“Oh my God,” Simone said. “Drea, you have to be my maid of honor!”
“Really? Yes, of course!” She hugged Simone again.
“For my next surprise,” Vaughn started. Everyone stopped suddenly and just stared at him. “Kidding, kidding! It’s just dinner! I got Rafe to make Simone’s favorite chicken. So, if you all will just give me and my beautiful fiancée a moment to ourselves, we’ll meet you all at the kitchen table.”
Chapter Ten
Family dinners had never really been quiet, low-key affairs with the Quinlans. Miller was the only one of the brothers who could be considered “quiet” or “mild-mannered,” but when left with his brothers, even he was known to raise a little hell. Add in Simone, who was outgoing, bubbly, and never shied away from busting a few balls, and it was always an event. Given the excuse of a special occasion, and the addition of Leona, Kyle, and Dalton, tonight’s dinner had turned into an all-out party. After four courses of Simone’s favorite foods, six and a half bottles of wine, and a surprise cake that Rafe had made for the occasion, everyone was stuffed beyond compare.
When the happy, newly engaged couple excused themselves first, it was met with a litany of comments from Grayson and Dalton about how Vaughn was “so getting laid tonight.” Vaughn just shook his head and escorted his bride-to-be out of the kitchen, but not without Simone turning around and remarking “you fucking know it!” in response.
Shortly after their exit, Dalton made a vague comment about Paradise Point and swiftly exited as well. Leona simply said goodnight and left on Dalton's heels.
Kyle had always enjoyed hanging out with Drea’s family and loved that they considered him part of the group. He knew it meant something that they had included him in tonight’s events and it wasn’t something he took lightly. But if the two men sitting at the table with him now, much less the one that just left, knew what was going through his head while holding Drea during the proposal, they would have him drawn and quartered. She was their little girl, and even though she was an adult and moved out, he knew nothing would ever change the way they looked at her and that no one would ever be good enough. Just one more reason all those fantasies about her would remain just that.
“I really never thought he would do it, much less make a production of it,” Miller said, pouring more wine into his glass. He held up the bottle to see if anyone wanted the last little bit left. Kyle shook his head no—he was already feeling the effects of the other two and a half glasses he’d had and he didn’t need to risk a wine hangover in the morning. Grayson held out his glass and Miller poured the tail end of the bottle into it.
“Says the man who proposed going ‘So, we’re getting married, right?’” Grayson shot back.
“Excuse you, that was Dave to Sofia,” Miller corrected him. “Mine was something more like ‘Us too?’” Everyone burst into laughter.
“She said yes to your stupid ass, so you must have done something right.”
“Marta was truly something else. Your mother was wonderful too, Drea, and she loved your father like nothing else. But your Aunt Marta, she was just perfection.”
Kyle looked at Drea as Miller talked about the sisters he and his best friend had loved. He knew Drea loved hearing stories about them and her father, and that she greatly missed them, even though she’d been an infant when they died. She was smiling at her uncle—her real true smile—and her eyes were sparkling, radiating all her emotions. Kyle could look at her all day, no matter her expression, but this was one of his favorites.
“Not a day goes by I don’t miss her. She and your mother, man, were they something. Someday, if I actually make it to heaven, I’m sure they will be waiting for me there to slap me silly over some of the choices I made with you, but I like to think you turned out okay.”
“I think so,” she beamed.
“Alright, I think I need to get you to bed before you wax poetic all night long,” Grayson chimed in. “Kyle, you gonna walk Drea home?”
“Of course,” Kyle answered, a little confused why she wouldn’t just walk with them. But he wasn’t going to argue with his boss or turn down the chance to be alone with her.
“Great, then you two can head, and I’ll help Miller with cleanup.”
When they were outside of the kitchen and headed back across the resort to the trail that led to her cottage, Kyle grabbed Drea’s hand and pulled her to a stop.
“Did you get the feeling like we were being dismissed?”
“I think this evening was a little emotional for Uncle Miller. I mean, it’s been twenty-five years since my parents and Aunt Marta passed, but there are days he still talks about her like she’s only been gone a week. He still loves her so much. I mean, if he’s even gone on a date since her death, I don’t know about it.”
“Can you imagine loving someone that much?”
“Yeah, I can,” she said softly. He pulled her in close and held her tightly against his body. She wrapped her arms around his waist in response and sighed heavily. He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes for a moment, drinking in her scent. She hadn’t had time for a shower since they got back from the excursion, so she still smelled of salt water and ocean air, with the slightest hint of her citrus shampoo.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to know them.”
“Thanks,” she said, keeping her forehead resting against his chest. He held her there for another moment before she slowly pulled away. She slipped her hand into his as they started to walk again.
His head was all over the place and solely focused on Drea all at the same time. She must not still be too upset if she’s holding his hand, right? And why was she upset? What happened with Dalton? With Brig? Dalton and Staci seemed to have found each other, so maybe it was Brig after all? Had they hooked up? If they had, had it ended poorly?
He knew Drea wasn’t a virgin—they had swapped virginity stories years ago hanging out on her back porch sipping rum and Coke. He had told her about how his experience had been pretty stereotypical. He had lost it the night of his senior prom to his high school girlfriend, who he already knew he was going to break up with before they left for different colleges, both of them of going through with it because they thought they were supposed to. Or maybe it had been the fear of going off to college still hanging on to their v-cards that had served as their motivation. Drea had told him not to feel too bad about a dud of a first time, since hers had been a pretty big letdown as well. She’d given in to some kid she’d been dating off and on when she was nineteen, simply because she was curious what all the fuss was about. Apparently it had been over so fast she had still been left wondering what the fuss was about, or if anything had even happened.
“Wait, so he didn’t take the time to…?” he had questioned her, trailing off at the end of his question, trying not to be too crass in the moment.
Drea had just laughed. “There was zero warm-up. As soon as I said ‘sure’ he whipped our clothes off so fast, I barely had time to blink. Next blink he was in me, third blink he was done.”
