Out back, someone raised the volume on what sounded like Justin Timberlake. The bass rattled me while I waited. “Until . . .?” I prompted.
“I went over to his house to surf one weekend. Surfing together wasn’t unusual, except that we usually met at my place or the beach. And you know I hung out at his house a lot, but for some reason we’d never surfed there.” I passed over her coffee mug when she reached for it. “Anyway, we were on his front deck in the early morning, checking the waves and putting on sunscreen. He sort of stopped and asked why I was still single.”
“Ha. As if he hadn’t been by your side through all of it. What’d you say?”
“I made some joke, like, ‘I don’t know—you tell me. You know me as well as I know myself.’”
“Aww.” It was so true, though. I was annoyed I hadn’t figured them out years ago.
She straightened her back, imitating Corbin’s sometimes unfair amount of confidence. “He was like, ‘Yeah I do, so what about you and me?’ He wanted to know if I’d ever thought about him ‘that way.’”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Guys have it so easy.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” she exclaimed. “As if I hadn’t wondered about us a thousand times over the years.” She stirred her coffee and tapped the spoon against the rim. “Later, he told me seeing me in his house, how comfortable I was there with him, swapping my surfboard for one of his without asking permission—it’d fallen into some vision of the life he’d been trying to find with other girls.” Her eyes softened as she looked past me. “Like I belonged there.”
I covered my heart. “Someone to go out on the water with.”
“I guess? Oh, and get this.” She lowered her voice, smiling with a hint of mischief. “I was half-dressed in my wetsuit so I had my bikini top on. I adjusted the string to see if he’d look, and he did. Finally, something in his eyes changed, like he was seeing me for the first time.”
Val shuddered as I got goose bumps. “I mean, you’re super sexy,” I said, “so of course he’d noticed that, like, eons ago.”
“He says so, but until that day, it’d always been in a brotherly way. Weird-o.” She laughed. “I mean, he’d never ogled my tits that way before, so there’s that.”
“Fifty bucks says he did, you just never noticed.” I warmed my hand on my mug. “So what’d you say to all that?”
“I was honest with him.” She set the stirring spoon in the sink and took a quick sip. “My heart started beating so hard, I could barely hear what I was saying, but I didn’t want to lie. I admitted I’d had a crush on him up until recently.”
“How did he react?”
“He wanted to know why I’d never told him. Well, duh—he’d never asked.”
“He should’ve realized,” I said. “But then again, I didn’t. You’re good at hiding it. Too good.”
“It’s all that time I’ve spent on set,” she said, pointing at me. “I’m becoming one of you actor pod people.”
“Hey, I got out of that black hole somehow. I’m not an actress anymore.” I gestured to hurry her along. “But quit trying to change the subject. What happened next?”
“I tried to play off my crush like it was no big deal.” Her posture wilted. “You guys are so fucking important to me. My feelings weren’t worth risking your friendship or his.” She scratched her calf with her shoe. “So I picked up the surfboard thinking we could forget the whole thing, but he took it from me and set it aside. He could tell I was lying and that it wasn’t nothing.”
I was nearly falling out of my seat. “And then?”
“He asked if he could kiss me. At first I said no. I didn’t want to go back down that path, so I went with the easiest, most hurtful excuse I could think of.”
I grimaced, because I had a feeling that “excuse” had to do with me. “What’d you say?”
“That it would never work between us because he’d loved you and probably still did.” She straightened back up. “I wasn’t going to be anyone’s consolation prize.”
“He didn’t have any feelings for me at that point,” I said. “If you’d asked me, I would’ve told you.”
“He said the same. He still says it. It was a problem for us in the beginning,” she admitted. “Sometimes it still is. It’s hard for me to forget years and years of watching him pine for you.”
“I understand that better than anyone,” I said, setting aside my coffee to stand. I leaned a knee on the seat of my chair, addressing her so she knew I meant what I was saying. “Corbin and I had plenty of time and chances to try to make it work. We never did, and that means something.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m getting over it, mostly because he tells me every day how much he loves and appreciates me.”
“He says he loves you?” I asked, clasping my hands. “Oh my God.”
Her face was uncharacteristically red as she said, “I can’t take you seriously with that bib on.”
I swiped the towel from my dress and tossed it on the table. “Did you reciprocate? Tell me you’ve said it back to him.”
“I could’ve right there on the deck. You know how charming he is.” She sounded annoyed, but then she smiled. “He got his kiss, and I was in love with him all over again. But I couldn’t tell him. It took me a lot longer to get over the fear that he’d leave once I said I loved him . . . but I eventually did, and he’s still here.”
For not knowing how I felt about this a few minutes ago, I could barely contain my excitement now. “I’m ecstatic.” Filled with awe, I sat back against the table’s edge. “I’m embarrassed I never saw it, and that I wasn’t there for you—but I am now.”
“I’ve been worried about what our friends would say. Mostly you, obviously.”
“You want to know what I think?” I gestured to the backyard. “I’ll go get the officiant right now. We can make this a double wedding like you wouldn’t believe.”
