Page 64 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
“No.” He wraps his arms around me when we reach the end of the dock, and then he tips his head back to look at the night sky, and I do the same. “Tonight is one of the largest meteor showers in the last twenty years,” he tells me, and my fingers grasp his suit jacket while I watch a shooting star streak across the sky. “Make a wish,” he whispers.
With my belly fluttering, I close my eyes and make a wish, a wish for my future with this man. A future that is filled with love, a ring, and a baby with his dark hair and beautiful eyes. Normally I would never waste a wish on something that seems so far fetched, but standing in his arms, I can’t help but feel like that future for me and for him is something that we could have.
“Did you make a wish?” I ask, opening my eyes and finding him watching me.
“I’ve already got everything I want,” he tells me, and I melt into him. “What did you wish for?” He smooths my hair back away from my face, tucking some behind my ear.
“For that.” I wave a hand out toward the tent, which is lit up, with the sound of music and laughter floating from it. “I want what Everly and Blake have, what Tanner and Cybil have found. I want to get married one day and have babies.” I lean into him and smile, the alcohol in my system like a dose of truth serum.
“Jade.” His voice sounds gruff, and I get up on my tiptoes, moving my hands to his chest.
“Don’t worry; I’m not mentally planning our wedding or anything. I just mean that one day I would love to get married and have a family of my own.”
“You deserve those things.” He presses my cheek to his chest while his chin rests on the crown of my head. Then he holds me like that for a long time as stars shoot across the sky above us. And stupidly I don’t realize that even though I’m still standing in his arms, he’s a million miles away.
“Thank you for inviting me. I had the very best time.” I hug Everly and rock her back and forth as we stand on Blake’s family’s front porch.
“Thank you for coming.” She lets me go and grasps my upper arms. “I can’t wait to see the store on Friday for the grand opening.”
“I can’t wait either.” I let her go so that I can give Blake a hug, and then I kiss Sam’s chubby cheek before I take a step back so Maverick can say goodbye.
“Congrats again, man. I’ll see you in a few days,” Maverick tells Blake, giving him a one-armed hug before turning to chuck Sam under the chin and then kiss Everly’s cheek.
“If you need me, don’t call,” Blake tells him, and Maverick chuckles.
“I won’t,” he assures him, and I head down the steps of the front porch with Maverick behind me. I walk to his truck parked at the end of the driveway, then turn to smile and wave at Everly and Blake, watching the two of them laugh.
“Ready?” Maverick opens the passenger door for me to get into my seat, and the weight that has been growing in the pit of my stomach all morning gets a little heavier when he doesn’t touch me or kiss me. A weight that started forming first thing this morning, when I woke up without him next to me. I tried not to let my imagination get away from me then, but when I found him in the kitchen with his friends having breakfast, it felt like there was a wall between us that hadn’t been there before last night. I don’t know what changed, but I know something did.
“Did you have fun this weekend?” I ask him when he gets in behind the wheel, and he glances over at me quickly before placing his hand on the back of my seat and reversing onto the road.
“Yeah,” he says easily, and I shift in my seat and wonder if I shouldn’t have stayed with Cybil and Tanner and left with them later this afternoon. “Did you have fun?”
“It was a beautiful wedding.” I dig through my bag for my cell phone, and once I find it, I send a text to Liam, letting him know that I’m heading back to town. I also let him know that I’ll stop by the store this evening to check on things and to make sure we’re ready to go for tomorrow morning, when we remove the plastic between the store and coffee shop.
When I’m done, I tuck my phone back into my bag, then turn to stare out the window as we drive back home, trying to figure out what happened between last night and this morning. He seemed fine when we got back to the tent after standing under the stars, or maybe drunk me thought he was fine because I was having a great time with our friends, dancing and enjoying all the wedding festivities.
