“I don’t think it was strippers, Hope.”
Axel’s been so quiet, I almost forget he’s even with us. So it surprises me when he opens his mouth. “I don’t think they were going to CB.”
Honestly, I don’t even care if he is there. I trust Rock and as long as he comes home to me in one piece, I’m fine.
Bronze is a nice guy. “You’re Hope! The woman who made Rock break his ‘no women’s names on my body’ rule,” he greets me with a big smile.
Trinity giggles.
“How’re your pieces doing, darlin’?” he asks her.
“Fine.”
Bronze gets me in his chair and tells me all sorts of stories about Rock in his younger days. Mostly ink-related, but they put me at ease regardless. We go over what I want. Mrs. North and a delicate scroll design underneath. I let him know I plan to come back with Rock and have the crown added later. We discuss size and placement. After all the talking, I’m sort of eager to get it done with, but I’m grateful that he’s so thorough.
“Good call. He’s not gonna kick my ass for touching you, is he?”
“I don’t think so.”
Bronze laughs. He’s neither insulted nor scared. I like this guy.
My opinion changes about ten minutes later. “God dammit that hurts!” I yelp for the second time.
“Sit still, darlin’,” he warns me.
“I’m trying.”
Trinity moves closer and holds my hand. “Squeeze my hand, Hope. Oh, fuck ow! Not that hard!” she says with a gasp and I try to loosen up.
Eventually my side buzzes into a stinging-numb sensation and I’m able to relax.
“All done,” Bronze says, snapping me out of my haze. He hands me a mirror so I can get a better look. What I can see is pretty, but mostly it’s black ink and red, angry looking skin. “Crap, will that look better by Saturday?”
“The redness will lessen. But it will take a little longer to fully settle down. By then you’ll be ready for the crown.”
“Maybe,” I mutter as he places ointment, gauze and tape over it.
“We’re gonna see you, Saturday, right?” Trinity asks.
“Hell yeah. I wouldn’t miss seeing Rock get hitched.”
I grin. “You’ll keep it a secret, though, right? I want to surprise him.”
“I’ll pretend we’ve never met.”
“Thanks.”
My offer to pay him is rebuffed. “Wedding present,” he says.
“That was awfully sweet,” I say to Trinity as we leave.
“He’s a good guy.”
“Where to, Hope?” Axel asks when we get to the car.
“Home.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Deep breath, Hope. Suck it in,” Trinity, the torture expert, says behind me.
“I…can’t…suck…in… anymore.”
“If you can still talk, you’re not sucking in hard enough,” Lilly jokes.
“You would know,” I snap.
“Oooh, she’s bitchy without oxygen.”
Trinity huffs out an annoyed burst of air. “You’re not helping, Lilly.”
“Sorry. Sorry. Come on, Hope. You don’t need those last two ribs.”
“I hate you both,” I grumble before taking another deep breath.
“Ugh. We should have been training you to wear this all week,” Trinity huffs as she cinches, tugs and yanks my corset into place. There is nothing pretty or elegant about the process.
“Phew.” I glance down. “Oh, hello there. I’m not used to having my girls right under my chin.” I snicker and snort at my own joke. Trinity and Lilly both give me strange looks.
“Is she drunk?” Trinity asks.
“No, I think she’s nervous. Come on, Hope. Let’s get your dress on,” Lilly prods, taking me by the arm and tugging me in front of the mirror.
Once I’m zipped into my dress, I’m even more nervous.
“Boots or flats, ladies? Time to help me decide.”
“Oh, please wear the boots. They’re so cute,” Trinity pleads.
“Hi, ladies!” Mara greets as she enters the room.
“Oh, thank God. I was worried you and Damon got lost and there’d be no one to marry us and—”
Mara cuts me off before I go into full freak-out mode. “Nope. Lilly’s man met us down at Ward’s and we followed him up.”
“He’s not my man,” Lilly corrects.
Mara rolls her whole head in a dramatic gesture. “Sure, whatever you say.”
A more tentative knock on the door stops our joking around. “Come in!”
Heidi pokes her head in the room. “Hi. Am I allowed to hang out in here?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” I motion for her to come in and shut the door. She seems really down, completely opposite of how she was when I saw her a few hours ago.
“Everything okay, honey?” Mara asks.
“Yeah.” She tips her head up and finally smiles. “You look so pretty, Hope.”
“Thank you,” I answer and then remember my gifts for Mara and Heidi. “Hold on,” I mumble as I rifle through the bag of stuff I brought downstairs with me last night. Trinity taps me on the shoulder and holds out two boxes. “Oh. Thanks.”
“My thank-you present for being such wonderful bridesmaids,” I explain as I hand the boxes to Mara and Heidi. Earrings that match their dresses are nestled inside. I’d given Lilly and Trinity their gifts last night.
Heidi squeals when she pulls them out. “They’re so pretty! I don’t have any dangly ones like this. Grams never let me wear them.”
“Oh, good.”
“I wish I was wearing my hair up now,” she says as she stares in the mirror.
Trinity brushes Heidi’s hair off her shoulder. “I can help you put it up if you want.”
Heidi blinks and stares at Trinity for a second before answering. “I’d love it. Thanks.”
Trinity goes to work and I’m jealous, because it seems there’s nothing Trinity isn’t good at.
Mara and Lilly are busy goofing around. I catch Heidi staring at me in the mirror. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“Nothing.” She winces as Trinity works a bobby pin into her hair. “Did you know Murphy was bringing a date?”
Yikes. “He mentioned it when I was doing the invitations.”
“Oh. Do you know her?”
“Uh, I’ve met her. She’s a nice girl.”
Trinity makes this weird eyes-wide-raised-eyebrow face at me and I shrug.
