After we finally landed, I held Everleigh’s hand in mine as we left the plane. We quickly grabbed our luggage and waited by the baggage claim for everyone else to meet up with us.
Danni came running toward us and pulled Everleigh into a hug. “Hey there, bride to be!” she squealed. “Are you ready to be Mrs. Matthews?”
She snuggled back into my side and said, “Absolutely.” Thankfully, Danni had made it to the airport in Cincinnati before our plane took off and she’d flown with us. She’d decided after the drama in New York to go back home to Muncie for a while to clear her head. We all missed her, but no one more than Beau. He loved her and wanted her back and was taking her distance very hard. He’d been hitting the bottle more and more every day. It seemed like he was slightly buzzed all of the time now.
Jessie walked over and pulled us both into a hug. “I had a feeling you two would tie the knot before Kris and I had the chance,” she said, smiling. “I am so happy for you both.”
“Thanks, Jess,” I said.
“Okay, well let’s get to the hotel and get checked in so we can get this wedding going!” Sadie said. “Make sure you two make out like crazy because once we get to the hotel you two won’t see each other again until the wedding tonight.”
Everleigh grinned at her and I rolled my eyes. “Is it the whole ‘bad luck’ thing? I think we have endured more than our share of bad shit in the past few months. We’re good,” I said.
Sadie shook her head and Jessie answered, “Come on you two, let us have our fun. It’s only for a few hours and then you two will be married and will be together every day for the rest of your lives.”
I groaned because I knew she was right. I’m sure that Everleigh wanted to look perfect for our wedding and I was willing to give her all the time she needed to get ready. “All right, let’s get going so I can have my fun before we get to the hotel,” I said.
We got the rest of our luggage and walked out of the airport. Since I was on cloud nine because it was my wedding day, I had arranged for a stretch limo to pick us all up. The guys and I were used to this but I knew Everleigh wasn’t. I wanted every bit of this day to be memorable for her, starting with our ride to our hotel.
“Um, hey you two, you can come up for air. We’re here,” Kris said, tapping me on the back as I continued to kiss Everleigh with every bit of passion I could show her since our friends were in the limo with us.
“Come on, rock star, we have a wedding to get ready for,” Everleigh whispered to me. I groaned, not wanting to leave her, but I knew it was just for a few hours.
We climbed out of the limo and several bell hops came out to help us with our luggage. We walked through the plush lobby to the concierge. “Welcome to the MGM Grand, are you checking in?” said a polite woman behind the front desk.
“Yes, we are checking into the honeymoon suite. Reservation is under Grande. Dick Grande,” I said, smiling at Everleigh.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “You are going to have to change that sometime, you know.”
“Why change what’s true, gorgeous?” I said, and she smiled brightly at me. The woman behind the desk checked us in and gave me the card key to our room. “Enjoy your stay, and congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Everleigh said to her and I took her hand and led her to the elevators. “Well, rock star, I guess this is the last time I will see you before I become a married lady,” she said, grinning.
I stuck my bottom lip out and said, “I guess so. At least I know the next time I see you I’ll get to end the night with you in our bed as Mrs. Matthews.”
“I can’t wait, Ryder,” she said, and she kissed me with so much love. “I love you.”
“I think I love you more, gorgeous,” I told her as Danni, Jessie, and Sadie led her off to get ready while I took our luggage to the honeymoon suite.
A few hours later I was dressed in a tux that I’d bought when I went out shopping with the guys that afternoon. We all met at the hotel bar to have one last drink as four bachelors before we headed off to the chapel. “I have to say, Ryder, you are the last person I thought would get married first out of all of us,” Jude said.
I snickered and tossed back a shot of whiskey. “You know, I’d disagree with you, but I’m pretty surprised myself. I never thought I’d ever find anyone I’d want to settle down with.”
“But then Everleigh came along,” Kris said, smiling.
“Yes she did. I’m a lucky bastard, aren’t I?” I said, and the guys snickered.
“Yes you are. Take care of that girl, man, she’s one of a kind,” Beau said.
“I know it,” I replied.
Before heading out we all did one last round of shots. Kris raised his glass and toasted, “To my best friend finding his other half. Congrats, bro!” We all raised our glasses and downed our shots.
Jude placed his big hands on my shoulder and gave me a hard shake. “Come on, let’s get you married, man, so we can get to the reception. We need to celebrate tonight Vegas style,” he said and we walked out of the hotel bar together.
Everleigh
I stepped out of the bathroom in Danni and Sadie’s room wearing my wedding dress and everyone gasped. “Ev,” Danni said, “you look so beautiful!”
I chose a simple strapless silk gown that had a pink satin tie around the waist. My dress was definitely a lot plainer than Danni or Sadie wanted me to get but when I tried it on, it just felt right. It wasn’t the most extravagant dress in the world but I knew the moment I put it on that it was the one for me. I would marry Ryder Matthews wearing this dress. We’d all gotten ready at a nearby salon and the girl that did my hair did a phenomenal job, twisting it up in an intricate design and even adding a few rhinestones to it for a final touch. My make up was simple with lots of light pinks and bare tones, and once I was in my dress, I felt like I was in a fairytale. I looked and felt beautiful for the first time in a very long time.
