“You won’t. Now come here and give me a kiss before I leave you to get all suited up.”

I didn’t have to tell him twice. He set down both the sword and the water bottle and then put his hands on my waist to pull me against him. Our mouths met in a long, passionate kiss, and a group of our closest friends found us right in the middle of that steamy kiss, where I’d locked my arms around him to keep his lips on mine.

To his credit, William kept kissing me even though they stood there, and even after someone cleared their throat loudly. We finally pulled apart when a wolf whistle interrupted us. I looked up and there were our friends all around us.

“Who could say ‘no’ to a good luck kiss like that?” Jordan said with a cocky grin. William did not look amused and Jordan clued into his obvious annoyance. “If it hadn’t been for my advice—”

“Your advice is shit,” both William and Adam said at almost the exact same time. April immediately doubled over laughing while Jordan’s smile slid right off his face.

Eyes gradually turned toward me and Mia asked a question with her eyes. I studiously avoided her gaze. Alex handed me a cup of coffee in an insulated cup and I thanked her.

Then we all turned to look at the man of the hour.

And if all went well in the next little while, the man of the day, of the week. Of my future…

 

 

Chapter 32

William

So it all comes down to this.

Months of training, to include fitness activities and specialized exercises to build stamina. Refining my fighting style and customizing my armor. Weeks of working with Jenna—not that I minded that in any way.

But for all my pre-fighting focus, I’m upset that she came to watch me warm up. Because now all I can think of is her, and all I want to do is look at her. Our friends are all around us now, wishing me luck. My mind is distracted from the fight, and that’s bothering me.

My cousin stands at my shoulder and puts a hand there. I turn to him as he speaks. “Hey, guy. You okay? You’re looking…intense.”

I look around again, trying to keep my eyes away from Jenna, though they are pulled to her bright blonde head like a magnet. “This isn’t how I normally warm up, with all these people around.”

He nods. “Right. I’ll see if I can clear them out for you,” he says quietly.

A few minutes afterward, he suggests that they all go claim a section in the bleachers and save seats for the others who are coming to support me, including my dad and Kim. Jenna goes with them, but not before giving me another kiss on the cheek. “I’d say good luck, but you don’t need luck. You’ve got this.”

I smile and watch her as she goes, not realizing that Adam and Mia have lingered behind. Mia steps forward and gives me a hug. “Just wanted to get mine in real quick. I’ll leave Adam to help you warm up.” Adam has offered to be my squire today, and I’ve accepted that offer.

“Okay. Thank you.” I briefly return her hug. As she turns to go, I say to Adam, loudly, so that she’ll hear, “Adam, you can tell Mia later what date you’ve decided on for your wedding.”

Mia comes to an abrupt halt and spins around to look at me. Her mouth and eyes are round. Adam’s dark eyebrows scoot up his forehead. “That’s, uh, great news,” he says, and then one of his sly grins creeps across his face. He and Mia exchange a look, but I have no clue as to its meaning.

“I love winning,” he mutters. Mia’s eyes roll up toward the sky and she lets out a big sigh. Then she turns around and stomps away while Adam watches her, laughing loudly.

I’m smiling when Adam looks at me. “I’m the one who won, dickhead. You’re just benefitting.”

Adam’s eyes narrow and he grabs one of my spare swords. “I’m here to help you warm up. Don’t make me use this for real.”

I bring my sword up to meet his, Jenna’s red ribbon fluttering in the breeze below the cross guard. “Just don’t be an idiot and waste this chance,” I tell him. “You need to marry her as soon as possible.”

Adam gets that sneaky look on his face again. “So you sacrificed for the greater good?”

I swing and our swords clash against each other. The morning sun glints off his blade. “It wasn’t a sacrifice.”

Another swing, another crash. “I was being sarcastic.”

“All wasted on me.” I bring my sword around in a series of moves meant to throw him off his guard.

“Easy, tiger,” he says after the onslaught. “I don’t have armor on.”

“I’m not going to hurt your pretty face. You still need to look good for wedding pictures.”

He laughed. “It’s important to you that we get married, huh?”

“You almost lost each other once. That should not happen again. So don’t squander the opportunity.”

“But you said deciding our wedding date on a bet was dumb.”

“It is dumb, but you might as well take advantage of it since you won.”

We continue to warm up without saying anything further about the wedding. Twenty minutes later, he begins helping me strap on my full suit of plate mail, draping my black and silver tabard over the breastplate. Then he carries my swords, shield and buckler to the arena.

When we get there, the bleachers are full, not only with people from our clan but from other clans who are attending the Summer Festival. There are also those who’ve come ahead of time with the Renaissance Faire, which starts up as soon as the Beltane Festival is over. In addition, there are many dressed in modern clothes, indicating they are here as visitors, some of which are in my “cheering section.”

The minute I see the crowd, my heartbeat starts to race, my blood chilling in my veins. My mind starts to go down that same thorny path that it always travels in situations like these.

I try one of Jenna’s Jedi mind tricks—a little controlled breathing. But the breathing is only making it hotter inside my helmet, even with the visor up. The crowd is yelling and cheering and stomping, and Doug is over there encouraging them by raising his sword in the air and walking back and forth in front of them.

He stops in front of Jenna, who is sitting in the front row, and I freeze. He’s obviously trying to get her attention, but she folds her arms and looks away.

Taking a deep breath, I’m suddenly regretful that she didn’t accept the deal he offered her last night. It would be a certainty that she’d get her tiara back, had she accepted.