Need Us (Make or Break Book 4)

by Amanda Heath

  Pierce curls up his lip. “That’s not a thing you ask a man. Aunt Jenny is a lawyer though. She likes to pick apart the things that make people do things.”

  “I know. Then she got mad because I told her it wasn’t her business. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Rachel and Channing enter the room then, Rachel holding a little tan stick. “You should be glad I brought the good stuff. Your mom would shit a brick if she saw you right now.”

  “Just get it covered. We have to walk out in like two minutes,” Pierce states, looking at his watch.

  “I’ll do it but I’ll take my time. If I don’t then you’ll be able to see it and there will be even more people upset. Chill your balls.”

  Pierce walks up behind Rachel and bumps his hips into hers. “You like talking back don’t you? Sassy little shit.” Then he kisses her neck like he always does.

  “Okay I’m done.” She ignores Pierce, which he finds funny and she runs towards me. I’m caught off guard as she launches herself at me. “I love you so much and I’m so proud of you right now. You go and make her the happiest woman in the world.” Then she kisses my cheek. She stops at Pierce on her way out. “You know I like to talk back. I always have to have the last say. It’s what makes me the way I am.” Then she kisses him lightly on the lips.

  Instantly I perk up even more. Even with all the drama and bullshit, Rachel and Pierce can find a way to be normal and stay together. Everything is right in the world.

  The four of us head out into the main part of the church and line up in order by the altar: Me, Channing, Pierce and then Bentley.

  “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry starts playing over the speakers and Paisley walks into the room. Her dress is red with a white slash belt thing around her waist. Her dress touches the ground as she walks. You’d think the red would clash with her hair but it doesn’t. Her hair is down and framing her face while her eyes never leave Channing. I feel him shift around next to me and I instantly smile.

  Ashley walks out next, her black hair pushed back out of her face and flowing down her back. Her dress is almost identical to Paisley’s except hers stops at her knees. She winks at her husband who’s sitting about the middle of the room.

  Rachel comes out next in the same dress except hers has a tail, not too long but it’s there. The dress also raises in the front to about her knees. Her brown hair is pulled up but she has a few curls falling down around her face.

  She winks at me when she gets to us and I help her up the stairs. I kiss her hand before I let her go and I see tears come to her eyes. It’s all I can do not to become a pussy and start crying myself.

  When my Duchess walks out I stop breathing. She didn’t tame all that wild curly hair like I thought she would. It’s down by her face and she beams at me from the end of the aisle. It takes everything inside of me to stop from running down the aisle to meet her halfway. I can’t believe this beautiful goddess is going to actually marry me. I don’t know what I did to earn this or what I could ever do to deserve her, but I’m so fucking happy that she is mine.

  Her dress is off white and falls to the floor. The skirt is puffy while the bodice fits tightly. I hope she can breathe in that thing. The skirt is also covered in red hearts that match the bridesmaid dresses and the headband in her hair.

  When she sees Trey’s picture, the one I had made, sitting off to the side she instantly bursts into tears. She picks up her dress, much to Grayson’s surprise, and starts running towards me. I step down the stairs to catch her while she flings herself at me. “Shh, Duchess. Everyone’s going to think we’ve lost our minds,” I whisper in her ear.

  “Did you bring him here?” When I nod she cries a little harder. “He would have loved this. Thank you so much.”

  “I’d do anything for you, Wesley. Anything at all.” Without Trey this girl would never be as wonderful as she is. He is as much a part of her as I am. “Now, let’s get married before these people start to riot.”

  I smile at Grayson when I hand Wesley back to him. The priest has a bright smile on his face when Wesley and I both turn to him. “We are gathered here today to bring Royal Duke Sanders and Wesley Ann Bridges together in holy matrimony…”

  I hear what’s going on and I say what I’m supposed to when I’m supposed to. When he says I can kiss my bride, I do. With tongue and all. We don’t stop until Channing whispers in my ear how we are making everyone uncomfortable.

