Savor

by Xavier Neal

  Logan’s voice rises, “What?”

  “He wants me and the Kid to be with you in Cali. Says you need us out there.” I yawn again.

  Damn I could take a nap right now.

  In a soft voice, he whispers, “What did you say?”

  At least I think he’s whispering. Does he sound like he’s whispering to you too? Do you know what the back of your eyelids look like?

  Chapter 18

  Logan

  “Uncle Luke is gonna be pissed that you’re bringing her a doughnut,” Dean informs me, taking a huge bite out of his own, getting crumbs on my car seat.

  He can’t even eat better in the car?

  “Uncle Luke can suck it, because after all she’s gone through and the shit style hospital food, she deserves this.” I roll the bag up and lick the frosting off my fingers, immediately wishing I was licking Maxx. “All the dieting restrictions probably added stress to her when she didn’t need it.”

  4 weeks of bed rest. Does that mean we can’t fuck that entire time? How do you expect me to be under the same roof with her and not sleep with her? I mean, yeah, I’ve had some practice, but that’s not the point. Before now, it wasn’t an option and now that it is, I’m not sure how to say no. And besides, sex with me is relaxing. Well, after you’ve had an orgasm or two.

  “Kid, I gotta ask you something.” I lean back against my door.

  “Shoot.”

  “Do you wanna move to SoCal?”

  He slows down chewing and cocks an eyebrow at me. “Is this a trick question?”

  “It’s not a math problem. No tricks.”

  Fuck you. Math is tricky. Who adds letters to numbers with any purpose other than confusing someone?

  “I mean, I’d move to Cali. Hot chicks. The beach. Sun. That would be kinda cool. But Uncle Luke and Aunt Erin are here. Uncle Stuart, C.J., and Tony too. Not to mention Mimi and Pops. Plus, I’m doing really good on the basketball team. Coach says I’ll make varsity next year if I keep this up.”

  “I get it.” I nod slowly. “You have a life here.”

  “A good one.” He points a finger at me flinging crumbs.

  Fucking really?

  “But if we had to move to Cali to be with you then whatever.” He shrugs.

  You know I’ve done a lot of wrong in my life, but raising a kid to say something like that is definitely something I should take pride in, huh?

  “Take this to your mom for me, will ya? I gotta call work.”

  “Alright, but when Uncle Luke loses his shit, I’m sending him after you.”

  I roll my eyes and don’t even bother telling him not to cuss.

  Dean grabs the bag, gets out of the car, shoves one hand in his hoodie, and hustles towards the hospital door. Once he’s out of sight, I place a faint smile on my face knowing I have to do this. I’m the reason Maxx ended up in the hospital. And I’m gonna make it fucking right.

  The phone rings twice before Jake’s voice fills my ear, “I know what you’re thinking Kellar, and the answer is no.”

  “So you’re a fucking mind reader now?” My annoyance with him is heavy.

  “No. I’m not an idiot. Your pregnant girlfriend—”

  “Fiancé.”

  “Had a scare.”

  “More than a fucking scare—”

  Ignoring me, he continues, “You think the best thing would be for you to quit fighting, but it won’t be. Doing that is going to stress her out all over again just like you being away.”

  Is it bad that he might be right?

  “You quit on me now, and she’s gonna deal with the guilt of wondering if she killed your career. And nothing you can say or do will make that fear subside. So let me counter the offer you were about to offer me to give me one more good fight before hanging up your shorts,” Jake smoothly says into the phone.

  Motherfucker lives up to his name, doesn’t he?

  “Keep fighting for me, and I’ll relocate you back home.”

  Was that in English?

  “Look, I need my fighter at his best. You are that on your home turf. Not worried about your girl or your kid. Surrounded by family. So I will relocate your trainers or find ones who are willing to travel to train you. Same routines. I’ll even find you a new post workout masseur. Photographer. Everything, so you can fall into bed with your girl every night.”

  “The catch?”

  “You fulfill your contract and travel to fights just like you do now.”

  My eyes shut, the speech I had planned is gone out the window.

