The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)(89)

Thea couldn’t see her face well behind her veil, but she looked no older than Thea. Her smile shone through the lace netting that otherwise camouflaged her face. She locked eyes with Dan, who never once looked away as she approached on her father’s arm. And when she reached the end of the aisle, Dan took her hand with a look of—holy shit, he was head over heels in love.

This was real for him.

And for Jessica.

And Thea knew it because she knew that look. She knew what it felt like.

Oh, God. What had she been thinking? She should have gone after Gavin, the man who loved her despite the many ways she’d held him at arm’s length. Not drive to Atlanta for a man who didn’t know how to love her. Thea checked the time on her phone every three minutes, earning annoyed glances from the couple sitting next to her. Yeah, yeah. She had come in late and couldn’t wait to get out of there. So what? Didn’t they know this was an emergency? Didn’t they know she had to go save her marriage?

And she was going to. As soon as the bride kissed the groom, she was going to New York to do the thing she thought she’d never do.

She was going to beg her husband to take her back.





CHAPTER THIRTY




“Why are we running?” Mack yelled.

They were all running.

Mack. Del. Yan. The Russian. Gavin. Running up a crooked sidewalk in Atlanta toward the giant church in the distance.

“Because this is grand gesture,” the Russian panted. “You always run for grand gesture.”

“And because you parked seven blocks away!” Gavin yelled.

Mack protested something about the GPS on his phone being wrong, but Gavin didn’t care. He could see the church, and nothing was going to stop him from getting to his wife. So he ran faster. He’d been running since he got off the plane. He ran through the airport. Ran to his car. They picked up Mack and the Russian on the way and drove as fast as possible.

But it was now after three, and they were late.

So he sprinted. Because if he missed the vows, he missed his chance.



* * *



? ? ?

    Finally, after what felt like an hour, the bride and groom faced each other for their vows.

Thea bounced her knee up and down, earning another glare.

Her father went first. He recited every word when prompted, though he probably had the words memorized by now. He vowed to love her. To cherish her. To be her best friend through sickness and health and all that.

Thea checked the time.

The bride quietly began to recite the same stuff as her father.

Love. Honor. Cherish. Sickness. Health. I do. I do.

Jesus, just kiss already!

The crowd clapped as her father dipped his head to kiss his bride, but a massive crash at the back of the church sent bride and groom apart. Every head swiveled, ladies gasped in surprise, and men exclaimed a creative collection of bad words.

But then a voice rose above it all. A loud, panty stammer.

“I d-d-do.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE




Okay, so, he maybe should have thought this through.

Two hundred stunned faces stared at Gavin in the doorway. The bride’s hand flew to her mouth, and the groom—uh, yikes. Thea’s father looked like a storm.

A man from the bride’s side leapt to his feet. “What the hell is the meaning of this?” he boomed. “This is my daughter’s wedding.”

The pounding sound of running and skidding brought the congregation into a collective lean so they could peer behind Gavin.

Mack skidded to a stop next to him. “Shit.”

Del bent and panted, hands on knees. “Did we miss the vows?”

Yan and the Russian collapsed against the wall.

“What is going on?” the man up front demanded again. “Who are you people?”

Mack lifted his hand. “Braden Mack.”

Gavin tugged down on his suit coat. “Sorry. I’m, uh, I’m looking for Thea.”

“Who the hell is Thea?” the man barked.

“My daughter,” Dan said, pointing toward a pew in the back. Gavin could’ve sworn that Dan was smiling now.

Every head followed Dan’s point, and that’s when he finally saw her. Sitting no more than twenty feet away, mouth agape, chest rising and falling with labored breath. She stood slowly. A thousand emotions danced across her face—surprise, embarrassment, amusement. Love.

“Hi,” she breathed.

Gavin wiped sweat from his brow. “Hi. Can w-we—” He motioned to the door behind him.

Thea scooted down the pew, bumping into knees, murmuring sorry, excuse me, sorry until she made it out. She looked up the aisle at her father. “I’m going to, um . . . I’m going to go now.”

“You’re staying for the reception, right?” the bride asked.

“Not sure yet?” Thea squeaked.

“I hope you do, because we haven’t even met yet.”

Heads in the congregation swiveled back and forth during the conversation.

“Right,” Thea said. “Nice to meet you. Sorry. I’m going to just go . . .”

Thea walked stiffly on quick steps toward the door. Gavin waved as he backed up. “Sorry for the interruption.”