  When I pull away all I can do is look into her eyes. “Hello, Mr. Wesley Ann Bridges,” she says, making everyone around us laugh.

  “Hello, Mrs. Royal Duke Sanders,” I reply, nuzzling my nose against hers. “I love you so fucking much. I’m so happy we did this.”

  She lightly pecks my lips and backs away a step. I don’t let her get far. “Me too. Now let’s go get some cake.” Then she drops my hand and races out of the church.

  I happen to catch Pierce’s eye and he shakes his head. He walks over to Rachel and offers his arm. She looks unsure but I think I hear him growl at her and she quickly accepts. Channing walks up to me and throws his arm around my shoulders. “I remember when you used to have a different girl in your bed every week. Now you’ll have to get by with just one.”

  I huff. “I’ll pretend you didn’t say any of that because I know you’re just being a little bitch.” Then I punch him in the stomach. Not hard, it’s more like a love tap.

  He drops his arm with a laugh and we head to leave out of the church and walk over to the reception area. “I’m surprised you didn’t write Wesley a song to sing today.” He sticks his hands in his pockets, giving him a relaxed look but I know he’s anything but relaxed. Not with Paisley here.

  I shake my head. “I’ve written her enough songs to fill up two CDs. It’s no longer new and original. Hell, I’m not even going to sing today. It’s my wedding, I get to relax. No standing up in front of a hundred people and performing.” After Juilliard the performing has lost its spark. I just don’t enjoy it anymore. That’s why I’m glad I never listened to my mom about becoming the next Justin Beiber. I’d rather spend my time with kids, teaching them about the instruments that I love. Music is everywhere and in everything we do. That’s why I took the Meadows teaching position. Now I get to teach little kids about music whenever I want. It doesn’t hurt that my new wife is also teaching History at the same place. Well, she’s at the high school and I’m in elementary but it’s in the same general area.

  “I guess that’s a good thing. I don’t think any of us could handle another song about how much you love Wes. It’s starting to make you look like a girl.” Channing smirks at me and shrugs his shoulders. The prick.

  I smack him on the shoulder but I don’t say anything. A year ago we would mess around and say insulting things about the way we loved our women. I can’t do that to him anymore. He doesn’t deserve to be reminded of a time when Paisley made him happy. Everyone says you should cherish the times you spent with the person you loved when they are no longer around. That’s true if they passed away. Paisley walked out of Channing’s life with only a letter. She didn’t even explain to him why she did what she did. I read the letter, shortly after Lily had to knock his ass out with a drug cocktail. Paisley told him she loved him but she couldn’t go through with it. She went on to say it was her and not him, that it could never be him. He was perfect and she was the one with issues. I don’t think the girl stopped to think for one second what she was doing. But that’s Paisley for you. When it came to Channing, she didn’t think about things, she just charged head on.

  In the end, she hurt him more than he could ever hurt her. I didn’t understand the problem to begin with. Considering he thought rainbows shot out of her ass. Once upon a time I thought she was hot and I wanted to do her but that was for one second and before I saw how Channing looked at her.

  The thing I love the most about Channing is the way he lets people in. He lets them in slowly, takes his time getting a feel for them. That’s what he did with Paisle
y and that’s what he did with me. We might have been five but even at five Channing was more mature than anyone at that age should be. He had to be though, what with the mother he had. That woman scared the shit out of me up until the day she died. I don’t like to speak ill of the dead but that woman is rotting in hell for the shit she did to Channing. And sometimes I wish I’ll be going to hell so I can spit on her, since I never got to do it while she was alive.

  “Since the groom has just graced us with his presence, please come join your bride on the dance floor. I don’t have all day, sir!” Chutney shouts, her voice vibrating the speaker next to my ear. I wince and laugh.

  I grab Channing’s shoulder and make him look me in the eye. “Stay away from Paisley. You don’t need that shit. I know how hard it is for you, even after a year. Getting up to your old tricks with her is going to set you back. And I don’t think I can relive what you went through.”

  He takes a deep swallow and nods his head. I turn towards the wedding reception.

