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“Or don’t,” he called over his shoulder as he carried me out of the family room. “It doesn’t matter. I’m getting married tonight, regardless of who is or isn’t there.”
“Doe!” My name was shouted behind us by a handful of people, but Piper and Aspen were already following us toward the car.
“Please don’t do this,” Mom sobbed from the porch. “Let’s plan a nice wedding. Something small. Or big. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just do all of this the right way.”
“Sorry, this is my way,” I called back, holding on to Jenner’s shoulders for all I was worth. He’d passed the test; he’d chosen me. And with each step closer to his car, the more the hurt he’d caused was healed. “If you meant what you said about the house, then you should move in while we’re gone. We’ll be back Sunday night.”
“Doe.”
Jenner stopped at the passenger door, and I slowly looked back at where my dad was standing on the bottom step. All the outside lights were on so I could see him clear as day, and there was no missing the tears streaming down his face. “Please,” he begged. “I know we’ve messed up. And maybe we don’t deserve to be at your wedding, but I’ll plead on my knees if that’s what you want. Please let us see you get married.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as tears filled my eyes. I looked up at Jenner, silently asking him what he thought I should do.
“I’ll do whatever you want, little lamb,” he vowed. “Tonight, tomorrow, or even next year. I don’t care when or where we get married. The choice is yours who you have there. I won’t make the decision for you.”
“We’re getting married tonight,” I said, trying to keep my chin from wobbling. “But…I guess…” My gaze went back to Mom, and then Dad. Both of them were openly crying, and it hacked away at the walls I’d put around my heart all day. “I mean, the mayor could call in a favor with a judge or something. It’s not too late, right? Getting married in our new living room isn’t a horrible idea.”
“I’ll call Judge Wilson,” Uncle Liam announced. “He’s our next-door neighbor and owes me for not telling his wife about the stripper we saw sneaking out of their pool house the last time we were in town.”
“You can wear my wedding dress!” Mom offered, her voice catching on another sob. “It might be a little short, and several sizes too big, but we can do a rough alteration.”
“C-can I walk you down the aisle?” Dad asked hesitantly, sniffling loudly.
Groaning, I pressed my forehead against Jenner’s shoulder. “Okay,” I whispered, but everyone must have had supernatural hearing because my parents each gave a small cheer, and Jenner turned, carrying me back to the house.
“Thank fuck,” I heard Bryant hiss to LJ as we passed them in the yard. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to explain to Coach that we were going to have to miss another game because we had to fly to Vegas for a wedding.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” LJ muttered. “We did the whole surprise wedding thing just last month.”
“Wait, what?” I yelped just as my parents exclaimed, “Who got married in Vegas?”
“Yo, Jackson, I think that’s where you need to do some explaining, bro,” LJ said as he calmly walked by our older brother.
“We were drunk. It doesn’t count,” Aspen hissed.
“Yeah,” Jackson was slow to agree. “It doesn’t…count.”
“It totally counts when you have a marriage certificate,” Bryant said nonchalantly as he walked into the house.
“You got married without me?” I whined, my chin wobbling. “I could have been Aspen’s best woman or something. You guys are always doing things without me!”
“We were drunk,” Jackson snapped. “It doesn’t count.”
“Then make it count!” I snapped back. “Double wedding right now, or I’m never speaking to you again.”
Jackson’s jaw popped a few times before he threw his hands up in the air. “Talk to Aspen about that shit. He’s the one who wouldn’t let me say anything.”
I wiggled out of Jenner’s arms, but he kept his hand around my waist as I looked over at my best friend. “Well?”
Aspen swallowed hard. “If I do this, then everyone will know. There won’t be any going back. If my old man sees me, he’ll try to kill me.”
“You leave Walter Williams to me,” Dad snarled as he came up to us. “If you’re ready to be a part of this family, then you don’t have anything to worry about, son.”
The tears that filled Aspen’s eyes in that moment cleared away everything still simmering inside me. A peace I didn’t know could exist washed over me, and I was able to give my parents a clean slate with no regrets when Dad hugged my friend and welcomed him to the family.
“I-I guess we’re having a double wedding,” Aspen choked out.
“Fuck yeah!” Bryant crowed.
