Page 188 of Desperate Pucker
My heart pounds as he presses the button. The doors glide open, and I step inside.
Ryker punches the button for the lobby. The doors glide shut, and I hold my breath.
He gives my hand a gentle squeeze and presses a soft kiss to my temple. “Just breathe,” he says softly.
I take a slow, deep breath in, then out. I do it again and again as the elevator glides to the lobby.
When it shudders to a halt, I let out shaky breath. The doors glide open and I let out a surprised laugh as we walk out.
“I did it.”
Ryker beams at me, then pulls me into a hug. “So damn proud of you.” He kisses me, then cups my face in his hands as he gazes at me. “What made you want to take the elevator all of a sudden?”
“Doing the podcast. I proved to myself that I can do hard things.”
That sexy smile I love so much appears on his handsome face. “Hell yeah you can.”
When we walk into Spanky’s and head to our usual table, everyone is already there. Even Coach Porter showed up.
“Madeline!” They all cheer in unison and hold up their drinks.
They all stand up to hug and congratulate me.
When we sit down, Ingrid hands me a glass of champagne, then raises her glass.
“To Madeline for recording the most epic podcast episode ever!” she says.
Everyone cheers and clinks their glasses. I’m smiling so hard, my face hurts. And my heart feels like it’s going to burst. For most of my life, I’ve been alone, but now I have the most amazing friend group. I have a job I’m passionate about and a man I’m head over heels in love with.
I grab Ryker’s hand in mine. He turns to me and flashes that sexy smile that always makes me weak in the knees.
The server drops off another bottle of champagne. Xander pops it open and holds it up. “It’s wedding season! Who’s ready to get hitched?”
We all chuckle and raise our glasses for Xander to fill. We’re officially in the off-season, and every engaged couple at the table is getting married in the next three months, before the next season starts.
“Who’s ready to head to Napa and watch me marry my dream girl?” Xander wraps his arm around Sophie, pulling her close. She smiles up at him.
“We’re going to be quite the globetrotting group over the next couple of months,” Ingrid says. “We’ve got weddings in California, France, Canada, and Mexico.”
“Aren’t you guys glad we decided to get married in Denver? It’s going to feel so nice not getting on a plane,” Dakota says. Sam kisses her cheek.
Camden downs all the champagne in his glass. “I’m so ready. I wanna throw a big bachelor party for you guys.”
Xander looks at him. “Really? For all of us?”
“Yeah. It’ll be a blast,” Camden says.
Coach Porter shakes his head. “Count me out.” Abby chuckles and pats his hand.
Camden just shrugs. “Suit yourself, Coach.”
“No strippers,” Del mutters.
Camden’s expression falls. “Why not? That’s the best part of a bachelor party.”
Del glowers at him. “No strippers.”
Camden sighs. Then he looks over at us and smiles again. “You two want to get engaged real quick so you can join the rest of the summer weddings?”