She laughed loudly. “Oh, no. I’m not the marrying kind.”
I rolled my eyes. She’d said that before, but I’d assumed she just hadn’t met the right guy. “You’re telling me Corbin’s okay with no wedding?”
“Yep.” She yawned, clearly in no rush to get down the aisle. Or was it a show? With Val I could never be sure. “We’re doing our thing for now.”
“But think of how much fun we’d have sharing an anniversary.” I picked up my mug, smiling over the rim as I took a sip. “I’d invite you on my honeymoon too, but I’m pretty sure Manning would kill one of us.”
She came over, put my coffee down, and hugged me. “Thanks for being supportive. I swear, I never wanted you to find out today.”
“Oh, I need in on this,” I heard Corbin say a moment before wrapping his long arms around the pair of us. “Are we all good? Val is seventy-five percent moved in to my place, but she wouldn’t take the final plunge without you knowing.”
I pulled back to look at them. “Are you kidding? Manning and I will help you move in. His truck is a monster. I’ll bet we can fit the rest of Val’s apartment in one trip.”
“I can leave the rest behind,” she said, blinking up at him. “Corbin’s house already feels like . . .”
He rubbed her back. “Like what, babe?”
“Home, I guess.”
I looked around my kitchen. I knew that exact feeling. I had also walked into this home and known it was mine. Since then, it had never, not once, felt like anything other than where I belonged.
Tonight hadn’t only been a happily-ever-after for Manning and me. Val, Corbin, and even Tiffany, had each found one, too. From watching the sky move with Manning to telling him forever was too short an amount of time to spend with him, the day had been perfect. And it should’ve been enough. All of this should’ve been enough.
But deep down, I worried it wasn’t.
12
The reception ended just before midnight. My dad had fallen asleep in our living room recliner, so my family was the last to leave. After sleeping apa
rt from Manning the night before, and a full day of being surrounded by company, I was ready for alone time with my husband. It was the only thing keeping me from insisting my family stay in the guestroom rather than the hotel Manning had arranged. That, and I was pretty sure Manning would annul the wedding if I interfered with his impending plans for me in any way.
After I’d spent a few minutes out front recapping the night with my mom and sister, I said goodnight and went to find Manning. He sat facing the wrong way at an empty picnic table out back with a cigar in hand and an exhausted Blue sleeping at his feet. Except for the fact that we were alone, and even the caterers had left, the party could’ve still been going. White lightbulbs crisscrossed over the dance floor we’d rented, plastic plates with cake residue dotted the tables, and a mixed CD played on the speakers, though the volume had been lowered to soft background music.
“I thought you’d be picking up,” I said as I blew out the remaining lit votive candles we’d arranged down the center of each table.
He rested an ankle over one knee. “I put the cake and leftovers away. The rest can wait until tomorrow.”
I continued stacking dessert plates where he’d left off. “I don’t think you’ve ever gone to bed while the house is messy.” I winked at him. “No matter how hard I’ve tried to tempt you away.”
“Tempt me.” He kept his eyes on me. “Maybe tonight’s your lucky night.”
I dumped the dirty plates in a Hefty trash bag and started nesting name cards. “I don’t think it could get any luckier.”
After a pull from his cigar, he nodded at me. “Leave that stuff, Lake.”
I paused. “I should at least take the presents in.”
“Nah. C’mere.”
“We won’t have a lot of time to clean tomorrow. Our flight leaves in the evening, and it’ll take us at least—”
“I’ll pay the dog sitter extra to take care of it. Just come over here.”
Slowly, I zigzagged through the tables toward him. His impatience visibly grew the closer I got. Blue groaned and twitched. “Did you walk her tonight?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Food?”
“Between the first dance and the cake.”
I mock-gasped. “What a good husband.”
I stepped over Blue as Manning opened his knees for me to stand between them. He ran a hand up the back of my thigh. “When can you wear this dress again?”
“Never,” I said. “This was it.”
He squeezed my backside. “Too bad.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to get tired of it once I hang our wedding photos.”
“Not possible.” He flexed his hand around the outside of my hip, pressing his thumb close to my pubic bone. “I’m not ready for you to take it off for good,” he said, his voice turning gravelly, “but it’s also all I can think about.”
“Me too.” I wrapped my hand around his forearm as butterflies erupted in my tummy. “Maybe we should leave this mess for tomorrow.”
“No maybe about it.” He put out his cigar and stood, towering over me, challenging me with his height, his hungry eyes. “Definitely.”
He slipped an arm around my waist and took my hand to sway to “Wonderful Tonight.” Blue looked up at us. “We’re going to dance a few moments,” Manning said, “then I’m carrying you inside.”
“You don’t need to,” I said. “I’ll go willingly.”
“That’s what the groom does at the end of the night.”
“I already entered the house as a married woman. A few times, actually. One of the perils of having the ceremony in your backyard.”
He grunted. “You haven’t been in the bedroom, have you? I’ll take you straight to our bed.”
“No.” I half-smiled, blushing as I teased him. “What does the groom do in the bedroom?”
