Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)

Kendall was pregnant so she couldn't have any alcohol at the wedding reception. Dylan used the excuse of needing to look after his pregnant wife to avoid most of the toast, so his groomsmen had to shoulder the brunt of it on his behalf.

None of the groomsmen managed to escape this fate as every single one of them accepted the toasts in Dylan's place.

By the time the reception ended, the groomsmen were all drunk.

Frank and Toddy had drunk the most alcohol.

Though Frank and Dylan were rivals, Frank's love for Amelia made him shamelessly wheedle his way into becoming one of Dylan's groomsmen. Dylan refused all along, but on the eve of the wedding, he agreed to it.

At the reception, Dylan's friends and family seemed to be out for revenge as they kept toasting Frank who could not refuse them.

He and Toddy not only had to drink on Dylan's behalf, but even drank in place of the women they loved too, so they ended up far more drunk than the others.

As they were far too intoxicated, Emma and Amelia both decided to get a room for each of the men at the hotel and hauled the men up to the rooms.

As Emma helped a drunk Toddy to the hotel room, Toddy was still muttering, "More. Let's have another toast. I'm not drunk."

She mustered all her strength to set him down on the bed before sitting down in exhaustion too. When she heard him talking about drinking even more, she couldn't resist slapping him on the face.

"You're so drunk that you can't even walk by yourself, and yet you claim you're not drunk."

"I'm... not drunk... not at all... Emma, I'll drink it for you..."

Despite being drunk, Toddy was still aware of his mission to protect Emma and stop anyone from making her drunk.

Kendall's bridesmaids were major targets at the wedding reception. Even though the men knew that the two women were taken, they had their eyes on the women anyway.

If this hadn't been Dylan's wedding, Toddy would've tossed out all the men who laid their eyes on Emma.

Amelia had it easier.

She had a somewhat spotted reputation among the upper echelon of society, and Frank was known for his domineering personality too, so even though Frank was still in the process of winning her over, no one dared to set their sights on her.

Even so, Frank was beside himself with jealousy. He would glare at any man whose eyes lingered on Amelia for a little too long, and he would keep staring with such intensity until the man stopped looking.

Emma glanced at an inebriated Toddy and sighed. She got up and took his shoes, socks, and jacket off before helping him settle down comfortably in bed. Then, she went to the bathroom and came back out with a wet towel to wipe his face.

Toddy had fallen asleep.

"Why did you drink so much? You're going to suffer tomorrow morning," Emma mumbled.

Still, she couldn't resist leaning down and kissing his cheek. "You silly goose," she murmured softly. "I can hold my drink pretty well, you know. You didn't have to drink so much on my behalf."

Even so, her heart swelled with joy from his gesture.

She was worried about him, so instead of leaving, she got in bed and ended up staying with him the whole night.

The next morning, she woke up when she felt a pair of eyes boring into her.

When she opened her eyes, she looked right into Toddy's adoring gaze.

"Emma," Toddy called out gently as he bent down to kiss her.

Emma quickly shoved him away and shot up in bed. The covers fell, and she exhaled in relief when she found that she was still fully dressed.

Toddy chuckled as he took in her reaction. "Don't worry. I won't do anything to you when you're not awake."

Emma glared at him. "You couldn't have done anything anyway considering how drunk you were last night."

Toddy pushed her back down in bed and got on top of her.

"What are you doing, Toddy?"

Emma pushed him away, though she wasn't flustered. She knew he wouldn't do anything to her against her will.

He respected her a lot and didn't force her into anything she didn't want.

"Emma." Toddy buried his head against her neck and planted a few kisses before looking deep into her eyes. "What are your thoughts after seeing Mr. and Mrs. Coleman's wedding last night?"

Emma's eyes were filled with envy. "I think they're so blessed. I envy them."

Kendall's pregnancy was open knowledge now. In the past, everyone thought that even though Dylan had recovered, his ability to procreate could have been affected anyway and Kendall would not have a child. Who knew that she would have gotten pregnant several months ago and only chose to announce the pregnancy once she was out of her first trimester?

The pregnancy had been announced before the wedding, so there were two things to celebrate.

Everyone thought that Kendall had made it in life.

"I can see to it that you're just as blessed as Kendall, Emma. I can make you the object of everyone's envy too. Will you marry me?"

Emma blinked and chuckled. "Are you proposing to me right now?"

"That's right. I'm proposing right now. I love you, Emma. Will you marry me? I want to be the groom just like Mr. Coleman and marry the woman I love."

"Are you trying to propose without any flowers or a ring? How can a proposal be just a few words?"

Toddy grinned and swiftly declared, "I'll go and buy the flowers right now! I've already prepared the ring. Wait for me, Emma. I'll be right back with the flowers."

To him, it sounded as if Emma had agreed to marry him, so he had to seal the deal at once.

Despite his hangover, he flew out of bed and pulled on his jacket. He didn't even bother to put his shoes back on. Instead, he scampered out of the room wearing the disposable slippers the hotel provided.

Emma wanted to stop him, but she couldn't call out in time.

"Must he be in such a rush?" she remarked with a laugh.

Toddy ran into Frank at the elevator.

"Hi. Good morning."

Toddy was in a good mood, so he greeted Frank warmly. "You didn't go home either last night?"

Frank was in a great mood too. He was sporting a rare smile as he said, "I was rather drunk. Amy got me a room."

Amelia had stayed up with him for most of the night before heading home.

She even came back to the hotel room early this morning without even taking the time to eat breakfast first.

Frank was worried about her going hungry, so he ignored his throbbing head and insisted on heading down to get some breakfast for her.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?"

Although they were both in good spirits, Frank could tell that Toddy seemed to be in a rush.

Toddy grinned and announced, "I'm going out to get some flowers for my proposal to Emma. She agreed to marry me."

All at once, Frank was filled with envy.

Last night, he envied his rival for having a wife and a daughter-though the latter was still in Kendall's stomach.

Now, he envied Toddy for his successful proposal.

As for himself, despite all of Orapolis knowing that he and Amelia would end up together, Amelia hadn't even agreed to be his girlfriend yet, let alone accept his proposal. He still had a long way to go to win the heart of his bride.

Thankfully, he didn't have any rivals in love.

Frank was pleased with that. No one dared to go up against him in the bid for Amelia's affection.

"Congratulations!"

While Frank was envious, he was still generous with his congratulations.

"Thanks. Good luck to you too. Ms. Taylor does like you. She just wants to enjoy the feeling of being courted and dating someone. She's still young, and you're not old either. There's no harm in waiting a year or two before getting married."

Frank eyed Toddy's smiling face and grumbled to himself, You've gotten engaged so of course you think there's no harm in waiting.