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I could hardly keep my hands off Lindsey the next morning. Everyone was staring at me like I’d lost my fucking mind, but I didn’t give a shit. I had her back and I wanted the whole world to know that she was mine. The rest of the group was watching the reenactment up ahead, but I was too busy trying to reenact some of our activities from last night. Something about Lola’s tone brought me out of my lust-filled haze and made me pay attention. “Does this seem a little too…” Lola asked. “Realistic?” Hunter asked. “Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing.” “Is that..?” Lola pointed at the sky. “It couldn’t be,” Derek said. “Why would they…?” “But if they did…” Lola said. “It’d be bad for…” Hunter said. “Will one of you finish your sentence,” Ryan snapped. “What the hell are you guys talking about?” “They appear to be using actual cannonballs,” Lola said simply. I looked closer at the battle and really looked at what was happening. People were falling to the ground a little too realistically and it appeared that they were actually being blown up. I’d never seen a reenactment look this real. “I think they’re using real bullets too,” Ryan groaned. “What? They can’t be. Do they even make musket balls any more?” Lola asked. “Apparently.” Ryan’s voice wavered slightly. “I think I got shot.” I looked at Ryan closer and saw red spreading across his arm. He was fucking bleeding. Lola and Hunter jumped into action, trying to staunch the bleeding just before Hunter glanced back and yelled loud for everyone in the group to hear. “Incoming!” I looked over to where Hunter was looking and saw a fucking cannonball headed straight for us. I dove over Lindsey, shoving her to the ground and covering her body with mine. Dirt flew over us as the cannonball bounced and exploded further ahead. I glanced around to see everyone else appeared alright. I got to my feet, hauling Lindsey up and holding her close to me. Lindsey was fucking innocent and she shouldn’t be a part of battle, even if it was a fake battle that someone was pretending was real. “Hey,” Hunter shouted. “We have to get everyone to safety.” “Where would that be exactly?” Lola asked. “Anywhere that’s not the battlefield,” I shouted over to them. “Is that blood?” Lindsey asked and then swayed on her feet. “Shit,” I grabbed onto her just as she started to fall and cradled her head in my arm. “Hey, come on.” She was seconds away from slipping under, but we couldn’t afford for her to faint right now. We needed to get the fuck out of here and find someplace safe to go. I slapped her face several times until she finally peeled her eyes open and looked at me. “We don’t have time for you to pass out right now. It’s just a scratch.” She shook her head and focused a little more before finally pushing against me and standing on her own, refusing to look in Ryan’s directions. When Lindsey started to walk, but stumbled several times, I threw her over my shoulder and started running with her. I needed to get her someplace safe before this shit got out of control. Tourists were running, having finally realized that something was very wrong with this reenactment. When another cannonball sent us all sprawling to the ground and heading for cover, I decided I’d had enough of this shit. Setting Lindsey down, I leaned her up against a breastwork and cupped her face with my hands. She was pale and shaking, but hadn’t completely lost it yet, which I took as a good sign. “I have to go see if the others need help and we need to put together a plan. Just stay here and don’t move a fucking muscle, okay?” She nodded and I ran over to the rest of the group. We spent the next few minutes gathering a plan in which Derek would ride off and pretend to be General Lee, surrendering to General Meade. Brilliant? Maybe not, but it was our only option at this point. I kept looking over at Lindsey, needing to get back to her. I didn’t like the idea of her being over there all alone. I watched as Derek stalked off to a soldier, ripping clothes from a fallen soldier. Bullets flew and more cannons were launched, but he was toward the outside of the battlefield. “Should one of us go help him?” Claire asked. “Nah, it’s not like we can shoot anyone here. What good would it do?” Hunter said. “I don’t know,” Claire said hysterically. “Keep him from getting killed?” “He’ll be fine,” I said cooly. “The guy’s got brass balls.” “I like how calm all of you are being about the safety of my fiancé,” Claire shot back. When Derek came running back, I took that as my signal that I could get back to Lindsey. Running over to her, I wrapped my arms around her and watched the action to see what was happening. “Is this seriously happening?” she mumbled. “Yeah, fucking crazy.” “John, don’t take this the wrong way, but-” “But what?