  “Kellar, I know a good investment when I’ve found it. And I’ll do what I have to do to keep it. Now, do we have a deal?”

  What do you think? Do we?

  Chapter 19

  Maxx

  Four weeks is a very long time to do nothing but the bare minimum for work and listen to Erin go on and on about wedding plans.

  Apparently, I’m supposed to care about what kind of flowers she holds and it offends her highly that I don’t. I already don’t know much about flowers, let alone the ones she’s supposed be holding!

  Four weeks is all the time we have to plan for a wedding because after my hospital scare, Logan demanded we get married immediately. We would’ve both been okay going to the courthouse, but we’d quickly realized the Hart siblings would’ve never forgiven us for it.

  The upside to the hospital scare is that it brought Logan back home on a more permanent basis. Wait. Is it weird to see the upside to a scare like that? Hm. Anyway, Jake relocated him and his assistant here. He’ll still be required to travel to different cities for fights, but at the end of the normal day, he comes home to me. Runs drills with Tony and the Kid. Pisses Erin off by half washing dishes. It’s so relieving that he’s back home but still gets to fight. I personally thanked Jake when he came to check on me three days after I got out of the hospital. Turns out he’s not completely soulless.

  Erin zips the back of my gown as I stare at my reflection. I’m not sure what shocks me more: the fact that I’m in a wedding dress, that I’m pregnant, or the fact I’m pregnant in my wedding dress.

  Didn’t the old school chant say first comes marriage then comes the baby in the baby carriage? How’d I screw this one up?

  “You look beautiful.” Erin beams beside me looking gorgeous in a black, floor length strapless gown.

  Why does she look prettier than me?

  “I don’t feel beautiful.” I pout, my hands rubbing the bump. “I feel like a zit that needs to be popped.”

  “You’re not even that big yet.”

  “I feel that big.”

  “It’s your wedding day, Maxx! You’re supposed to be smiling.”

  “I’m also not supposed to be pregnant.”

  Erin opens her mouth to counter, but realizes she can’t. Instead, she shifts focus. “You get to eat a cupcake today.”

  “Mmm…” I hum out and rub my stomach again at the thought.

  Yes. Wedding cupcakes were part of the deal of having an actual wedding.

  “Hope you’re ready for this. It’s going to epic.” Erin’s exaggerated hand motions should frighten me but they can’t outdo the very important facts that are bouncing around. I get a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and today I marry the Logan Kellar. Words I never thought I’d actually say. The realization causes me to clutch my stomach tighter.

  Is it bad that I don’t know where we’re getting married? That I actually know very little about my own wedding day? I mean, Erin spent hours making me listen to her discuss things and give opinions, but other than chocolate cupcakes and this flowing halter top gown that reminds my boobs of the good ol’ days, I don’t know shit about it.

  “Erin!” Luke calls from the other side of her bedroom door. “We’re gonna be late.”

  Annoyed, she rolls her eyes and opens the door. “You can’t be late for your own wedding, Luke. It can’t start before she gets there.”

  “Yeah, but there is a minister who has a life I’m sure he w
ants to get back to,” Luke counters adjusting the sleeves on his tux jacket. Looking up at me, he relaxes and smiles brightly. “You look beautiful.”

  “I look like the dish who ran away with the spoon,” I sigh going to touch a tendril of my hair when Erin slaps my hand.

  Isn’t there some sort of rule not to slap the bride to be?

  “You do not.” He extends his hand for me to take. “You look like a woman ready to say yes to spending her life with the man she loves.”

  “She doesn’t look terrified,” Erin corrects him and adjusts her lip gloss.

  Luke scolds, “Supportive, baby sister. Be supportive.”

  “I’m as supportive as the top half of her dress. Now can we go?” She shoos us out of her bedroom door.

  With a smile on my face, I let out a deep breath.

  In less than an hour, I will officially be Mrs. Logan Kellar. Wait, I only have to take the last part of his name, right?

  Chapter 20

  Logan

  Anxiously, I rub my hands together trying to stay warm in the less than pleasant weather.

