Here goes nothing.
With my heart climbing in my throat, I approach the “stage,” and drop to my knees at Rhett’s feet. If I thought he looked confused before, it was nothing on the way he’s looking at me in this moment.
“Rhett,” I croak, then clear my throat. “An incredibly handsome, talented, amazing man told me not too long ago that in order to make someone realize they love you back, you had to make a fool of yourself.” I shake my head and smile. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. “So, here I am,” I say, choking on my own tears. “Hoping you still love me back and that you’ll save me from the pain of trying to navigate this life without you.” I reach into my pocket and retrieve the platinum pick I had specially engraved with “Korie loves Rhett” on one side and “always and forever,” on the other, and hold it out in two fingers like he once held a diamond ring to me. “Rhett, I’m sorry I didn’t believe in you. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I’m sorry for all of the time we’ve missed. But if I’ve learned anything these past weeks, it’s that I don’t want to live another moment of this life without you by my side.”
“Stick,” he rasps, eyes welling with emotion.
I hold up one finger. “I have two questions left, and I put a lot of thought into what I wanted them to be. Number one,” I say, staring into his crystal blue eyes, “Do you still love me, Rhett Taylor?”
He nods, clearing his throat, “More than ever.” His right hand lowers to cup my cheek, and I want to melt into a puddle at his feet.
The first tear falls, and I don’t swat it away. I wear it like a badge. Putting myself out here like this is hard. But this man is worth it, and I know that now, without doubt. “I love you so much,” I say. “It makes me a little crazy…so crazy, in fact, that being together isn’t enough. It could never be enough. So, that brings me to my second question.” I hand him the pick and as he examines it, I deliver the single most important question of my life. “Rhett Taylor, I pick you. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
Chapter 47
Rhett
“Good morning Rhett, Korie, and honored guests. Welcome to Camp Pour Judgment. It is with the utmost pleasure we open our doors to this special couple and all of you in celebration of their love. My wife, Essie, and I knew from the start that our last adventure with these two was the beginning of something very special. Very special indeed,” Joe says, getting choked up. “We have two fun-filled days of action and adventure planned before the nuptials take place on Sunday evening at our grand pavilion.”
Essie steps up, taking the mic from her husband. “Each of you have a packet with an itinerary and a stack of waivers, excusing us from liability due to any of your drunken debauchery,” she laughs. “Please get those papers filled out with the pens in your bags and turn them in before leaving this cafeteria. We’ll see you all in an hour for our first competition.”
“One more thing…” Joe says, snatching the mic back. “On the far wall, you’ll find a row of lockers in which you will place any and all electronic devices. Phones, iPad, laptops…all prohibited. What happens at Camp Pour Judgment,” he starts.
“Stays at Camp Pour Judgment,” his wife finishes with a familiar sly grin.
It’s been a month since Stick got down on one knee and proposed with a room full of sick children to bear witness. How could I turn her down under those circumstances? Smart cookie, that girl.
To say I was shocked would be putting it mildly. I had no clue Anika had gone to talk to her. I hadn’t even seen or heard from Korie since she shut me down at the games. When Nick approached with the offer to play for the children at the hospital she worked at, I didn’t think twice. I knew how much those kids meant to her, and despite how screwed up things were between us, no one meant more to me than her.
I wouldn’t be me if I simply said yes, without some sort of fuckery. So, I told her I’d marry her, but since she stole my balls out from under me again by proposing, I would be the one to plan the wedding.
This is gonna be the best fucking wedding to ever wedding. More guys should get in on the planning of these shindigs. Just saying, men, you’re missing one hell of an opportunity here.
Nick, Lyle, Aiden, and I are sharing the same cabin from last time we were here. AJ’s husband Brock is in the one next door with my dad, my brother-in-law, Ryan, and my buddy Tommy.
Korie is rooming with Raven, Anika, and AJ. Her mother, DeeDee, is in a cabin with my sister Judy, and Kline and Lisa.
