Faithful

At the sight of that one tear, my legs just about buckled underneath my body. “Josh…”

When I reached up and wiped his tear away, he took my hand and kissed my wrist.

As I glanced to the side, I could see Victoria walking up to us.

“Josh, your mom wants you to cut the cake now,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

I glared at her, and she removed it as quickly as she could.

He never took his eyes off of me. “Thanks, Tori. I’ll be there in a minute.” He took my hand, leading us over to the table where his parents were standing. “Tonight, we’re going for that drive,” he said with a wink.

Elizabeth and Greg talked about the accident for a few minutes before a

Is this really happening? It feels like I’m falling in love with him all over again! It’s almost like a do-over.

After blowing out the candles, Josh leaned down and whispered in my ear, “I’ll be right back, baby.” He walked over to talk with Jack for a bit.

“So, Jeff and Ari took off, huh?” Gu

“Yep! As soon as Jeff heard Ari was pregnant, that was all she wrote,” Ellie said with a laugh.

I looked up only to see Victoria heading our way. Fuck. Can she please just go away?

She looked like she was making a beeline right toward Gu

Oh hell.

Smitty stopped her and started talking to her.

God, I love that guy.

Jack asked for everyone’s attention, so we all turned to face him. When I looked, I saw Josh walking straight to me with a big smile on his face.

“The birthday boy would like to have this dance with his girl,” Jack said.

Oh. My. God. Could he be any more perfect?

Lifehouse’s “You and Me” began playing as Josh took my hands and brought me out to the dance floor. I glanced over at Elizabeth and Greg, and they were both smiling.

Josh pulled me in close to him just as the lyrics started. My heart was beating so hard that I was sure he could hear it. When he started singing the chorus to me, I melted on the spot. I buried my face in his chest as I tried to catch my breath.

God, please don’t let this be a dream.

“I love you, Heather. I’ll never stop loving you. My love for you is infinite.”

I looked up at him and smiled. Tears were ru

“I love you so much, Josh. There’s something I have to tell you—”

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to see Victoria standing there.

“Mind if I cut in?”

Oh no, she didn’t!

I glanced over to Ellie. She had her hands on her hips, mouthing, No, to me. When I turned back to Victoria, she wasn’t even looking at me. She was staring at Josh. I quickly looked at Josh, and he had his eyes on me.

“Yes, actually, I do mind, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish dancing with my boyfriend.”

She snapped her head to me before looking to Josh. “Josh, I’m leaving soon. I thought we could have just one dance together for old times’ sake,” she said, putting her hand on his arm.

Josh pulled his eyes away from me and looked down at her.

She smiled. “Listen, Heather, I just want—”

Taking a step closer to her, I got in her face. “No, you listen. I’ve been patient with your ass, but now, I’m just go

She smirked. “What’s that?”

Just as Miranda Lambert’s “Only Prettier” started to play, I smiled. Looking right into her eyes, I said, “Fuck off, Tori!”

Victoria’s face dropped.

“Now, if you’ll excuse us, my man is go

Josh started laughing and grabbed me as we took off two-stepping. My whole face felt like it was on fire, and my heart was pounding so hard.

“Jesus H. Christ, Heather. Why do I get the feeling, baby, that you don’t say the word fuck too often?”

My hands were shaking, so I grabbed on to him tighter. I looked at him and started laughing. “I reached deep inside and pulled out my i

He threw his head back and laughed as he pulled me in closer. The closer he pulled me into him, the more I felt his hard-on.

I looked up at him and raised my eyebrows.

He smiled that damn smile at me and winked. “I fucking love two-steppin’, but I think we need to find a way to leave!”

“I agree,” I said.

I glanced over at Gu

I have a really bad feeling we haven’t seen or heard the last from Victoria.

Every time I tried to sneak away with Heather, we’d get stopped by someone. I was begi

She was standing near the door, talking to my mother and Ellie, and I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her. She must have felt me staring because she looked over at me. The blush that crept up on her cheeks turned me on so fucking much. I smiled, knowing she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

“She’s a very beautiful girl,” my father said from behind me. “Inside and out.”

I let out a small laugh. “I wish I knew more about her, Dad. I want to know everything about her,” I said as I turned to him.

“Take your time, son. It’ll come back. You seem to be getting bits and pieces, so just let it come back on its own.”

“I know, Dad. I’m trying not to push it, but…”

Just then, Heather glanced back over at me, and my heart started pounding.

I looked at my dad. “Dad, did I love her this much? I mean…am I just feeling what I felt before? Or is this all new? I feel like I can’t breathe without her near me. Can you really fall in love with someone so damn fast?”

My dad cleared his throat and smiled at me. “Josh, when you came to your mother and me and told us you were pla

“I said all that, huh?” I asked with a shit-eating grin on my face.

He let out laugh and grabbed me by my shoulder. “Yep, you must have gotten that from Gu

When we both laughed, Heather glanced over again.

“Don’t rush it. I know how much you want to be with her, and it’s not like y’all haven’t been together before. I just don’t want you rushing into this.”

“Oh god. Really, Dad? You’re go

My dad laughed and shook his head. “No, I’m not go

Make it special. How the fuck am I going to make it special?

I looked around for Gu