  “Don’t get your panties into a bunch there girl!” I shout over the crowd, striding towards Wes in her beautiful gown.

  “You, kind sir, shall not speak about my underwear. That’s just rude.” Chutney’s blonde hair is down around her shoulders and she has her hands on her hips. “You hear that babe? Royal’s talking about my underwear!”

  I frantically look around for Chutney’s tall, dark and deadly husband. You don’t want to fuck with that guy. Even if I had all the guys at this wedding standing behind me, I’d still be scared to death. So would Chutney’s family and I’m pretty sure that’s why they let him marry her.

  Chutney is Ashley’s sister-in-law. Meaning Chutney’s older brother, Damien, is vice president of a motorcycle club. That means Chutney’s got a ton of over-protective dudes constantly watching her. Poor girl.

  Chutney’s husband raises his glass towards me and smiles. It’s not mean or predatory so I smile back and raise my hand in greeting.

  I take Wesley’s hand and put my other around her waist. Her hand goes to my shoulder and she beams up at me. “Are we going to Waltz? Yay!”

  I laugh as Chutney starts to sing some slow song I haven’t heard before. That’s unusual considering how much I love music. Chutney loves it more and probably knows every song ever created. Every band ever formed too.

  “You look so fucking beautiful, Duchess.” I lean forward to whisper in her ear, making sure my lips touch the shell. “I wanna eat you up.”

  I bring my head back and watch as she blushes and bites her lip. “You are so bad, Royal. I swear I can’t take you anywhere.”

  “I can’t help myself. You get me going and all you have to do is stand there.” She laughs and places her head on my shoulder as the song changes. I don’t even listen to it; I just want to hold my wife in my arms. “You really are though. Most beautiful fucking person on this earth, and you’re all mine.”

  “I don’t deserve the shit you say to me. I feel like a school girl on her first date every time.” She rubs her face against my chest and I know she’s trying to hold her tears in.

  I hold her tighter even though her hair is tickling my nose. “You deserve every thing I say to you. And probably more but I am only one man.”

  We dance for a while in silence just holding onto each other. I don’t notice the people dancing around us, or which song Chutney is singing. I just hold Wesley and pray to God I get to spend every day for the rest of my life with her.

  “Do you think Pierce and Rachel will be okay?” Wesley whispers into my chest.

  I smooth my hand over the small of her back, trying to relieve the stress I feel there. “I think your cousin is the only person on this earth who can get Rachel to do anything. So I’m positive they will work everything out. And I’m also positive I’ll be helping him bury Donovan’s body.”

  “I can’t believe Donovan did this. He used to be so happy and carefree. I remember that about him, clearly. What the fuck went wrong?” She sniffs and I know she’s on the verge of tears. I’ve had to chase more tears then I would like off this girl’s face because of her family.

  “Annabella.” She pulls her head away from my chest and looks up at me. “I mean, look what she did to Ashley and Victor. Whether or not she’s changed over the years, she still destroyed a lot of people.”

  “Well I’m sure glad she’s changed. Considering she married the mob boss of Dallas, she could have all of us killed in our sleep and we wouldn’t even know it.” She follows that statement with a shiver and I almost burst out laughing.

  “Duchess, Sage wouldn’t do anything to piss off Damien or any of the Wrath’s. And having us killed would really piss off Ashley. Nobody wants her knocking on their door pissed off and looking for blood.”

  She chuckles and pulls out of my arms as the song ends. “Okay, we seriously need to stop talking about this shit. Let’s go mingle before my mother shows up and makes us.”

  That’s how I end up following my wife around as she talks to every single person at our wedding. Some I don’t mind talking to but others I would have rather died. Like Great Aunt Agatha. That woman feels up my butt every time she sees me. And Wes thinks it’s funny.

  After a while we end up seated at our table with pieces of cake in front of us. Wesley and I can’t stop messing around but my mom should have expected that. We mess around constantly; it’s what we do.

