by Toni Aleo
I grin. “I’m just saying. We’ll need babysitters.”
He looks through the pictures again. “I guess we can go look at it. It has all-new everything, completely remodeled with six bedrooms. Gated. Hm, yeah, let me text her.”
“Cool,” I gush as I lean back on the couch, flipping through the social media campaign pictures some more.
“How’s the shoot look?”
“Incredible,” I say on a sigh. “I’m so excited for this to release.”
He sits up, squeezing his large body into the space between the couch and me. He holds my waist so I don’t fall off, and we look at the pictures together. “Wow, these are really good. I love the crowns.”
“Me too!” I squeal. “It’s going to be fantastic, and every team has donated a few items to be auctioned off for the Lacey’s Lace Foundation. The money we raise is going to be amazing. I can’t wait.”
“You’ll be in New York, though,” he reminds me, and I nod, not letting that derail me.
“I can handle both.”
“I know you can,” he says, squeezing my hip and kissing my jaw. “I can’t wait to see it go down.”
“Me too.” I turn my face so I can look into his eyes. “I can’t believe I get to marry you in two days.”
His eyes soften as he gathers me closer to him. “Feels like I’ve been waiting forever.”
I beam as I kiss his nose. “In my case, I have.”
Aiden closes his eyes before our lips meet, and I relish his kiss. He brings his hand up, cupping my jaw, and I arch into him, closing my computer so it’s out of our way. Just as he rolls on top of me, though, his phone starts ringing. He pulls away, looking over to see who it is.
“Jessie.”
I cup his ass as he answers, grinning down at me. He moves my hair out of my face, tucking it back behind my ear as he says, “Hey. Oh. Yeah, um. Do you want to go look at the house?”
I squeal, “Yes!”
“I think we want to.”
“Mom, I’m not cutting my hair.”
I snicker beside Aiden while he argues with his mom. I lean my head on his shoulder as I look out at the room that holds our family. Fallon shut down the restaurant for the night for us to celebrate our families becoming one. We decided this would be better than having everyone come out to the venue for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow. Instead, it’ll just be the wedding party as a gift from Aiden and me. I figured we could pay for something, though my dad didn’t find that as humorous as I wanted it to be. I meet Fallon’s frustrated gaze, and I grin. “I love his hair, Fallon.”
She gives me a side-eye before setting her son with a look. “But will you wear it down or up?”
Aiden looks at me. “What do you want?”
“Whatever you want,” I say, patting his chest. “I find you sexy either way.”
He wraps his arm around my neck, grinning at his mom. “See? She finds me sexy either way.”
Fallon is not happy with that answer and is about to argue more, when I see my brothers have arrived. “Oh, Owen and Evan are here. Excuse me.”
“Save me!” Aiden yells to me as I walk away, but I just wave, blowing him a kiss.
For some reason, my baby brothers don’t look like babies anymore. Both are huge in their own right, taking after our father with dark hair but our mom’s blazing green eyes. Both wear fitted slacks with button-down shirts, Owen in pink, while Evan went for a light blue. Evan has a beard coming in, and Owen looks so big. It brings tears to my eyes; I feel like weeks ago their voices were breaking and squeaky.
Owen sees me first, and I’m met with a loud “Wow-wee!”
I squeal happily as I wrap my arms around him while he does the same.
“Hey, sis!”
“Hey,” I gush as I hug him tightly. “It’s so great to see you.” I let him go to hug Evan.
“You too,” Evan says quietly as he hugs me close. “You’re absolutely stunning, sis.”
I beam up at my brother. If I’m honest, he’s my favorite. He’s a kind soul, quiet, and for some reason, I’m always worried about him. He isn’t like Owen, loud and obnoxious. Evan’s the one watching and waiting to make a move. “Thank you. I’m so glad y’all could come back.”
Owen snorts a laugh. “Like we could miss this circus.”
I cut him a look that has him holding up his hands. “Ah! Yeah, Mom. I’m coming!”