After taking a few minutes to unpack our shit, we down a couple of shots at the open bar in our room and each grab a beer, then make our way out to the main field where we’re meeting for the first event.
I can’t help but lock eyes with my girl and tip my head toward the mud pit to the left of us. I cup my chest and shimmy, and she flips me off. I’ll never forget her flashing us just to win a game of tug of war. From that moment on, I was titstruck.
“Hey you guys,” Essie shouts into a megaphone. “You’re probably wondering why the ground is littered with colored plastic balls, am I right?” She rests her foot on one of eight skateboards circling the pit and rolls it forward and back. “Today’s ice breaker is Human Hungry Hippos. It’s girls versus guys. Girls, you will pair up on the boards located on this side of the pit. Guys, you’ll pair up where Joe is standing. A timer will be set for one minute, during which one partner will lie on their stomach long ways across the board, holding a pot in their hands while the other will grab their feet to roll them forward. When you reach the pit, drop your pot over the balls and pull as many as you can back with you behind the tape. You’ll repeat this exercise as many times as possible before the buzzer goes off. The team with the most balls behind the line, wins.”
“What’s the wager?” Korie asks, tucking her tank into her shorts.
God, she’s hot when she’s all competitive. “Your birth control.” I don’t hesitate with my answer.
Our friends and family look on with curious smiles.
For a moment, my future wife looks as if she’s swallowed shit. “Fine. If the guys win the weekend, I’ll get off the pills. If I win, we wait a year, and no more hounding me,” she qualifies, narrowing those green eyes my way.
“Deal.” I smirk. “Can’t wait to put my baby in your belly.”
“You do know that’s not how they get in there, right?” Aiden asks, laughing hysterically.
I pop him in the back of the head. “You do realize there’s a lady present,” I say motioning to my future mother-in-law. “So sorry, DeeDee, can’t take these pigs anywhere.”
“Hey,” Raven snarls. “What about the other seven of us?” She looks around, and all of the girls are in agreement.
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure I understand the question.”
“All right, ladies and gentlemen, now that we’ve determined what we’re all playing for, pick a partner and get lined up behind the tape. Competition starts in thirty seconds.”
Damn, Joe isn’t fuckin’ around.
“Face down, ass up,” Nick says shoving me toward the board.
When the whistle sounds, complete chaos ensues. I probably shouldn’t have downed my beer so fast because as he’s rolling me back and forth in the field, I can feel it shifting in my stomach. Pots are crashing and there’s so much yelling. I have no idea how I’m doing in comparison to the rest because I’m too focused on winning myself a baby to check.
“Time!” Joe shouts, after blowing his whistle.
“Mom!” Korie screeches, assessing each of her teammate’s haul. “You didn’t get a single ball!?”
DeeDee shrugs. “I ain’t getting any younger, sweet girl.”
She plops her hands on her hips. “Can we trade her for Nicholas?”
“Nope,” I say, popping the P like she likes to do. “Girls versus guys. Don’t be a sore loser, baby. It’s unbecoming.”
“Not so fast,” Essie says, after tallying each sides total. “Even with DeeDee not retrieving
a single one, the girls still beat y’all by seven.”
Essie proudly walks over to the scoreboard, and as she slides the chalk in a line on the girl’s side, I feel my dick shrivel a little in pain.
We have a few hours to blow before lunch, so we take everyone out to our favorite spot, the lake.
“Why do you want a baby so bad?” Korie asks, when we paddle away from the dock in a purple kayak.
“Just do.”
“That’s not a real answer.”
So, I think real hard before giving her the most honest answer I can formulate. “Because the thought of seeing your belly swell with my baby—our baby, a living representation of our love—would be the ultimate high. Because I see the way you love the children you work with, and I can’t wait to witness you loving our own. And because I’m almost twenty-seven years old. If we’re gonna have twelve kids, I’d like to get started right away.”
Her face morphs from awe to shock and then horror. “We are not having a dozen kids,” she assures me, her eyes widening. “I’m thinking two at most.”
“Agree to disagree,” I say, rowing faster.
