Page 117 of If This is Love

“Right away, sir.” The waiter bowed again and scampered away, and I smirked to myself.

That kind of ridiculous bullshit was why it made no sense in my mind that Brennan preferred slummin’ it on the Point with we West Bank plebeians to hanging with his own kind. If I had people kissing my ass like this on the regular, I’d never fucking leave.

My gaze automatically flicked to Ruth, who was still talking with Emma and Austin, and I shamelessly drank in the sight of her. She looked utterly magnificent. She’d smoothed her wild curls back and up into a sophisticated roll that set off the elegant column of her neck. Her strapless, royal purple gown was a perfect complement to the warm, silken sheen of her skin, and a delicate, glittering necklace nestled comfortably across her collarbones.

A hand firmly clasped my shoulder. “Aw,shit, bruh.” It was Luke. “You look friggin’ fantastic. See, don’t you think we should do this for the wedding?”

I shoved my chair back and stood to shake with him. “Luke, I honestly don’t have a single, solitary opinion on what you should do for your wedding.” I opened my arm, and Chloe stepped in for a hug, giving me a squeeze and giving my abs a friendly pat. “Maybe you should ask your bride whatshewants you to wear.”

“I did,” Luke insisted, “and she said—”

“I said you could wear whatever you want, yes,” Chloe cut in with a musical laugh, squeezing me one more time before she pulled away and crouched to pat Gunner’s exposed flank. “But if you’re feeling overwhelmed or having analysis paralysis, I can help you decide.” She turned to Gunner, rubbing his side with both hands. “Aw, Gunner!” she squealed. “Look how handsome you look in your bowtie! Awww… Gabe, hehasto wear that for the wedding.”

A half smile broke across my face. “Yeah, I mean, that’s why I got it.”

“Aw!” she squealed again. “Gunner! You’re going to be so handsome that nobody’s even going to notice what Luke’s wearing.”

I snorted.Literally. Laughter suddenly bubbled up out of me from friggin’nowhere, and I threw my fist to my mouth to try to stifle it. Chloe snickered from where she was still on the floor next to Gunner, and that only fueled my laughter. I was suddenly laughing like I hadn’t really let myself laugh in public in years, but something about it was making me feel…lighter. It was like simple joy that was so foreign to me that it fed on itself, and I just kept chuckling into my fist.

After nearly a minute of just laughing while Luke stood there, unamused with his arms crossed over his chest, I had to get control of myself and turned away from him, Chloe, and Gunner. And I turned directlyintoRuth.

My hands flew to her arms, gently holding them like I had knocked her off balance. As soon as my palms made contact with her smooth skin, my laughter fizzled out, but the light feeling of simple joy intensified. She was smiling back at me with an expression like she was feeling that same plain but pure joy I was floating in.

Her lips were painted a deep, sumptuous mauve, and they curled up at the corners as she smiled at me. “Hey there, stranger.”

Aw fuckity-fucking-fuck.

Stranger. Not evenfriendlike I’d always been before.

I hated myself.

In that moment, there was no launch gala. There weren’t hundreds of other people in the room to celebrate the major accomplishment of Skye and her team. There wasn’t even Gunner, because the only thing in the world that existed in this moment was Ruth, and me, and an apology that was clawing its way out of me.

“Ruth.” A boulder wedged itself in my throat, and I had to stop my apology after merely her name.

“No, no,” she murmured gently, “I didn’t mean that like anything. I’m so glad to see you. And I’m especially glad to see you so happy.”

I swallowed the lump. “I’m not though. I haven’t been. I just…” I glanced around the room. Connor was across the room with Jimmy Hall and Frankie, another member of the Frenchmen Street Records team. Skye was deep in conversation with an elderly man who looked enough like one of Louisiana’s senators that it was a safe bet to assume it was actually him. Liza and Brennan were at yet another corner of the room, heading toward a side exit, which looked questionable as fuck, but also seemed like a great idea. “Can we go somewhere and talk? I can’t imagine much worse than sitting through this friggin’ event with this elephant in the room.”

Ruth nodded, her delicate throat working with a swallow like she was a bit emotional. “Yeah, I’d love that.” She held out her hand, offering it to me, and I took it without hesitation.

I led her to weave through the tables, and that weird lightness in my head persisted, almost like it was propelling me forward. I pushed through a door to the lobby and kept marching all the way out of the building because I knew in my gut exactly where to take her right now. She and Gunner trotted along behind me through the doors that led outside.

I paused on the sidewalk and turned to her. “I want to take you somewhere. It’s really close by, and I swear I can get us there, talk about all this, and have us back in fifteen minutes flat.”

The velvety laugh that shook out of her had never been sweeter to my ears. “You don’t have to rush around like that. I’m not giving a speech or anything.”

“Okay,” I said, hesitating for a microsecond, and then I framed one side of her face with my hand, dipping my head to press a deep, lingering kiss to that beautiful, mauve mouth of hers. “Wait right here with Gunner, and I’m going to pull my truck up for y’all. It’s just right across the street, but I’ll have to make the block first.”

She gave me a serene smile. “Okay. We’ll stay right here.”

I looked at Gunner. “Gunner, staywith Ruth.”

He moved to stand in front of her at an angle so he could check all their surroundings.

“Good boy.” I kissed Ruth’s forehead and then met her gaze, and the words just barreled out of me like a freight train with shot brakes. “We can talk all this out, but the bottom line is I’m sorry for disappearing, and I love you.”

I immediately pivoted and speed-marched like I’d never speed-marched in my life. By the time I got to the street, it was a full-on sprint because Ihatedleaving her, even just leaving her to cross the damn—

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