by Jay McLean
She shakes her head frantically. "They—ring—and—" She's gasping for breath, unable to speak.
"Mark," I say, getting his attention.
Lucy wiggles her fingers in front of her face.
His eyes narrow at first, and then they go huge. He mocks a cry, before dropping to his knees next to Mom. He covers his face with both hands and mimics Mom's voice. "They—he—she—ohmuhguuuuhd!"
Lucy and I laugh and help them both to stand. "I just need a minute," Mom says.
We wait patiently for her to calm down. Mark brings her in his arms and holds her while she cries. He smiles at us, the power of it so infectious that I find myself smiling with him.
When Mom's settled, she removes herself from Mark and kisses my cheek. Then she goes to Lucy, her face already contorting with another cry. She lifts up Lucy's hand and looks at the ring. Then she lets out a gasp and covers her mouth. "Is this?"
Lucy nods. "Yes."
"Your mom's?"
She nods again.
"How did you know?" I ask Mom.
She ignores me and speaks only to Lucy. "It's exactly the way you've described it."
Lucy's eyes well with tears.
"It's beautiful," Mom tells her. She reaches up and cups Lucy's face with both hands. Her thumbs skim Lucy's cheeks, wiping the tears that must have fallen. "Just like you."
-LUCY-
I run a finger down his chest and over the ridges of his abs. "I can't believe I'm going to be your wife," I tell him.
He smiles and moves me so I'm on top of him.
We decided to stay at the cabin overnight instead of heading back to campus. He asked if I wanted to go back so we could tell our friends, I told him I just wanted the night to be with him.
His fingers move my hair to behind my ear. "And I'm going to be your husband," he says, a hint of a smile forming on his face.
"It's surreal." I sit up so I'm straddling him.
He chews his lip, his eyes drifting shut when I move, pressing myself into him. Two more strokes and he'll be hard.
He links our fingers and kisses the palms of each of my hands. "Now will you look at the apartments on campus?"
I pull his hands until they're flat on my back and take off my shirt. He smiles, that perfect smile with those perfect lips I've always loved. I lean down and kiss his neck, slowly licking and sucking and making my way down. "I think that would be an amazing idea."
He shifts underneath me, his hard-on now prominent. His hand runs up my back, unhooking my bra and freeing my breasts. He pulls the straps off my arms and then links his fingers behind his head, his eyes roaming my body. His gaze drops to where my scar is, but he doesn't flinch, his face doesn't change, he doesn't look away. He never does. He sits up, his outstretched arms holding him in place. His mouth finds my neck, kissing me gently and moving his way up to my jaw, across my chin, and finally up to my mouth. He sighs when his tongue brushes against mine. "Do you have an idea of when you want to do it? The wedding, I mean."
I push further into him, wanting to feel him on me. "Not really. You?"
"Tomorrow?"
I laugh into his mouth.
"I can't organize a wedding in a day."
"Fine." He sits up and grabs my ass, lifting his hips at the same time. I let out a moan, my back arching in pleasure. He kisses my neck again, down my chest, and the top of each breast. "A week?"
I snake my arms around his neck, holding on. "Babe," I whisper, my hips slowly thrusting, my center rubbing against him. "I can't do a week."
He pulls away and throws his body back against the mattress. "A month, Luce. That's as long as I can wait."
I chuckle lightly, but then cut myself off when I see the seriousness on his face. "One month?" I ask.
"One month, baby. I don't even want to wait that long to make you my wife."
A slow smile builds on my lips. "One month?" I say again. "I can do that."
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
-CAMERON-
"I'm fucking boss at this game," Logan shouts, his hands up in victory. We're at Jake and Micky's house having a few beers. Heidi told Luce she was going to be late, something about her sorority. The girls have been spending a lot of time together since Luce announced that she had a month to plan a wedding. The girls cried when we told them. The guys congratulated me, then took me out the next night to get fucked up. It was good times. Up until I stumbled into Lucy's room blind drunk and tried to have sex with her desk. She still laughs about it. Every now and then she sees me doing something stupid and calls me Deskfucker.
