“Hey, why isn’t there a huge rock on your finger?” Quinn asked.
“I wanted Payton to pick the ring. You know as well as I do if I bought her a huge rock she’d probably kill me.” Gabriel laughed as he stepped up behind me and snaked his arms around my waist while resting his head on mine.
“Good point.”
“You know her so well,” Quinn added.
“I’m standing right here, people!” I laughed.
Four hours later and my father was sent to bed after drinking too much bourbon. Thankfully, my mother had stopped him before he started singing the Star Spangled Banner backwards, much to everyone's disappointment. We’d all decided to camp out in the living room for the night instead of going back to the hotel. I wanted to spend some more time with my parents and staying in the house sounded better than driving back to the hotel.
The building contractors had been and gone. Thankfully, they understood my parents' tastes and wanted to keep the house small but add an extra bedroom. “For the grandbabies,” my mom said. I rolled my eyes at her, Gabriel just laughed.
As most of us settled in for the night, I turned to Gabriel, who was lying down beside me on a makeshift bed on the floor.
“I can’t believe we’re going to get married,” I whispered, although whispering wasn’t really necessary considering Kylie and Quinn were passed out and snoring quite loudly on the sofas.
“Are you happy, princess?” he asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“With you? Always.” I smiled as he kissed me gently before wrapping his arms around me as we fell asleep in a small house in a small town in the middle of Kentucky.
12 MONTHS LATER
“WELL, I DIDN’T DO IT!” Kylie yelled as she stared at the thirty vases of red roses now scattered within my office.
“Then why are you laughing?” I asked, raising my brow.
“Because whoever did is a freaking genius.” She laughed.
“We both know who’s done it, Kylie. Read the note,” I said, pushing the note which came with the delivery towards her.
She scanned the note and cringed.
“I really didn’t need to know that.”
Princess,
Thirty vases for the amount of times I’ve thought about taking you on my desk today.
I love you,
Prince G
“No one needs to know that information.” She rolled her eyes.
“You asked!” I fired back. “Anyway, do we have the mock up for the La Norte hotel opening in June?”
“Phil is just finishing up some last minute legal alterations and it’ll be ready for the hubby’s signature.” She winked.
“I wish you’d stop calling him that.” I groaned, shaking my head at my best friend.
“Stop it. You love it. Anyway, Quinn called. He’s just landed at JFK, he said he’s in need of a massage and cocktails,” she announced dramatically.
I rolled my eyes and pointed to my ever-bulging stomach. “He is fully aware that my cocktails are of the non-alcoholic kind, right?”
“I think he was thinking more towards COCKtails.” She laughed.
“Well that’s me out then.” I smirked. “I’ve got all the COCKtails I need at home, thank you very much.”
Quinn had been insisting on getting Kylie back in the game ever since Luca. Once she found out Luca knew about Gabriel’s wife, she went off the deep end and told him if he ever stepped foot within the US she’d know about it. She’d only seen him once since and I knew she missed him. They may have only been casually sleeping together but we both knew Kylie didn’t function that way: she was a happily ever after kind of girl.
“Have you heard from him?” I asked.
“Who?” she asked nonchalantly before turning on her heels and leaving my office.
She’d been hiding any remote feeling that she'd been hurt by him, but the moment his name was brought up in any conversation, she’d either steer it in another direction or leave the room.
They’d had an altercation at the wedding. Of course, Gabriel picked his brother as his best man and not long after we moved on to the reception for the party and toasts, Luca announced just how much he loved being single and able to fuck whomever he wanted. He was drunk, of course, but Kylie was hurt and Gabriel was pissed at his brother for doing it.
It was fact that Kylie and Luca were… complicated.
Quinn on the other hand, was a bubbly and fabulous as ever. In the year since he’d started working at Vogue, he’d earned a name for himself as being one of the best hair and makeup stylists within the industry, alongside some of the greats. He’d had his relationships over the last twelve months but none really stuck. Quinn was… an acquired taste.