  Channing finally brings it to an end by standing up to give his Best Man speech. He wasn’t worried about standing up in front of all these people and telling them how much he loves me. We have a strong bromance and it won’t be denied.

  “I’ve known Royal since I was five years old. And for every year since then there isn’t a memory I don’t cherish involving Royal. He’s always been my best friend. He’s also the best friend anyone on this planet could have. He’s brave, loyal, full of life and knows just what to do to bring me out of my shell and face the world.” He turns from the crowd and looks at Wesley and I. “I remember the day he told me about Wesley. We were in the locker room after swim team practice. He looked at me and said ‘She takes my breath away and I don’t know what I’d do without her.’” He faces the crowd again holding up his champagne glass. “I know how that feels and I’m so incredibly happy these two decided to spend the rest of their lives together. No one deserves a happy ending more than these two. So congratulations Wesley Sanders, you’re stuck with his goofy ass now!” Then he takes a sip out of his glass and every one follows.

  He sounds happy and carefree but I know he’s not. I know he’s hurting and I can’t do a thing to stop it. I can’t do a thing to change how he feels about Paisley. I wish I could take it all away.

  Channing

  I wake up with my head pounding. There’s a body next to me and I keep my eyes closed because I know I can’t look at her. I can’t believe what I did last night. What the hell is wrong with me?

  Does it make me a bastard that I want to run from this room without even acknowledging her? But then I want to stay and hold her because I know it’ll feel good. I missed the way she felt next to me. I missed the way she smells and how soft her skin is.

  I feel her move against me and I pop my eyes open. Her blue-green ones are the first thing I see, staring straight into mine. Her red hair is wild and my fingers itch to flatten it down. God how I missed how she looks in the morning after we fucked all night.

  I move quickly before I fall back into old habits. Once I stand up, her hand grabs mine. I don’t want to turn around and look at her but I do. There’s a force I can’t see stringing us together. When my eyes meet hers again she says, “Stay.”

  How did I even end up in this situation?

  ***

  I think I’ve had two glasses of champagne and three whiskey sours. I’m working on my fourth. I’ll need a lot more before this night is over considering the bane of my existence is here and she won’t stop looking at me.

  When I first met her, I used to stare at her all the time
. I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. I felt like a fucking stalker and I knew I was on the verge of being just that. I had wanted her and I fought that so hard. I used to move through the hallways at school like a shadow and watch as she left her class. She was so introverted at that point she didn’t even notice. Hell, I think she’s still introverted. I don’t think she could ever change that. She doesn’t like attention so she pretends it’s not there. She got so good at pretending, she really didn’t notice anything.

  I feel like the stalked now. Her eyes follow me everywhere I go. Talking to Pierce about Donovan. Dancing with Rachel. Sitting in the corner playing a game with Asher. Every time I go to the bar her eyes are on me. No one says anything about it, but they all know. Rachel has that look in her eyes, the one that means she’s about to go off on someone. She’s pissed off on my behalf and I don’t have the heart to tell her I can handle the bitch.

  I’m the only person who could ever handle her.

  After three hours of her staring at me, I decide I can’t handle it anymore. I throw back the rest of my whiskey and I stalk towards her. She looks surprised when I grab her arm and yank her towards the back of the room. Then I lead her out into the empty hall.

  She leans against one side and I lean against the opposite side. Then we just stare at each other. It’s been a little over a year and I can’t think of what to say to her. It’s like we know each other but we don’t. It makes me think of when we first met. I didn’t know what to say to her then either.

  “Why did you bring me out here?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. Not because she’s mad, no, she’s turned on. She doesn’t like for people to notice her pebbled nipples. In a few more seconds she’ll tighten her thighs and she’ll be thinking about getting a new pair of panties.

  I shrug my shoulders. That’s when I see the anger twinkle in her eyes. Now she’s thinking of hitting me while I watch her tighten her thighs. We are creatures of habit. This is habit for us if nothing else. Fighting, getting angry and then finding somewhere to fuck because that’s what we do. Even when we were unbelievably happy that’s what we did.