Each of the bridesmaid dresses were unique in style and a different soft blue color, creating a rainbow of blue surrounding their friend.
“Ready?” he asked when they’d reached the bottom.
“Hang on.” Zoey stopped them all, then tugged on her friends’ hands until they made a circle. “I just wanted to take a moment to breathe.” She took a deep breath then smiled. “No matter what path each of us takes in the next few months”—her eyes moved around to each of her friends as he stood outside the circle, watching— “we will always be sisters. We came to this camp alone and broken, each of us. But we left stronger because of this.” She held up their joined hands. “Something that time couldn’t take away from us nor could anyone else who tried to pull us apart.”
His eyes moved to Aubrey, and he noticed her blue eyes tearing up.
“Don’t make us cry,” Elle warned.
“Shut up.” Zoey smiled. “No crying on my wedding day. I’ll finish up with this… We are and will always be Wildflowers through and through.”
“Wildflowers,” the rest of them said softly before hugging each other.
“Are you ready now?” he asked dryly, chuckling softly to show he was joking.
“Men.” Aubrey rolled her eyes as she wiped a tear from her eyes.
“Yes.” Zoey smiled up at him, then reached out and took his arm.
“Who’s giving you away?” he asked as he helped her into the golf cart. Zoey and Scar’s dad had passed away the year before, and he hadn’t heard who would be walking her down the aisle. Only that he was to deliver the group to the entrance of the beach at exactly six o’clock.
He glanced at his watch and figured they had just enough time.
“I’ll be walking myself down.” Zoey smiled. “It’s a modern age.” She shifted and touched his arm. “Thanks for driving us.”
He chuckled as they started down the path. “Hey, no skin off my back. Besides…” He glanced back at Aubrey and winked. “I get a sneak peek at you lovely flowers.”
Zoey chuckled. “If I hadn’t fallen head over heels for Dylan.” She sighed and nudged him.
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Scarlett asked as he slowed down to turn on the correct pathway.
“Who says I don’t?” he responded.
“Do you?” she retorted.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he joked back.
“Did you at least bring a date?” Zoey asked.
“He’s my date today,” Aubrey spoke up. “What?” she said when all of her friend’s eyes turned to her. “He mentioned to me the other night that he didn’t have one, and we suggested going as friends.” She shrugged and glanced off towards the beach as he stopped the cart.
“We’re here,” he said, turning to Zoey. “Go get ’em.” He smiled at her.
He’d grown to like Zoey and the rest of the Wildflowers over the past few years. Even though Elle was his only cousin, he thought of the others, except for Aubrey, as family.
He helped Zoey out of the cart and stood back as her friends fixed her train. Then he rushed ahead of them through the clearing and nodded to Liam, who was waiting for his signal.
Watching the wedding procession from the sidelines, his eyes kept returning to Aubrey. What had it meant that she’d been the one to mention to her friends they were a date for the event?
For almost three years, she’d kept everything about them, about their relationship, a secret. He couldn’t count how many times he’d wanted to tell someone, or better yet, show them, by pulling Aubrey into his arms and kissing her in front of her friends, but he’d promised her he’d keep it a secret. It had almost killed him doing so. Especially when she’d pulled away. So many times he’d wished he could talk to his cousin about her friend and ask her how he could win Aubrey back.
Now, she was the one breaking that barrier. He hoped it meant that she was ready and willing to open up to her friends about them and possibly take the next step in a real relationship with him. But something told him he would have to force her hand and take drastic measures himself to get her to take those steps.
When the ceremony was over, he helped shuttle the guests towards the dining hall. After everyone had shuffled into the main hall, he found Aubrey sitting in the front with her friends. He took the spot next to her, and she smiled over at him and offered him a glass of champagne.
“So?” he asked after a sip. “What’s next?”
“Now we sit back and enjoy some food, then cake and dancing.” She smiled over at him.
Her eyes told him that she understood he hadn’t been talking about the wedding, but about them.
Setting down his glass, he took her hand in his. “You know what I mean,” he said softly as he felt her stiffen slightly.
Her eyes moved away from his as she glanced around, no doubt to see who was watching them. “Now, we enjoy being friends,” she said between sips.
“I think you know that’s not possible.” He leaned closer to her as his thumb played over her palm. He heard her breath catch and knew he’d made his point. There was too much between them to stop now, no matter how hard she tried to pull back. Just knowing that she felt the heat as well had him smiling and moving closer, emboldened by the desire flooding her eyes. “Why the games? Why can’t we just…” His eyes moved to her gloss-covered lips and a slight groan escaped him when her tongue darted out to lick them. “Why can’t we see what new things we can explore together?”
She didn’t answer him at first. Her breathing labored as she thought, and he knew she was trying to come up with an excuse or a reason. When fear started to replace the desire in her eyes, he sighed and leaned back.
“Soon you’ll confide in me why intimacy causes you to panic.” He took up his glass and drank again, wishing for a beer instead of the sweet champagne.
“I would think that our past proves that I’m not afraid of intimacy,” she said softly.
Chuckling, he glanced over at her. “I wasn’t talking about sex.”
She hissed and nudged him.
“Lower your voice,” she said as she glanced around.
He chuckled again. “Afraid someone will find out about us?” He made a show of glancing around. The fact was, everyone around them was so enthralled in chatting that he doubted that a single person was paying attention to them. He knew he was pushing her too far, but he was tired of the games. He missed her and from the looks she had been giving him, she missed him as much.
“Aiden.” Her voice was a warning.
“There you are.” Hannah rushed over and grabbed up Aubrey. “Sorry, I need to borrow her for pictures,” she said to him as she rushed her friend away.
“Saved you,” Owen said to him as he sat beside him.
“Oh?” He pushed his champagne away and then smiled when Owen handed him a beer. “Yeah.” He motioned with his beer toward the guy and then took a sip. “You did.”
“Hannah saved Aubrey,” Owen said, nodding to the two friends, who had disappeared out the back doors, no doubt to take pictures with their friends on the patio area.