His thumb glides along my jaw as his eyes lock on mine. “If you love someone, you don’t leave.”

  He leans in close, his lips brushing tenderly against mine; a silent invitation. His words wash over me, filling me with hopeful longing as sinful thoughts take hold. I want so badly to kiss him now, to be kissed by him over and over again.

  But our time is over, before it ever really began.

  “Riley,” I whisper hesitantly, foolishly unable to step back myself.

  “I know,” he says, but he doesn’t back off, either. He lingers close, his fingers teasing toward my neck. “I told myself I wouldn’t do this, but then I saw you...” He exhales, his breath warm against my cheek. “Fuck, I can’t stop myself, Tish.”

  Riley crushes his mouth on mine; a kiss hard and deep. For a moment, my back stiffens. I think to push him away, to do what most would consider to be the right thing in this circumstance, but as his lips embrace mine, I give in. I give myself over to the temptation that’s boiled beneath the surface these last few days.

  Just a kiss, I tell myself.

  Just one last kiss.

  His arms curl around my waist, drawing me even closer to him. I cling to his suit jacket, the thrill of his body against mine sparking a deep urge in me.

  Just a kiss, I remind myself.

  Just one last...

  He grips me tighter, the strength of his embrace nearly lifting me off the floor.

  “Riley,” I whisper, sounding more like a moan than the word of warning I meant it to be.

  “I know,” he says, breaking the kiss to catch his breath. “But I can’t...”

  “I can’t, either,” I admit, parting my lips for his tongue. “But we shouldn’t...”

  “Yeah,” he agrees, but doesn’t stop. “We shouldn’t.”

  Just a... no.

  A kiss isn’t enough.

  A kiss could never be enough.

  My body churns with frustration. The need to touch his skin again. The need to feel him inside of me again.

  Just one more time, I tell myself.

  “Just one more time,” I hear myself say aloud, my hands helplessly tugging at his sapphire blue tie.

  “Yeah,” he says, the word so soft between kisses, his hands gripping my sides. “One more time.”

  Then, we’ll be done.

  Then I’ll be ready to move on.

  Then, we⁠—

  “Junior!”

  Richard’s voice echoes through the chapel, quickly followed by a sharp, feminine gasp.

  Riley and I break apart, but it’s far too late. His father stands at the end of the aisle. My mother, too, with a hand pressed against her mouth in shock.

  And about a dozen or so wedding guests, Mika, Lottie, and Brenda among them. Eyes wide and mouths open.

  Ah, crap.

  13

  TISH

  “Tish,” Mom scolds me.

  “Hi,” I say, wiping my mouth as she and Richard approach us quickly, leaving the others hovering awkwardly in the chapel doorway. “We were just⁠—”

  “What the hell are you doing?” Richard snaps, the question pointed at Riley.

  “Nothing,” I say, the word sounding more pathetic than intended.

  “We were kissing,” Riley answers, far more confident than I am.

  “Why were you kissing your sister in a church?!” Richard asks.

  “She’s not my sister.”

  “She’s gonna be!”

  “Well, she’s not yet, and she wasn’t when we met, either.” Riley looks at me, his words and gaze so sure. “Even when she is, I won’t stop loving her.”

  My heart skips a beat.

  He won’t stop… what?

  “Tish.” Mom touches my arm. “What’s going on?”

  “I...” My throat clenches, the words lost amid a murmur of voices at the back of the chapel. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t know how to...”

  “How to what, honey?” she asks, more curious than upset.

  “You were so happy.” I swallow hard. “You finally found someone to share your life with and after everything you’ve done for me, I didn’t want to ruin it by...” I look at Riley. “Remember the other morning? When you busted me for not coming home the night before, even though you didn’t, either?”

  “Yes,” she says with a shrug.

  My eyes stray toward Riley.

  Hers follow. Then she stands an inch taller as she gets it. “Oh.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t know you and his dad were...”

  “No, no,” she says, patting my arm. “It’s okay. I mean, how could you know?”