“See? I told you the dress was perfect,” I said.
“Okay, are you ready to do this?” Sadie said, smiling at me.
“More than you could ever know,” I answered and she hugged me.
“I’m so glad Ryder met you, Ev. You helped pull him out of the sadness he’d been in since his parents died. He is more like his old self now because of you,” Sadie said.
I fanned my face with my hand and said, “Okay, girl, don’t make me cry. Let’s save the tears for the wedding,” I said, and they all giggled.
“You know, a few months ago I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to have this after all that happened. I just want to tell you before the wedding starts and we all celebrate that I feel so blessed to be standing her with you, helping you get ready for your wedding, Ev. You are my best friend and I love you so much,” Danni confessed, tears glistening in her eyes.
I pulled her into a hug and tried my best not to cry. “I love you too, Danni, and I am blessed to have you here too. All of you,” I said, motioning for Jessie and Sadie to join us.
After hugging for a few moments, we broke apart and Jessie grabbed the bag that held my dress for the reception (my sexy tight white dress that I’d be wearing when we hit the Vegas strip later on after the ceremony) as she smiled and said, “Okay, let’s go get you married!”
Soon we were at the chapel and the guys were already waiting for the wedding to start. Instead of matching everyone up and walking down the aisle in pairs, we decided to have the guys already at the front of the chapel standing next to Ryder. as the girls would walked in before me, leading my way. I ached to sneak a peek at Ryder in his tuxedo but I controlled my impatience, knowing it would only be a few more moments before our ceremony began.
As the girls were getting ready to take their places, I took a moment and looked at a picture I had in my hand…a picture of my dad. I held it and whispered, “You knew I’d be here with Ryder when you met him, didn’t you, Daddy?” His smiling face was staring at me from the photo and I grinned back as my fingers touched the picture. “
I wish you could be here with me today, but I know in your own way you are, just like you always have been. I love you and miss you every day, and do me a favor, will you? Keep rooting for me and being on my side up there, old man.” I wiped a tear away and tucked the picture in my hand with my bouquet.
Just then, a shadow cast over my flowers and I smiled as I looked up at the big, hulking man standing next to me, looking gorgeous in a tuxedo. “Well,” I said to John, “you clean up nice, don’t you, big guy?”
He smiled at me and said, “I do have my moments, Everleigh.” Holding out his arm to me, he said, “Shall we?”
I laced my arm through his and turned to hug him. “Thank you for giving me away, John. This means so much to me.”
John hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. “It means a lot to me too, sweetheart. I am very honored that you asked me to do this for you.”
I pulled away and looked up at him. “There was never anyone else I would have asked. I love you, big guy.”
John smiled at me. “I love you, too. You have no idea how much you have changed Ryder’s life for the better and we all love you so much for it. You are an amazing girl and he’s a very lucky guy to have you.”
“Thank you,” I said, squeezing his arm. I heard the wedding march start to play and I said, “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” he said, smiling at me with pride in his eyes. The doors of the chapel opened and the girls walked down the aisle one by one. They all looked so beautiful in their dresses.
When John and I were up, my eyes landed on Ryder standing at the front waiting for me…and my heart skipped a beat. He looked devastatingly handsome in his crisp black tuxedo and my mouth watered at the sight of him. I had a sudden urge to sprint down the aisle and get this wedding over with so I could devour him, but this was the most important night of my life. We had some memories to make and we needed to start with the big one first.
John walked me down the aisle and everyone was smiling brightly at us as we approached the minister. When I reached Ryder, John placed my hand in Ryder’s and gave us both a squeeze before stepping back and sitting down. Ryder leaned into my ear and whispered, “You have never looked more beautiful than you do right now. I love you so much, gorgeous.”
I placed my arm on his shoulder and whispered back, “I love you more, rock star. Now shut up and marry me already.” He pulled back with a huge smile on his face as we said our vows and became husband and wife in front of everyone we loved in the world.
The rest of the night was wonderful as we celebrated our wedding on the Vegas strip. Jude and Sadie were, as always, the life of the party as they both joked and laughed together. Given the way the two of them had become as close as they had recently, I wondered, to myself, something more wouldn’t come of their friendship. When we came back to Cincinnati they were spending so much time together that they realized it was a waste for Sadie to have her own place since she was always with Jude. They decided that night to become roommates once we got home from Vegas. The rest of the guys didn’t seem thrilled with the idea of Sadie and Jude living together, but I honestly thought if anyone could take that man on and win it would be her.
Danni had been cordial to Beau the whole evening. But even sharing a few dances with him, it was clear that nothing was going to come of their relationship, at least not yet. Back in New York, Beau had told me that he would fight for her, and I hoped he still would. Seeing what he was becoming without her was scaring me. If he didn’t have a drink in his hand there was an open bottle of liquor somewhere close by. What Beau did with that other girl in New York was inexcusable, but I hoped for both of their sakes that Danni would get past it and save him from himself.
