Page 136 of Wicked & Wildflower

It wasn’t my father’s approval I was after all this time. It was hers.

I needed her to admit I was never the problem. I was never broken.Shewas the one who failedme. They both did. Her acknowledging that truth was the closure I thought I’d never have.

I give myself a few more minutes to cry it out before gathering my composure and heading back downstairs. The reception rages on as I make my way across the yard and find Monica and Carlos at one of the tables. They’re watching Everett and Lou with amused smiles as he spins her around the dance floor on his toes.

“Darby and Leo have a car picking them up at eleven-thirty to take them to a hotel downtown, and they’ll head to the airport tomorrow morning,” Monica says as I fall into the seat next to her. They’re honeymooning on some private island owned by a rich heiress friend of Leo’s near the Maldives. “We’re going to take Lou home with us for a sleepover so you two can have the house to yourselves.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I say, leaning against her shoulder.

“Oh, but I already got Lou excited about it.” She smiles down at me.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

She responds by grabbing my hand where it rests on the table, and we go back to watching Everett and Lou dance together, my sister and her new husband laughing beside them.

It’s then I realize everything I’ve ever needed is right here in front of me.

46

Wicked

Light And All The Colors

“Hey! That’s my wife!”Leo yells at me, the most elated grin I’ve ever seen on another human being plastered across his face as we follow Darby and Dahlia out to the front of the house.

Guests started heading home about an hour ago, and thank God for it, because this isn’t the kind of send-off that calls for tossing rice.

Darby’s stumbling down the porch steps, being held up only by her sister and laughing hysterically. Leo keeps pointing at her before screaming in everyone’s face to remind them that she’s his wife and telling her shelooks really cute for a baby giraffe. Whatever the fuck that means.

I don’t think either of them had a morsel of food all day, between pre-wedding jitters and a jam-packed reception, but they sure drank their fill of champagne.

“Oh my God! A limo!” Darby squeals, taking off toward what is not a limo, but a town car Macie booked to drive them from the reception to the hotel.

Stumbling forward, Dahlia chases after her, holding her sister’s elbow as she attempts to help Darby inside the vehicle. As soon as the driver pulls the door open, Darby falls face-first onto the seat, crawling into the back. Dahlia groans, wiping a hand down her face before turning to look at me with a vexed expression. I help Leo down the rest of the entry, and he crawls into the back too.

“I don’t think they’re going to be consummating this thing tonight,” I laugh quietly, kissing Dahlia on the cheek.

“We already did!” Darby pipes up from inside the car. “After the ceremony in the bathroom.”

“Thanks for letting us know,” Dahlia murmurs.

After he’s settled, Leo pokes his head out and glares up at me. “Don’t challenge me, brother. I’ll consummate this thing right here and now.” He hiccups, causing a bout of giggles from his wife beside him.

“Please don’t,” I mutter, slamming the door in his face.

Dahlia lets out an exasperated sigh as I turn to the driver. “Hampton Hotel downtown. Call the front desk when you arrive and let them know the reservation is for Leo Graham. They’ll send someone out to make sure the two of them make it to their room,” I say, slipping a fifty-dollar bill.

He nods, rounding the driver side and taking off.

Dahlia and I walk back to the house hand-in-hand, meeting my parents at the front steps. My dad buckles Lou into the backseat of my parent’s car, where she immediately fell asleep about ten minutes ago. Dahlia leans down, pressing a soft kiss to her head. “You don’t have to take her; we can put her to bed upstairs.”

Monica shakes her head. “You two take the night to yourselves. I’ve got plans for us tomorrow, anyway.” She smiles down at Dahlia’s daughter. “You guys can sleep in. You deserve it after all of,” she waves toward the car disappearing in the distance, “that.”

Dahlia snorts. I press a kiss to the top of Lou’s head, giving my dad a side hug before roping my mom into my arms. We say our goodbyes as they head out to their car. Guests are gone, and just a few event staff remain, taking down the reception. Most of the shit will stay overnight, and a team will come back tomorrow to complete the rest of the clean up.

We enter the quiet, darkened house, locking the door behind us. Dahlia is silent as she leads us up the stairs into her bedroom. Her dress shuffles with every sway of her perfect hips, the view of her body in front of me like a goddamn beacon.

It has been torture watching her move and dance and laugh in that fucking dress all day and not being able to touch her the way I truly want to.

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