  I’m fucking freezing my nuts off here. Why did I think getting married outside in winter was smart? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I know. I heard you. But just trust me when I say my cock getting frostbite will be worth it for the look on Maxx’s face.

  “Nervous?” Tony asks while fiddling with his tie.

  “No.” My answer is quick.

  “Good. You shouldn’t be,” he reassures me.

  Not needed, but appreciated.

  The Kid groans, “I can’t—this thing—I don’t know—I hate ties!”

  Yup. That one’s mine.

  Stuart shakes his head and says, “It’s like listening to Kellar. Geez. Why didn’t you say anything when I was working on his tie?”

  Dean shrugs, and I rub my hands together trying to keep them somewhat warm. “Did you turn off your phone, Kid?”

  “Left it at home,” he informs me, looking over Stuart’s shoulder as he fixes his tie.

  C.J. places a hand on my shoulder. “Kellar, I’ve got the license ready for y’all to sign in my car when the ceremony’s over.”

  “I called the restaurant to double check that they saved the back room for us. We’re good to go,” Tony adds.

  “Only thing left to do is get married.” Stuart smiles and fixes his camera strap around his neck. “Think you can handle that?”

  “Maybe,” I mumble.

  I can’t fuck this up, right? She says vows. I say vows. Rings. Kisses. Food and fucking, right? No. I don’t mean pansy ass love making. I mean taking my girl fast and rough because I’ve had her gentle and slow for the last couple of weeks. Nothing against the way her body trembles from a soft screwing, but I miss the way her body vibrates from a good rough fucking.

  “Please keep all honeymoon thoughts in your head.” Tony’s voice causes me to realize that the world can probably see what I’m picturing in these tux pants.

  “Are you even getting a honeymoon?” C.J. questions as I notice Maxx’s aunt and uncle pull into the parking lot.

  “Eventually,” my voice mumbles.

  Between fights, the Kid, and her being pregnant it’s not a real possibility at this time, aside from the two nights we have booked at a bed and breakfast. That’s right. I booked two nights alone in the middle of the woods for me to fuck her until all the animals in the forest are knocking on our door to keep it down. It will not be at all like Disney painted it.

  “Who’s watching the Kid while y’all are away?” C.J. asks concerned.

  “I’m old enough to watch myself,” Dean snaps.

  “His aunt and uncle when they are home, and we’re trusting him to either make sure the girl is gone before they get back or get smart and fool around at her place.” Dean smiles at the thought like I gave him a tip.

  Which, believe it or not, was not my intention.

  I slug him in the shoulder. “Our wedding day, Kid.”

  “Stop hitting my nieto,” Caroline fusses and hugs Dean tightly.

  He looks at me like he won this round.

  Little shit.

  “Tell him to behave,” I encourage her and she gives him a stern look.

  “Dean—”

  “I am!” He tosses his hands innocently in the air, and I notice Luke’s car finally arriving.

  My heart speeds up, and I turn my body back around. “She’s here. Let’s go.”

  They nod and take their places. Tony relocates to cue the music, C.J. jogs over to walk Erin in as part of the ceremony, Dean takes his place beside me, with the minister waiting patiently. Stuart places his camera to his eye and begins snapping photos of all of us including Luke, who relocates to the other side of me while Caroline stands across from us.

  It looks funny, but just go with it. When we’re all here, it’ll make more sense.

  I take a deep breath and watch Maxx stroll across the field to the tune of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me.”

  When it fits, it fits, right?

  Slowly, with her arm threaded through her uncle’s, she comes towards me causing me to completely forget the fact that I can barely feel anything in my body. All I wanna do is wrap both my arms around her, tear that dress off, and show her how glad I am that she’s willing to be Mrs. Kellar, but I know there’s an order to these things.

  Or so Luke and Erin keep bitching.

  When she arrives in front of me, I shake Mike’s hand and place both of mine with hers. He takes the spot next to his wife and I step forward letting Dean stand behind me. Stuart is still snapping photos as I beam down at her.

