I glanced over at Brad and Amanda dancing. She looked so happy and relaxed.

“Did Brad talk to you and Gunner?” I asked.

“About staying?”

“Yeah.”

Jeff smiled and nodded. “I was so f**king happy that I almost kissed his ass.”

I let out a laugh.

Gunner walked up and sat on the other side of me. “Heather just offered me four hundred dollars to tell her where you’re taking her on your honeymoon.”

I snapped my head over to Gunner. “What? Are you kidding me?” I laughed. “That girl loves surprises, but she can’t ever be patient enough for them.” I shook my head as I watched Heather, Ellie, and Ari all make their way over to us.

“Jesus H. Christ. How in the hell did we get so lucky with them?” Gunner asked.

Jeff and I just shook our heads.

“Hell if I know, but I’m sure glad we did.” I said. I smiled as Heather came and sat down on my lap.

“I love you,” she whispered against my ear. “It’s almost time for our dance.”

I looked into her eyes. “You want to know what song I picked, don’t you?”

She sighed and nodded. “Yes!”

“Oh, stop being such a brat, Heather. You told Josh he could pick the song. He won’t let you down. If he does, I’ll junk punch him,” Ari said.

I turned toward her. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ari.”

She shrugged and winked at me. “Anytime, sweets!”

I saw my father walking to the middle of the dance floor with a microphone.

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” He looked over toward Heather and me and smiled just a bit. “I’ve been told that the first dance as husband and wife is coming up, but another dance needs to be done first.”

I felt Heather stiffen in my arms.

My dad made his way to us and looked down at Heather. “Heather, from the moment you stepped foot inside our world, I have loved you like a daughter. So much so that I’ve wanted to kick my own son in the ass when I thought he had hurt you in some way or another.”

Everyone let out a laugh, and I hugged Heather tighter.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I could never, ever replace your father, and I would never want to. I feel it so deep inside of me that he would want you to have your father-daughter dance at your wedding.”

When Heather’s body jerked just a little, I knew she was trying to hold back from crying.

My dad reached out his hand for Heather’s. “It would be my honor…”

She slowly stood up and reached for his hand as he handed me the microphone. When they started heading out toward the dance floor, she looked back at me. I felt like someone had just kicked me in the stomach. The look of pain on her face about killed me.

My dad said something to Heather, and she snapped her head up to him. Then, Faith Hill’s “There You’ll Be” started to play. I watched as Heather buried her head into my father’s chest and grabbed on to his shirt. I heard as Ellie and Ari started crying.

“This song was played at Heather’s parents funeral,” Amanda said to Brad.

Jesus…all I want to do is take away her pain. My sweet, beautiful girl.

I promise you…I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt her—ever. I’ll always love and protect your daughter. I promise.

I watched as my dad talked to Heather. She nodded once but kept her head buried in his chest. My heart started beating faster, and I felt my chest moving up and down. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I just let the tears fall.

Gunner put his hand on my shoulder.

“I’d do anything to bring her parents back for her. I wish I could take away her pain. I’d take it in a heartbeat and not think twice about it.”

“I know you would, Josh, and she knows that, too. All she needs is for you to just love her.”

I looked at Gunner and then back out to the dance floor. Just then, our eyes met. The tears falling down her face made me sick to my stomach.

“Fuck.”

Gunner squeezed my shoulder. “Smile at her, Josh.”

I did exactly what Gunner had said. She slowly smiled back as the song ended.

“Go to her, dude.”

I stood up and started to walk out onto the dance floor. As soon as I got to her, she turned and slammed into my body. My dad put his hand on my back, and then he turned and walked away.

“I love you, princess. I love you so damn much, and I wish I could take away every ounce of pain.”

When her eyes met mine, I wiped away her tears.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you where we’re going for our honeymoon?”

She smiled the biggest smile ever. “Yes! Plus, it’ll save me four hundred dollars,” she said with a giggle.

The DJ announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, I think it’s time for Mr. and Mrs. Hayes’ first dance as a married couple. Heather, Josh wanted to say a few words to you before the song.”

I saw her eyes building with tears again.

“No more sad tears, baby. It’s only happy tears from now on, okay?”

She nodded and smiled.

“I didn’t think I would ever find love, but you proved me wrong, Heather. You said I rescued you, but you rescued me when you walked into my life.”

I placed my hands on her face, leaned down, and kissed her so softly on the lips. I slowly pulled away as Lila McCann’s “When You Walked into My Life” started to play. I put my forehead against hers and sang along with the lyrics as we started to dance.

When my princess started crying, I captured her lips with mine. She wrapped her arms around me and held on to me so tightly. My chest felt like it was going to explode at any moment with all the love I felt for this girl.

I’ll always love her. I’ll always protect her. I promise you.