Jake kicks the Monopoly board in mock anger. "I don't know why we always play this when Princess Asshole always wins.
"Don't be a brat," Micky reprimands.
Logan laughs. "Because I'm a motherfuckin' gangsta and I make it rain on the bitches!" He throws his paper money at Amanda.
She shakes her head and glares at him. "Don't ever do that again."
"Here," he says, handing her a note. "Buy yourself something pretty, you deserve it."
Lucy's head throws back in laughter.
"Yo," I speak up. "Logan and I joined a casual baseball league. We play on weekends for shits and giggles."
"What!" Jake exclaims. "I wanna play with you guys!"
"Shut your MLB face," Logan tells him. "You're not good enough to play with the cool kids."
He feigns a pout.
"Wait," Lucy says. "You guys are playing baseball again?"
"Yeah," I answer.
"Do you wear uniforms?"
"Uh huh."
She turns to Amanda, whose eyes are wide. They share an unspoken message, just as a smirk pulls on both their lips.
"What?" Logan and I ask at the same time.
Amanda giggles.
Lucy shrugs. "Nothing. It's just that baseball uniforms... we kind of miss the way you guys look in them. It's hot."
"Hey!" Jake shouts. "I still wear the uniform!"
Lucy and Amanda's heads slowly turn to him.
Micky pounces on Jake, covering his body with hers. "Back the fuck off, bitches, he's mine!"
We all burst out laughing.
When Lucy's done, she says, "You can keep him, I have a fiancé. And he's perfect."
I pinch my shirt, then release it. "Yup," I say, my nose in the air in true Logan cockiness. "I'm a broody, tortured artist."
That gets more laughs.
Luce pats my cheek. "Yeah you are, baby."
"What about me?" Logan asks Amanda, his eyes narrowed. He's dead serious. "Say something nice about me."
"Like what?" she giggles.
"I don't know. Like how I'm going to be a fucking doctor or some shit."
She chuckles again. "Or how about the fact that you're ridiculously hot and you have the best abs known to mankind."
"Yeah, I do!" he shouts, his head nodding slowly.
"You should take your shirt off!" Micky yells.
Jake turns to her, his full glare in place. "What the fuck, Kayla?"
She laughs harder.
"Do it!" Lucy laughs.
I cover her mouth with my hand and bring her into me. "Don't encourage that shit."
Logan makes a show of stretching his arms in the air. Then slowly, he takes off his shirt. "Yeah, baby!" Amanda shouts.
Okay, so maybe we've had more than a few beers. A lot more.
Lucy mumbles something into my hand.
"Fuck this!" Jake spits. "I'm putting on my uniform." He starts to get up but Micky pulls him back down.
Lucy's completely lost it, her body convulsing against mine while she drools on my hand.
"Fuck you both," I tell them. "I win. I'll sketch all you bitches."
Silence.
Lucy pulls my hand away and slowly turns to me, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.
And now I'm scared.
I swallow loudly.
"Did you just call us bitches?"
"Yeah!" Amanda adds.
"Did you?" Micky says, her arms
crossed.
I look at all of them, knowing I'm two seconds away from copping an earful of crazy.
"Did you?" Lucy asks, her eyebrow quirked.
I panic.
The front door opens and Heidi walks in. "I brought bridal magazines."
If you ever want to hear four girls squeal so loud it makes your ears ring, just mention the words 'bridal magazines'.
Also, if you want to be kicked out of a room full of squealing girls and be told to do 'manly asshole shit', do the same thing.
Jake brings out another six-pack of beer into the yard. He scratches the back of his head as he takes a seat around the fire pit Logan just started. "Why the fuck do I always get kicked out of my own house?"
Logan chuckles, then kicks my foot with his. "Two weeks and you'll be a married man."
"I know."
"Nervous?"
"Nope. Anxious, though. I just want it to be done, you know? I just want her to be my wife already."
Jake passes me an uncapped beer. "When do you move into the apartment?"
