A Love Song for Always - Piper Lawson Page 0,27

before he can stop the reaction.

I reach for Finn's shirt with my good hand. “You thirsty? Let me help.”

I shove him backward into the pool.

I’m pulling on a fresh shirt for dinner from the ones already hanging in the closet when I hear Annie’s yelp from the other room. I sprint out to see her bent double over one of the huge trunks.

“That was not here before,” she mutters.

“The staff brought them from the plane. I’ll have them moved.”

She lifts the lid, revealing more merchandise. “You have to sign all of it this week?”

“No,” I say firmly. “The label didn’t tell me they were sending it. It’ll keep.”

Annie rounds it and heads for me, still in her white towel, her hair dripping over her shoulders. Her cheeks are flushed from the shower.

Fuck, she’s beautiful.

Her lips twitch. “You threw Finn in the pool.”

I press a finger to her mouth, wincing. “Please don’t say his name right now.”

“You invited him.”

“I didn’t…” I groan because it’s still my fault he’s here. “I don’t know how I ended up with that asshole sharing our island the week of my wedding.”

“Easy,” she murmurs. “My dad asked you to be part of a deal, and without consulting your future wife, you said yes. Through an unfortunate series of events, you invited my ex-mentor to our wedding.”

It doesn’t feel any better when she says it, and I curse as I pull her hips against mine. “Nothing ever happened between you?”

She arches a brow. “I told you it didn’t.”

“Tell me again,” I whisper. The words are a demand, but my tone is desperate.

“I’m not feeding your ego.” But her gaze drops to where my shirt hangs open, and her finger traces the lines of my pecs.

“It’s not ego, Six. There’s no pride between us.”

“Good. What about jealousy?”

Every nerve ending tingles when she touches me, and I lick my lips. “Maybe a little.”

She threads her fingers in my hair. “Remember when it was blue?”

I grin. “Yeah.”

Annie’s shoulders rise, then fall, with a heavy breath. “I liked it blue.”

I get the sense she’s not only talking about my hair. That she’s remembering how things used to be.

Which is its own kind of fucked because they weren’t simpler when we were friends fighting our attraction, our connection. They sure as hell weren’t simpler when we were starting a relationship behind her dad’s back.

Were they?

“I love you,” I say. “More than anything. You know that.”

Her tiny hesitation is a blip, the smallest slice of time, but it breaks my chest open.

To cover it up, I drag her against me. My lips claim hers, still warm from her shower and tasting of the sweetness of whatever she drank.

What starts off simple turns into something layered and complete in an instant, like a liquor with a million flavors right beneath the surface.

Annie’s gorgeous and raw, kind and edgy, and above all… mine. My best friend, my fiancée, soon my wife.

No matter what Finn says.

I won’t lose her. But my grip tightens as if I need to prove it.

“Let’s skip dinner,” I whisper against her lips.

“But our friends and family…”

“They’ll be fine.”

She’s already pulling back, and I swallow the groan of protest as she glances toward the open doors at the back of the villa. Annie steps away, and I’d give a million fucking dollars for her to walk back here and let me make her come against the wall.

I want her. Not only physically, but that feels like the easiest starting point to fix whatever’s gone wrong between us.

I follow her out onto our private patio. Lush green trees sway in the breeze, and Annie reknots the towel tighter around her breasts as she peers up into them.

“What is it?” I ask.

Little noises come from the trees—peeps and tweets. Annie circles the tree, craning her neck before her eyes go wide with delight.

“Look!” She points.

I stand behind her, following her directions to see a bright-orange bird hiding amongst the leaves.

“Beautiful,” she murmurs. “I wonder what kind it is.”

I wrap my arms around her from behind. “A cockblocker.”

Her laugh tears out of her, and the bird, startled, flies away.

She stares out at the water, the sun hovering over the horizon. “I’ve never been as excited for a rehearsal as I am for this one. I want to watch the sun go down on the last day before we’re married. I want to look at the sky, the stars, for that moment when the world stops and everything is right. And I want to do it