Hello, Sweetheart

C H A P T E R 25

I'm sitting on Rhea's bed the next day; I check the time which says 5:08 pm. I watch Rhea pace the room back and forth deciding which wine for her wedding will be the perfect match for her fairytale wedding. 

I flip through pages of the black and white notebook and drag my finger across the different wine flavors we tasted and look back at the small line of shot glasses that contain the alcohol.

She turns and takes a quick swig of the wine that has the label Syrah red wine. "Maybe this is the right one..." she takes a sip of a different one by the name Sauvignon Blanc white wine, which is what I recognize from my mother's wine cabinet she brought back from France. 

I watch her and take a sip of the wine she offers me in the glass. "I think this one is great! It tastes really good...!" I swallow the liquid, letting it burn just the slightest bit in the back of my throat.

"I'm not sure..., I mean this could be the one but there could be another one Lacey..." she takes one more sip of a wine called Zinfandel which is also quite similar from the Syrah red wine just a bit. I watch her put her red lips to the rim of the glass and sets it back down. 

There's a faint knock at the door and I watch Rhea walk to the door and open it. "Oh god, its you...What do you want Keaton?" she rolls her eyes and leans against the doorframe, clearly tired of his appearance. 

"I just thought to see if Lacey was in here...she wasn't in her bedroom and I was just making sure she was somewhere." his icy blue eyes look into mine, only the waterline of his eyes is red, but his eyes aren't puffy like normally. 

"Shes finee!! Now, please me and her would discussing some important decisions and you rudely interrupted...now I know you love your little girlfriend Lacey but she mine, goodbye Keatonnn!!" she closes the door in his face, and I feel my cheeks turn red just from being called his "girlfriend" which technically I am.

To them at least.

Rhea turns to face me and takes another drink of the Syrah wine. Just from how many times she poured that red wine in the shot glass in a short amount of time, I think she chose the one but doesn't want to admit it knowing there could be other options.

"I think you may of chose the right wine Rhea..." I watch her take another swig of the liquid. 

"Pardon?" She looks at me confused, taking another sip. 

"The wine?" I get up and grab the dark ruby red bottle and offer it to her. "You poured this at least 5 times into that same shot glass." I laugh and she looks at the glass and then the bottle, slowly taking it.

"Oh, my days, Lacey you are right!!" She hugs me closely and wraps her arms around my shoulders and quickly kisses my cheek with appreciation. "I'm forever thankful that Keaton brought you back home, you solved so many of my problems." I watch her eyes swell with tears. 

I laugh and hug her once more and she starts crying in between her laughs and wipes the tears away with the heels of her hands. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to start crying on you, I'm just really overwhelmed with this wedding situation and everything." 

"There's no need to be overwhelmed Ri..." I take her hand in mine and let her sit on the bed next to me. "Listen, you're going to be marrying the most respectful man by the name Callum Maxwell, he will make you so, so happy Rhea, like beyond happy." I laugh and hold her hand a bit longer. "Don't overwhelm yourself, you have Callum,me,Keaton and your mother holding your hand the entire time."

She nods and lays her head in my lap, and I run my fingers through her silky dark brown hair, her tan skin glistens with the faint sunlight that snuck in through the windows. 

"Now, enough of the depressing moments, how about we turn some music on and finish the rest of these wines." I look down at her and she smirks and runs to the different wine bottles set in a row.

I press a button on the radio where "Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo" comes on with a bit of static but starts playing more clearly. She grabs her favorite wine bottle that she's been drinking for the past minutes and turns the music up louder while dancing on the bed, jumping up and down laughing.

I grab the Cabernet Sauvignon, careful not to spill it while taking a swig of the liquid ever few minutes while dancing on the floor, running my fingers through my hair with the free hand that isn't holding the dark red bottle. 

I take a few more sips and already feel the tipsy feeling tingle throughout my body, Rhea wraps a feather scarf around my neck and her own and continue dancing to the next song that comes on the radio. 

~~~ 

After a few more hours we're clearly drunk and half of the wine bottles are finished and tipped over on the dresser, just a small dot of red wine on the dark brown oak wood of the dresser. 

We hear a knock on the door, and I giggle and open it, facing Keaton who's in a straight black suit and matching tie and white cuffs at his wrist. "8 pm and dancing drunk, oh how you two have grown up." he laughs, and I smile.

I haven't heard his laugh in such a long time it almost feels like a decade, I want to continue playing it on repeat, do something funny so I can hear it again.

I grab him by the tie to dance and he smiles, closing the door behind him, Rhea squeals with laughter when "Sway by Michael Bublé" comes on. Before I know it me and Keaton are dancing to the music with his hands on my hips and swaying them back and forth so it matches with the music. 

I look over at Rhea and see her pretend dancing with a bottle of wine and can't help but laugh but get caught off by Keaton twirling me as fast as he possibly can. We go back to swaying our hips back and forth with his warm hand on my waist. 

He takes a sip of the wine that's still a bit full on the dresser, taking another sip not taking his eyes off me, while still moving his feet to the music, his hand not moving away from my waist. 

He wraps his arm around my waist to bring me closer and lowers his lips close to my ear. "Now Lacey sweetheart...remember last time we were doing this, and it ended with a splendid night." He takes his finger to my chin to look at my better. "Oh, how beautiful your eyes are." 

I smile and continue dancing. "Careful Keaton, I might think you have feelings." I mock his words from a yesterday and he smiles. "Using my own words against me, are we Gauntlett?" 

"Oh, yes we are Hayes."

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