She pulled away from my lips and smiled as she let out a little giggle. “I kinda think you got Gunner beat in the whole romance department.”

“Fuck yeah, I do!”

We both laughed as I glanced over at Gunner. I looked back at her and put my hand on the side of her face. “I love you. I’ll always love and protect you, princess.”

“Forever?”

I pulled her closer to me. “Forever plus infinity.”

Chapter Forty-Three

“Well, I’ll be goddamned. I think that boy just outromanced you, Gun,” Jeff said.

I looked over at Jeff and Brad as they were both laughing. I shook my head. “I taught his ass everything he knows, damn it!”

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. “Little f**ker. Wait until she finds out she’s going to Italy.”

Brad slapped me on the back. “I’m gonna ask my girl to dance with me. Excuse me, y’all.” He walked up and swept Amanda away from Sharon and Alex.

I smiled, watching as Sharon carried a sleeping Alex around. I looked for Ellie.

“Where are the girls?” I asked.

“They went to the ladies’ room with Jessie. What in the hell happened between Jessie and Scott?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Fuck, I don’t know. Something about Jessie going back to Scott’s house, and Chelsea, his ex, was there, waiting inside.”

“Hell, I could see why that would make a girl mad.”

Scott walked up and sat down with a sigh.

“Speak of the devil,” I said.

Scott looked at me, confused, and then looked out at Josh and Heather cutting up on the dance floor. “I want that. I want what y’all have.”

I was shocked by what he’d said. Ah fuck. How much has he had to drink?

I glanced over at Jeff as he gave me a concerned look.

“Scott, how much have you had to drink?” I asked.

Scott gave me a confused look. “One beer, you a**hole!”

Jeff started laughing.

I glanced up to see the girls dancing on the dance floor. Jessie was smiling while she was talking to Ari about something.

“Don’t let her push you away, Scott.”

He shook his head. “I’m trying, Gun. I’ve asked her, like, five times to talk to me, to dance with me, to kick me…anything. She won’t even let me explain.”

“Dude, from what I could make out by all the talking on the way here, you didn’t kick the ex out. You don’t bring a girl home and then ask her to step aside for the ex.”

Scott sighed as he pushed his hands through his hair. “I know that. At the time, I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. Fuck, I was just surprised that Chelsea was in my house. Then, when I was talking to Jessie, I accidentally called her Chels.”

“Oh…ah hell, dude. You done f**ked-up!” Jeff said.

“Tell me about it. As soon as I got back home from dropping off Jessie, I had Chelsea leave.”

“Wait, we ran into Chelsea on the way here, and I overheard Ells and Jessie saying how Chelsea had said she’d spent the night with you.”

Scott’s face fell. “What the fuck? No, she didn’t! I made her leave. I mean, her ass was nak*d in my bed when I got home, but I walked away and told her to leave. I have to talk to Jessie.” He jumped up.

Jeff got up and grabbed his arm. “Dude, don’t mention the fact that she was nak*d in your bed. Since nothing happened, Jessie doesn’t need to know that.”

Scott grabbed Jeff on the shoulder and smiled. “Thanks, Jeff, and dude…I really have just been f**king with you about Ari. I know how much y’all love each other. I’d never get in the way of that.”

Jeff nodded. “I know. I trust Ari. Besides, I’d kick your ass and put you in the hospital if you ever touched her.”

Scott nodded. “Ah…right.” He turned and started walking toward Jessie.

“You know Jessie, Gunner. What’s your take?”

I looked at Jeff and then back out toward Jessie and Scott. “Shit, I know they both really liked each other in high school, but Scott was freaked out by how much he liked her. Once Chelsea Mason gave him some attention, he used that as an excuse, and he went after her. It was always about sex with Chelsea though. I just hope they don’t pull a Jeff-and-Ari.”

Jeff shot me a dirty look. “Fuck off, you f**ker!”

I watched as Scott went right by Jessie and up to the DJ. Scott talked to the DJ for a good minute before turning back and walking up to Jess.

Hunter Hayes’s “All You Ever” started to play. Scott took Jessie’s hand and pulled her closer to him as they started dancing. Ellie turned to me and smiled.

I stood up and headed over to her. “Dance with me, sweetheart?”

“Always.”

I took her into my arms as I started to dance with her. I held her close to me and whispered in her ear, “I love you, sweetheart.”

She held on to me tighter as I moved her around on the dance floor. I glanced over at Scott and Jessie dancing. My heart broke when I saw Jessie quickly wipe away a tear.

“Gunner?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah, baby?”

“When can we go back to our room?”

I laughed as I kissed her on top of her head. “We could try and sneak away now. Your mom hasn’t let go of Alex since we got to the reception. I don’t think she’d even notice if we were gone!”