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer. “You’re all fucking crazy. I mean, like seriously bat-shit crazy. Everything I’ve learned about you and your friends since I’ve met you leads me to believe that all of you guys and most of the women are certifiably insane.” “Why would you say that? I mean,” I shrugged, thinking back to all the stuff that had happened since I met her. “There have been a few…incidents, but overall, we’re just regular people doing regular things.” “Incidents? John, we came on vacation and a war broke out. One that happened about a hundred and fifty years ago. I don’t know anyone that has that kind of luck.” “Well,” I looked around the battlefield and pointed at the other tourists. “What about them? They’re just normal people and they’re here.” “Yeah, but would this have happened if you guys didn’t show up here?” “I’m confused, are you saying we caused this?” “I’m saying that you guys have the worst luck in the world or you’re the biggest jinxes wherever you go. It’s making me rethink a few things.” I stiffened as I looked down at her. “Like what exactly?” “Like ever going on vacation with you again. What’ll happen next time? Gangs and civil war reenactments gone wild are too much for one year.” “So, you’re not leaving?” “Leave? John, you may bring trouble with you, but I’d still rather be by your side through the chaos than be anywhere else without you.” Cannonballs left devastation all around us and bullets whizzed by our heads, but all I saw was her. I smiled as I pressed my lips to hers. We were going to be okay. We might have a few bumps in the road, but I was finally going to make her mine. I would make sure that as soon as we were home, I put a ring on her finger and made her officially mine. She would never be able to run from me again, because I would never do anything stupid enough to fuck this up.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ice and Lindsey
ICE
John, I want you to know that I love you so much and I can’t believe I’m about to spend the rest of my life with you. You have given me so much and made me so happy. Everything about our lives together has been perfect. Well, minus the few bumps in the road. Being your wife is more than I could ever ask for and I’m so grateful you chose me. That being said, I have a lot to do today to get ready for our wedding. I’ve made a list of things for you to do today so that this day goes off without a hitch. There are only two things you have to do: 1) Make sure you show up on time wearing your tux. 2) Don’t show up drunk.
Love, Lindsey
“Can you believe this? She actually thinks I’d show up drunk on our wedding day,” I told the guys as we sat around drinking beer in the church basement. “Well, you are drinking beer…in a church,” Jules said not so helpfully. “A few beers won’t make me drunk. Besides, she gave me two things to do. Two. Can you believe that? Like a woman is the only one that has to get ready for the wedding.” “And what exactly do you have to do?” Chance asked. “I could have stuff to do,” I said indignantly. “Like men can’t pamper themselves. I could be getting a massage or…” “A facial,” Sinner said. “Waxed?” Hunter asked. I shot him a look, telling him there was no fucking way that would happen. “What? I was against it at first too, but you gotta change with the times.” “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that I won’t ever be doing that.” “Are you going to shave before the wedding?” Sebastian asked. “Why?” I asked, rubbing my hand across my jaw. “Do you think I need to?” Cazzo whistled low and shook his head. “You’re supposed to look your best.” “Yeah, but I don’t ever shave it all off.” “Here,” Jules said, handing over a small box t
o me. “What is it?” “Well, you know how women all give each other shit at weddings. I figured you should get something too. I would have gotten you a coffin, but frankly, it’s just too expensive.” “That’s…” I shook my head, not really sure what to think of Jules’s idea of a wedding present. Opening the package, my brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t get it.” I looked down at the large nose, hairy eyebrows, mustache, and glasses. “Are you dressing up as Mr. Potato Head?” Sebastian asked. “Uh…not that I’m aware of.” Jules rolled his eyes. “It’s in case you need a quick getaway. A disguise, you know?” “And you thought this look wouldn’t be at all suspicious,” I said slowly. “Hey, it’s all I could come up with at the last minute. Just trying to have your back, man.” Jules slapped my back as he walked over to grab another beer.
