Page 108 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

“Okay,” I conceded, wrapping my arms around his neck. “They’re pretty nice.”

He chuckled, pulling me in for a kiss. “That’s only because you’re nice. If you weren’t, you’d be on the floor in tears right now.”

I rolled my eyes, but he was probably right. That was what friends and family were for. They all looked out for one another’s best interests. “I’m still worried about meeting your friends, though.”

Josh gave me a look that told me I was crazy. “Liv, you’ve already met half of them. Actually, more than half. And I’m sure they already love you based on what the other half have already told them.”

I scrunched my brow and shook my head, reaching for my bag. “That was way more confusing than my brain can handle right now.”

Josh gave me a crooked smile. “Do you want some brandy?”

Throwing a flip-flop at him, I tried to ignore his teasing. Offering me brandy had been his new tease since I’d gone and run my mouth at the BAFTAs. “Just get changed, you clown.”

Stripping off his shirt, he grabbed a clean one out of his bag and drew it on. “Done. Now what?”

I gawked at him for a few heartbeats before shaking my head. “You think you’re smart, don’t you?” Grabbing the hem of my dress, I pulled it up over my head and dropped it on the floor, then I picked up a light blue maxi dress out of my bag and slipped it over my body. “Done.”

We stared at each other challengingly for a while before Josh burst out laughing and pulled me into his arms. “You have no idea how perfect you are for me.”

With my face pressed against his neck, I smiled. Nothing made me happier than hearing that.

Kissing my forehead, he took my hand and stepped toward the door. “Let’s go see if anyone’s arrived yet.”

As we moved down the stairs, happiness settled in my heart. I almost laughed as I equated it to the feeling of brandy warming my veins. Pulling Josh to a stop on the stairs, I turned him around to face me, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. With him on the step below me, we were practically the same height.

I grinned as I looked him over. “At the risk of sounding like a crazy fan, I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you that I love you. Just a little bit.”

His mouth curved up crookedly. “Just a little bit?”

I narrowed my eyes seriously and nodded. “Yeah. It’s just a little niggle. Nothing too crazy or anything.”

Throwing his head back, he laughed and pulled me into his arms. “I’ll take it,” he said, swinging me around and carrying me the rest of the way down the stairs. “Maybe I can get my friends to convince you to love me a little more.”

I giggled in his arms. No one could convince me to love him any more than I already did, but over the course of the night, I did fall in love with his friends.

I’d been impressed with the devotion I’d seen from the guys since I’d met Josh, but as a group? I’d never seen one tighter than these guys were. The bond they had was incredible. As I sat, watching the way they laughed and joked, teasing Josh with such a lack of stars in their eyes, I’d never felt more at home in my life.

“They’re pretty incredible, aren’t they?”

I turned to see Emily smiling at me. I’d discovered early on in the night that she was the only other girl who hadn’t grown up with Josh. She’d laughed about the fact that we were the outsiders, but I knew she cared about it as little as I did.

I shook my head in amazement. “It’s honestly the nicest thing I’ve seen.”

“What’s nice?” Jess said, dropping down in the seat beside mine.

Josh had mentioned when I’d been introduced to everyone, that Jess and Emily were roomies at college. That was another thing I found remarkable. I loved the way they all seemed to stick together.

Looking over Jess’s head of gorgeous red curls, I sighed. It seriously was the most beautiful color of hair I’d ever seen. “How close you all are.”

“We,” she said, lifting one side of her mouth. “You’re included now too, Liv. Same as Boots here.”

Emily rolled her eyes, but she was smiling just the same. “Then why hasn’t Captain Smooth been given the same courtesy?” she asked Jess, raising a questionable brow.

I looked over at Wyatt, Jess’s boyfriend, and pressed my lips together to stop myself from saying anything. I’d been kind of thinking the same thing over the course of the night, but I was too new to go asking such personal questions.

Jess nudged Emily with an elbow. “Leave Wyatt alone. He’s nice.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t nice, Jess,” Emily said, giving Jess a pointed look. “You just deserve more than what he gives you.”

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