Ash’s voice rang from the speakers, and everyone turned to face him. “How did everyone enjoy their dinner? Delicious, right?”
A murmur of approval rippled over the exclusive crowd of Shea and Sebastian’s friends and family. No question, the wedding was small. They had kept the event secret, away from all the prying eyes of Hollywood and the paparazzi that would all too happily wreak a little more turmoil on their lives.
I had to admit, if our roles were reversed, I’d absolutely hate it. Constantly looking over my shoulder. Worried someone was watching me.
I worried about that enough.
“Shea and Sebastian are just about ready to cut the cake, but before then, I want to say a few things.”
“Of course you do,” Anthony yelled.
Laughter rolled, and I felt the smile pulling at my face, all the while being completely aware of the man who sat across the table behind me.
As if the heated gaze roaming the bare skin of my back was palpable.
Like I could feel the caress of his callused fingertips.
I shivered.
Ash continued, “As you all know, we’re here to celebrate one of my best friends, Sebastian Stone, and his gorgeous wife, Shea.”
He gestured with his head in their direction. They had moved to the cake table. Sebastian’s arms were wrapped around Shea from behind, his chin rested on her shoulder, hands on her belly while little Kallie jumped around at their sides.
Emotion thickened.
“How the guy got lucky enough to marry my Beautiful Shea, I’ll never know,” he cracked with his smirk ticking into place.
“Hey, watch it, man,” Sebastian hollered with a wide smile, holding Shea just a little tighter.
“Just speaking the truth, my friend.” Ash grinned. He held his hand out in a placating fashion. “Now, don’t worry, y’all. Sebastian made me promise if I was going to stand up here and talk to you, I had to be on my best behavior. As if I could ever be bad.”
He winked and I laughed with a shake of my head.
You had to love Ash.
He sobered and glanced around at the guests. “Me and my crew? We’ve all known Sebastian for most of our lives. We all grew up together. Suffered tragedies. Made too many mistakes to count and learned a ton of tough lessons.”
Behind me I felt that severity swell, and I had the overpowering desire to look at him. To see what expression I would find on Lyrik’s face. To know what he’d suffered.
Because I knew it was there, beneath all that bad.
“But we also got to experience some of the best times of our lives.” Ash chuckled low. “Now I was pretty sure none of us were ever gonna get hitched. I thought we had an unspoken pact that the four of us were never falling into that trap. But our boy here definitely did, and he couldn’t have fallen with someone better than Shea.”
He lifted his glass and everyone did the same. “To Shea and Sebastian, may you forever keep falling together. May all your bests be yet to come.”
“Cheers!” echoed through the night, winding with the wind.
We tipped back our glasses, and I swallowed hard and tried to find even ground.
To slow the pounding of my heart.
God, I wished I could leave while a huge part of me wanted to stay.
I felt torn in two.
Shea and Sebastian proceeded to cut the cake, joking around as they fed it to each other while my little world spun on.
Tighter and faster and denser.
So close to spinning from its axis.
And it was that magnet that pulled, pulled, pulled.
I drew in a staggered breath as I felt Lyrik rise to stand behind me.
He strode around the table. His steps were long and strong and purposed, that suit clinging perfectly to his lean, muscled body. The man was so compelling, there was no looking away as he headed for the stage.
He climbed three steps to the top, grabbed an acoustic guitar from a stand, and pulled up a stool in front of the mic before he sat down.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Lyrik and a guitar would be my demise.
Frantic, my gaze flitted around the space, desperate to find a focus.
Anywhere but on him.
He cleared his throat.
I looked back.
Enraptured.
A gust of wind arose, stirring through the trees, and the twinkle lights danced above.
With his index finger, he scratched his temple. As if in that moment this bold, arrogant man felt out of place. He scanned the crowd and let his eyes land on Shea and Sebastian.
His words were deep and wispy and I felt them in my gut. “Baz…like Ash said, I’ve known you most of my life. We’ve had some good times. Victories we never expected. We’ve celebrated and rejoiced and lived this crazy lifestyle to its fullest.”
His tone deepened. “But you were also there at my lowest.”
Sebastian stilled, like he was surprised by the admission.
Lyrik’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. He seemed to have to force out the words. “I want you to know I’m forever grateful that you gave me what you did. Because sometimes one moment…one memory is more important than all the rest combined.”
Baz ran his hand through his hair and looked to the ground. So clearly he was caught up in the rawness of Lyrik’s declaration.