I leaned into his touch, letting his words sink in. “That includes you, too.”
“What?”
“I’d lay my life down for you, too,” I confided.
He leaned forward, his head resting against my forehead, his eyes locked with mine. “Will you marry me?”
Tears clouded my eyes again, but this time, because Lo still wanted to marry me. “I can’t promise the shit swirling in my head will ever stop.”
“As long as if you feel like you have to run, you run to me, I’ll be there to quiet that shit.”
“You’re not supposed to see me on our wedding day. It’s bad luck.”
“As long as I have you, I don’t care about bad luck. Marry me?”
“Your mom is going to be mad that you saw me.”
“I don’t care. I had to make sure my bride makes it down the aisle. Marry me?”
“How long until we can move back into my house?”
“You’re ignoring my question.”
“No, I’m just prolonging my answer. When can we move back home?”
“As long as you keep calling it our home, we can be in by the end of January. Marry me?”
I pushed on his shoulders, and he sat back on his heels. I slid out of my chair and knelt in front of him. “Yes,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“It’s about damn time,” he whispered against my lips. His lips melted against mine, his tongue sweeping in, tasting and promising forever. Lo raised up, kicking his legs out from under him and he sat down on his ass and pulled me into his lap. “How long is it going to take you to get ready?”
“Ready for what?” I mumbled against his neck.
“To get in your dress and all that shit?”
“Hmm, probably an hour.”
“Good, because you’re mine for the next forty-five minutes.”
“I like the sound of that,” I purred, pushing him back to lay down. His hands grabbed my ass, pulling me down with him. “We’ve never done it on the kitchen floor before.”
“I think you’re right, babe. We’re going to have to fix that.” My fingers delved into his hair as my lips crashed down on his and his hands roamed over my body, pulling my shirt up.
“Jesus.”
Lo and I froze, his hands on my bare back and our lips sealed together.
“Holy fuck. I told you we should have knocked louder.”
Lo and I opened our eyes, and we knew that Gravel and Ethel were standing in my kitchen while Lo had his hands up my shirt and I was two seconds away from being topless.
“Well, how was I supposed to know they would be on the kitchen floor? Cyn told me Meg was a damn runaway bride.”
“Well, it looks like King managed to talk some sense into her.”
“You do know that we can hear you, right?” Lo asked.
“Well I would fucking hope so,” Gravel chuckled.
“I bet this was some harebrained idea you two cooked up so you could see her before the wedding, isn’t it, Lo?” Ethel questioned.
I sat up and rolled off Lo. “Um, I wish I could say that was true, but I actually did run.”
“Well, I assume since you two were just about to screw on the floor that everything is under control. Let’s get out of here, darlin’.” Gravel reached for Ethel’s hand, but she sidestepped him, shooing her hand at him.
“Nonsense. I’ll ride with Meg back to Gwen’s, and you two can ride back in my car. Besides, the less these two see each other, the better.”
“Ma. I think all that bad luck shit is just that, shit. Meg and I can ride back together.” Lo stood up and wrapped his arm around my waist. “We’ll be there in an hour.” Even after being busted by his mom, Lo still had plans for us. I liked the way he was thinking.
Ethel grabbed my hand and pulled me out of Lo’s arms. “Nope. Not happening. Meg needs to get ready and so do you. Gwen is all set up at the clubhouse to do your hair. I called her as soon as we saw that you and Lo were here.”
“But… Ethel… I want to…” She dragged me to the door and grabbed my coat off of the floor.
“No buts. Keep it in your pants until after the wedding, Lo,” Ethel scolded. She threw open the door, her hand still grasping my arm and pulled me out the door and down the stairs.
I glanced up the stairs to see Lo and Gravel standing at the top of the stairs, both of them smirking. “Ethel, at least let the girl put her coat on,” Gravel called.
