Madison nudged Hannah and pointed to a spot across the room. Hannah followed her finger and smiled. Jon, Will, and Daniel were laughing and toasting with another shot.
“Great, he’ll be snoring tonight,” Hannah said, despite knowing her cheeks were flush from her second glass of wine.
“The boys can share a room,” Madison said. “We’ll steal Kate and Charlanie and have a girls’ night with pillow fights, wine, rom-coms, and whatever you want.”
“That’s called a bachelorette party.”
“Not like we had the chance to give you one.”
“Ouch. You’re a mean drunk.”
“Sorry,” Madison said with a shrug.
Grayson and his wife, Maggie, walked by, their teenage son beside them. Hannah watched them until they rounded a corner and were out of sight.
Madison wrapped an arm around Hannah’s back. “I’m sorry your parents didn’t come.”
“It is what it is,” Hannah said, packing false confidence behind her words. She couldn’t get weepy in the middle of her own party.
“That’s big of you,” Madison said. “I would’ve dragged my parents here kicking and screaming.”
Hannah was sure she would’ve. Not that she would’ve needed to. Her parents had come to support their future son-in-law’s brother when they’d had other plans. But that was never Hannah’s relationship with her parents. The spontaneity they’d lauded in Stephanie, they condemned in Hannah. On some level, she understood that she’d taken something from them by not including them in the wedding, but it didn’t warrant this.
And what if she and Will lasted? Will was the one person, even more so than Kate in some ways, that just got her. There was no pretense or hesitation with him. He was her person—the one who could come back after five years and fit naturally into her life. What if her person was also her true love? Her parents would never be able to take back their snub.
“I’m choosing to look at the people we do have here,” Hannah said, scanning the room again for her friends. Jon and Will weaved through the crowd, leaving a frazzled but polite-looking Daniel chatting with a young woman and her father, Jonathan standing close by.
She waved Kate, Patrick, and Eddie over and shot a text to Stephanie, who was still completely lost in her wife. She didn’t want to directly disturb them. It wasn’t often they had a kid-free night.
“Dad’s trying to sell Daniel to the highest bidder,” Jon said, wrapping his arms around Madison’s waist.
“It’s a Thorne rite of passage,” Will said, tugging Hannah close to him. Her body lit up at the touch, remembering their hidden moment earlier and the way Will had looked at her when he told her she was beautiful. She kissed him, noting the faint smell of whisky permeating his skin.
Kate and Patrick joined the group, hand in hand. It was still weird for Hannah to see Kate with a boyfriend. She hadn’t been serious about anyone in so long, but even though it had only been two months, she was clearly into Patrick. There was a recent calmness to Kate that Hannah recognized in herself since Will. Bitching about Boyfriends was about to get super boring.
“So, where’s the afterparty?” Kate asked.
Hannah laughed, but Will and Jon put their heads together and started whispering about rooms.
“I’ll get the booze,” Jon said, heading over to the bar.
“I’ll get the rest of our guests.” Madison scooted away to round up Charlanie, Eddie, and Daniel.
Will fell into an elegant bow. “And if you’ll follow me...”
Hannah looked around the group again, her heart overflowing with love. If this was who she and Will had in their corner, it would be more than enough.
“COME ON,” WILL WHISPERED, grabbing her hand.
Hannah glanced around at their group of friends sharing stories and playing some weird drinking game—they were all but oblivious to the two of them. “Will they notice?”
“Do you care?” he asked, his eyes gleaming.
She lifted the ice pack off her knee and followed him out of the room, through the silent house and the remnants of their party until they reached Will’s bedroom. Tension swirled between them—the air sparked with it.
He tugged the door shut and turned the lock before leaning her back against the hard wood. “Where were we?”
She smirked and pulled him into her. “Right about here.”
The moment their lips met, the playful nature of their banter shifted intensity. Their tongues danced to a new and powerful tune. Her hands undid the buttons of his shirt and pushed it off. She ran her fingers down his chest and unbuttoned his pants. He kicked out of his shoes and unzipped her dress, his fingers tracing her spine with each inch. His lips never left hers, except to nip at her ear, suck at the most sensitive part of her neck, or leave a trail of kisses down her collarbone. Hannah arced against him as his hand slipped under her bodice and cupped her breast.
“Will,” she said with a moan, pushing his pants down.
He picked her up and out of her dress. She wrapped her legs around him, feeling his hardness against her softest places. Another moan escaped her as they fell back onto the bed. Will’s eyes were wide as he lay beneath her. She leaned down and kissed him again, her hair falling free of its pins. His fingers tangled in her hair, and he unhooked her bra with his free hand, his mouth finding her nipple.
It was finally their moment. She could feel it in every touch and every kiss. There would be no stopping them tonight. Kate could knock, the earth could quake, and they’d stay here in this bed. And it felt so right. It wasn’t clumsy or uncertain. It was every minute of every hour of every day since he’d knelt before her with that diamond ring. The pact hadn’t been a mistake. It had been foreplay.
With soft hands, Will removed the rest of their clothing and flipped Hannah over so that she lay beneath him. His hand skimmed up her leg as she brought it around his hips. Their eyes met, and she pulled him down until every part touched. Yes, she said with her eyes and her hands and her tongue. Yes.
He didn’t hesitate, and her world exploded as their bodies came together. How had she ever worried this would ruin everything? They were a perfect fit, as Will had said all those weeks before. She tugged him closer, breathing the same breath as their bodies moved as one.
Chapter 31Hannah
“Hi, Mom and Dad. It’s me, your daughter. Hannah, remember? You know, you’re going to have to answer the phone one day.”
