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“I’m not sure you’re one to talk. If Tweedle Dee was here with me, that means Tweedle Dumb was in your room.” Her eyes glitter when I don’t answer. “Don’t try and deny it, Nora Scott.”
I laugh, almost incredulously at how easily she reads me, “fine, I won’t deny it.”
Jess grabs a discarded t-shirt from her crumpled sheets and throws it on before sitting on the end of her bed excitedly. “Tell me everything.”
“I don’t think you want to know everything. The same way, I’d rather gouge my eyes out with a plastic fork than listen to your sex life.”
She shrugs. “Maybe you’re right, but still, give me something. Are you two okay?”
“We are okay. Better than okay.” I get butterflies thinking about finding his tattoo for me, but I want to keep that to myself. Jess stands and wraps her arms around me as my nose wrinkles. “You absolutely cannot get married smelling like sex, Jessica. Shower, now.”
Jess giggles and wanders into the shower. I set out the prosecco ready for a toast and call down and ask them to bring breakfast to the room. This day feels like it’s been a long time coming, but at the same time it’s strange for it be over soon.
The sound of an incoming text distracts me. I smile at the name on the screen, I knew Liam would text me this morning.
Liam:How’s the future Mrs Taylor this morning? No cold feet?
Nora:Thoroughly fucked, thanks to you. Currently showering you off her. Her toes are going to stay toasty for you, I promise.
Liam:Glad to hear it. I don’t think you can complain about any of the midnight visitors last night, though.
My eyes squeeze shut. Nope.
Nora:Nope, not talking about this with you. If you carry on, I’ll sabotage your wedding. Consider yourself warned.
Liam:You wouldn’t.
Nora:Try me.
Liam:Grayson says ‘Hi’ by the way.
Nora:Well played. You’re both evil and going to hell for being wicked.
Liam replies with a simple devil emoji. Jess emerges fresh as a daisy from her shower just as room service knocks with our breakfast. I go to answer the door and as it opens in barrels Zoey in true style, dragging her bridesmaid’s dress behind her. The woman is a whirlwind 24/7.
“Sorry I know I’m like five minutes late, but that’s actually good for me. Happy wedding day, Jess.” Her arms throw around a towel wearing Jess as they both chuckle.
The door knocks again and this time it is our breakfasts. We get to work eating everything in sight as the hair and makeup team arrive to primp and preen us all. The room is awash with misty hairspray, powder, and dresses as my mum arrives to have her hair done as well, cooing over Jess as she should. It’s a whirlwind of a morning, and before we know it, we have thirty minutes to get Jess in her dress.
It takes all of us to make sure Jess is securely in it. Every button has given us callouses and we’ve all sweated off our make up by now, but when we see how truly beautiful she looks in her blush pink wedding dress we collectively gasp in awe. She looks like a princess, a princess who is about to marry her prince.
My mum fans her face, trying to delay the inevitable tears. “Oh God, Jess, you’re going to make me cry so much today.”
“Don’t, because then I’ll cry, and we all know I’m an ugly crier. Imagine the horror of the pictures.”
We’re all ready when another knock sounds out through the room, and in walks my dad. The look on his face when he sees Jess is something that will forever play on a loop in my memories. He looks so proud, his eye filling with tears as he whips the hanky out of his breast pocket and dabs his eyes. He sniffs and smiles, regaining his composure whilst the rest of us quietly sob at the interaction.
“You ready, kiddo?” he asks Jess as she nods through glassy eyes.
When we reach the door downstairs to the wedding room, Jess starts to flap. My dad holds her hand tightly as I grab her face. “Jessica, you are about to marry the person who loves you the most in the whole world. That man is waiting for you behind these doors, and he can’t wait to call you his wife. Go get him.”
Her expression softens as all the panic disappears from her eyes. She nods her head and I nod to Dad that she’s good to go. The music softly floats through the room, and we know that’s our cue.
Zoey walks first, practically strutting down the aisle, then me and as I lock eyes with Liam, I give him a reassuring smile. He looks as white as a ghost though, so I mime to him that he needs to breathe, and I see him inhale at my words and smile back at me.
Grayson stands next to Liam, both boys matching in their almost dark midnight suits with black shirts that are contrasted with a single white rose attached to their lapels. I let my eyes drink in Grayson; the way his suit makes his eyes look impossibly deep, like a never-ending sea of grey, he looks… edible.
I can’t help but lap up the coy smirk on his face or the devastating wink he gives me as I pass him. I stifle a smile as he licks his lips never taking his eyes off me. Silently I mouthstop, but that only spurs him on more, the heat radiating from him directly blazing into me.
