Ava knows who Jimmy O'Brien is - her first love and soulmate. Forced to spend time apart, Ava and Jim deal with their trust issues and insecurities.
When the lovers finally reunite and resolve to fight for each other, their fragile happiness is put...
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July
After I proposed to Ava in December, we made two important decisions. One, our wedding planning would be stress-free, and two, we'd spend our special day only with the people we wanted to share it with.
No paps. No staged pictures and exclusive magazine articles. After everything we'd been through, we developed a love-hate relationship with fame. Ava's eyes lit up every time a reader wanted to talk to her about her books, and even now, with two bestsellers under her belt, she still found it hard to believe so many people loved what she wrote. The recognition our work got was well-received and appreciated by both of us, but meddling in our lives was where we drew the line.
Some things were better kept private. She'd become my wife in under an hour, and every minute of this day belonged to us.
"You look way better than I did on my wedding day," Dad said, deep laughter rumbling in his chest. "Looking back, I don't even know how the hell I convinced Aria to marry me."
I sprayed the cologne Ava loved on the back of my neck. "Having your kid might've helped her decide."
Dad smirked, leaning against the desk in my hotel room. "Sure did. Made me mature faster, that's for sure. Nervous?"
"No."
Impatient to see Ava in her wedding dress? Sure. Desperate to lock us in our bridal suite? No doubt about that. But we both wanted the same thing - a family together, even though we'd been that to each other for a while. There were no nerves, only anticipation.
"It feels surreal that one son of mine is already a dad, and the other one is getting married while I keep lying to myself that I'm still young."
"You are still young," I said at the same time the door opened, and Brian walked into the room with Iris in his arms.
"I think she misses her uncle," he said. "Want to hold her?"
He handed Iris to me. She was too busy sucking her thumb to focus on the three of us.
"You just wanted to have your hands free, little fucker," I said to my brother.
Brian gave me a sheepish grin. "That, too. Are you done getting pretty? The guys are making sure the bar downstairs runs out of booze."
Aiden and Liam flew to the wedding from Paris. Since Aiden knew my bandmates well, I didn't need to spend time on introductions. The rest of the guests must've been in the garden already, getting impatient.
I rubbed my nose over the top of Iris's head and planted a smooch on her soft cheek before handing her to Dad. She squirmed, grimacing. I knew it was because her tiny feet itched to start walking. She'd turn one in a couple months, after all.
