No Weddings (No Weddings #1)(30)

Kristen closed the three-foot distance, tackling me in a hug that nearly knocked me over. “Everyone loved it!”

Her high pitch made me wince.

After her crushing embrace, she pulled back. The rest of them crowded in until we’d hunched over, whispering, like one of our huddles from childhood.

Kendall nudged my shoulder with hers. “Not one person left tonight without praising us for throwing the best party they’d attended in years.”

Kiki added, “The party of the century.”

“We have five new orders. I had to start taking notes on my phone.” Kristen brimmed with excitement. “Several said they’d call or text to get more information. And everyone gushed about the music.”

I nodded, smug. “Told you we needed to go edgier.”

Kristen looped her arm around my neck, rubbing her knuckles on the top of my head. “You were right, baby brother. We’ll stop giving you so much shit about your decisions.”

I stood, breaking our huddle. “Good. ’Cause the next soundtrack? Gonna be brutal.”

Panic flickered over Kristen’s face. Worry transformed all three of their expressions.

I smirked. “Pink Floyd. And…Led Zeppelin.”

“No.” They stalked me, shaking their heads, horror reflected in their eyes.

I continued the torture. “Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

Their mouths fell open.

I bit my lower lip hard to keep from laughing, then raised my hands high and wide, a prophet in my element. “Gotta give the people what they want.”

Backing through the doorway into the cold night air, I burst out laughing.

Hannah had left a while ago. I figured she’d gone home, but as I walked to Kristen’s house, movement down by the pond caught my eye.

A nearly full moon cast everything in a white glow, silhouetting the girl who sat alone on the edge of the dock. Wrapped in a puffy coat, mittens on her hands, and a knit hat on her head, she resembled a kid who’d been dressed to play in the snow.

“Warm enough?”

She glanced up and smiled. “Yeah.”

“Room for me on that dock?”

Although there was plenty of space, she scooted over, as if she’d been reserving a spot just for me.

I crouched down, planting my ass on the aged wood. “Nice. You warmed my seat.” I shivered. I’d left my jacket inside Kristen’s house.

Hannah began to unzip her coat.

I furrowed my brows. “What are you doing? It’s freezing out.”

“Sharing my warmth.”

Shocked by her offer, and a bit confused as to what she planned to do with that tiny coat of hers, I sat there, waiting.

She fully unzipped, then turned her upper body toward me, wrapping the open sides over part of my front and back as she pressed into me. “There. Now you don’t have to be cold.”

I looked down at the light blue knit material on the top of her head as she turned her face toward the pond again. Simple as that: I needed warmth; she provided.

Unthinking, I wrapped an arm around her. Didn’t mean anything deep or committal. It was more comfortable that way—the two of us leaning into one another on the edge of a dock.

So many thoughts jumbled into my head, yet none came into focus with everything happening on this one night. A night that had once been a bull’s-eye on a calendar had become something altogether different.

And that had everything to do with the person who had opened her coat and offered me warmth when I needed it most.

She didn’t pry. Neither did I.

We each had scars on that battlefield. I knew that now, after tonight. Evident, and yet hidden behind beauty, it took someone who’d been there to recognize it.

Instead of asking about her scars, I offered up mine. “It happened two years ago. On this f*cking holiday. I opened my heart and offered her the world. Like a dumbass, on bended knee, with the perfect ring in hand, I promised to love her for the rest of my life. Turned out, I wasn’t enough for her.”

I stopped, a cramp locking up my throat as I shared what I’d told no other soul. But I couldn’t tell her everything. Some would have to do for now.

Strong arms squeezed me beneath the coat. “I got that promise. And accepted it from the man of my dreams. Standing there in a gown of white, before friends and family, mine and his, he decided not to show up for the rest of our lives. He decided he didn’t want me.”

My heart lurched at words so lacking in emotion, they sounded dead. I turned more toward her, wrapping my other arm around her, holding her tight. I dropped my cheek onto her hat-covered head. “He was an idiot, Hannah.”

“Yeah, he was.” She snorted.

I chuckled. I got it. Trashing them helped us deal. I’d done plenty of dealing.

“So explain the cake, then.” A dramatic picture, revealing heartache and destruction, there was more under the icing. I saw it, but tonight, I needed to hear it from a survivor.

She shrugged a little. “When you gave me the hilarious inspiration, a dead part inside me flickered to life. I don’t even know how to explain it, but a fresh viewpoint helped me make that cake. Love is a complete and utter disaster. But even with all the heartache, we have to believe there is joy. I need to believe there is one person somewhere out there, meant for us, who will bring us some kind of happiness.