“The rest’s not suitable for Blue’s innocent ears.” Manning bent, scooped me up into his arms, and walked us up the steps to the house. “Any last requests before we lock ourselves in for the night?”
Arms loosely wrapped around his neck, I closed one eye as I thought it over. “We should probably get water,” I said.
“Hydration. Good call. Did you get enough to eat tonight?”
“Between pork, potatoes, and wedding cake, I’d say so.”
“We’ll bring snacks just in case.” He paused at the back door. “Ready to cross the threshold?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No,” he said. “Not according to the Romans.”
Blue zoomed ahead of us, clattering through her dog door. “What do the Romans have to do with it?” I asked.
“There are two reasons the groom carries the bride.” He readjusted me in his arms. “One is that evil spirits might try to get you through the floor. In my arms, you’re protected.”
“Aw.” I patted his chest. “How sweet. What’s the other reason?”
“Back in the day, brides were supposed to act distraught about being married off. Basically,” he lowered his forehead to mine, “I’m dragging my unwilling bride into my home.”
My stomach clenched with the dip in his voice, his breath near my mouth. “I don’t think anyone can argue I wasn’t willing,” I said.
“Knowing all that, would you rather walk in yourself?”
I got the sense Manning wanted to see this through. On a regular day, there was no place I’d rather be than in his arms—it was only more true of our wedding night. Slowly, I shook my head. Holding each other’s gaze, Manning stooped to jiggle the door open. As he walked us through, my skin tingled, my nipples hardening with anticipation for our night ahead.
“Feel any different?” he asked on the way to the kitchen.
“A little.”
“Me too.”
He set me down on the counter. “Stay there,” he said. “Evil spirits might still be lingering.” He moved around the kitchen, grabbing water bottles from the fridge, a box of Wheat Thins, and a bag of chocolate chips. “This should do it,” he said. “Now we go to the bedroom—but this time, I want your legs around me.”
“That’s going to be tough in this dress,” I said.
“I can help with that.” He put the food and water down and squatted at my feet. He took his time removing my boots, dropping them on the ground. As he ran a hand up the outside of my calf, he pushed my dress up with it. “My only regret today is that I didn’t get to shave your legs this morning. Spending the night apart was a terrible idea.”
As he touched me, I leaned back onto my hands and closed my eyes, only partially aware of what he was saying. “I love you,” I said.
“I know you do, my good girl.” He moved my dress up higher and kissed the inside of one knee, sliding his palms and the fabric up my thighs. “You’re the sweetest of everything,” he said. “Better than cake or pie or even cotton candy.”
“I doubt that,” I said, sighing.
“Then you should taste yourself.”
I had tasted myself, at Manning’s demand, several times. I shivered at the memory of his fingers in my mouth as his hands inched higher, inviting the night air against my skin. “You’re going to torture me tonight, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I’m going to do everything one man can between sundown and sunrise,” he said. “And I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”
“Are we starting here?”
“No. We start in our bedroom.” He stood, bunching my dress up around my hips to free my legs. I wrapped them around his waist, sliding up until I felt him hard and long through his pants.
“Get the water.”
I picked up a bottle in each hand, wrapped my arms around his neck, and held on. Manning gathered the rest of the food and walked us down the hall to our room. I shifted against his crotch, warming myself up. “You know,” I said, pulling myself more tightly against him, “you should be extra turned on right now.”
“I doubt that’s possible.”
I kissed his cheek, murmuring, “You’re
protecting, providing, and mating me all at once. Keeping the evil spirits away. Bringing snacks you foraged from the kitchen, and . . .”
“And?”
“The mating part.”
“The best part.” He reached our door, which we’d closed off and locked in case any guests had come into the house. “Fuck.”
“What?”
“My hands are full, and the key’s in my shed.”
“Why?”
He dropped the food on the ground. “I didn’t want to carry it in my pocket all night.”
With my back to the door, I only heard the knob wiggle. “What’re you doing?”
“Breaking it.”
“Manning.” I sighed with exasperation. “You can’t go around breaking locks all the time.”
“This one’s extra strong, too,” he said proudly. “Installed by the best—yours truly.”
“So let’s go find the key.”
His bicep flexed against my ribs with the effort. “I can get it.”
“You’ll splinter the whole thing.”
“Then I’ll fix it.” With a snap, I looked over my shoulder as the door swung open. “There we go.”
“The food—”
“I’ll go back for it.”
“But Blue might get into it.”
“That mutt,” he griped, nudging the crackers and chocolate into the room with his boot before kicking the door closed. We had to shut it to get alone time, or Blue would interrupt us—we knew from experience.
Manning pushed my back up against the nearest wall. “I want to fuck you in your wedding dress, Lake.” His mouth was suddenly hot on my neck, his hands squeezing my ass. “Will you let me fuck you in your wedding dress?”
I let my head fall back, giving him better access to my throat. “I have special lingerie for you.”
“And I want to see that, too. I want to taste you everywhere tonight. I want to be wearing your scent like cologne by dawn. But the first time as a married couple, I want your dress on.”
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