Lindsey
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked Maggie as she placed the strips around my eyebrows. “Of course. I looked it up online and everything.” “You what? I thought you said you’ve done this before!” Maggie bent down in front of me and stilled my shaking shoulders. “Stop moving. I need to make sure that the placement is right.” I groaned and slapped my forehead. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this on the day of my wedding. My eyebrows were fine the way they were.” “Well, now they’re going to be better,” she grinned. “Just hurry up and get it over with. I need to finish getting ready.” Claire and Lucy walked over with glasses of champagne, studying my eyebrows. “I think the right one is higher.” “No, they’re even,” Lucy shook her head. “I’m telling you,” Claire sighed. “The right one is higher than the left. You have to redo it.” Maggie looked again and nodded. “Yeah, she’s right. Hold on. I’ll just move it and you’ll be fixed in no time.” She pulled off the wax strip and I yelled when the hairs pulled from my face, burning like nothing I’d ever felt before. “Oops,” Maggie grimaced. “Oops? Oops! Don’t say oops when I have to walk out in front of a bunch of people in two hours!” “No, no. It’s fine. We’ll just do the other one and see what we have to work with.” Before I could protest, she ripped the left strip off my eyebrow, tearing more hairs from my face. “Dammit! You have to warn me when you’re going to do that.” “I did,” Maggie said. “Hmm.” She studied my eyebrows and I saw Lucy wince. Grabbing the mirror, I held it up and silently screamed at the mismatched eyebrows I now sported. “Oh…my….God.” I swallowed hard and then looked at Maggie in shock. “You gave me two different sized eyebrows!” “It’s okay. I can fix this,” she said calmly. “I’ll just take a little off the thicker eyebrow to even them out. Stay calm.” I took a deep breath as she put the wax on the thicker eyebrow. Yanking the strip, my eyes flew open to gauge their reactions. Claire downed her champagne and Lucy looked up to avoid eye contact. “What? Just tell me! How bad is it?” “Um, well you know how you had two eyebrows?” Maggie asked with a nervous chuckle. “Had?” I asked quietly. I picked up the mirror and hesitantly looked at my reflection. I now had one very thin, almost non-existent eyebrow and one that was a little thicker. I took in some deep breaths, refusing to cry. “This is not happening. Not on my wedding day. I have two eyebrows,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut and then opening them again. But when I looked, I still had only one eyebrow. “Oh my God! I have one eyebrow!” “It’s really not that bad,” Lucy winced. “We can just draw in the other eyebrow.” “Draw in…you want to draw in one eyebrow?” I shrieked. “Here,” Claire said, shoving a glass of champagne at me. I chugged it, letting the bubbles go straight to my head and calm me down some. “How long does it take to regrow eyebrows?” Maggie asked. “I need John,” I said quietly. “It’s bad luck to see-” I stopped Lucy’s speech with a glare. “Do you really think it can get much worse than this?” I asked in a deceptively calm voice. “You’re right,” Lucy said, swallowing hard. “I’ll just…” She pointed for the door and scurried off to find John. Maggie looked over at me as she bit her lip. “Do you want me to-” “No,” I said harshly. “Right,” she said dejectedly. “Maybe it’ll be your good luck charm,” Claire said cheerily. I lifted the champagne bottle, my suspicions confirmed when I felt the light weight of the bottle. A few minutes later, Lucy was running through the door, shutting it slightly behind her. “Okay, I have John but I told him to wait outside. Are you sure you want to do this?” I didn’t answer as I got up and ran over to the door, flinging it open with tears in my eyes. John’s eyes went wide and he covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. “It’s not funny,” I snapped. “No, definitely not. How did this…” He waved at my face and then cleared his throat as he choked back a smile. “Maggie,” I said angrily. “You let Maggie do your eyebrows?” he asked incredulously. “Hey,” Maggie said, walking up behind me, draining a glass of champagne. “It would have been fine if-” “If I hadn’t let you touch my eyebrows?” I snarled. “You let her do your eyebrows while she was drinking champagne?” He didn’t hold back his laughter this time, but exploded into a full on belly laugh. Tears welled in my eyes and he instantly stopped his laughing. “Sorry. It’s not funny.” “What am I going to do? I can’t walk down the aisle with one eyebrow!” “I might have an idea. Give me a minute.” He walked away, leaving me standing in the doorway crying. When he returned and handed me the bushy eyebrows, I looked at him in confusion. “It was a present from one of the guys. A joke, sort of.” “What am I supposed to do with them? You want me to have big, bushy man eyebrows for our wedding?” “No, I was thinking you could trim them and then glue them on or something.” I started crying again and John’s eyes turned fearful. “No, he’s right,” Claire said. “We can work with this. I’ll just-” “No, I don’t think so,” Lucy said. “You’ve already had too much champagne and out of the three us, I have the best style. I’ll do the trimming.” Lucy turned and walked away, the others following, leaving me alone with John. He cupped my face and brushed his thumbs across my lips. “Eyebrows or not, I still love you. It’ll be okay.” “I’m not walking down the aisle with no eyebrows.” “Princess, we already paid for everything. Don’t you think you’re being a tad dramatic?” My nostrils flared as he so easily dismissed my eyebrows. He held up his hands when he saw the fury raging through me. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” I slammed the door in his face, trying to calm myself down. I was going to be marrying the stupid man in a couple of hours after all.
Ice: A Reed Security Romance Page 21