Austin started taking pictures of me, and at first I tried to pose, but then just smiled at him with my full joy. He passed his credit card to the vendor to purchase the crown for me.

He led me up a small hill so that the backdrop would be all these brides and party decorations. He had me face away from him and look back over my shoulder.

“This. Just this. I want to capture the way you look at me. You amaze me.”

I looked at his boots and then back at his eyes. I was easy to read. I wasn’t ever going to hide it. I loved Austin and always would.

He took two steps so he could fix my hair, placing it over my shoulder.

After staring at me for a beat, he traced the small bit of skin that was showing at the base of my back.

“I can trace the water droplets here. Just like a signature.” The pad of his finger was barely making contact with my skin, but I felt the rivulets of water the motion created slip under my skirt’s waistband.

Austin leaned forward and gently licked my ear before whispering, “You are edible.”

My nervous system shuddered with the sensation. He had barely been in my orbit for an hour and I was wasted for him.

I bit my lips together so I wouldn’t kiss him. I still needed to process that he was here. There was a small part of me that had a concern that this annual event coinciding with Endgame’s death would have Austin acting impulsively. Maybe forcing him to move on when he wasn’t ready yet.

Instead of kissing me, he put his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s see how many of these brides we know.”

I agreed. I’d follow him anywhere.

32

AUSTIN

I was coming on too strong. I saw that. When I breathed near Taylor’s ear, I watched as she reacted. Her pupils dilating, her nipples perking. I had to be sure before we started this. I had to be in this space where Endgame and I had known each other and not have flashbacks.

I didn’t want to use her as a Band-Aid to overcome the pain I had endured because she was worth so much more.

Hell, she broke up with me to save me guilt that I had no room to board at the time. She stayed in touch for a year, never asking for anything other than what I was ready to give.

And now, when I showed up at the Bride event, she welcomed my arms, my advances like she’d been waiting patiently all this time.

I knew she was waiting. Teddi told me that she and Peaches were getting ready to apply to a nunnery for Taylor.