  “But it’s over,” I say, the words threatening to break me into pieces.

  Mom snorts. “It doesn’t look over, honey.”

  “It is.” I look at Riley again, his visage blurry through the tears building on my lashes. “It has to be. This is your chance to have the normal family you’ve always wanted.”

  “Oh, honey.” Mom moves to stand in front of me and grips my hands in hers. “I don’t care about that!”

  “You don’t?”

  “No! I gave up hope for that a long time ago. And if me having a normal family means you being unhappy, then I really don’t want it.”

  I shake my head. “But⁠—”

  “Meeting somebody, falling in love...” Mom sighs. “That’s a gift, Tish. One that I would never take away from you.”

  “I don’t want to take it from you, either.”

  “Then, don’t.” She squeezes my hands as she smiles. “Do you like him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you love him?”

  My breath held tightly, I glance at Riley again. He looks back, his handsome eyes full of nothing but steady devotion.

  “I don’t know,” I whisper, though the feelings in me are more than sure. “I think so.”

  “That settles it, then,” my mother says, smiling. “We’re both madly in love, and nothing is going to stand in the way of that.” She cups my cheeks. “Okay?”

  “Okay.” I smile back. “You’re not mad?”

  “Nah,” she says. “So, we’ll have some awkward family dinners for a while. Nothing we can’t get over!”

  My heart pounds with happiness.

  Richard, however…

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” he says, still looming over Riley’s shoulder. “They can’t be together, Tanya!”

  My mother glares at him. “Why not?”

  “Because we are getting married,” he argues. “They will be siblings. It’s not right!”

  Her shoulders roll back as she inhales, ready to defend.

  “Dad,” Riley says, stopping her with a word. “You. Me.” He gestures at the space between them. “Middle.”

  Richard arches a brow. “That’s quite the middle, Junior.”

  “I know. But I care about her. You don’t have to like it. All I ask is that you accept⁠—”

  “Okay.” Richard holds up a hand and sighs, hearing his words thrown back at him. “Point taken, son.” Clearly outnumbered, he glances between the three of us and sighs. “It’ll take some getting used to...”

  “Oh, it’ll be just fine.” Mom detaches from me to move closer to Richard. She hooks her arm over his and nuzzles close, her smile wide and infectious. “This whole thing will be a hilarious anecdote before you know it.”

  He eyes her with doubt.

  “Trust me!” She bats her eyelashes. “But if you need more convincing, I’m sure a few days alone with me in the honeymoon suite will be enough to persuade you.”

  I gasp. “Mom.”

  She giggles, happily ignoring me as Richard cracks a smile.

  “All right, Tanya,” he says, his eyes only for her. “Say no more.”

  “Please,” I add.

  “Excuse me,” Reverend Pierce says, approaching us slowly from the entrance. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’ve got an entryway full of wedding guests who keep asking me if this is still happening today.”

  “Our apologies, Reverend,” Mom says. “We just had to have ourselves a little... impromptu family meeting, that’s all.”

  He exhales, relieved. “Good. Then... we’ll be starting on time?”

  My mother looks pointedly at Richard, letting him have the final say. Another quick glance at each of us and Richard stands tall again, his hand wrapping delicately around my mother’s.

  “Yes,” he answers. “Yes, Reverend, we will be.”

  “Good.” The Reverend stands back, his eyes averting rather than look at me and Riley. “Good.”

  Well, if it won’t be a hilarious family anecdote anytime soon, it’ll certainly keep the Small Town gossip mill churning for a while.

  Mom plants a kiss on Richard’s cheek. “I still have to get changed,” she says, turning to me. “Will you help?”

  “Buttons,” I say with a nod. “I’ll be right there.”

  She releases a happy squeal and rushes off, swiftly brushing past the guests lingering in the back.

  “Come on in!” Richard says, waving them in. “Don’t be shy. It’s a wedding, after all!”