"Tomorrow."
Logan sighs loudly.
"What's with you?" I ask him.
"I'm just... I don't know. I'm all nostalgic and shit." He looks from me to Jake. "It's just strange. All the shit we've been through. Who would've thought three punks in high school would turn out to be where we are... doing what we're doing..."
I don't know that we mean to, but we all look into the house, to the girls that have changed our lives.
"I always knew Lucy was it. There was never a doubt. Not even for a second."
"Was there a moment?" Logan asks. "Like a distinct moment when you knew that she was it for you."
A smile pulls on my lips. "Not really. I mean I could lie, I could tell you it was the first time we had sex, or the first time she laughed. But I don't know... maybe there wasn't a moment, or maybe it was all of them."
I see Lucy sit up straighter, her eyes wide. I lean forward, trying to get a better look. Her hand moves to cover her mouth. I start to get up so I can get to her. She says something to Amanda, and Amanda gets up and opens the glass sliding door. "Cam!" she shouts. "Lucy wants to show you something."
"Look," she says excitedly when I get into the house.
I squat down next to her. "What's up?"
She lifts the magazine to show me a picture of a dress—a wedding dress. "Look," she says again.
And it hits me—why she's showing me—and why she's so damn excited. "It looks like your mom's."
She nods frantically. "Can we go to look at it tomorrow?"
"NO!" Heidi shouts. "He can't see the dress before the wedding."
Her shoulders drop, so do the corners of her mouth. "I forgot about that."
"Babe, why would you want a dress that looks like your mom's? Why can't you just wear hers?"
And if you ever want to hear four girls gasp at the exact same time, say something like that.
***
Since Heidi mentioned the 'no seeing dress before wedding' rule, she won't let me in on much of the wedding planning, which is fine, because I have my own planning to do.
I pull into Mark's dealership and walk into his office like I own the place. He's not there, so I pick up the phone and press the few buttons until I can hear my heavy, creeper breathing over the PA system. I start beat boxing into the phone, making sure I spit more than necessary. "Yo, Marky Mark. Please come to your office immediately, there's a funky bunch of manly stud waiting for you."
I hang up and sit in his chair. Then I kick my feet up on his desk, lean back, and link my fingers behind my head.
He shakes his head when he walks in, trying to hide his smile. He takes the seat on the other side of the desk and jerks his head at my feet. "Feet off the desk, this shit's mahogany."
I scoff, but do it anyway. Leaning forward on my elbows I tell him, "The desk is shit, I'll design you a new one."
He raises his eyebrows. "About time. You did it for your future father-in-law years ago, I've been waiting for mine."
I steeple my fingers under my chin. "All good things come to those who wait."
He chuckles. "What do you want, punk?"
I lean back and cut the cocky attitude. "So you know how I'm getting married in a week?"
"YOU ARE? When did this happen?" he jokes with feigned excitement.
I throw a pen at his head.
"Yeah, what about it?" he asks through a smile.
I laugh, a mixture of humor and nerves—because that's what I am all of a sudden—nervous.
"So I was wondering—" My chuckle cuts me off. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and try again. "I was hoping—" I do it again.
"Are you okay?" He's no longer amused, more concerned.
"Yeah." I rub my palms down my shirt.
"You're nervous? Why are you nervous?"
"I'm not nervous," I say in defence. "Who says I'm nervous?"
"Cam, you always do that... you get sweaty palms and wipe them on your clothes when you're nervous. What's up? Did something happen? You guys need money or something because—"
"No," I cut in, shaking my head. "It's not—" I sigh, and then wipe my palms again. Then I blow out a forceful breath, mustering the courage I need. "I came to ask if you'd be my best man."
His eyes widen, but he doesn't speak. He looks away from me, his body slumping with what looks like exhaustion. He scratches his head, while I sit here and wait for the moment of rejection. "If you don't want to—"
"No."
"Oh." My stomach drops to the floor. "Okay, I'll just ask—"
"No."
"Yeah, you said that. This is fucking embarass—"
"No."
