AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I put my hands on my best friend’s shoulders and the color in his face is already draining—I knew it would at the last minute. That’s why I’m here. “You’re going to be great. She’s funny and sweet, Lucas. You guys are lucky to have one another. Allie loves you, and you guys are perfect. I’ll be back in a minute, bro. Gonna see your woman. Give her one last chance to run off with me.”
“Do it, and see what happens.”
“Threatening an officer, are you?”
Lucas has a big game, but he gets nervous last minute, like he is now. I make my way down the aisle and toward the back before Tom lets me in. For a small wedding, they made this shit fancy as fuck. Red roses everywhere, and I get it. Valentine’s Day. They played it up. Lucas said it was her dream wedding, and when I see the dress, I can’t see this thing going any other way.
It’s perfect.
“Allie.” She smiles, and it’s clear she’s been emotional today. She hugs my neck in what looks like a dress made of diamonds. “You look stunning.”
She sobs. “Thank you, Joel.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You made her cry again, Joel. Thanks a lot.”
Allie glares over my shoulder while Jadon giggles. “Charity!”
“The kid’s heard enough, plus it’s not like you and Lucas don’t say it. Right, Jadon?”
Allie huffs and takes a step back from me. “Sorry. She still needs to learn some manners.”
“If he waits any longer, Lucas might piss himself, so you take your time, but also hurry up.” The music starts outside in the garden, and I kiss Allie’s cheek before taking Charity’s arm.
“You wanna be my valentine, Cherry?” Fitting, since she’s wearing red, on top of everything else. Her platinum hair looks like a blank canvas. She’s still as beautiful as ever. I think she looks best with pink hair, though.
“Wow, Joel, you come up with that one all by yourself? You must be proud.”
I whisper in her ear, “I’m so glad you’re back, Cherry. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. If you need a room, I have a spare in my house. Free rent and the water pressure in the shower is the best. I get lonely sometimes, but then I smile to myself just thinking about that night.” The doors open with the sound of Stephen Sanchez’s voice and “Until I Found You” fills the room.
Charity and I take the rehearsed steps down the aisle. I may have purposely screwed up the rehearsal a few times last night just to piss her off. When I squeezed her ass, I figured she would scream at me, but then she backhanded my crotch hard enough to send me to the floor.
“We never made it to that date, Charity.” I notice Lucas standing at the edge of the garden, watching us. He’s barely keeping his shit together. He’ll be fine once Allie is up there. I already know that. “Maybe you’ll quit your bitching and we can get to the restaurant. I’ll even take you to make out point like we talked about.”
Charity smiles and somehow spits back at me. “You’d have to tie me up and drag me by the ankle to go on a date with you.”
“Oh, I plan to.” I’m just waiting for the right moment. “Got the rope in my trunk just for you, and I’ve been working on my knots.”
She sputters, but doesn’t respond after that. We make our way to the front, and Charity stands on the bride’s side while I stand beside Lucas. The garden here is maintained well, but it’s the stone pathway and the strings of lights that make this the romantic setting Allie was gunning for. The view of the sunset behind where Charity stands makes this the perfect spot.
It’s my favorite view.
Jadon comes through next, carrying the rings for his parents with extreme caution. Lucas smiles down at him with pride and I take the rings from Jadon before tossing the small pillow over to Lucas’ dad.
Lucas kneels down and hugs Jadon. The small crowdoohsandahhsat the gesture, and I know it’s genuine between Lucas and his son when they hold each other. “Go sit with your grandpa, buddy, okay?”
Jadon hops over to sit rather than stand with us. There’s no flower girl here, so everyone stands just waiting for Allie and Tom to walk through last.
“There she is, man.”
I know what Allie looks like, so I watch Lucas instead. It’s like he sees nothing else when he finds her. She and that kid have him wrapped around their fingers, and Allie is just seeing it.
His mouth falls open, and she has hypnotized Lucas just by the slow walk toward him.
“She’s beautiful, man.”
He doesn’t even respond to me.
Albeit, I never pictured Allie the kind to show off her legs and a bit of cleavage in her wedding gown. The girl seemed more like she would have everything covered or less standout, but Allie pulls it off like she was made for the spotlight she’s never stepped into. Lucas, who has always been in the spotlight, looks more like a deer caught in the headlights.
