Page 136 of Just Friends

“Ladies and gentlemen,”the wedding emcee said in a familiar growl—familiar because he was, after all, the Dallas Devils arena announcer.“It’s time to introduce the members of our wedding party.”

The Dallas Devils intro theme, a slow-building rock theme, began to play. Cheesy? Perhaps, but since hockey was such a huge part of our lives, it had to play at leastsomepart in our farmhouse wedding, right?

“So please put your hands together and give a warm welcome to the friends and family of Jax and Piper Cameron.”

The crowd applauded politely, and introductions got underway.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for these two, because they introduced the bride and groom! Hailing from the Colorado Blizzard—”the emcee paused just long enough for our friends and family to jeer a divisional rival, “—Beau and Camille Bradford!”

“Ugh. Really, Jax?”Beau clutched at his heart as if he’d been stabbed. “You’re making me walk out tothiswretched song?”

Jax laughed and clapped his buddy on the shoulder. The other groomsmen told Beau where, exactly, he could shove it—but it was all in good fun. With his infamous grin, Beau grabbed Camille’s hand, and they walked out, waving and smiling at the crowd, whose boos had thankfully turned into a warm and welcoming applause.

“Now, from your DALLAS DEVILS—”the emcee paused again, prompting our friends and family to pop with a bright cheer,“Team captain, Dane ‘THE BIG D’ DeHardt, and his wife, Austen!”

Dane and Austen gave us high fives before they ran out to the cheering crowd.

“Jack and Emma Hathaway!”

Jack and Emma walked out with all class, and our friends and family greeted them with cheers and applause.

“Derek and Katerina Reaves!”

“Ready, sweetheart?” Derek asked, offering his arm to escort his wife. Those two were always so cute and sweet together.

“The groom’s best man, and Devils superstar, Aleksander ‘NIKO’ Nikolaev! And the bride’s maid of honor, Paulina Eaglestorm!”

“Wanna do a funny dance?!” Paulina asked Niko.

Niko smiled wide, loving the idea. “Yes, yes!”

“Okay, great! What should we do?”

He shrugged carelessly. “Follow my lead.”

Paulina hooked her arm through Niko’s. When he started strutting like a cocky rooster, Paulina threw together a haphazard jig. The crowd burst into laughter and Niko, who lived for the spotlight, broke away from Paulina and ended up moonwalking the rest of the walkway.

Watching from the sidelines, Jax and I practically died of laughter.

“He’ssucha ham!” I squealed.

The Devils intro music faded.

For the first time all day, we were alone—man and wife. Jax held me and stared into my eyes while we waited for our song to cue our entrance.

“Can you believe it?!” I asked. “Wedidit.”

“We did.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m so lucky.”

“Why?”

Before he could answer, a bass guitar began to play, kicking off our entrance song—Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”

“And now, please put your hands together for the bride and groom … Mister and Missus BIG RIG, Jax and Piper Cameron!”

“Because I just married my best friend,” he said, and his handsome smile made my heart gowhump-whump.

The crowd waited for us to walk out. Jax kissed me, letting Jackie’s upbeat number build.

The past year had been such a whirlwind—from the regular grind of the hockey season, to Jax’s contract negotiations, building and finishing our dream house, and planning this wedding for what felt like forever—I almost couldn’t believe that after today, it was reallyover,and back to regular life again. But what was regular life, anyway?

“What do we do next, Jax?” I asked, hoping my husband could guide us.

With a smile, he pointed a hundred yards away at our new house, huge and brightly lit—and I knew in my heart exactly where he was pointing specifically: the upstairs bedroom at the end of the hall, which was already decorated for a little one, if we could be so blessed.

“Next,” he said, “we start trying for a Little Rig.”

He took my hand and led me out to meet the crowd. Our friends and family stood on their feet, beaming and showering us with love as we walked out together, for the first time as man and wife.

THE END