be around for as long as possible, so giving up something frivolous like alcohol was no sacrifice.
Shot snorted and moved farther into the room. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rubbed his chin on my exposed shoulder. His stubble rasped against my skin and left a red mark, which I’m sure was the point. His fingers skimmed along the side of my stomach, reverently tracing the big scar hidden under the slinky fabric of my silver dress. Della insisted we dress up tonight, since the actual wedding had been such an informal affair.
As soon as I was out of the hospital and strong enough to travel, Della and Crew announced that instead of their cute country wedding with all the trappings getting pushed back once again, they were going to Vegas to elope. According to Della, the details no longer mattered—she just wanted to be Crew’s wife. The designer dress was left behind, and the groom ended up wearing jeans, boots, and his Stetson after all. The whole family attended, and they even invited Shot. It was fun and romantic, and so oddly fit the couple, but now that some time had passed, Della decided the one part of the traditional wedding she missed out on and wanted to make up for was the bachelorette party.
I think she was just looking for an excuse to get a very pregnant and very cranky Kody out of the house. As someone who was always in motion, always up to something and involved in everyone else’s business, being slowed down by her big belly and uncontrollable fatigue, as well as hounded by persistent nausea, had Kody ready to climb walls and ready to fight everyone. It was probably a good thing she’d convinced Hill not to quit the Rangers. We all wondered if he would’ve survived if he’d been home for the entire pregnancy. He’d taken leave the last couple of months so he could be there for Kody as her due date got closer and closer, and he’d definitely taken the brunt of her chronic bad mood. There was no doubt Hill loved my sister with every fiber of his being, because I had no doubt any other man would’ve ducked for cover and called a time-out long ago.
“You can’t drink. Kody can’t drink. Why don’t you guys go somewhere else other than a strip club?” His midnight eyebrows lifted questioningly as I blushed when his hands started slipping and sliding over the silky surface of my dress. The simplest touch from him still had heat crawling up my neck and into my cheeks, even though there was no part of my body he hadn’t claimed as his own. I belonged to him, heart, body, and soul, which could be very scary at times. However, he always reminded me that he belonged to me in the same way, and that took some of the fear away.
“The strip club was Kody’s idea. I think she assumed Della would balk and then she wouldn’t have to go.” But Della knew Kody well and called her bluff. So now we were all getting dressed up, heading to dinner, and then going to watch a bunch of oiled-up beefcakes shake their stuff. It wasn’t how I pictured spending the next girl’s night with everyone, but nowadays I was pretty much game for anything. Now that I’d gotten a second chance to live my life, I wasn’t going to do it with any hesitation. I was all about embracing new experiences and adventures. The unknown was no longer my enemy and biggest fear. Shot was the one who taught me that the best way to conquer the things I was most afraid of was by going out and experiencing them for myself. That included my fear of falling in love with him.
Loving Shot didn’t hurt nearly as much as facing the possibility I might not even get the chance to try. It was also less terrifying than thinking I might die having never been able to let him know just how much I cared about him. He was the first man I’d let push me out of my comfort zone, and now that I knew what it felt like to run wild with him, I never wanted to go back to my safe and secure little bubble.
Turning in his arms, I put my hands on his shoulders and lifted up on my toes so I could kiss his chin. The stubble tickled my lips. I