"You can stop saying it now."
"No," he says, chuckling as he does. "I mean no, it's not that I don't want to. I'd be so—" He exhales a loud breath, and then finally looks at me. "I'd be so damn honored, Cameron. I'm just surprised is all. I didn't think that—I mean, there's absolutely nothing I'd want more in the world... but I have to be honest, I'm concerned about what your dad would say to you, I don't want him—"
"Stop," I cut in. "A, that asshole doesn't even know I'm getting married. I haven't spoken to him since he showed up at the hospital. B, even if he did know and had something to say about it, I wouldn't care. And C..." I wait a moment for the sweaty palms to kick back in. For the nerves to start. For my heart rate to increase. But there's none of it. Just that sense of genuine calm. "C," I continue. "You are my dad."
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
-LUCY-
"I can't believe this is the last night before you're someone's wife," Micky says.
"I know. I can't believe it either."
"I can't believe you didn't want a bachelorette party," Heidi adds.
Amanda scoffs. "Have you met Cam and Lucy? They're inseparable."
I smile at her words.
"True," Heidi agrees. "Where are the boys anyway?"
Micky scoffs now. "At the cages having man time. They're probably pounding their chests and cursing profanities at people."
"Logan's probably humping the bat," Amanda laughs.
We all do.
"Why are you telling them about our bedroom antics?" Logan shouts, halfway through the front door of the cabin. He gets shoved forward by Jake, and then by Cameron as they barge through the doors.
Heidi pours seven shots of tequila. We stand around the tiny dining room table and take one each. Cam's hand goes to my waist.
Jake clears his throat. "To falling in love, even when you don't know it."
Micky leans into him. Then her eyes begin to well up. "To finding friends that become family, no questions asked," she chokes out.
Logan speaks up. "To claiming your girls, owning them and making them yours."
Cam laughs and they nod at each other. I don't know what he means, but I don't ask.
Amanda wipes her eyes. "To not dwelling on why horrible stuff happens to good people. To letting love win, and to mo
ving on." Logan kisses her temple while we all take a moment to think about her words.
Heidi sniffs once, bringing our attention to her. "To finding your forever and being able to keep them." I rub a soothing hand down her back. She inhales deeply before raising the shot glass to her lips. We all follow, and cheer as we do. They all take the shot, but before I can, my eyes catch the front door opening. "Dylan," I whisper. And they silently bow their heads. "No! You guys!" I laugh, pointing to the door. "Dylan!"
Their heads whip to the door.
Dylan drops his bags. "I couldn't miss my best friend's wedding."
-CAMERON-
I don't know which of us get to him first, but we all end up in a pile on the floor with him at the bottom. After several jokes of is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? we finally let him go.
Turns out he's on leave for two weeks. He came back yesterday but was staying with a friend in LA. Dylan, not being that technical, or social, never had a Facebook account so he didn't really keep in touch with many people. He saw his friend logged on last night and decided to check up on all of us. When he saw that we were getting married tomorrow, he took the first flight out.
I'm not too sure what happened with him and Heidi, but she's been quiet, a little standoffish. They sit together, but they don't touch, they barely speak—not that that's strange for Dylan.
We ask him questions about being deployed, and he says he'll answer them all—after the wedding.
The girls only hang around for a little while before they head off back to the main house. They'll be staying there overnight and we'll be here.
At around midnight, I get a text from Lucy asking to meet her at the dock. I tell the guys I have to help Tom with something. I'm sure they know exactly what I'm doing, but they don't question it.
She's sitting at the end with her shoes off and her feet dipped in the water. "What are you doing, fiancée?"
She turns quickly, almost shocked by my presence. "Nothing. I just miss you," she says, looking back out at the lake.
I kick off my flip-flops and sit next to her, my arm outstretched behind her. "You all good?"
"Yeah," she lies.
And my heart begins to race. "You having cold feet or something?"
She laughs quietly. "No. Nothing like that. I'm just... I don't know. It just doesn't seem real. Tomorrow we'll be married, and I'll be your wife."