He runs off, and I roll my eyes as I lace my fingers with Evan’s, “Good. I wanted to see you by yourself anyway.”
He smiles sweetly at me. “I know I’m your favorite.”
“You are. Though Quinn can give you a run for your money.”
He scoffs. “He’s smarter, but that’s it.”
“He’s smarter than all of us.” I joke about our baby brother. “So, tell me. Carolina? Love it or leave it?”
He shrugs, but the anxiety is coming off him in waves. “I honestly don’t know. We were supposed to stay with Nico Merryweather, but he’s worried we’re going to sleep with his…daughter? Or whoever she is. So we got thrown to Amelia and Chandler, but by God, those twins don’t stop crying. So then we were gonna stay with our mentor, Kirby Litman, but he had a family matter come up, and now we’re in a hotel.”
“Can you not go to Grandma’s house?”
“We’re talking about doing that. Amelia is using it as storage, so she’s having it cleaned out for us.”
“Awesome,” I declare since I was about to lose my shit. “Should have called me. I would have found you somewhere.”
“I can’t have Momma or Sissy taking care of me.”
“Why not?” I ask, and he laughs. “Fine. Do you, big adult man.”
“Whoa, don’t get ahead of yourself,” he teases, and I grin.
“So, do you love it, the team?”
“Yeah, everyone is awesome,” he says, but I know he’s lying. “We made friends with the other rookie, d’Artagnan—”
“You’re kidding? Isn’t that from a movie?”
“Yeah, Three Musketeers,” he laughs. “I call him Dart. I can’t with his name.”
I snort. “That’s fun.”
“He’s a cool dude, smart on the ice, but he doesn’t have the legs Owen and I do, so we’ll see what happens.”
I eye him. On the outside, he’s got this with no problem, but I know my brother and I know he’s struggling. It didn’t take Nico to tell me that; I would have known the moment I saw him. I take ahold of his wrist, grinning up at him. “I’m always here for you.”
He nods slowly. “I know. I promise I’m good, Shell.”
“Okay. I can find you an awesome therapist there.”
“I’m using the team one. I may actually start in this program for athletes with anxiety.”
I cock my head. “Wait. Isn’t Lucy and Benji’s daughter, Angie, a part of that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just asked to join it.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. I’m very proud of you.”
He smiles. “Don’t know if it will work, but I’m hopeful.”
“Me too,” I say, squeezing his wrist. “Aiden is going to talk to you.”
He rolls his eyes. “At least it ain’t Mom.”
“That’s what Aiden said.”
Evan laughs, showing his gorgeous smile and squinty eyes, along with some adorable dimples. “That’s why I like that guy.”
“Good. I’m in love with him.”
“No shit, Shell. Everyone knows,” he teases, pulling me in for a close hug. “Don’t worry about me,” he whispers in my ear. “I got this.”
“I know, but as your older sister, I worry.”
“I know, which is why I love you so damn much.”
“Same here.”
We part, and I feel so much better. But then Evan makes a face. “Please tell me there are carbs here.”
I snort. “Yes. Dying at Mom’s?”
“Yes. Can I come stay with y’all?”
“No. We’re having a lot of sex right now.”
/> “Ew,” he says, walking away quickly, my laughter following him.
I turn to go find Aiden, when I come toe-to-toe with my grandma. She squeals my name as she wraps me up in her arms. “Oh, my Shelli, always so stunning.”
She lifts my arm so that I’ll do a twirl. I have to admit, I do look pretty good. I picked a long lace number that flows against my skin, almost like the wind. It’s a halter, leaving my back open, and Aiden told me it was the hottest thing ever. I’m pretty excited to get back home with him. “Thank you, Grandma. Are you having fun?”
“Yes. Thank God Aiden’s family believes in carbs.”
I giggle. “Fallon tried to go carb-free, but her daughters revolted.”
“Because God gave us carbs.”
I grin. “Agreed.”
She wraps an arm around me, and I gaze up at her happily. If I can age like my grandma, that would be awesome. She’s over seventy but looks twenty years younger. “Another wedding. My sweet girls are all getting married left and right.”
