Chasing That Desire | Danny Amendola

Epilogue

"Thank you, Julian," I mumbled as I leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek.

He patted my arm and leaned over to place a kiss on my cheek. "No, Thank you, Juliet. I'm glad Danny's found himself such a good woman. He's very lucky."

I blushed. "Victoria is lucky to have you."

He shot me a smile in return and pulled his arm from mine, moved over to Danny's side, then it was up to me to finish walking up to Danny myself.

When I looked up, Danny was looking at me with tears rolling down his face. I sucked in a breath and took the last few steps to him.

Our hands met, and he smiled at me. "Hi," he whispered. "You're absolutely beautiful."

"Hey," I said and let out a long breath as I blushed.

This is it. I was marrying my best friend.

***

"Juliet, Honey, come to the bar! We're doing a round of shots," Gisele called over the loud music as she came walking out of the crowd of people.

I playfully rolled my eyes and patted Mike's knee. "I guess the girls are calling. Thanks for coming again," I told him with a smile. "I'll probably see ya again before the end of the night."

"Okay, Juliet. I'll see ya. Congrats again!" He nodded with a smile and turned back to talk to the rest of our coworkers.

Gisele grabbed my hand, pulled me through the crowd of people, and up to the bar where a round of shots was waiting for her, me, Slater's wife, Gronk's Fling, Julian's girlfriend of about eight months—Victoria, and Danny's sister in law... Or should I say mine now?

I looked down at the glasses all lined up. "Jesus! What kinda shots are these," I yelled as I gaped down at them.

"Tequila," Victoria screamed with a big smile. She held her beer bottle up in the air. 

"Oh god! Fine. Just this once. Let's get this over with," I replied with a playful eye roll. They knew from my bachelorette party, that tequila was the one thing I was not okay with. 

We all lined up at the bar. "Okay... One! Two! Three!" We all picked up the glasses and downed them.

"Ah! Fuck," I yelled out as the burning sensation moved down my throat and into my stomach. "Why Tequila!?"

Gisele shrugged with a smile on her face. "Cuz you never do shots of tequila! You always go for weak shots," she complained.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I don't see that as a problem," I joked with a smile.

Before any of them could say something, a pair of strong arms were wrapped around my waist, hands were placed on my stomach, and a chin was on my shoulder. I put my hands over the big familiar ones on my stomach. 

"Mind if I steal my wife for our first dance," Danny's soft voice asked as his stubble tickled my cheek.

Gisele waved us on with a smile. "Oh no, go ahead! I should probably find my husband," she replied and laughed a bit. "He should be somewhere around here!"

I pulled from Danny's arms and turned around, meeting his beautiful brown eyes. "Are you ready," he asked as he pulled me toward the dancefloor.

The night was turning out to be great, and rightfully so. I got married to my best friend and now we were celebrating with all of our friends. 

I nodded at him. "As ready as I'll ever be, Danny," I mumbled. "You already picked the song?"

He nodded. "You said it was the one thing I could completely plan without you," he said with a dorky smile.

I giggled and rolled my eyes. "Oh I love you, Danny."

The song came to an end, and the DJ announced that we'd be having our first dance.

The two of us slowly made our ways out onto the floor, hand in hand as everyone cheered us on.

I brought my arms up so they were wrapped around his neck, and he brought his hands down to the small of my back, where he pulled me closer to him.

I looked up into his beautiful eyes, waiting for the music to start. Once it did, my eyes went wide. "Danny! Did you really pick Jon Pardi, Head Over Boots?"

His stunning smile made its way onto his face as he smirked. "Yeah. At first I thought about 'Come Fly With Me', but decided against it, because every time I hear this song... all I can do is think about you," he said as his forehead met mine.

I smiled as my grip on him got tighter. "I love you so much," I whispered as I closed my eyes and let him sway us to the music.

"I love you too," he mumbled against my lips. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

I didn't reply, I was interrupted by him humming to the music. "Tonight's been perfect," he whispered. "I'm glad that we could celebrate with everyone..."

"Me too. It's been a blast," I replied and moved so my head was resting on his chest.

He dipped his head down and kissed my hair.

I pulled my head from his chest and looked up to meet his beautiful brown eyes again. "I wanna sweep you off your feet tonight," he mumbled and placed a kiss on my lips. "I wanna love you and hold you tight." He pulled my closer to him.

"Spin you around on some old dance floor," we both mumbled together, as he dipped me back with a big smile on his face.

"I love you so much, Jules," he whispered as his lips met mine again.

"I love you too, Danny."

He brought me back up into standing position and smiled. "Stay here for a second, I'll be right back!"

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him as he jogged off the dance floor. People made a clearing for him, and I just stood there, confusion on my face.

Julian and Victoria were standing there, big smiles on their faces. I shrugged my shoulders as I made eye contact with her. Her smile only got bigger. A minute later, Danny's head came popping through the crowd as he brought something from behind him.

Once he broke through, my eyes popped open wider, and my jaw dropped. Nelson was skidding across the floor behind him in a Jordy Nelson shirsey. I giggled. Danny's always refused to get him a Packers shirt, and I'd been begging for the past year and a half.

I squatted down and opened my arms. Danny let go of his leash and he came scampering toward me. Next thing I knew was he pounced on me and made me fall straight to my ass.

"Hey Nel! How are ya?!" He barked and began licking at my neck. "No bud! I've got makeup on!" I laughed.

Danny's laugher broke through my concentration. I looked up and met his beautiful eyes. "He wanted to have a dance with us."

I nodded with a smiled and grabbed Danny's hand, pulling him down to the ground with us. "That's good, cuz I wouldn't have it any other way! Two of my favorite men!"

Nelson moved over and began licking at Danny's stubble as I placed a kiss on his cheek. "Just so you know, you're outnumbered two Packers fans to one Pat's player," I whispered in his ear. 

He pulled away with a big goofy smile on his face. "God, you're lucky I love you!"

I nodded. "I am! But I love you more than you love me," I whispered and moved in to place a kiss on his lips.

He kissed me back before pulling  away and laughing. "That's not possible, Mrs. Amendola."

***

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this! Please let me know what you thought of the book! It means a lot. Thank you for reading! :)