“I’ll crank the heat up in the truck. She’ll be fine.” She opened up the driver’s door of my truck, pushing me in and slammed the door shut as soon as my butt was in the door. I couldn’t see Lo anymore, but I’m sure he was laughing his ass off. Who would have thought on my wedding day I would be busted making out with my groom by my future mother-in-law who then drags me out of my house like a naughty child.
“Start it up. Let’s go,” Ethel ordered as she slid into the passenger seat.
“I don’t have keys, Ethel. You dragged me out of the house so fast, I didn’t have time to think much less grab my purse,” I said, looking over at her.
A smile spread across her lips, and she pointed over my shoulder. I looked out my side window to see Lo standing there, my keys dangling from his fingertips. I cranked down the window and reached for my keys.
He snatched them away before I could grasp them. “Only if you promise not to run again. I planned on making you dazed, and compliant before my Mom showed up. Now I have to rely on your word that you’ll be walking down the aisle.”
“I promise.” I reached for keys, sticking half of my body out of the window, but he still wouldn’t give them to me. He leaned forward, his lips brushing against mine.
“Lo, give her the damn keys. I’ll make sure she’s there.” I felt Ethel lean over the seat, and she flailed her hand out my window at Lo, shooing him away.
“Alright, alright,” Lo laughed, handing me my keys. I grabbed the keys, sticking them in the ignition and cranking up the truck. “Make sure she gets there, Ma. No detours,” Lo called as he stepped back from the truck and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Straight to the clubhouse. That’s it,” Ethel promised. I rolled up the window, giving Lo a little finger wave. I shifted the truck into reverse, backing out of the driveway and headed to the clubhouse.
“Still can’t believe you ran, hun. I thought for sure Cyn was losing her mind when she called me,” Ethel mumbled.
“I was stupid. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m good now, though,” I promised. And I was.
Lo was right. I had changed, but it was for the better. Sure, I didn’t read anymore, but the main reason I did read was to escape my crap life. When I was with Hunter, I would devour at least seven books a week, if not more. Now, I didn’t need that escape. Now I had Lo.
“Well, I’m not letting you run away again,” Ethel mumbled.
I could have argued with her, telling her she didn’t need to watch guard over me, but I just let her keep talking.
I knew that nothing was going to keep me from walking down the aisle to Lo and starting our lives together.
In less than two hours, I was about to become Mrs. Birch, and there wasn’t a damn thing in this world that was going to stop me.
_________
Chapter 26
Lo
“Pussy whipped.”
“Definitely.”
Demon and Rigid were standing in the office of the shop, looking at each other and shaking their heads. After forty-five minutes of bitching and moaning about wearing a tux, we were ready to get this wedding on the road.
“You only have to wear it for the ceremony, and then I don’t care what the fuck you wear.” I straightened my tie and grabbed my cuff links off the stack of papers on the desk. “How the fuck do I put these on?” I was beginning to get a little fed up with this tux, too.
“Give ‘em here,” Gravel grumbled, pushing off the wall a
nd holding his hand out to me. I dropped them in his hand and held my arm out as he worked magic.
“Ya’ll should see Slider. He just rolled up with Fayth, and he looks like he got kicked in the nuts. Bastard looks fucking miserable,” Gambler chuckled, leaning against the door frame.
“He’s miserable because he hasn’t been able to get his dick wet since King put him on Fayth duty.” Demon straightened his tie and sat down in the chair behind my desk. “You’re torturing the guy.”
I shrugged my shoulders, not caring. “Someone had to watch Fayth. He can suck it up and take one for the club.” Gravel finished with one arm and grabbed the other. “Besides, Leo will be in town for at least a week, so Slider will have a break from her for a bit.”
“Fucking talking about me?” Slider growled. I glanced behind Gambler and saw Slider with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a grimace from hell on his face.
“Yeah. I was saying you can cheer the fuck up because, with Leo back in town, you’re a free man for the next week.”
“What the fuck ever. After that, I’ll be right back to keeping an eye on the fucking princess.” He took a long drag off his cigarette and blew smoke at Gambler’s head.
