Hailey laughs, but Pops does not look happy. He refuses to let go of his daughter. A tug of war ensues, and the music stops. The guests are now all laughing. Finally, Hailey grasps Aiden’s left hand in hers and tugs as she starts moving. The wedding march resumes, and the three of them walk down the rest of the aisle together.
"Whogives this woman to be married to this man?" the preacher asks when the gaggle of three finally reach the alter.
Pops looks down at Hailey and winks. “Shegivesherself but with her father’s blessing.”
“And her uncles’ blessings!” The uncles can’t help themselves from adding. I’m surprised they let Pops walk Hailey down the aisle by himself.
Pops kisses Hailey’s forehead and gives Aiden one last scowl before moving to his seat in the front pew. Hailey hands her bouquet to me and the ceremony begins. The ceremony itself is short. Hailey wanted a big wedding but not a long and boring ceremony. In no time, the preacher is asking for the rings and the vows are being recited.
As soon as his ring is on Hailey’s finger, Aiden bends forward to kiss her. The preacher clears his throat. When Aiden looks over, he shakes his head. “Not yet,” he whispers.
“Then get to the part where you declare us man and wife,” Aiden insists. Someone is more than ready for Hailey to be his wife.
I wish I could find a love like theirs. But love and marriage are not in the cards for me. My eyes drift to where Grayson is sitting. He meets my gaze and smiles, causing his dimples to pop out. My knees go weak. What is wrong with me? I don’t do weak knees! The man is going to make me forget men are scum who are not to be trusted.
Why did I agree to give a relationship with him a try? I’m obviously losing my mind being surrounded by all these loving couples and their icky shows of personal affection.
“By the power of your love and commitment, and the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss each other!”
“Finally,” Aiden grumbles before drawing Hailey into his arms and bending her backward to kiss her.
The uncles hoot and holler until Aiden releases Hailey. When Hailey looks my way, a smile stretches across her face from ear to ear. I barely manage to hand her the bouquet before Aiden rushes her down the aisle. I shake my head as I follow.
I’m surprised to find Grayson waiting for me when the photographer is finally done with taking pictures. I was kidding earlier about her looking mean, but now I know the truth – she is mean! She had to have been lying when she said my eyes were closed. There’s no way my eyes were closed for ten straight pictures!
“Why are you here?”
Grayson doesn’t bother responding to my question. “You have everything?”
At my nod, he places his hand on my lower back and escorts me to his truck. He has to help me into the truck since my bridesmaid dress was not made for movement. Seriously. I feel like someone rolled me into a swath of satin. Uncomfortable is entirely too mild a description for this dress.
“By the way,” he says as his hands skim over the satiny material of the dress, “you look beautiful.”
I roll my eyes. Me and beautiful don’t belong in the same sentence. “No need to flatter me. You’re getting laid later either way.”
He snarls and leans forward to get all up in my face. “You are beautiful, and I’ll compliment you as often as I want. I’m not saying the words to get laid. You hear me?”
“Yes,” I agree because he’s kind of freaking me out right now.
When we arrive at the reception, I’m not surprised to see Grayson is seated at the table for the bridal party. Hailey and Phoebe think they’re being sneaky and pushing us together. They can think whatever they want. It doesn’t mean they’re right.
While we eat, Grayson and I laugh and joke. I’m relieved we can still act like friends despite the basis of our relationship changing. It’s not exactly the same, though, with him causing a trail of fire to break out on my skin whenever he ‘casually’ touches me. The man is a great big tease I tell you!
When the dancing starts, I abandon him and rush out onto the dance floor. Hailey and Phoebe follow me, and we get our groove on to the eighties music the DJ is playing. I thought Phoebe would be too stiff to dance with us. She is a recovering spoiled rich girl after all, but she has no problems abandoning decorum to strut her stuff.
When the DJ announces he’s taking a break, I make my way back to the table and collapse in my chair. Grayson hands me a glass of water. I make a face at him – where’s my beer? – but dutifully drink the water.
I haven’t had the chance to catch my breath before Phoebe arrives. “Come on.” She takes my hand and tries to tug me out of my chair. I don’t know what she’s up to, but I’m not going anywhere. “It’s the bouquet toss.”
“Hard pass.” I have no intention of trying to catch the bouquet, let alone actually catching it. No way. I may have agreed to attempt a romance with Grayson, but this girl is not willing to go any further. I am not getting married. Never ever.
Oh, grow up, Adult Suzie orders. Her voice is slurred – someone has been hitting the open bar hard – which means I’m free to ignore her.
Phoebe grunts and suddenly I’m flying out of my chair. “How the hell did you manage to pull me out of my chair?” I ask when I find myself in her arms.
She doesn’t answer. Instead, she maneuvers us toward the dance floor where Hailey stands waiting. Phoebe doesn’t stop until we’re smackdab in the middle of the floor directly behind the bride. I, for one, am not liking the current situation.
The music starts and Hailey twirls around. The DJ starts counting down. “Three, two, one!”