35
PARKER
The wedding was a disaster from start to finish. Everything that could go wrong, did. First off, it was raining and the guests were meant to have drinks on the lawn outside the chapel once the ceremony was over.
There was no backup plan. The venue for the reception was the building next door, but apparently Anna was adamant that no one would be allowed in before the appointed time. While I was running around trying to find out if we could rent some kind of tent even though the wedding was today, the poodle lady texted to let me know that the dog didn’t do well with storms and that, if it didn’t stop raining, he wouldn’t be able to bring in the rings.
To add insult to injury, the bride had been so hungover this morning that she’d spilled red champagne on her dress while putting it on. Or so I’d heard. The bridesmaid who’d told me, one of Anna’s friends from college, had said that her hands had been shaking so badly there was now a massive red stain down the front of her bodice.
There was nothing I could do about it and the bridesmaids supposedly had it handled, so I set out to find some medicine for the officiant. The faux boat captain had come down with a cold and couldn’t stop sneezing.
Isabella had run down to the drug store for me, promising to come back with something strong, but she hadn’t returned just yet. In the meantime, Colt and I were in his dressing room. He was pacing up and down in front of the window, his shiny powder-blue bowtie hanging loose around his neck and his ruffles almost swaying as he moved.
“What else is going to go wrong today?” he growled before taking a swig of whiskey from the novelty hip flask he was carrying. “This isn’t funny anymore. I know there are always things that go wrong at weddings, but this just feels excessive.”
“Look at it this way,” I said. “Maybe it’s better to get all the bad stuff out of the way now, on the first day of the marriage so it can only get better from here.”
“Or maybe it’s an omen,” he replied darkly. “Anna’s a mess, the arrangements are a mess, and we’re already over an hour late for the ceremony to start.”
“It’s not an omen.” I scoffed. “Shit happens. It’s really bad that’s it all happening on one day, I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t mean anything. Don’t people say rain on your wedding day is actually a good sign?”
“The only people who say that are people who had rain on their wedding days, and they’re trying to make themselves feel better about it,” he retorted, sinking heavily into an armchair next to the window and staring out at the rain pelting the pane. “It’s getting worse out there.”
“It is, but maybe that means it’ll pass before it’s time for us to go down.” It was wishful thinking but definitely worth putting out into the universe. “I think this is all going to make for a great story about your wedding day to tell your kids. Think about it. You won’t have the same, boring old story about your perfect day. You’ll be able to tell your children all about the adversity you overcame on your very first day as a married couple.”
“You’re not making it any better,” he grumbled. “Thanks for trying, but nothing is going to make it better until we finally get started and we can put this whole fiasco of a day behind us.”
That’s the spirit.My phone pinged with a text from Isabella, telling me that she’d doped up the officiant and to give it twenty minutes or so before we went back downstairs. I thanked her, then relayed the message to Colt.
A relieved grin broke out across his face. “See? Now that’s what I needed to hear. Things to be going better between you two. At least that’s something.”
I laughed dryly. “I don’t know if I’d really say they were better, but I plan on talking to her about it sometime before we go home.”
“For the love of God, just don’t do it today,” he said. “I swear this fucking day is cursed. If you do speak to her today, she’ll probably end up telling you that what she’s been holding back from you is that she’s a witch who’s engaged to a butt ugly werewolf runt.”
“Why would she be engaged to the butt ugly one?” I protested, almost sputtering as I thought it over. “Since I’m pretty sure she likes me well enough, that obviously means she’d be into the hottest werewolf of the pack. The alpha.”
He looked me over, traces of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Well, since she’d be a witch in this scenario, maybe she could whip you up a potion to make you into the alpha.”
I puffed my chest out comically, doing whatever I could to lift the dark cloud hanging over him even if I couldn’t do jack about the literal dark clouds outside. “She wouldn’t need a potion for that. I’m already an alpha male. Want me to bare my teeth and howl to the moon?”
“Fuck no. We already look like we walked out of a bad movie from the seventies. There’s no need to turn it into a B-grade action flick.”
Another text came through on my phone. It was from Josh this time and I read it out loud. “Checked in with the bridesmaids. They say Anna’s almost ready.”
Colt’s features softened and he stood up, stowing the hip flask back in the inside pocket of his awful jacket. “Okay then. Let’s do this.”
“Let’s do this,” I said, stopping him when he started moving toward the door. “After we get your bowtie back on.”
He tucked his chin and gazed down, shaking his head at himself. He changed direction and headed to the mirror. As soon as his terrible tie was fastened around his neck, he had a noticeable spring in his step as we left the suite.
Marley, Josh, and Reese were waiting for us at the entrance to the chapel, having already herded the guests back inside from the restaurant two buildings away, where we’d eventually ushered them to. Unless it stopped raining during the ceremony, everyone would be going back there for drinks.
Anna’s instruction about not using the venue hadn’t changed and I hadn’t been able to get a tent. The restaurant owner had taken pity on us, agreeing to let us bring the snacks as long as we used his bar for the drinks.
I’d already put my credit card down. After this shit show of a day, the least I could do was foot the bill for some alcohol. It was going to cost me, but it was a small price to pay to make sure that at least one part of the proceedings went well.
Colt paused under the small awning outside the chapel where the guys were waiting. He took a deep breath and tugged at his jacket. When he was done, he turned to us. “Thanks for everything today, guys. I’m sorry it’s been such a clusterfuck. Let’s just hope it’s smooth sailing from here on out.”