“Dude, knock it the fuck off. I’m trying to quit fucking smoking. Now Gwen is going to smell that shit all over me.” Gambler spun around waving his arms in the air and pushed Slider back out the front door.
“It’s like a three-ring circus in here,” Gravel grumbled, dropping my hand. “You’re done. Try not to fuck it up before Meg sees you. Your mother about had a bird when I told her I had to come back here and make sure you fools look good.”
“As long as she doesn’t tell Meg about the tux, I don’t care.”
“OK, let’s get this fucking show on the road.” Gravel herded everyone out of the office, but Demon and I lingered behind.
“You fucking sure about this? You and I could grab our bikes and be out of here before anyone even knows.” Demon hitched his thumb over his shoulder, backing up a step towards the shop. “Just say the word.”
“I’m not fucking going anywhere besides out to the common room and waiting for Meg.”
“Just thought I’d ask. It’s just one of the jobs of the best man.”
“Oh, yeah, and what are the other jobs of the best man?”
Demon walked behind the desk and pulled a bottle of Jameson out of the drawer. “To get you slightly buzzed before you walk down the aisle.” He grabbed two shot glasses off the filing cabinet and sloshed each glass full.
“So are those your only jobs?” I laughed, grabbing the glass from him.
He held his glass high, “To possibly making the biggest mistake of your life.” He clinked his glass against mine, and we both tossed them back. The Jameson burned down my throat as I slammed my glass down on the desk and he refilled them.
“You gonna be an ass my whole wedding day or are you going to snap the fuck out of it and just be fucking happy for me?” Ever since Meg had said yes to me, Demon had been a prick about anything that had to do with the wedding. He tossed back his second shot and immediately refilled his glass. He held it up, motioning for me to drink mine, but I set my glass down. “Answer the fucking question.”
He tossed his back and slammed his glass down. “I'm not a fucking ass.”
“Then tell me what the hell you are then because it sure as hell isn’t my best man supporting me.”
Demon ran his hands through his hair and paced back and forth. “Look, it’s nothing. Just shit from my past that got drudged up. There was a chick who, um, took something that was mine and didn’t care. I was going to ask her to marry me before shit went sideways. That’s all. I’m over it.”
Yeah, sure Demon was over it. I shook my head and tossed back the shot. “You still talk to the girl?”
“No. I haven’t seen her in eight years.”
“What did she take that was yours?”
“I don’t wanna fucking talk about it. I’m over her, and I’m over the damn conversation. Let’s go get you married so I can get the fuck out of this monkey suit.”
I clapped him on the back, and we walked out the door. “It may be a fucking monkey suit, but it’s going to fucking help me get laid tonight.”
We stopped in front of the door to the common room, and I took a deep breath.
“She’s the one,” Demon mumbled.
I glanced over at him, and a smile spread across my lips. “Fuck yeah, she’s the one.”
“You’re sure.”
“Yes, I’m fucking sure. Let’s do this.”
________
Meg
“I’m not sure I can fucking do this.” I fanned myself with my hand and bent over, shoving my head between my knees. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
“We should get the wheelbarrow. We’ll just roll her down the aisle and dump her at King’s feet.”
“You really think he’d appreciate us dumping his bride in a wheelbarrow and wheeling her down the aisle?”
“I think he would appreciate the fact that we wouldn’t let his bride run for a second time.”
“I’m down with the wheelbarrow.”
“I second the wheelbarrow. Or would it be I third the wheelbarrow?”
My head was swimming, and all I wanted to do was lay down and not get up. I was nervous. I was scared. I was more than likely going to puke. “I can’t do this,” I mumbled again.
“You think she knows that we can’t understand a word she’s saying?”
I whipped my head back and pushed my hair out of my face so I could tell who the hell was talking. With my head between my legs, they all sounded the same. Cyn, Jackie, Gwen and Marley were lined up in front of me, all of them with their hands on their hips smirking at me. “Get your ass up or I’m getting the wheelbarrow,” Cyn ordered.
