From Hate Flourishes Love (Editing)

The Honeymoon

🅚🅐🅘

The reception is winding down, and I'm doing my best not to fall asleep on my feet. Who knew a wedding could be this thrilling?

As the last guest slips out for the night, I allow the smile fixed to my face to fade. Zander watches me closely, as he'd known all along I was counting the minutes until this moment.

I glance around the room and spot my dad pacing near the wall, his nerves on full display. Zander's family hovered nearby, doing their best to reassure him about my marrying into the Storm family.

Kai Storm.

The name felt heavy on my tongue every time I tried to say it out loud. I'd wanted to keep my surname—or at least hyphenate—but Mr. Storm had been adamant. A Storm took the Storm name. No exceptions.

From the way Zander interacted with his father, it was clear Mr. Storm expected a lot from his son. Lately, I was starting to realize those expectations extended to me as well. His wife expressed her excitement about my joining the family through frequent phone calls and surprise shopping trips. Mr. Storm, on the other hand, sent weekly emails—brief, pointed messages outlining the business, the key partners I needed to recognize, and even which business classes I should be enrolling in.

Welcome to the family, indeed.

I'm not sure I'll be able to live up to the Storm family's expectations.

"Kai, it's official, welcome to the family," Mr.Storm says, engulfing me in an awkward embrace.

"Thank you," I try my best to sound absolutely overjoyed at the idea.

I catch sight of my dad watching us from across the room. I let out a quiet sigh—he's clearly keeping his distance. Probably for the best. I didn't need him saying anything to ruin this unlikely union.

Putting thoughts of my dad aside, I finally allow myself to feel the relief of the day winding down. My legs ached from standing all afternoon, and I practically floated toward freedom, a small, happy dance in my step.

I scan the crowd for Zander and spot him at the back, a glass of champagne in hand, deliberately avoiding his parents' eyes. His posture was tense, guarded—this was clearly not the happiest day of his life.

Still, he was my ride home whether he liked it or not. Ignoring the soreness in my feet, I walked toward him, my heart catching in a familiar, quiet way as I closed the distance.

"Zander?" I call, not more than five feet from him. He turns, eyebrows raised, a small, knowing smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes?" he answers.

I force a pleasant smile of my own. "Can we go now? I'm... feeling a bit tired."

Zander shakes his head, amusement glinting in his eyes. "We're not going home, Kai."

"Then where are we going?" I ask him, confused.

He leans closer, voice teasing. "You do know what happens after a wedding, right?"

Too exhausted to piece together my overworked brain, I manage only a weak, "No."

Before he could tease me further, his mother swept up beside us. "Zander, don't keep Kai up all night. He looks awfully tired," she winks at me. "You'll have plenty of time on your honeymoon to... get busy."

"Honeymoon?" I question —the idea of one hadn't even crossed my mind.

"Zander, please be gentle with Kai," Sam giggles, peeking out from behind Mrs. Storm. "He's very... naive when it comes to these things."