73. Hayden

CHAPTER 73

HAYDEN

We watch our friends Jamie Streicher and Pippa Hartley marry, and I glance down at Darcy beside me. She looks so heartbreakingly beautiful.

She gives me a soft smile and turns back to the bride and groom, and her new earrings catch the light. Her awestruck expression, so delighted and surprised, only fed my addiction.

I'm going to marry this girl. The thought struck me eight years ago, during a conversation before class our first week of school. Embarrassed by it, I buried it as fast as it sprung up; I was eighteen, for Christ's sake.

I knew, though. A few conversations with Darcy Andersen, and I knew she was the one for me.

She glances back at me with a teasing, scolding expression and flicks her gaze to the front. You're staring at me , she mouths, and I grin, lifting a shoulder. I like you , I mouth back.

I love you , I want to say.

She rolls her eyes and I force my attention back to the reason we're here.

Pippa wears a long white dress Darcy tells me is "boho style." Streicher's in a dark gray suit, and their dog Daisy sits between them, wearing a little white bow tie on her collar. She gazes up with watchful eyes, waiting for the treats Streicher's been slipping her throughout the ceremony.

Every member of the Vancouver Storm—with the exception of Volkov—is here, including Ward. Hazel and Miller stand at the front as maid of honor and best man, exchanging private smiles throughout the ceremony, probably thinking about their own upcoming wedding.

Streicher's mom, Donna, and Pippa's parents, Ken and Maureen, sit in the front row, beaming at the couple.

When Pippa and Jamie say their vows, my eyes sting and my chest expands with warmth, not just because I'm happy for my friends to take the next step in their life and relationship, but because I want that, too, and finally, for the first time in my life, it's within reach.

Beside me, Darcy wears the orange dress, looking so beautiful and happy, it makes my heart ache.

I'm falling for you , she said on the park bench beneath the cherry blossoms.

I look around at Jamie and Pippa's loved ones, and I want this for us. I want my Darcy in the dress that makes her feel beautiful, the people who mean everything to us watching with smiles and tears in their eyes, and a big, raucous party after to celebrate.

I sniffle.

"Are you crying?" Darcy whispers, tucking her hand in mine.

"No," I whisper back.

Her mouth tips up, eyes sparkling. "It's okay if you are."

"I'm not," I insist, smiling. "And even if I were, everyone else is, too."

She smiles again, squeezes my hand, and rests her head on my shoulder for the remainder of the ceremony.

"Alexei didn't show?" Darcy asks in my ear when we make our way to the banquet room overlooking the lake.

I shake my head, glancing around. "I thought he might change his mind at the last minute, but—" I shrug. "Guess not."

She hums, mouth twisting with concern.

"He was engaged once," I admit, wincing. "He doesn't like to talk about it."

While we eat, the wedding party and parents make speeches.

"Upon first impression," Miller says into the microphone, "my surly, serious best friend appears to be an asshole."

He glances at Pippa for confirmation, who nods hard in agreement. Everyone laughs, and even Streicher cracks a smile.

"But everyone in his life knows he'll do anything for the ones he loves. Pippa," Miller smiles at her, "with your strength and bravery, your work ethic, and your creativity and kindness, everyone in this room can see why he loves you more than life itself. Daisy," Miller peers around the table, where Daisy is sitting at Donna's feet, getting pets, "you changed everything when you tried to follow Streicher home that day."

Daisy lets out one high bark and everyone laughs again.

Hazel narrows her eyes at Streicher during her speech. "I wasn't sure about you, Jamie, but you won me over when you encouraged Pippa, built her up to her full height, and told her she could do anything." Her expression warms. "You'd do anything for my baby sister, and I love you for that. I'm proud to call you my brother-in-law."

She looks to Pippa, and her eyes shine with love.

"I once told you I wished you knew how incredible you were, because you'd be unstoppable." Her throat works, and she blinks hard. "Now you do know, and now you are unstoppable. I love you. I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished and the person you are, and I thank the universe every day that we're sisters."

My eyes sting, because Hazel normally keeps her emotions locked down.

"Crying again?" Darcy whispers with a teasing grin.

"I'm not crying," I whisper back, blinking fast.

She smooths a hand down my thigh in a comforting motion, and I slip mine into hers, holding it tight.

"I'm crying a little," I admit.

"It's okay." She leans up and kisses my cheek. "I like that you're secretly a sappy romantic."

I huff an embarrassed laugh. I guess I am. I guess I always was.

"Jamie, you've been part of the Hartley family since that first Christmas you joined us," Ken, Pippa's dad, says with pride, chest puffing out. Maureen stands beside him at the podium, beaming. "Everyone says Jamie and Pippa are the lucky ones, but it's Maureen and me who are counting our lucky stars, and not just because we're welcoming two members of the Storm at family holidays."

Everyone chuckles. On top of being a friendly, open-hearted guy, Ken is a rabid hockey fan.

"You're a good man, Jamie. Donna did an amazing job, raising you," he tells Streicher and Donna, and Streicher leans forward, watching with his elbows on his knees. His throat works. Donna dabs at her eyes. "Pippa chose well when she chose you."

"I knew Jamie liked you," Donna says to Pippa with a smile during her turn, "when I asked if you were pretty and he wouldn't look me in the eye."

Pippa laughs and Jamie grins, shaking his head.

After dinner, Pippa plays a song she wrote for Streicher on the guitar he bought her for their first Christmas, and when I see the look they exchange, him so proud of her and her so openly loving, I tighten my arm around Darcy's shoulders.

After, we dance to love songs, and I hold her tight, breathing in her sweet, familiar scent.

I love her, and it's getting harder to keep it in. Every day, I wonder if she's ready to hear the depth of my feelings for her.

"You want to go back to the room, Andersen?"

She holds my eyes and nods, and I take her hand, pulling her to the door.