“Yeah. Crazy, huh?”
“No, not at all. It’s beautiful to see that my girls know their worth and find men who honor that.”
I nod. “Aiden does just that.”
“I know. He’s wonderful—and extremely handsome. You’re the winner in the husband lottery.” I laugh out loud, my whole body making the motion, until she gets really close to me. Her voice drops as she locks her eyes to mine intently. “Listen to me, Shelli Grace.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“It’s going to take more than keeping him fed and drained. You might have to add some ass play in there.”
I seriously cannot compute what she just said. “I’m sorry…what?”
“Ass play. You know, fingering it, licking it, doing it—I’ve read some incredible books lately.”
I think I just died. “I may throw up.”
“No, listen. This one book…I’ll find you the title, but Grandpa loved it. I didn’t walk—”
“Grandma!”
“What? I’m serious. That’s a good-looking man right there!”
“Oh my God, my ears are bleeding,” I complain as I rush away, despite her calling my name and cackling like the crazy lady she is. I thought she’d shocked me when she told me to keep Aiden fed and drained, but nothing compares to what she just said to me. Thankfully, I run right into my soon-to-be groom, and I look up at him, completely and utterly disgusted.
“What?”
“My grandma just traumatized me.”
He grimaces. “Do I want to know?”
“I will save you from that.”
“You’re a good woman, Shelli Adler.”
I nod as I lay my head on his chest.
He wraps his arms around my back, clasping his hands at my lower back as we look out at the party. “Hey.”
I glance up as he moves his hand to cup the back of my neck. “Yeah?”
“Jessie called.”
My eyes widen as I grin. “We got it?”
We had put an offer in on the house as soon as we walked through it. It is perfect, everything we want, and hell, we may not have thought we were boat people, but we’re about to be! But then I notice Aiden isn’t grinning.
“No, baby. We didn’t. Someone outbid us. By a lot.”
I make a face, my stomach dropping. “Well, that sucks.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
I shrug, not allowing that to bother me. I’m about to marry the man of my dreams. Nothing can take me off my high. “It’s fine. It wasn’t the house for us.”
“It wasn’t,” he agrees, kissing my nose.
“Exactly. We weren’t boat people.”
“No, or bug people.”
“This is true,” I add as he kisses my cheek. “I dislike bugs greatly—and creepy, gross grandmas.”
He chuckles. “I think I want to know what she said.”
“No. I promise you don’t.”
Aiden’s laughter runs down my spine as he kisses my temple. “Okay, but don’t let this bother you.”
I kiss his chin. “I won’t.”
“Good, because we’ll find our house.”
I cup his cheek, kissing him hard on the lips before I part to press my nose into his. “And then we’ll make it a home.”
His eyes flash with such overpowering love that I feel it everywhere inside me. “I love you, Shelli.”
I beam up at him. “I love you.”
And I can’t wait to promise him the rest of my life in two days.
Chapter 9
Aiden
Yup, my future wife has reached her breaking point.
“I’m pretty sure the day before my wedding isn’t supposed to be an utter shitshow. Alas, here I am,” she complains, throwing her phone on the chair in front of her. We’re at James Place for Shelli to make sure things are going the way they should. Grace hired more people for the teardown, and after two trial runs, they were able to switch over from the wedding to the reception in thirty-six minutes, which is awesome because Grace’s decorators have a lot of work to do. I know Shelli is pissed, but it’s hard to look around at the stunning barn and not be in awe or even excited. It’s going to be super fucking amazing to get married here tomorrow.
