Page 143 of Crash & Burn

After the three of us joined the wedding party, only Annie knowing some of the details of the whirlwind of what just happened, we got some drinks and sat down for dinner, and it was like we never left.

The guests cheer as Emmett and Drew make their way to the dance floor, and I tap my drumsticks together three times to signal Theo and Silas to start our rendition of the song Drew walked down the aisle to.

While the couple is beautiful, lovingly looking into each other’s eyes, I can’t stop staring at my girl, sitting at our table, watching Drew and Emmett dance.

When I look at her, I see my future.

When I’m with her, I feel like the best version of myself.

When I hold her, I am reminded of everything I have been missing all my life.

Mateo comes in with the vocals, and I didn’t realize it when Drew was walking down the aisle, which feels like days ago at this point, but I realize now why she and Emmett chose this song as theirs.

The lyrics Mateo sings portray the feelings I have for Mia. Every word, every phrase perfectly captures how I feel about her. How I have spent my whole life waiting for her, and I will spend the rest of my life loving her.

I watch her until her eyes finally find me, and I give her a wink. Wishing I was close enough to see her chest redden as she smiles at me. I feel like I am capable of anything when she looks at me that way.

As Mateo continues to sing, as we continue to play, Mia’s mouth moves with the lyrics, and it feels like she is singing to me, telling me she feels the same way about me as I do her.

Music is something she thought she would never get back, yet here she is enjoying the music and letting herself feel all the feelings she used to run away from.

I’m so fucking proud of her. So fucking proud to be hers.

And when we finished our few songs, Ifinallyget the chance to ask Mia to dance with me. With one hand on her hip and one hand holding hers at my chest, I bring my lips to her ear, and I tell her I never want to know what a day feels like without her, and I will spend every moment I am with her showing her that she is the best thing to ever happen to me.

Epilogue

Eddie

Three Months Later

We have to remember for our next tour that having a break for the holidays is non-negotiable. We have played dozens of shows since the weekend after Drew and Emmett’s wedding, and we finally have a chance tochill.

It is also impossible to get everyone together these days between tour for Mia and I, vet school for Annie, school for Drew, and running Lenny’s forLuke and Emmett who have still not hired someone to replace Annie and me.

I’m not technically employed for Lenny’s anymore, both Mateo and I decided to quit our day jobs to focus on the band, but I don’t think I’ll ever make a clean cut from Lenny’s. Not with the people who I spend all of my free time with.

It’s Christmas Day, and we are supposed to be at Drew and Emmett’s new house in twenty minutes, but Mia and I are taking every minute we can to enjoy time inourplace.

The day after the wedding, Mia and I went to dinner with Mateo and Ava, and I could tell it meant a lot to Mia. It was my first time meeting one of Mateo’s girlfriends, so I knew he was pretty serious about her.

He is spending Christmas with Ava’s family in Michigan, and he mentioned that he is going to ask her to move in with him when we finish the Heartbreakers Tour in March. I can’t help but think that he put a lot of his own life on hold for Mia, and I think he is finally realizing that he doesn’t have to anymore.

After the pleasantries at dinner, we laid down some ground rules for navigating this brother’s best friend and sister’s boyfriend relationship, for all of our sanities.

Mateo was very clear about being newly on board with my relationship with Mia but not wanting it to be in his face all the time. Ava, who was the perfect mediator for the three of us, brought up the idea of me or Mateo getting a new place, but Mia threw me for a loop and made all my dreams come true at the same time then she asked me to move in with her.

It took me less than a second to think it over and agree.

I spent over a year only being able to indulge in stolen moments with her.

And I’m done with it.

“We got to go,” I whisper against Mia’s skin. My face is nuzzled into her neck, her naked body pressed into mine, her back against my front while we lay in our bed.

“I don’t want to,” she groans, but she knows we have to. She presses her ass into my lap, and I try to keep my composure; otherwise, we are going to bereallylate.

It ends up taking ten more minutes and one more time making her come on my tongue before we make it out of bed to get ready.

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