Page 22 of Wild Heart

When he closed the door and offered a smile and a wave, something broke inside me. I kept a hold on my emotions, waved back, and got myself out of there as fast as I could.

And that night was the first night since the night I’d ruined everything that I didn’t get a wink of sleep.

5

TATE

“You look conflicted.”

I’d just barely had a moment to register the feel of my brother’s hand on my shoulder before he leaned in and pointed out my predicament.

“Is it that obvious?”

After what happened last week when my brothers and I went to the lake house with Wyatt, I’d stopped being surprised by Liam’s ability to observe what was going on around him.

Whether other people might have known what was going through my head or not, I didn’t doubt Liam knew what was weighing on my mind. I wasn’t doing anything to hide what had captured my interest from the start of the wedding festivities.

Liam removed his hand from my shoulder, stood beside me, and countered, “What’s the dilemma? From where I’m standing, it appears you’re terrified she might disappear if you look away.”

He wasn’t entirely wrong about that.

Wyatt and Rhea had chosen to have the wedding ceremony on Rhea’s family farm. Or, technically, I guess they’d gotten married on the Westwood campus.

As it turned out, they’d decided to say their vows to one another on the piece of land that brought them together. It hadstarted as part of her family’s farm, and in a deal brokered between her father and ours, it wound up being Westwood’s in the end.

And from the moment I stood up with Cooper and Liam beside Wyatt on the most important day of his life, I’d been stealing glances at Ava. She had been sitting in the same row as my parents, sandwiched between my mom and Skye.

Our eyes had locked on one another several times throughout the ceremony, and while I knew what was going through my mind, I couldn’t quite get a read on Ava. She wasn’t the same as she used to be—something for which I had only myself to blame.

The Ava I used to know would have been sending flirty looks my way the entire time. The Ava I saw this afternoon matched the one from the rehearsal dinner last night. She was unsure, unglued, and uncomfortable around me.

I wanted to kick myself for doing this to her. So much of her spirit was still intact whenever she was interacting with others, but when it came to me, it was gone.

I’d done that.

I’d destroyed the relationship we used to have.

And it had been killing me ever since.

Now that we were at The Westwood Hotel, where Wyatt and Rhea had held the reception, I was no longer stealing glances at Ava. The truth was that I hadn’t taken my eyes off her.

Her light brown hair with its heavy blonde highlights that typically fell just an inch or two past her collarbone was pulled up in an elegant twist, leaving her slender neck and delicate jaw fully visible. Her features—everything from her eyes and her lips to her nose and her cheeks—could all be described as soft and attractive. Pretty. She was so pretty. And her body? It was currently covered by a full-length gown, but the bodice of the dress fit her snug and showed off her fit form. I already knew thelegs and ass beneath the skirt of the dress were sexy and toned, the result of years of dance.

I continued to keep my focus on her as I inhaled deeply with my hands shoved in the pocket of my pants. “I thought I knew how much I missed her.”

Liam huffed. If anyone could understand that predicament, it was him. “And yet, you’re still standing here.”

Nodding slowly, I confessed, “It’s hitting me hard, man. I thought I knew, and I’m realizing I didn’t have a clue how much not having her in my life, not even her texts or calls, for more than a year impacted me. There’s so much tension between the two of us, and somehow, I feel like I can breathe easier just knowing she’s this close again.”

Liam’s voice was slightly downtrodden when he returned, “I can only imagine how that must feel.” A beat later, he asked, “Have you spoken to her? I noticed there wasn’t much conversation between the two of you last night.”

I probably should have directed my attention to my brother, but I was transfixed by Ava. She was on the dance floor, and she looked like she was having the time of her life. Then again, any time Ava was dancing, she was in another element. It was like something else took over her as she got lost in the music and movements of her body.

“We spoke briefly,” I admitted. “I walked her to her car.”

“And?”

“And we agreed to put our differences aside today for the sake of Wyatt and Rhea.”