“It is. And here I am, stepping all over you.”
“Funny how I don’t mind.”
“Funny.”
“We love him,” she said as we watched Vince dip my father, something I would never forget.
“I know,” I said. “Thank you. I don’t know if I ever told you that before. For loving him like you both do.”
She patted me on the chest. “You don’t have to thank us. You just have to promise me you’ll take care of each other as best you can. That’s all I ask.”
“We will.”
Nana eventually cut in, demanding that we recreate the dance scene from Dirty Dancing. “I’ll get a running start,” she said. “I figu
re I need at least twenty feet. I jump, you catch me, and then lift me above your head.”
“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t. I don’t think Vince would—”
“Wow,” Nana said. “Married for three hours, and already playing the subservient wife. It was nice knowing you, kid. Let me know if you find your balls again. Sherry! What are your thoughts on lifting an older woman above your head?”
Darren’s mother, who’d driven down from Phoenix, said, “I’m a nurse. I lift older women all the time.”
“Good,” Nana said. “I’m going to get a running start. Make sure you don’t treat yourself to a handful. This isn’t that kind of dance.”
Vince found me later, standing out on the patio, looking up at the stars. He wrapped an arm around my waist as he came up next to me, leaning in to kiss my neck. I shivered at the scrape of his teeth near my jaw. “Hey,” he murmured.
“Hey.”
“What’re you doing out here?”
“Just… breathing.”
“Breathing’s good.”
“Yeah.”
“You good?”
“Better than, I think.”
He nuzzled me again. “Good. Now, since we’re not going on a honeymoon for a few weeks, I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I said, turning until we were face to face.
He leaned in and brushed his nose against mine. “What say we get Wheels and get on outta here? We’ll go home. I’ll take off your clothes. And then I’ll Freddie Prinze Junior your butt so hard, you’ll be walking funny tomorrow.”
“That still doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “Is that a no?”
“Nope,” I said. “Definitely not a no. But let’s make it so I’m walking funny for at least two days, Mr. Auster.”
He grinned. “That sounds good to me, Mr. Auster.”
“Wow,” Sandy said, causing both of us to jump. “You do realize that sounds exactly like your parents, right? That’s unfortunate.”
I glared at him, only to find Darren and Corey standing next to him with amused looks on their faces. “Excuse you. We were having a moment.”