The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 187

Athena

The week leading up to the wedding ceremony was a beautiful chaos of final preparations, last-minute adjustments, and stolen moments with Tristan.

Our new house was almost ready, and we'd been spending our afternoons choosing furniture and deciding on exterior designs.

"What about this couch?" I asked, showing Tristan a picture on my phone as we sat in Orion's living room. "It's that deep gray we talked about."

Tristan leaned over to look, his hand automatically going to rest on my growing belly. The gesture had become second nature to him now, this protective, loving touch that reminded me every moment how cherished our baby already was.

"It's perfect. Very us."

"Very us meaning dark and brooding?" I teased, scrolling through more pictures.

"I was thinking more sophisticated and comfortable," he said, kissing my temple. "But your interpretation works too."

Across the room, Lily was playing with her dolls, making them act out what was clearly a very dramatic wedding ceremony.

She had one doll in a makeshift wedding dress (a tissue secured with a rubber band) and another in what I assumed was supposed to be a tuxedo.

Sarah walked in carrying a laundry basket, pausing to watch her daughter's elaborate production. "Lily, honey, why is the bride doing karate kicks?"

"Because she's strong, Mommy," Lily said matter-of-factly, making the bride doll perform what looked like a roundhouse kick at the groom. "Like Aunt Athena."

I felt my heart melt. "Come here, you little sweetheart."

Lily abandoned her dolls and ran over, climbing onto my lap carefully, she'd been very concerned about the babies since we told her, always asking if the babies were okay, if I was okay, if the babies could hear her when she talked to my belly.

"Are you excited for your wedding?"

"So excited," I said, hugging her close and breathing in her little-girl scent of strawberry shampoo and sunshine. "Especially because I get to have the best flower girl in the whole world."

"I'm going to walk perfectly," Lily said seriously, her little face so earnest it made me want to squeeze her. "Not too fast, not too slow. Uncle Derek showed me the right pace."

Tristan and I exchanged amused glances. Of course Derek had given Lily a tutorial on proper processional pacing. He'd probably even timed it.

"Speaking of Derek," Sarah said, setting down the laundry basket with a knowing smile that immediately made me suspicious. "Have you heard from him today?"

"No, why?" I asked, though something in her tone made my spider-senses tingle.

"Oh, no reason," Sarah said innocently, folding a tiny onesie that belonged to Liam. "I just thought he might have mentioned his coffee meeting with Kiara."

"Their toast coordination meeting?" I perked up, sitting straighter and nearly dislodging Lily. "That's today?"

"Supposed to be," Sarah said, her eyes twinkling. "Leah set it up for this morning at that little coffee shop on Fifth. You know, the one with the intimate corner booths?"

My phone buzzed before I could respond. Leah's name flashed on the screen with about fifteen exclamation marks after it.

"Oh my god," I said, quickly answering. "Leah?"

"ATHENA!" Leah's voice came through so loud that Tristan could hear her from where he sat. Even Lily looked startled. "You will not BELIEVE what I just saw!"

"What? What happened?" My heart was racing. Had something gone wrong? Had they actually killed each other?

"I was driving past the coffee shop, totally coincidentally, I swear, and I looked through the window, and OH MY GOD, Athena, I saw Derek and Kiara KISSING!"

I nearly dropped my phone. "WHAT?"

Tristan sat up straighter, suddenly very interested. Sarah gasped and rushed over, nearly tripping over the laundry basket in her haste.

"Put her on speaker!" Sarah demanded. "Put her on speaker right now!"

I did, and Leah's excited voice filled the room. "I'm telling you, it was happening! They were sitting in one of those corner booths, and I saw Derek lean across the table, and then they were kissing! Like, really kissing! Not a friendly peck! Full-on, both-hands-on-her-face, world-stopping kissing!"

"Oh my god, oh my god," I chanted, grabbing Tristan's arm hard enough to make him wince. "Our plan worked!"

"What did I tell you?" Sarah said triumphantly, doing a little victory dance that made Liam gurgle happily. "I knew it! All that tension had to go somewhere!"

"Leah, are you absolutely sure?" I asked, needing confirmation even though I could hear the certainty in her voice. "You're one hundred percent sure it was them?"

"Athena, I know what Derek and Kiara look like," Leah said, laughing.

"It was definitely them. Derek was wearing that blue leather jacket he always wears, and Kiara had on her brown dress. And when they broke apart, they both looked completely shocked, like they couldn't believe what just happened.

Derek had his hand in his hair, you know that thing he does when he's stressed? and Kiara was just staring at him with her mouth open."

"Did they see you?" Tristan asked, always the practical one.

"No, I drove away before they could notice me. I'm not an amateur, Tristan. But guys, the look on their faces, it was like the universe had just rearranged itself. Like everything they thought they knew had just been turned upside down."

"This is amazing," I said, practically bouncing in my seat, which made Lily bounce too and giggle. "This is perfect!"

"We should probably not mention that we know," Sarah said thoughtfully, her strategic mind already working. "Let them figure it out on their own. If they know we saw, they might retreat out of embarrassment."

"Agreed," Leah said. "But I had to tell you immediately because I'm dying. DYING! Operation Get Derek and Kiara Together is officially successful!"

"They kissed," I said wonderingly, still trying to process it. "Derek and Kiara actually kissed."

"More like imploded from sexual tension," Leah corrected. "There's a difference. This wasn't a 'oh let's see what this is like' kiss. This was a 'I've been wanting to do this forever and I can't hold back anymore' kiss."

"How long were they kissing?" Sarah asked, always wanting details.

"Long enough that I had time to pull over, grab my phone, debate whether to take a picture, decide that was too invasive, and then drive away," Leah said. "So like, at least thirty seconds? Maybe longer?"

After we hung up with Leah, the three of us sat there grinning at each other like conspirators who'd just pulled off the heist of the century.

"I can't believe it actually worked," Sarah said, sinking into the couch with a satisfied smile.

"I can," I said. "Did you see the way they looked at each other at the rehearsal? This was inevitable. They were like two magnets trying to resist their own polarity."

"Poor Derek," Tristan said, though he was smiling. "He's not going to know what hit him."

"Poor Kiara," I countered. "She's going to try to logic her way out of having feelings, and Derek's going to try to organize them into submission. They're going to drive each other crazy."

"Crazier," Sarah corrected, reaching down to pick up Liam who was starting to fuss. "They already drive each other crazy."