Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
His eyes widen. “You are incredible.”
My lips curve as I look back at the girl in front of me. “Sorry for stealing him away.”
Her eyes search mine. “It’s fine. This is the happiest I’ve seen my brother in a while.”
“Ah, Katarina?” I ask, and she nods. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
She taunts, “I’m sure my brother has no nice words to say about me.”
He doesn’t, but I won’t share that. “You’d be surprised.”
She doesn’t seem to be convinced but doesn’t say so. Instead, she says, “Enjoy.”
As she walks away, Dimitri looks at me. “You couldn’t tell me you speak Russian?”
“It never came up,” I say, and his lips curve.
“I am going to enjoy getting to know all your secrets, Austen,” he says, and I kiss his chin, though I do fear some of my secrets.
“Same.”
He brings me to the dance floor, spinning me out and then back in, which I’m sure would have looked way cooler with someone who knows how to dance. Me, I flail around like a bag of bones, unsure of what is right or left. I knew I would look stupid, but then Dimitri grins down at me and I feel slightly less stupid. He wraps his arms around my waist as mine go around his neck, and we sway to the slow song. I want to ask why he isn’t worried about what my peepaw said, but I think I may know the answer. He doesn’t care.
“Have I told you how gorgeous you are?”
My chest flutters. “Not really.”
“Well, you are,” he says, bringing me closer. “Most gorgeous woman in every room.”
A gasp leaves my lips, and I go to my tippy-toes to kiss him, not because of his kind words but because I need to. Before my lips can touch his, though, the music ends, and a voice fills the hall.
“Shelli was supposed to sing for the happy couple, and we all know why—she’s extremely talented and sings like an angel.” The guy at the mic is tall, with wide shoulders and long legs. His tux is blue and fitted to his body in the most delectable way. His dark hair falls into his eyes, but even so, I can see the pain in his gaze.
I lean into Dimitri. “Who is that?”
“Quinn,” he mutters, shaking his head. “This isn’t going to end well.”
“What do you mean?”
He doesn’t answer me because Quinn is speaking again. “I convinced her to let me sing because the song means a lot to me. For the simple fact that I am entirely and irrevocably in love with you, Emery Elaine Brooks.”
“There is it,” Dimitri says, and everyone starts to talk, eyes darting around the room, and I’m unsure who this Emery is, but holy moly, that’s a courageous statement.
Quinn moves to the piano that sits on the stage, and then he starts to play with such passion.
“I need an explanation,” I say, looking up at Dimitri as he glances around. “Who are you looking for?”
“Emery,” he says, and then he makes a face. “Oh, she’s pissed. Okay, so Quinn’s in love with her, and she loves him. But she doesn’t want to be tied down, and he doesn’t want to accept that. She’s being really toxic about it and, from what I heard, is playing with his emotions, so I don’t know how this going to go down. Both their parents already got involved, and now she’s moving to California to get away from him.”
“I know you’re leaving. And since this will be the last time I can sing to you and know you can hear it, I can’t resist,” Quinn says into the mic, and then his deep, raspy voice fills the hall. The only reason I know the song is because Elliot is a huge Ellie Goulding fan, and even I have to admit “How Long Will I Love You” is a soul-blasting song.
“If she doesn’t want to be with him and is being toxic, why is he doing this?” I find myself asking.
“Because love makes rational thinking irrational, and then you’re at a wedding, singing for a girl who wants nothing to do with you.”
The pain on Quinn’s face takes my breath away, but his voice is so beautiful. So tragic.
“This is hard to watch. You ready to get out of here?”
I look up at him. “Yeah, but I drove.”
He squeezes me into his side. “So, I’ll meet you at home.”
Home. The word seems very different now.
Easy access, privacy.
His words from before have desire swirling between my legs. I don’t know what he anticipates, or even what I am thinking will happen when we get home, but I can’t help but want to just go all in. Let all my firsts be his. But does that make me naïve? Will I be viewed the way Quinn is, totally irrational and doing crazy things? Am I the crazy one to think I can handle all my firsts in one night? That Dimitri would want to give me all that when he doesn’t know a damn thing about my past? Should I tell him?