I was just about to open my mouth to say God knows what, probably something stupid, when Molly came up beside me and wrapped her fingers around my arm.
“We ready to do this the right way?” she asked drolly, glancing between Tommy and me.
“Yeah,” I rasped, nodding my head. I turned away and began to walk back toward the building when Tommy called out.
“Hey, sugar,” he said, roughly. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”
My lips twitched and the nervous knot in my stomach unraveled as the words I’d said to him that morning came back to me.
“Hell yeah, you will,” I replied, glancing back over my shoulder.
He gave me a small grin and nodded once.
Then it was time for everyone to sit down so I could make my grand entrance…again.
* * *
“You look hot as fuck in this dress,” Tommy said a few hours later, his hands skimming down my back to grip my ass as we swayed from side to side.
They hadn’t set up a dance floor, but there was music pouring out of a pretty incredible sound system and we were at the edge of the crowd enjoying the little bit of privacy we’d finally found.
“Thanks,” I said with a chuckle. “But not exactly what I was going for.”
“Stop,” he mumbled, leaning down to kiss me softly. “You look beautiful.”
I grinned.
“You just also look like you’d enjoy me bending you over and taking you hard.”
The grin fell off my lips and I smacked his chest. “Jesus, Tommy!”
“What?” he asked, laughing. “It’s all legal now.”
“It wasn’t illegal before,” I muttered, twisting in his arms until my back was nestled against his front.
“Do you think this is going to work?” I asked as I watched his family and friends visiting and laughing in small groups all over the yard. “Do you think it’ll make any difference?”
“Will it keep me out of jail?” he asked. I nodded.
“Probably not,” he said, gripping me tighter so I couldn’t turn around to argue. “But if it comes to that, they can’t make you testify and I’ll know you’re taken care of out here.”
“I don’t need protection,” I murmured, lifting a hand to wrap around his forearm.
“It’ll make me feel better that you are,” he murmured back, kissing my temple. “Got a feelin’ that somethin’ with the Russians is brewin’.”
“Why do you think that?” I asked, leaning back against him. He was wearing a black button down under his leather vest, and I could feel the buttons pressing against my bare back.
“Just tension around the clubhouse,” he replied. “Somethin’ ain’t right.”
“They’d say something, though, wouldn’t they?”
I glanced around the crowd, picking out the faces I knew. My parents had left right after the ceremony, but Tommy’s parents were still there, laughing at something Farrah was saying. Her husband Casper was shaking his head, but he was grinning, too. Will was dancing with Molly, Rebel pressed in between them, and Leo was twirling a giggling Lily around while Cecilia did the same to one of Trix’s boys. They all seemed to be having a good time, and from the outside it didn’t look like anything was wrong. But as I looked closer, I noticed that at any time there were at least a few men missing from the festivities. They’d show back up for a while, but others would leave. Almost as if they were taking shifts.
“Don’t keep me in the loop,” Tommy said in frustration. “But don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried,” I lied quickly, my stomach knotting.
At some point, between the commune living and the wedding shopping, I’d come to care for the people out there in the yard. I’d wormed my way in somehow, and I couldn’t see them as separate from me anymore.
“What did I tell you?” he whispered, nuzzling my neck. “Hmm?”
“You’ll take care of me,” I muttered in mock irritation, giggling a little as he tickled me.
“That’s right,” he promised. “I’ll take care of everything.”
With one last kiss against my neck, he pulled away and tugged me toward the rest of the party.
“I thought you’d dragged the poor girl off,” Casper called out as we crossed the blackened grass.
“Nah, not yet,” Tommy joked. “She’s only gettin’ one wedding, so I figured we’d stay a while.”
I squeezed his hand in annoyance, but he ignored me.
“I think I need my septum done again,” Farrah announced, staring at my nose.
“No you don’t,” Casper replied. “We’re too old for that shit.”
“Speak for yourself!”
“Baby, you’re older than I am,” he said, making her gasp in indignation.
“Guess who isn’t gettin’ laid tonight,” Grease muttered into his beer, making a giggling Callie elbow him in the side. He raised his eyes to me. “Welcome to the family.”
I snorted, but couldn’t help but smile at the way Farrah was glaring at her husband. He seemed to be sober, but she definitely wasn’t, and as she glared he just stared back at her calmly, a little grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.