“Hold, you didn’t want to touch the baby?” Nick asks.
“Babies don’t like me.” He shrugs. “Which is fine. If I’m not confident, they’ll know, and that bothers me…”
“You’re thinking of snakes or dogs or something,” Gunner says, slinging his arm over Holden’s shoulder. “But it’s fine, we’ll be the fun parents and let those two do all the diaper changing and discipline stuff.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t quite stop my smile.
The photographer finally steps in and poses us, has us drinking together, smiling, looking all serious while smoking cigars – once Danny’s left with the baby – and taking pictures of us one at a time.
We go to a part of the garden and snap even more photos, dealing with the wind, the high pollen count, and everything in between. Then Sophia’s dad comes up. He shakes his head slowly. “This is the easy part.”
We pose with him, and he stands with each of us. Sophia’s mom joins as well. Then Miles and Diana get some pictures together. The photographer gets a text and nods. “Alright … the bride is ready.”
“Fuck.” Miles rubs at his face.
I pat his shoulder and Holden does the same. He takes an unsteady breath. “I don’t know if I’m ready to let her go. I feel like I just got her back.”
“And she’ll be living in the same spot.” Gunner assures him, his eyes warm. “We can set up weekly dinners, or dinners every other week. Nothing is getting rushed.”
“Except the wedding.” He glances between us. “Any reason why?”
“We already talked about that.” Nick reminds him. “She’s not pregnant.”
“She better not be with the way she throws back alcohol.” Diana laughs, then rubs down my chest. “Although, I could believe-”
“Diana!” Miles barks. “Please, dear.”
She pouts at me, but then strokes my face. “Be good to my little girl, Roman.”
She repeats the same line to each of us before managing to drag Miles away. I can feel my own love, affection, and nervousness starting to fill me up. I straighten my tie for the fifth time, then Nick comes over and adjusts my sleeves so the powder blue is showing again.
“Starting to feel things?” He asks.
I nod. “Not just for Sophia.”
The guys and I sit on a bench in front of one of the ponds. “We’ve been through so much together. War, starting a business, losses and wins, and now we’re going into a forever together.”
Nick pats my knee. “Would you have it any other way?”
I shake my head. Gunner’s eyes are misty. He takes my hand. “All those times I jokingly said I love you … they’re real. I love all of you guys. Sophie is amazing and sexy and wonderful, but having you guys with me just makes everything feel right.”
Nick nods. “It’s hard to explain it. Lord knows my parents have asked.”
“More than brothers and more than friends,” Holden murmurs. “Not quite lovers.”
We all laugh, but the threat of tears is still there. Gunner looks up, blinking, just like I’m sure Sophia is going to do multiple times over. “God, we don’t even have makeup to worry about.” Gunner says.
“Poor Sophie.” Nick sighs. “Hopefully she got the waterproof type.”
We joke around for a while longer, hanging out, taking photos, silly, serious, and everything in between. Massimo regains his son after about thirty minutes from a frazzled looking Danny.
But damn she looks good. All of us stare at her, the lavender dress, accentuating her curves without being too sexy or too revealing. Her hair is organized, classy, and the makeup makes each of her features soft.
Massimo just gapes. Danny pants. “Please, Mass, take him so we can get some pictures? It’ll be fast.”
He sweeps his son into one huge arm, then his other locks around Danny’s waist. “You’re going to get kicked out of the wedding looking like this.”
“Stop.” She blushes.