  He heads down the aisle to greet his guests, leaving Riley and me standing at the altar alone. We look at each other, only a foot of space between us, the air heavy with unspoken words.

  Riley clears his throat, speaking up first. “I know it’s a dumb Kiss County cliché to drop the L-word like that, but…”

  “No, it...” I blush, my heart full. “I mean, it was a gamble.”

  He nods. “Right.”

  “You had no idea if it would work to convince them or... if I felt the same way.”

  He nods again. “But you do.”

  I press my lips together, but if I could scream if from the rooftops, I would. “I do,” I say.

  Riley takes a step toward me. I place my hands in his, the warmth of his touch tickling up and along my elbows. As the room fills with people, their whispering voices a constant reminder of where we are, I can’t help but wonder if someday we’ll be right back here, standing together in this very spot.

  I hope so.

  Not caring one bit about the room of witnesses, Riley gives me a kiss and smiles. “See you soon,” he says.

  “See you soon,” I repeat as I walk away, heading down the aisle to go help my mother on her wedding day.

  “Tish!”

  Lottie’s sharp tone finds me as I pass the third row. She’s sitting by the aisle with Mika and Brenda by her side, all three of them wide-eyed with shock.

  “Um... hello?” Brenda asks, her little eyes bouncing from me to the hot new bartender and back again.

  Without breaking my stride, I look back at them and say, “That’s how it’s done, girlies.”

  EPILOGUE

  RILEY

  One Year Later

  Iplay my guitar and Tish sings.

  It’s what we’ve done nearly every day for the past year. Covers of our favorite songs at first, but it didn’t take long before we wrote our first original track together. Then another. And another.

  Karaoke nights at Sparks Pub soon became gig nights. They were a chance for the two of us to perform and show our Small Town family what we’ve been working on. We didn’t expect much, of course. We simply enjoyed playing our music and showing off a little before inevitably sneaking off downstairs to my apartment and losing ourselves in each other all over again.

  Then the crowd grew larger. And larger. Until the Small Town buzz bled up the highway, somehow reaching Big City ears. Before we knew it, people were traveling down to Sparks Pub on gig night just to hear what all the fuss was about.

  Now, tonight, exactly a year to the day since we met, I look out at the packed-to-capacity crowd at Sparks Pub, and I wonder… how the hell we ended up here.

  How the hell did spending a blissful night with a beautiful stranger lead to this?

  I look at Tish now, my heart bleeding with love and devotion, as I strum my guitar. She coos into the microphone, her voice echoing throughout the bar as she holds a high note for an impressive amount of time. The crowd erupts with applause, none louder than Tanya in the front row, her happy screams loud and proud. Beside her, my father claps with a grin, never quite matching her enthusiasm, but I challenge anyone to match my stepmother’s hype.

  “You two were so good!” Tanya says after our set. She throws her arms around Tish’s neck and squeezes. “As always, I mean!”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Tish says, her voice smothered against her mother’s shoulder.

  “Thanks for coming out,” I say to my father.

  A year ago, I never would have convinced him to set foot in a place like this. That’s changed, however. After a year of living in Small Town, of lawfully wedded bliss, my father has become a very different man.

  A happy man.

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” he says, patting me on the shoulder as he scans the packed bar. “You two draw quite the crowd nowadays.”

  “We do,” I say, unable to believe it as I glance around.

  “I’m proud of you, son.”

  To that, I have no reply. I simply smile, bowing my head in gratitude as Tish discreetly and lovingly squeezes my hand.

  “Excuse me?”

  We look over, meeting eyes with a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and an expensive leather jacket.

  “Do you two have a moment?” she asks as she extends her hand. “I’m Charisma Conrad.”

  Tish shakes it first. “I’m Tish,” she says. “And this is Riley.”

  “Oh, I know exactly who you are,” Ms. Conrad says, chuckling. “So does everyone in this bar.”

  She offers me her hand next. This time, she subtly drops a business card into my palm. I take a moment to skim it, my eyes blinking twice as I see the familiar cupid logo printed on the front of it.

