I grab my whiskey from the bar, making my way through the crowd towards her. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit,” I tell Kylie over my shoulder as I beeline for Alana as fast as I can, the thick crowd of guests slowing me down. I want to shove them aside, but I can hardly do that, being Lauren’s man of the hour and all. I have to behave, but it’s damn hard when Alana is standing right there, and all I want to do is get to her.
By the time I make it to Alana, she’s talking to Abby. “A lovely young man took these photos of me,” Abby says cheerily. “He looked a bit sad, like something was weighing down his soul. But he’s a good boy. A talented one.”
I stop just to one side and clear my throat. “That young man would be me.”
Alana whips around, her eyes widening at the sight of me, and I have to fight to hold myself together. Seeing her across the room was hard enough, but now that she’s in front of me, within touching distance, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t grab onto her and never let go. I want to hold her, kiss her, make sure that she knows she’s mine and that she’ll never get away from me again.
There’s so much I have to say to her, and I can’t say a damned bit of it here. I know once we start talking, hashing it all out, once I say what’s frothing in my mind—in my goddamnedsoul—it’s going to be explosive, and the last thing I want is to mess up Lauren’s night yet again.
So I bite my tongue, even though it’s the hardest goddamn thing I’ve ever done. I stand there as Alana turns back to Abby, chatting, and I try to hear what they’re saying to each other, even though I can’t focus on a word of it. The air around us feels like it’s vibrating, shimmering with the tension between us, when Alana finally turns to me at some point and asks in her husky voice, “Do you want to get out of here, Ian?” I can’t fucking speak for a second.
My name on her lips sounds like music, like heaven. “Gladly,” I say gruffly, and Alana turns towards Cal.
“I’m leaving with Ian,” she says, so definitively that even though the look on his face suggests that he’s not sure it’s the best idea, he doesn’t argue. Lauren appears a moment later, and I thank her for the evening, letting her know I’m heading out, as well as Kylie and Abby. It’s a flurry ofgoodbyeandso nice of you to comeandsee you again soon. Throughout all of it, I’m so impatient to be alone with Alana that I can’t think of anything else.
Until we’re leaving, walking outside into the cool night air, all I can hear is my heartbeat. All I can feel is how close she is, and all I can do is hope that this night doesn’t end in heartbreak—for either of us.