Page 108 of Doing It for Love

“So hot.”

“I love you, Tumbles.”

“I love you, husband.”

I think I actually hear his heart kick up a couple beats, and we embarrass our friends and the preacher a little longer at the altar.

—

“You shaved,” I tell Landon on the dance floor, running my manicured nails across his cheeks. He’s never felt this smooth before. I can’t stop touching his face.

“Yeah. You said something about bearded-guy nightmares, and I really didn’t want you thinking about them when we’re…”

“Having sex?”

“My mother is right behind you.”

“And she knows we’re having sex tonight.”

“She doesn’tknowthat.”

I go to snort, but he grabs my nose, causing me to choke and make a really pretty grunting noise. I snatch his wrist and pull his hand away from my face, linking our fingers together. My smile twitches a little when I see the light catch on the words engraved in his ring.

“I’ll get you a real one as soon as I can,” I say, nodding at his hand.

“Do I need to tell you the fingerless-man story again?”

I shake my head, and the song switches up. I catch Theresa dragging Alec across the floor to Landon and me.

“My turn,” she says, jumping between us and taking my hand. She spins me under her arm, but my hair clip knocks against her elbow because we’re the same height.

“How’s THE dress?” she asks.

“I haven’t ripped it, so I call it a win.”

She laughs, then squeezes me tight. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are.” I feel her head shift toward Landon and Alec, who are doing some sexy “Gangnam Style” moves. “But it’s okay. I’m just jealous.”

“Are you saying you want to fall in love and get married someday?” I pop my mouth open in mock shock.

“No…I’m jealous that Landon gets to be your best friend. And before you say ‘I have two best friends,’ heshouldbe the only one. It’s okay. But I am allowed to be jealous.”

I hug her tight, stopping our dance movements. Theresa’s been with me since middle school, and there is a bittersweet feeling that we’ll be friends, but me getting married means that we won’t always be around. If Landon’s movie dreams take off, so will we. So she better bet her ass that I’m going to make the most of the time we have as neighbors.

My father-in-law steps up, asking for the next dance, and as scared as I am to make a fool of myself, I smile and say, “Yes!” a little too loudly. He’s not the best dancer. We sort of just move side to side like middle schoolers at their first dance. I wave at Landon, who’s dancing with his mom, and the warmest fuzzies latch onto my heart when I see them smiling and laughing with each other. I’ve never seen a real smile from my mother-in-law.

“They’ve butted heads his whole life,” Mr. Wangford says, nodding at his wife and son. “Did you know she almost flew to New York and dragged him home by the ear?”

My stomach sinks, but I pretend to smile. “Am I really that bad?”

He laughs and attempts to spin me out. “No, this was when he first moved out. He told us he was going to make a name for himself, left with a hundred bucks in his pocket and nothing but fantasies in his head. He didn’t want our help, and I was all for letting him learn the hard way, but his mother…yeah, I had to hold her back from going after him. And you know, he proved us both wrong.”

“He’s very talented. He’ll make it big.”

“I think he already has.”

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