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That voice makes me very much want to find out what would happen if I don’t behave, but then I catch sight of Teddy’s shirt and have to stifle my laugh. Teddy rolls his eyes at the reminder of what Alex made him wear—a t-shirt with Alex’s own face and the words, “Who’s your Daddy?” Teddy was not amused when Alex shoved it over his head while standing atop a chair, but he hasn’t taken it off.
I think he loves his coworkers more than he admits. They’re not just friends. They’re family.
“I’m going to grab a couple waters,” Teddy says.
“I’ll come with,” I tell him, sticking my hand in his back pocket so we don’t get separated. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with feeling up Teddy’s glorious glutes. Not even a tiny bit. Nope.
The lights strobe overhead as we make our way to the bar. We’re in the same club we visited on our party bus tour the night Teddy and I got married. It’s like nostalgia in the weirdest way. Even weirder is that the chapel is right across the street. You can see it from the door.
What would have happened if Teddy hadn’t approached me that night? If I hadn’t joined the celebration in the first place? Would we still be veritable strangers, moving around each other but never touching? Or would we have ended up here at some point regardless?
I’d like to think we would have made it to exactly where we are, one way or another. The idea of not having Teddy as my husband is like a painful stitch in my side. The man burrowed his way into my life and—dare I say it—my heart in such a short amount of time, and now, I can’t imagine being the Kipp I was before him. The one who was aimless and feeling alone. The one who ached as if something was missing.
He was. Teddy filled that missing space inside my chest.
Teddy’s hand slips to my lower back as we sidle up to the bar, a gentle reminder of his presence. It’s crowded and noisy, but my husband’s thumb rubbing over my shirt makes it feel as if we’re in a world all our own.
When the bartender comes our way, his eyes widen. “Holy shit,” he says, gesturing between the two of us. “It’s you guys.”
“Uh,” I manage as Teddy, more eloquently than me, says, “What about us?”
“You were the two that got hitched out back!”
Teddy and I exchange a look.
“You know about that?” Teddy asks.
The bartender turns to his coworker, saying something before waving us around the bar. Teddy and I follow the guy outside, where it’s quieter.
“I wanted to get this to you, but you guys left before you gave me a phone number,” the bartender says, producing his own phone from his back pocket. He unlocks the screen, clicks a few times, and then flips the device our way. A video is playing.
My heart does a swooping hop inside my chest as the Teddy onscreen drops to one knee, the two of us in the back alley behind the bar.
“Kipp,” video-Teddy says, his hand holding mine as I stand in front of him, a blue dildo crown on my head and my other hand over my mouth. “I don’t know if I believe in love at first sight, but the moment I saw you, I knew you were mine. My heart longed for yours, and it hasn’t once stopped. Maybe this is fast, but I can’t let you get away. Not when it feels like I’m finally right where I’m meant to be. So if you truly want me to keep you, I will keep you and care for you for the rest of our days. Because I’m yours, too. I always have been. Would you marry me?”
“Holy shit,” video-me says, apparently in as much shock as real-me is. “That was the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard, dude. Of course I’ll marry you. Are you kidding me? Where do I sign?”
The image wobbles after that, but video-Teddy stands and swoops me into his arms before it cuts out for good.
I turn to my husband, who’s blinking at the screen.
“You asked me,” I whisper.
He opens his mouth, seemingly not knowing what to say.
I assumed I was the one who asked Teddy. I always thought it was me who roped him into a spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding. Because of course it would have been. I’m not exactly known for keeping out of trouble.
But the whole time, it was Teddy. Teddy asked me.
“I’m going to suck your dick so hard later,” I inform him.
The bartender laughs.
“Neither of us remembers this,” I explain to him, in case it isn’t obvious. “We couldn’t remember what happened that night.”
“No shit?” he says before nodding down at our hands, where two gold wedding bands glint in the light. Mine fits perfectly now, thanks to the resizing I had done earlier this week. “But you’re still together?”
“Yeah,” Teddy says, seemingly having regained his ability to speak. “For good.”