When she starts to argue further, I “accidentally” flip the boat.
She comes up sputtering, cursing me to hell and back.
“I love you too,” I say, cutting her off mid-tirade. I grip the front of her shirt in my hand and pull her against my chest in the shoulder-high water. Her eyes are still fuming when I lean in to capture her lips, but in no time the stiffness in her posture dissipates. She’s a limp noodle in my hold. Her arms wrap around my neck, her fingers finding their favorite spot in my wet hair.
“That’s enough of that, boy,” my father shouts, laughing as he approaches in a yellow kayak with Ryan rowing behind him. “You’re gonna drown that poor girl.”
“Hey Dad,” I say, swiping the back of my hand over my kiss-swollen lips. “Have you had the chance to meet Korie yet?”
“Nope.” He smiles at my soon-to-be bride. “Was wondering when you’d get around to introducing us.”
I can’t believe it’s two days before the wedding and Dad and Korie are only just meeting. But our lives have been a bit chaotic and our relationship a complete whirlwind. “Dad, this is Korie, your soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Korie,” I say looking to my girl, “meet my pops, Cal Taylor.”
“So nice to meet you,” she says, her lips chattering from the cool water. “Your son’s an ass.”
My father’s laugh booms across the manmade lake. “Girl, tell me something I don’t know.” His gray eyes connect with mine. “Son, get that girl out of the damn water before she freezes to death.”
“I see what you’re doing here,” I say, hoisting her back into the boat.
“Really?” she says, innocently fluttering her lashes. “What is it you think I’m doing?”
I climb in from the pointed tip of the boat to keep the weight balanced, so we don’t roll over again. “You think you’re gonna use your feminine charm to get my dad on your side…you know, since your mom is on mine.”
Her mouth opens wide in disbelief. “I’d ne—”
“Good,” I say, cutting her off. “Cuz if there’s one person who wants us to have a baby more than your mother, it’s him.”
Dad shrugs apologetically. “It’s true. I rather enjoy being a grandpa. But you’re still such a pretty little thing,” he says, trying to save face.
“Oh, God,” Stick says, rolling her eyes. “Not you too.”
Chapter 48
Korie
After a light lunch consisting of finger foods, sandwiches, little meatballs, chips and dips, and mimosas, we meet in the field to see what our next competition will be.
“Oh, hell yes,” AJ shouts, pumping her fist in the air. “I’m gonna fuck some shit up in archery.”
That’s when I see the targets and bows and arrows laid out in the grass ahead of us. I don’t know how good the guys are, but archery was our grandfather’s specialty. Abby Jane and I spent a few weeks out of every summer while growing up with him and Grams, and he taught us everything he knew.
“Welcome back, everyone. Hope y’all had a good lunch and didn’t drink too much, because we’re about to shoot some arrows, and I’d hate for anyone to lose an eye,” Joe announces. “Standard distance for archery is seventy meters. Since we’re not working with professionals here, we’ve shortened that to forty. Each team has eight members. Every person gets three shots. The scores from each team will be combined to determine a winner. May the best gender win.”
Essie lines the girls up in front of one of the targets, and Joe does the same with the boys on the other. The center of the target is yellow and worth ten points. The next ring is red, which they have delegated five points. The teal ring is worth three points, black is worth two, and the outermost ring is white and valued at only one point.
We each get three practice shots before taking our real ones where Essie and Joe show us how to stand and fire the bow. Rhett and I are up first. On purpose, I miss every one of my practice shots. Rhett hits the target, but all of his arrows land in the two outer rings.
“Ready for the coochie doctor to be all up in your bidness, Stick?” he taunts. Poor clueless idiot.
“You go first,” I say, feigning nerves.
Rhett’s first arrow lands in the teal ring. The cheering from the guys behind us tells me they’re probably not very good. His second shot lands in red, and his final shot also falls in the teal circle, giving him a total of eleven points.
“No matter what happens baby, you’re still pretty.” With a cocky smirk, his eyes rove over my body. “You’ll be pretty pregnant, too. I can tell.”