Despite my worries about them, it had been a magical night spent with my family. Soon everyone was ready to go off on their own and that was fine by me. I was ready to take my husband up to our honeymoon suite and have the time of my life making love with him all night long.
We bid everyone good night, and as soon as we got back to our hotel, we raced back to our suite, slamming the door behind us. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me with a new kind of passion. It was still deep and lustful but it was also full of promise and excitement. “Hello, Mrs. Matthews,” he groaned into my ear.
“I love hearing that,” I said.
“Well good because I plan on calling you that for the rest of your life, gorgeous,” he said, his fingers finding the zipper on the back of my dress.
I shivered as he slid it down and started to slide it off my shoulders. “Hey rock star, I have something I wanted to talk to you about before we do this. Something I’ve been thinking about since you proposed to me last night.”
“Yeah? And what’s that?” he asked, kissing my bare shoulder.
“Well, you know how you joked about throwing out my birth control and trying to knock me up?” I said, smiling.
His head snapped up and his eyes met mine. “What are you saying?” he asked, his eyes alive with hope.
“I’m saying that I realized as I was packing that I’d forgotten to take my pill for about a week because when I went to pack for Vegas my pack was empty. We’ve been unprotected on that front, so if you weren’t serious about trying to get me pregnant now is the time to say something and we can go get some condoms,” I said.
Ryder pulled me close and kissed me. “I was absolutely fucking serious. I want a baby with you, Everleigh Matthews, sooner rather than later. I want to see your belly growing every single day with our child and then when it’s born, I want to try and knock you up again.” I giggled, happy tears falling from my eyes. “I want to have my own football team with you, gorgeous. Do you want that?”
I nodded and said, “Of course I do. Ever since you mentioned babies last night I have been thinking about it a lot and I want that too. I want to have your child, Ryder, and I want to have that football team too.”
He smiled at me and said, “So are we really doing this? We’re trying to get pregnant?”
I let my dress fall to the floor and I stood in front of him in nothing but my white lacy panties and my high heels. “Knock me up, husband.”
He growled and said, “Oh fuck,” before he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed. “I just have one request.”
“What’s that, rock star?”
He grinned at me sexily and said, “Keep the heels on.”
I giggled and said, “Whatever you want, hubby.” Then he laid me down on the bed, ready to start our future and live the life we dreamed of…together.
Epilogue
Ryder
“Fuck,” I growled. “How long does it take to get some test results?” I was pacing the exam room at the doctor’s office and frantically pulling at my hair. I hated doctor’s offices…so sterile and cold. They made me nervous and I’d never been in one where there was ever good news given to me.
Everleigh was lying back on the exam table, as calm as could be. She reached out her hand for me and said, “Calm down, Ryder. Come here.” I moved to her and placed my hand in hers. “It’s only been twenty minutes, relax. Dr. Mitchell said that it might take a few minutes.”
“I’m just nervous. We’ve been trying to get pregnant practically since the honeymoon and it’s been a year.” Everleigh and I had just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary two days before and ever since our honeymoon we’d been trying to get pregnant. Being married to the most beautiful woman in the world was definitely my greatest achievement but wanting to watch our baby growing inside her was something I didn’t realize I’d crave this much.
We were waiting for Everleigh’s doctor to give us the results of the tests she’d had done this afternoon. We were obviously hoping for good news and right now I needed it. Watching my wife being poked and prodded literally everywhere made me feel sick and violent at the same time.
“I know but we’ve had fun trying, haven’t we?” Everleigh asked, winking at me, and I instantly relaxed.
“Yes we h
ave,” I smiled and kissed her hand. “I’m just beyond ready for this step. I want to be a daddy already.”
“Oh, Ryder,” she said, her voice full of love. “I want that too but we just need to relax and wait for Dr. Mitchell to finish looking at everything. When you think about it, a year isn’t really that bad. Some couples try even longer than that…take my parents for example. They didn’t have me until they were in their forties.”
“Aw, fuck, I’m not waiting that long. I’ll just have to figure out a way to juice up my sperm.”
She laughed. “What does that even mean?”
“I need to pump up my swimmers, like get them on steroids or something,” I said, and she was audibly laughing now. I saw a little tear escape the corner of her eye and I reached up to wipe it away.
“I am sure that everything is fine, Ryder. I’ve just been on birth control for such a long time and who knows? We might be having trouble because of me,” she said, a trace of guilt in her tone.
“Oh no, gorgeous, it’s not because of you. You are so perfect that it hurts. We just…listen,” I said, taking a deep breath, “whatever Dr. Mitchell tells us when she comes in, good or bad, we will get through it like we always do…together. I love you so much and it’s you and me no matter what, okay?”
Everleigh batted those gorgeous brown eyes at me and answered, “Okay.” Suddenly there was a light knock at the door. “I love you, hubby,” she said.
“I love you too, wifey,” I answered, and then I called out, “Come in.”
Dr. Mitchell came into the room holding an iPad in her hands. “Hello again, Everleigh, Ryder,” she said, nodding her head in my direction. “I’m sorry the results took so long to get back but the lab was a bit behind today.”
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