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The where was at Rainbow Gardens where I’d once seen a cousin get married and I’d fallen in love with it and the little gazebo immediately. The when had been six months after our engagement. Ash and I had decided that we didn’t want to wait, so we’d had to pull everything together quickly. It was fine though, because I’d quit my job, took time off to plan our wedding, and I’d be starting up again at the dealership with my husband and my father. The raise Dad was willing to give me had made up my mind for me.
But I digress.
Ash led me to the dance floor and pulled me close.
Our first dance!
We’d planned our wedding on the same week as when we’d gotten together, so our wedding was also our anniversary. Cheesy, but it made me happy.
My gown was princess-style, of course, with a sweetheart neckline, and Ashton wore his blues. Was there anything sharper than a man in his uniform? Getting to my tiptoes in my heels, I reached up to press a kiss to his lips, unable to stop kissing him.
Suddenly, an eruption sounded from the back of the room, and a streak of blue came toward us. Then, Ash was gone and out of my arms, tackled down to the ground by a whole pile of people in uniforms. Expletives were drowned out with laughter as this group of people dog-piled my husband.
It was instantly obvious that the dogpile was just a bunch of Marines. The blue uniforms with bloodstripes gave it away.
Ash came crawling out from under the pile just as a familiar face appeared in front of mine.
“Hello beautiful!” Yamin called, throwing his arms around me.
I accepted his hug with a surprised burst of laughter, because we hadn’t expected him to be around for the wedding. But…if Yamin was here, then did that mean…?
“I brought the boys,” he whispered, tossing his thumb over his shoulder to point to the men who were all climbing off each other now that Ash had managed to escape.
“All of them?” I choked, knowing exactly what this would mean to my husband.
“All of them,” he agreed with a wink, then turned to hop on Ashton’s back, squeezing both arms around his neck.
Ash laughed as he managed to untangle Yamin, but his eyes were caught on the group of men in front of him. There were four other Raiders besides Yamin and Ashton standing there on the dance floor.
“I can’t believe you guys came,” Ash managed to say, standing up a little taller as he looked each man in the eyes.
One of the men rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable while he gave a weak, “hey, Citizen… Yeah, man, I’ve been meaning to call you. Things just got crazy, you know? But we couldn’t miss this. We all drove up here for it together.”
Another man stepped forward and pulled Ashton in for a hug.
“Rudy,” Ash murmured, accepting the hug and slapping the man on the back just as furiously as he did. “It’s been a while. How’s the kids?”
Rudy smiled and nodded at him with a shrug.
“They’re all assholes, but I love ‘em. I guess they got it from me. I’m sorry I didn’t call. There was a lot of shit to work through after— Well, anyway, I wanted to see you and tell you congrats, and see the woman who managed to tame you.”
That was when all eyes turned to me, just the inconsequential bride waiting on the sidelines.
“Freya,” Ashton called, holding his hand out for me to take, which I did. “You know Yamin, but this is Smith, Burkley, Rudy and Peterson. My brothers.”
I lifted a hand to wave, but all of the men, instigated by Yamin, engulfed me in a big group hug.
“I can’t believe you got this big lunk to settle down,” Smith said with a wink, then nudged Ashton’s shoulder. “How the fuck did you manage to catch a chick as beautiful as this? You’re ugly as a monkey!”
The men laughed uproariously but Ashton just grinned at them.
“You know man, I have no fucking clue. I’m just a lucky bastard.”
They all agreed, but Ash put his hands up and got their attention again.
“I’m real happy to see you all, but you just crashed our first dance. I’d like to have a minute with my wife, then we’ll catch up at the bar.”
“Open bar?” Rudy asked, already turning to go without an answer.
