, mouth sealing over his.
It was the only moment I was in control.
Aiden wrapped an arm around my waist, sliding his tongue against mine, angling his head so he could take our kiss deeper. His fingers tangled in my hair, and I tried to scramble closer but couldn’t.
He groaned, deep in his chest when I sucked on his tongue. His fingers dug into my flesh as our kiss went on and on.
Sipping at my lips, Aiden tested the way our lips moved together. Our bodies were so close, breath moving from me to him, and when he slid his tongue in a long swipe over mine, I hummed happily.
His body was so strong, so hard, and I stumbled backward, my shoulder blades hitting against sun-warmed tile. He followed me, tilting his head to suck at my bottom lip.
My head dropped back, and his fingers found the curve of my ass through my dress, grabbing hard, tugging me closer to him. His mouth slid along the edge of my jaw, the edge of his teeth pulling at my earlobe until I moaned a curse.
“Iz?” Lia called from the other side of the wall.
Aiden and I froze.
“Hang on,” I managed.
“Yeah, umm”—she sounded like she was grinning—“you’re needed for some pictures.”
Aiden stared down at me, looking very much like he wanted to devour me whole, and when I licked my lips, he clenched his jaw until a muscle ticked deliciously. He pulled his hand from my ass, sliding it up my waist, skirting the side of my breast, stopping briefly to drag his thumb along the small cutout on my midriff.
“I meant to take that a little slower,” he said, speaking into the crown of my hair, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
I blew out a hard breath. “I’m sure as hell not complaining.”
Aiden burst out laughing, his smile broad and happy, his teeth white and straight, and he wrapped me up in his arms again.
When I pulled away, my cheeks felt hot. “Did you mess up all my makeup?”
“You look perfect.”
With a skeptical lift of my eyebrows, I ran my fingers through my hair, then picked up my clutch where it had fallen onto the grass. I reapplied some ChapStick because not even on my sister’s wedding day was I willing to wear lipstick.
I tucked my hair behind my ears and gave him a slight smile. “I’ll find you after the ceremony.”
He nodded. “I think I’m going to wait here and recite multiplication tables.”
I glanced down, pursing my lips thoughtfully. “Probably a good idea.”
When I rounded the corner, Lia was grinning like a loon.
“Shut up,” I told her.
When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw him watching us. And the promise I saw in his eyes, I couldn’t help but shiver.
“Ooooh, baby, Isabel’s got a boyfriend,” she sang. “It’s about fricken time.”
“I hate you.”
With a happy sigh, she slid her arm around my waist. “No, you don’t. Now come on, let’s go get Molly married.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Isabel
Any attempt to save my makeup from Logan or Aiden or whatever man seemed destined to ruin it was a fool’s errand.
Once I made my way down the aisle, clutching the small bouquet, it was the last dry moment my eyes experienced for the entirety of the twenty-minute ceremony.
Emmett, dressed in a tux to match Logan’s, was pushing a stroller that we’d decorated in Molly and Noah’s wedding colors. Strapped inside was Gabriel, wearing the cutest fricken baby tuxedo the world had ever seen, holding a small pillow that said, Here comes my aunt. At all of a few months old, he may have started my crying first.
Music cued up over the speakers, and I gave Noah an encouraging smile. The large man looked as nervous as I’d ever seen him, hands fidgeting in front of him while we waited for Molly and my brother to appear. I’d seen her all morning, witnessed her transformation to the bride he was about to see for the first time, so instead of watching the aisle, I watched Noah.
And I knew the moment she appeared because the scariest defensive end in the league, the one who grew up in the house behind ours, absolutely crumpled when he saw my sister walking toward him.
He held a hand over his mouth briefly, eyes shining with unshed tears. His friend and teammate, standing in the mirror position to mine, slapped him on the back and whispered something to Noah that had him dropping his hand, straightening so that he could watch Molly. A tear slid down the side of his cheek when he smiled at her.
Behind me was joint sniffling from the twins, and in the front row, Paige cried without even attempting to stop the flow of tears down her face as Logan walked Molly down the aisle. When they reached the front—as planned—Paige came from her seat and took her place on the other side of Molly, anchoring her arm around my sister’s waist.
Logan kissed Molly’s cheek and whispered something that made her emit a watery sob. With a brief glance up at the sky, I blinked rapidly. Claire tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a small tissue. I smiled, gently blotting underneath my eyes.
After a short greeting, the minister took his place with a smile, gesturing for Noah to get Molly. “And who gives this woman to be married today?”
Paige and Logan shared a meaningful look. “We do,” they said in unison.
Noah and Logan exchanged a small, secret handshake that had the Wolves’ teammates in the crowd chuckling audibly. And then my sister took Noah’s hand, pausing so he could say something quietly, only audible to her, that had her looking up at him with so much love, the waterworks almost started anew.
It was difficult to stand still, especially in those freaking heels, but once I got Molly’s flowers from her, that was kind of my job. Only once—and I was very proud of myself—did I look out into the rows of seats.
Aiden’s gaze was on me, and when our eyes locked, he sent me a subdued smile that had my palms going a little sweaty.
What a first date.
Bawling my eyes out in front of a hundred people, finally letting go of the emotional weight that had been pushing on my shoulders, and wearing the type of dress that made any type of undergarment outside of a G-string completely impossible.
Even if I had pictured my first date with Aiden, I never would’ve pictured this. A hike maybe. Wandering around downtown. Something simple and easy, nothing overdone or fussy.
This was as fussy as I’d ever get. And still, he was here.
Spinning down the mental path of what it meant or what it signified was pointless. Which was why I directed my attention back to the minister, and to Molly and Noah.
I couldn’t see my sister’s face, but I could see Noah’s, and the way he gazed down at her was enough to turn me into a giant pile of mush.