  “I work for Cupid’s Corner Bar in Big City,” she says. “And the two of you are exactly the type of entertainment we look for.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tish says, her breath ceasing the moment the word Cupid hit her ears. “What did you say?”

  Ms. Conrad laughs. “Oh, you’re adorable, too!” she says. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  We spend the next hour chatting with Ms. Conrad, listening to her pitch. Three gigs over the next three weekends. Paid, of course. If we’re a hit, as Ms. Conrad suspects, then we’ll negotiate more shows.

  “Of course they’ll be a hit!” Tanya says from the next table over, having eavesdropped on the entire thing. “My children are the most talented musicians in Kiss County!”

  “Tanya, please,” Dad says next to her, unable to hold her back. “Let them discuss it in peace...”

  “Your children?” Ms. Conrad asks. “I’m sorry. I thought you two were a couple.”

  Before we can explain, Tanya says, “They are! She’s my daughter, he’s his son.” She giggles. “Step-siblings, am I right?”

  Tish’s cheeks darken. “Mom.”

  But Ms. Conrad waves a hand. “Hey, I’m not here to judge,” she says, amused. “It’s Kiss County!”

  Shortly after, the moments a blur, we agree to those three shows over the next three weekends. We say goodnight to Ms. Conrad, offering her every word of gratitude in the world. Our parents congratulate us again and we wish them a happy anniversary, their one-year celebration not three days away.

  Which makes tonight our one-year celebration.

  I count down every blurred moment, waiting for when I can finally get her alone.

  “Oh, my god, Riley!” Tish leaps into my embrace the second we step outside into the alleyway behind Sparks Pub. “Oh, my god! Oh, my god!”

  I hug her close and kiss her hard, remembering her words from a year ago. Her Big City dreams. Her longing to stand on the stage at Cupid’s Corner Bar. It’s all coming true.

  But there’s one more dream that still needs to come true tonight.

  I scoop her up into my arms. Her laughter echoes through the alleyway as I carry her down the stairs to my apartment door.

  Inside, I lay her down on the bed and undress her slowly, kissing every piece of exposed skin until she’s writhing beneath me, begging me to be inside of her.

  “Riley,” Tish whispers, her knees open around me. She strokes me, my cock already impossibly hard. “I need you.”

  I enter her raw, the two of us long past barrier methods. Groaning with each thrust, I bury my face in her shoulder, feeling her nails dig into my back as I fuck her.

  Fuck, I love this woman.

  I’ve loved her since the moment I saw her. Since the moment she stepped up onto that stage upstairs and sang a single note, I had to have her. And then, here, when we sang together for the first time... I knew she was the one.

  After everything we’ve been through this past year, I’d be a fool to let her go now.

  With our bodies entwined and hearts in-sync, we come together. Her first, of course, but once her body starts quivering, and she moans my name in that perfect way, it’s impossible to hold on. I come hard, my cock buried so deep. Tish keeps her legs curled around me, holding my body against hers as she kisses me sweetly.

  “Riley,” she whispers. “I need you.”

  I chuckle. “Again?”

  “Again.” A deep kiss, her hands reaching around to grab my ass as she rolls her hips. “All night...”

  She squeezes me from the inside and I shudder, my cock so damn sensitive. Too sensitive. I shift my hips back, pulling out of her, prompting a disappointed groan from her.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I say, guiding her legs off my shoulders. “Men gotta rest a bit in-between, you know.”

  Tish giggles as I slide off the bed. “Oh, I guess I can wait...”

  “Want a drink?”

  “Yes, please.”

  As I escape into the kitchenette, I peek at her over my shoulder. Tish pinches the bedsheet and rolls onto her side. The sheet clings to her body as she moves, highlighting the curve of her hips. One leg pokes out the bottom, her calf exposed to the cool air.

  For a moment, I simply stand and watch. A perfect sight, for sure. She rests her head against the pillow and closes her eyes. Her chest rises and falls with her breath. A man could get used to this view.