“Keep talkin’ shit,” I warn, holding the bow out in front of me. In rapid succession, I fire my three shots, landing each one in the center of the yellow bullseye. “Huh,” I say, glancing at Rhett’s stunned face. “Must be beginner’s luck.”
AJ and Brock are up next, but he must know how skilled his wife is because there is no shit talk coming from his end. My cousin struts up like a boss, taking the bow from Essie and pounding her shots right into the bullseye, bringing our total to sixty after only two rounds.
Brock appears nauseated but manages to land two in the red zone and one in the yellow, earning his team another twenty points, bringing their total to thirty-one.
No one else has any skill worth mentioning, half of them missing the target completely. My mother, of course, misses every shot by a mile even though her father trained her up better than AJ and me. When the final scores are tallied, the girls have seventy-one and the guys have forty-seven.
“Another victory for the ladies!” Essie shouts, adding a mark on our side of the board.
My soon-to-be husband is looking pouty following his second loss of the day. “Aww, don’t look so sad,” I tell him, walking up and wrapping my arms around his waist. “At least you’re still pretty.”
“What in the world is Never Have I Ever?” my mother asks, studying the evening’s itinerary as we walk the wooded path leading to the bonfire.
“It’s a game,” Raven explains, “where you go around in a circle and each person takes a turn saying something they’ve never done and then everyone who has done it takes a shot.”
“There they are,” Nicholas yells as we approach the fire. “Thought you ladies chickened out.”
“Pshh, you wish,” Raven taunts, plopping down on the log beside her fuck buddy.
“Welcome, ladies,” counselor Joe, says, passing us each a stick with a marshmallow at the end while Essie sets a plate on our laps with graham crackers and chocolate squares already prepared for our s’mores. Apparently, the boys have already demolished theirs. “While you roast your marshmallows, I’ll go over the rules…” He proceeds to explain the game in almost the exact fashion Raven just did for my mother.
There’s a folding table off to the side where Essie is filling disposable shot glasses with Fireball. “After three each, I’m cutting you off and giving ou
t shots of water,” she warns. “We’re not looking to kill anyone.”
“I’d like to start the game,” my mother announces. “I have a good one.”
“Go ahead,” Joe says, nodding to an already very tipsy DeeDee.
“Never have I ever…had a threesome!” she covers her mouth as soon as she says it, giggling so hard I think she might pee her pants. How was this woman married to my father?
The entire band, Raven, and Brock toss back shots.
“I’m totally judging you right now,” I tell my fiancé. “Groupies?” I sneer, shaking my head with disappointment.
He shrugs, with an “oh shit,” look on his face.
Cal is seated to my mother’s right and up next. “Never have I ever sucked a penis,” he says, cracking up as he watches all of the girls but Anika and Kline slurp down a shot of Fireball.
Then all of our heads whip over to Aiden when his hand rises into the air. “What?” he says, giving his hair the Justin Bieber flip. “Went through an experimental phase…don’t judge me, fuckers.” He downs his shot then gives the rest of us a look that dares us to say another word.
I glance over to Rhett to revel in his stunned reaction and crack up. “Jesus, all the skeletons are coming out tonight.”
“My turn,” Raven squeals, giddy over whatever she’s got cooking up over there. “Never have I ever fucked in a toolshed during a game of paintball!”
“Well, that’s rather specific,” Judy says, her mouth dropping when Rhett and I raise our hands for a drink.
“Such a bitch,” I mutter, eying my best friend.
“So, that’s where you two ran off to.” Essie shakes her head as she pours the liquid down each of our throats.
“Never have I ever…” Nick trails off for a moment, searching the crowd for his victim. “Kissed someone of the same sex,” he says, smirking at Anika, who is seriously about to murder his drunk ass.
I can’t believe he just did that to her.
Kline’s hand shoots up, followed by Lisa’s, and finally Anika lifts one finger into the air. “What happens at Pour Judgment—” she starts.
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