  Maxx smiles brightly and bites her bottom lip.

  I’m gonna be biting that soon. But not soon enough.

  I tilt my head for her to look at Erin and C.J. who are strolling over, a bouquet of red roses in Erin’s hand. When she’s in place, Tony kills the music and rushes over to his spot next to her aunt and uncle completing it.

  Stuart doesn’t put his camera down but nods at me that it’s okay to start.

  “Maximus, you once asked me, in this very spot, how you catch something that only burns bright for a moment.” She raises her eyebrows and I smile. “Like this.” Her eyes roam around to the enclosed circle we are standing in the middle of. “You love it no matter how often its light flickers away. You give it a home to be a part of. You give it a light to cling onto. I don’t wanna burn bright for just a moment anymore, Maxx. I wanna burn bright for you, forever.”

  A little corny, but what’d you expect? I only kinda wrote it down.

  “When you take this ring, know that you’re taking my name, my fears, my heart, and that you are the light that will keep me going.” I reach my hand back for the kid to hand me the band. Sliding it on her finger, I do my best to remember the tears in her eyes are happy ones.

  I hate when chicks cry. Is she supposed to cry at her own wedding?

  “Logan, you once told me, that your day starts and ends with me. That you live for me. That you breathe for me. You’re the reason that I always want there to be a tomorrow. So I can have one more day with you. You’re the reason that cupcakes taste as sweet as they do, because I can share them with you. You, Logan Kellar, are the reason worth living for. When you take this ring, know that you’re taking my love, my fears, my hopes, and that you are the lifesaver that keeps me from drowning in the abyss.”

  I feel a lump in my throat and try to clear it away.

  No. I’m not gonna fucking cry at my own wedding. I’m not a pussy.

  Erin walks over and hands her the ring that she slides on my finger. Looking up at me she smiles and turns to the minister.

  He starts out immediately, “We are gathered here today to unite the union of Maxx Lyla Hughes and Logan Eric Kellar. Through the loving vows that have been exchanged and, in the presence of family, it is my pleasure to bless and sanction this marriage.” The minister nods at Erin and confusion comes on my face.

  Okay, I didn’t have this part planned.


  She pulls on the ribbon of her bouquet and lets it fall to the ground. Gracefully, she walks around the circle handing everyone a red rose before handing one to me and one to Maxx. Afterward, she takes a step back and waves her hand to the minister.

  “Logan and Maxx, you stand here today to be united by love in front of those who are honored to take place in this union. Each member of your family is holding the same flower you brought to Maxx the day you wanted to tell her that you were done with other women in your life. The day you wanted to make a commitment. What a beautiful flower for everyone to be holding while I join you together as husband and wife.”

  Maxx lets out a little gasp, and I shoot Erin a grateful nod.

  Fucking sneaky.

  “Marriage is more than dinners out and intimate sessions together that you savor. It takes work. And dedication. It takes love and forgiveness. It needs a foundation to build and sustain life upon it. As you two stand here together, you are committing to do so, to fight together not just with each other. To be with each other in sickness and health. ‘Til death do you both part. If this is something you believe you can do, please turn to one another and say ‘I do’.”

  Maxx softly says, “I do.”

  My hand tilts her chin up so she can look into my eyes. “I do.”

  “By the power bestowed upon me by the state of Texas, it my pleasure to announce you man and wife. You may—”

  I drop my lips onto hers wrapping my fingers around the nape on her neck desperate to taste her. Desperate to savor our first kiss as a married couple. I’m not sure how the minister’s speech ends, but I do know that sometime in the next few hours I’m going to be balls deep in my wife and that sentence doesn’t scare me like it once did.

  Chapter 21

  Maxx

  In the bed and breakfast bathroom, I wiggle out of my wedding gown and drop it on the floor. Staring at my still dolled up face, I giggle at my own reflection.

  I’m fucking married. Can you believe it?! Like married, married! Like walked down an aisle, err grass pathway, said the speech, signed the paper married! Like I’m going to apply for name change papers when I get back married! Did you think this would ever happen?