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“Whatever you say,” I tell him as I give him a flirty smirk and prance off into the bathroom to change for the day.
“Sterling?” Callan’s voice perks up in a tone of question.
“Yes?” I turn to face him as he gets up from the bed without attempting to cover his naked body, and I feel my cheeks burn up instantly.
“Promise me that no matter what, even if something ruins your mood tonight or tomorrow, that you know that I love you.” I feel as though he’s trying to prepare me for something. Almost as if my gut is right in telling me something is off. But I know Callan wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt me, so I smile at him in good faith.
“I love you too, Callan David.”
Eight
Hollis
“It was so nice meeting you both,” I holler behind me as we leave the guests we just dropped off at their door down the hall from ours.
“I still can’t believe that Sterling has no idea that they’re in town. I mean, the gesture seems nice on behalf of Callan but what if she doesn’t want them here? I can-” I’m whispering in the hallway as we make our way back to the room to get ready for the rehearsal dinner which is in just a few short hours. But I notice that Jax doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to what I’m saying.
“Hey.” I stop us short from walking any further and pull at his elbow to face me. “What’s going on? And now that I think about it, you didn’t talk much on the drive back. I practically talked their ears off the whole way here and…” I trail off, seeing some kind of sadness swim in Jaxon’s eyes.
I lean up to him and wrap him in my arms. He reciprocates the gesture by wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me in.
“Whatever it is, we’ll manage it together,” I whisper to him. Sensing that something more serious is tangling in his mind.
He lets go of our embrace and takes a deep breath.
“It’s just. On the way back, you really did talk their ears off. And it got me to thinking about how that could have been me. That was almost me. At a distant relationship with the ones I love most because of misunderstandings and broken judgments. Listening to them talk about what it’s been like to be absent in Sterling’s life started to make me feel regret for trying to push my mom and brother out of my life.” He pauses and closes his eyes, looking down at the floor between us. “Callan is doing for her what you basically did for me. Hollis, you saved mine and my mom’s relationship. You’re the reason why my brother and I talk on a regular basis now. I will never be able to express to you how-” I stop him from talking, not needing to hear any more come from his sexy mouth.
I pull him into my, pressing our lips tightly together, both of my hands caressing the edge of his jaw. We kiss and kiss and kiss and we don’t let go. I know what I did for him. I only did it because I love him. But he saved me too. And now we’re here, chauffeuring a couple of strangers around to help out two other people who love each other bigger than the world.
When our kiss ends, we simply look at each other with the look that tells a thousand love stories, and we walk to our room to get ready for the rest of the night.
I don’t feel as out of place as I thought I would. The atmosphere is classic, calm, and quite cozy to say the least. The dining room off of the venue is lit with amber-dimed lights strewn across the walls and accented with golden rays of light shining from the black metal fixtures from above. There are white flowers off all kinds placed intricately throughout the center of the long table in pretty little red vases and tea lights float in crystal clear water next to each arrangement.
The table seats about sixteen people. Jaxon introduced me to Callan and Sterling as we walked in. They’re seated in the two middle seats on one side of the table and Jax and I sit next to them on Callan’s side. Next to me is Callan’s sister—who told me her name is Virginia, but she likes to be called Ginny, who is another one of Sterling’s bridesmaids—and Callan’s mom who is also very nice to talk to. She told me about a time Callan drew her a picture on the wall with markers and cried when he found out they weren’t, in fact, washable.
Next to Sterling, whom I really haven’t had a chance to talk to yet, sits her Maid of Honor who I also haven’t met but I heard Sterling call her Dakota earlier. Next to her sits her boyfriend, Nolan, and they have two kids and baby with them—who are actually being really well behaved—and they both look just as madly in love as the to-be-weds.
On the other end of the table next to them sits a teen girl I met earlier who goes by Sara. She’s the flower girl and her and her mom are helping keep the little girls occupied while Dakota holds her baby.
There are two other people whom I haven’t met sitting next to them on the other side of the table. Across the table from Callan and Sterling in the other four seats are the wedding planner—who also happens to be a friend of Sterling—then there is the catering manager, Callan's cousin Raymond—who is his other groomsmen as well—and the driver whom I met at the door earlier.
Despite not seeming like a very full house, the conversation is lit up with laughter and murmurs while everyone picks at their food and sips on their drinks.
Jaxon has his hand tight on my thigh providing me with comfort and I curl into my glass of wine as I take in how lively and familial this whole arrangement feels.
“Do you and Jaxon have any kids together?” Ginny’s mom asks over at me. I lower my glass and smile at her.
“No human kids. But we’ve got a fur baby named Luna and she’s a handful as is.” We both giggle and Ginny announces that she’d like a puppy for her seventeenth birthday which is apparently coming up.
“I think that might be doable,” her mother tells her as she picks up her own glass to sip her wine.
I smile to myself as they both continue in a private conversation. After a half an hour passes, the wedding planner goes off on a list of things to remember for tomorrow’s big night. She reminds me and Nolan that we have front row reserved seating during the ceremony and then she verbally rehearses the ceremony with everyone else.
I learn that Sterling thinks she’s walking down the aisle by herself but Jax and I both know the hidden agenda Callan has for her. The wedding planner then proceeds to continue with the ceremony agenda and then she moves on to the reception festivities such as garter toss, bouquet toss, all of the tosses, the first dance, and everything else that goes into a wedding.
I look over to see the way Sterling’s face lights up with excitement and anticipation and I just know that could never be me. I feel anxiety just being an outsider at this wedding, I don’t think I could handle being the bride. Which causes me to look over to Jax.
He looks too happy to be here and I admire him so much for the way he’s done what he can to help out with his friends’ big day. But it makes me wonder if he’s settling for me and my wants instead of telling me what he really wants and how he truly feels. Does he want a wedding like this? Does he want to get married at all. We talked about kids and marriage, and he said he was on board with anything I wanted or didn’t want, which makes me feel so fucking selfish.
