Page 76 of Keeping Kara

“I’ll dance with you anywhere. In fact, I’m adding that to our wish list. After we commit ourselves to one another in that field in Maine, I’m definitely dancing with you.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“As you should. Come on, let’s go visit the bartender and see what fun frou-frou drink you might like to start with.”

Chaos kept his eye on Kara throughout the rest of the night. She seemed to be having the time of her life, and he loved seeing it, especially whenever thoughts of what she’d been through flashed through his head.

This was the woman she was meant to be, not the scared, traumatized person he’d met clinging to that tree and huddling in the Asheville forest.

Laryn and Penny were beautiful, literally glowing with happiness as they celebrated marrying their soul mates. And Casper and Pyro looked just as proud, not wanting to be away from their wives for more than a few minutes at a time.

And when Pyro danced with Bowie, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. The little girl had been showing off the bracelet her daddy had given her during the ceremony at the courthouse. It had her new initials of BBM on it in Braille, so she could “read” it whenever she wanted. She’d decided to keep Burns as her middle name and take Mullins as her last name. Chaos had rarely seen his teammate look so happy. So content.

Mandy and Zita flitted around the space with their cell phones, recording everyone giving the couples good wishes. They were going to edit all of them together to make a remembrance video for their newly married friends.

Jen ended up attending solo, and it was almost painful how awkward things seemed between her and Edge. That was the only downer to the evening, as far as Chaos was concerned. When Jen wasn’t looking, Edge stared at her with longing, and when Edge wasn’t looking, Jen’s gaze was more often than not drawn to him as well.

Her new guy had planned on attending, but apparently there’d been some emergency at one of the houses he was building, which he was forced to deal with. Chaos overheard the girls giving her shit, asking if Asher really existed. Jen just laughed and said of course he did, and joked that she’d try to remember to take a selfie the next time they went on a date to prove it.

Jen left before everyone else, since she had training with Fred in the morning, and slowly but surely the other guests began to head out as well. Pretty soon, the only people left were the close-knit Night Stalker teammates and their loved ones. Bowie was sound asleep in the back office on a small couch, and the couples were slow-dancing on the makeshift dance floor. Tables and chairs had been pushed back to clear a space, and the music was playing through the bar’s speakers, as it had been most of the night.

There hadn’t been a cake or official toasts. No bridesmaids or groomsmen, just a bunch of friends hanging out and celebrating two couples officially tying their lives together. As much as Chaos looked forward to the low-key celebration he and Kara had officially unofficially planned earlier that night, he had to admit, this was pretty darn perfect.

As he danced around the small area with Kara in his arms, Chaos’s thoughts inevitably turned to what was to come when they returned home. Every brush of her body against his set his blood aflame. He didn’t even try to control his erection anymore, going so far as to push his hips against hers even harder as they swayed back and forth.

She smiled at him. Her pupils were dilated, and she was shuffling more than she was actually dancing, but with his arms around her, she was in no danger of falling anytime soon. “Is that for me?” she asked coyly, pressing her hips against his in return.

“You see anyone else in my arms right about now?” he teased.

Kara glanced around exaggeratedly, as if looking to see who he might be talking about, then giggled as she met his gaze once more. “I had an amazing time tonight.”

“Me too.”

“Laryn and Penny were gorgeous.”

“Yup.”

“So were Mandy and Zita. Everyone is so happy.”

Chaos nodded.

“Jen looked good too. Don’t you think?”

“Of course.”

“She’s very self-conscious about her wigs and her hair. She hates that she doesn’t have any eyebrows. Did you know how important nose hair is? I didn’t, until she complained about not having any. I mean, the little hairs catch the dust and stuff in the air, so it doesn’t get into your lungs. It’s how boogers are made. She doesn’t have boogers! How weird is that?”

Chaos couldn’t help but laugh. “That is weird. And she has no reason to be self-conscious. She’s beautiful, hair or no hair.”

“That’s what we all told her!” Kara exclaimed. “Do you think Edge thinks so too?”

“Not going there, sweetheart,” he warned. “Love my friends, but I draw the line at interfering in their love lives.”

Kara pouted. “But they like each other.”

“And she basically has a boyfriend now.”

“One none of us have even met. How can I decide if he’s good enough for her if he won’t take the time to meet any of us? That’s a strike against him from the get-go.”