“You can’t do that to me. You’re my best friend and maid of honor. You’re supposed to be the one with the car running out back so we can make our get away like Thelma and Louise.” How all four of them were siding against me was beyond me.
“Maids of honor only do that when they know the bride is marrying a douchebag. You are not marrying a douchebag. You’re marrying King, and in less than twenty minutes, the nice preacher you have out front is going to make you King’s Queen.” Cyn had been saying that all morning that I was going to be King’s Queen. I had been telling her that was corny, but secretly I loved it.
“I need a drink.” Yeah, maybe a drink would help. Sooth my nerves.
“You’ve already had three old fashions,” Gwen mumbled.
“And two wine coolers. I think you might need to just chill. We’ve only got five minutes.” Jackie glanced over her shoulder at the clock, “Make that four minutes.”
“Oh my God, oh my God,” I chanted over and over.
“Either this wedding is going to be fucking beautiful, or it’s going to be a shit show with Meg running down the aisle and straight out the door.” Marley flopped down on the bed next to me and rubbed my back. “Meg. Chill out. You’re acting like you’re walking down the aisle to the devil, not King.”
Cyn grabbed the desk chair, rolled it in front of me and sat down. Jackie and Gwen stood on each side of her, and I knew I was about to have a come to Jesus moment. “Do you love him?” Cyn fired off.
“Yes.”
“Does Remy like him?”
“Yes.” At least I think he did.
“Do you like having hot, sweaty, monkey sex with him?”
“Oh, Jesus Christ! She’s my sister. I don’t need to hear the details,” Jackie whined.
“Shush,” Cyn said, elbowing Jackie. “Answer the question, Meg.”
“Cyn, I don’t know what this has to do with me marrying Lo.” She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on her tiny baby bump and glared at me. “OK, yes. Of course, I like it.”
“Then stand your ass up and marry the man. I can tell you right now, us
five in this room have the best men. Marry him and make him yours.”
I looked at my girls, all of them shaking their heads agreeing with Cyn. She was right. “I love him,” I whispered.
“Alright! Good pep talk. Let’s get this show on the road.” Marley jumped up from the bed, grabbing her flowers off of the dresser and threw the bedroom door open.
“Wait,” I called before they filed out of the room. “I just want to thank each of you for being here today and well, just thank you for putting up with my crazy ass.” My vision blurred as we all hugged. Marley, Gwen, and Jackie filed out the door, and Cyn threaded her arm through mine.
“Ready to do this?” She asked.
“Just one more drink,” I pleaded reaching for the half empty bottle of Southern Comfort.
“No,” she said clamping down on my arm. “The rest of your life starts right now, Meg. Are you ready?”
I looked down at my dress, and she handed me my flowers. I was ready. I had my purple chucks on, my beautiful dress that I had dreamed of all my life and my hair and makeup were flawless. The only thing missing was my groom.
“I’m ready.”
________
Chapter 27
Meg
“You sure about this?”
I glanced over at my dad and a huge grin spread across my lips. “I’ve tried to run twice today, Dad, and I’m still standing here. I’m sure.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” he huffed. “But if you’re not, all I need to do is signal your mother and she’ll hightail it out of here and pull the car around the front, and we’ll be out of here lickety split.”
My dad was reaching to itch his nose, and I knew that was the signal. I grabbed his arm and threaded my arm through it. “I’m good, Dad. I promise.”
“Marley just walked down the aisle. Jackie goes and then I do. Are you ready?” Cyn whispered to me.
I squeezed my Dad’s hand and nodded my head. I was ready. I. Was. Ready. Cyn nodded to me over her shoulder then turned the corner in the hallway. This was it. As soon as I turned the corner down the hall, there would be no turning back.
Keeping Meg (Devil's Knights #6) Page 15