The aisle is made of burlap with A+S written at the end of it. The best part about the runner? It’s in Shelli’s handwriting from when she was younger, taken right out of her wedding book. I have to say, that’s the awesome thing about Grace. She may be annoyed with Shelli, but she adds all these special, sweet touches that are incredible. In the rafters, white silk sheets drape down, outlined with lights, and are gathered at the top of large wooden chandeliers. The chandeliers, which I’ve learned are made of barnwood, contain candles and flowers arranged in an elegant way. Candle vases line the burlap runner, and on the back of each of the three hundred chairs is impressive greenery with white baby’s breath. At the end of the rows of chairs, interspersed between the candles on the burlap runner, are steel buckets of the same baby’s breath flowers. The stages arranged around the edge of the barn and built up behind the altar are just the right height and are set with the same chairs as in the audience. Strands of lightbulbs strung from the tops of long steel poles hang above them and will be lit with a romantic glow tomorrow. The table where the Cup will sit is behind the altar, which is made of barnwood and swagged with white silk sheets, along with baby’s breath, huge white peonies, and purple roses.
Holy shit, I’m starting to get chills.
I’m marrying my best friend tomorrow.
If she makes it.
She’s shaking with anger because we were supposed to meet everyone at the dance studio for our last practice, but that has slowly but surely unraveled.
“Shelli, baby, it’s not a big deal.” I never wanted to do the dance anyway, and neither did anyone else. It was a vision from the crazy mind of my beautiful fiancée.
Shelli’s look says otherwise. “It is! It was going to be awesome. Ha, Posey thought she’d be smart and have Boon call me. But little did she know, I’d yell at him too. At least Amelia had the balls to call me herself.”
I try to rub her back to calm her, but she’s on the verge of tears. “Shelli, no one cares about a group dance.”
“But I did! It would have been fun to look back on. But no, Posey and Amelia have to go off and get pregnant. My sister is lucky she is throwing up all the time and Amelia that she has her swollen ankles. Please, I bet they’ll be walking down the aisle just fine and eating my cake. It’ll be all grins tomorrow and tonight, but God forbid someone does a dance.”
I blink. “Um, listen, Bridezilla—”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “Excuse me?”
I throw my hands up. “Shelli, you’re ten seconds from spitting fire out of your mouth.”
She glares. “Well, I know who my first victim will be.”
I feign hurt. “Then who are you going to marry?”
She groans loudly as she sits in my lap, wrapping h
er arms around my neck. “Fine. I won’t set you on fire. It’s not your fault. But I’m not a bridezilla.”
“No, you’re the mother of dragons.”
“Not helping,” she says, and I cuddle her close. “I really wanted to do the group dance.”
“I know,” I say, rubbing her hip and butt. “But just think, now we’ll be the only ones dancing, and everyone will be in awe of your beauty.”
She leans her head on my jaw. “Nope, my grandma will be checking you out.”
“That’s concerning.”
She snickers, which is what I wanted. “Whatever. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
“Exactly. We’re getting married tomorrow, and everyone will be there.”
“True.”
“And tonight, we get to rehearse getting married, which is kind of cool. It’s like the practice before the big game.”
She sighs. “It’s not a game—”
“I know, baby. I was just trying to make you smile.”
She doesn’t, though. Anxiety is eating her alive. She didn’t sleep last night, and that worries me. “Ugh, my dad is going to be pissed when we go back to Brooks House.”
I chuckle. “Hey, if I can get free food, I’m getting it.”
“You know we’ll have to pay since your mom supplied everything last night.”
“I know. I’m just kidding,” I say, gathering her in my arms. “Don’t be upset. Be excited. Our life as a married couple is about to start.”
“Apart,” she says, leaning her face on mine.
“Wow, you are a true Debbie Downer today,” I tell her. “I wasn’t going to bring that up.”
“But it’s true,” she says on a sigh, and I hate when she gets like this. “Maybe I shouldn’t take the part.”
“Shelli, you already committed,” I say, kissing her. I cup her jaw and turn her head, making her meet my gaze. “You want that part. You are made for that part. You said we’ll be fine, so trust and believe, we will be.”
She swallows hard as she nods. “I know. I’m getting super in my feelings. Like, it’s all getting real. We’ll be married. We’ll be, like, for real, for real, together.”
“Yes. That’s the exact definition of marriage.”
She grins against my cheek. “The anticipation is killing me.”