“Is your boyfriend in the wedding?” Mara asks Heidi. She knows damn well Axel’s ushering guests. I think it’s her way of reminding Heidi she’s here with someone too.
“All done. What do you think?” Trinity asks.
“Oh, it’s so pretty! Thank you, Trinity.”
Trinity nods and grabs her camera for a few photos.
“You should have gotten a picture of us wrestling her into the corset,” Lilly says with a snicker.
I casually throw my middle finger up at her and she laughs even harder.
Trinity sets the camera down and gives Heidi a serious look. “Okay, we need you to help us, help her decide. Boots or flats?”
Mara holds up both options for Heidi’s inspection.
“The boots are cool,” she finally says. I feel like she held the “for an old person” portion of her thought to herself.
“Okay. Boots it is. Now, since I can’t bend over, which one of you is helping me into them?”
Trinity, Lilly and Mara pretend to play rock, paper, scissors. “Very funny, girls.”
Shoes had been the last decision I needed to make. Now that I’m in the boots, my hair’s styled into a half-up-half-down, curly thing that’s actually really pretty and I’m all made up, I feel strangely calm.
I should be nervous. Shouldn’t I? Glancing down at my hands I wiggle my fingers, watching the gold, glittery tips catch the light. “This looks great, Trinity.”
“Thank you.”
After a few deep bre
aths, I realize I really am calm. Nothing in my life has ever felt as right as this does. That’s crazy, right? The man I’m marrying just barely skipped going to prison for murder. My decision-making skills might be seriously impaired.
But I’m not stupid. And I’ve made my peace with…things. I survived and I don’t think I could have gone through something like that before I knew Rock. He’s also given me something I’ve never had before. Family. A family who came together and kept me together. Who would die to protect one another. I love them too. So much my chest aches.
“Are you nervous?” Heidi asks softly.
“No.”
Lilly gives me a skeptical look.
“I was. But I feel good.” My voice breaks and I end up whispering. “I love Rock.”
Mara pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so happy you two found each other.”
“Thanks.”
Trinity’s sort of hanging back, fidgeting and I realize she’s trying not to cry. “Don’t you dare cry, Trin. You’ll make me cry and I don’t have time to fix the layers of makeup you guys painted on me.”
That makes Trinity laugh and she comes over to give me a big hug. “Shit, I love you. You’re exactly what he’s needed since the day I met him.”
“Thanks.”
Lilly looks at me and nods. Only the slight tremble of her lower lip tells me she’s also a little emotional.
The three of us had what turned into a big giggle-sobfest last night when we held our pre-wedding slumber party in Trinity’s room.
The look on Wrath’s face when he got sent upstairs to his old room had kept us laughing for hours.
Banging on the bedroom door stops us. “Please tell me Hope’s still here,” Z shouts.
I fling open the door, surprising him and he steps back. “I’m here.”
“Thank God.” He takes me in from head to toe. “Forget Rock, you want to marry me instead?”
“Is that your way of saying I look okay?”
“More than okay, sweetheart.”
Heat rushes over my cheeks and my nose tingles. “Thank you.”
“Who’s giving you away, Hope?” Lilly asks, drawing Z’s attention away from me.
“No one. I’m a grown woman. I’m giving myself,” I grumble. Z chuckles. “I hope that doesn’t offend you, Mr. Traditional.”
His eyes widen and I think he wishes I hadn’t said that in front of Lilly. Oops. Good thing he doesn’t know how I blubbered to Lilly about how sweet and kind Z is under all his rough exterior last night.
“Not at all, Ms. Kendall.” He holds his arm out for me. “Come on, I’m your ride out to the ceremony.”
I turn and glance at Trinity who shrugs. “What? We can’t make you hike through the woods in your dress.”
As we walk out front, I wave to Murphy and Teller who are patiently waiting out front.
It occurs to me there are a lot of questions about the ceremony and after-party I never bothered to ask Trinity. I’m not even sure where on the property we’re getting married. A flash of guilt singes me and I turn so fast, I almost knock Z over. Trinity’s eyes flare and she stiffens when I throw my arms around her. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me.”
After a second of hesitation, she returns the embrace. “No problem.”
I pull away and laugh so I don’t cry. “I’m a terrible bride, aren’t I?”
“Nope. Easiest bride I’ve ever worked with,” she jokes. “And you’re a good friend, so I was happy to do it.”
Murphy clears his throat. “Uh, are you marrying Rock or Trinity, Hope?”
We both glare at him and he snickers. “Come on, Rock’s probably worried you ran away.”
“Nah, front gate’s locked tight,” Z assures us.
I snort. “If anyone should run, it’s Rock.”
The guys think that’s hilarious. Teller steps forward to give me a quick hug. “You look really pretty, Hope.”
“Thanks.”
I get a quick hug from Murphy too.
“I guess Wrath’s keeping Rock from running away?” I ask.
No one bothers to answer me.
Someone wrapped pretty green and gold ribbons around the club’s side-by-side utility vehicles and that’s what the guys use to drive us out to…a clearing with a stone amphitheater.
I twist in my seat. “Trinity? What the?”
“Rock’s never brought you out here?”
The building site for our house is in the opposite direction. Even during all my brooding hikes through the woods, I’d never explored this part of the property before. “No.”
Z grins from ear to ear. “We don’t use it a lot. The prospects have been busy fixing it up. Clearing brush, repairing the stone, weeding. All the fun stuff.”
Trinity points to the rock wall encircling what looks like low stone benches. “The tent for dinner, music, and everything is on the other side.”
My mouth works, but no sounds come out.
The guys stop too far away for me to see Rock or anyone else.
Z gets out and gives me his hand. The corner of his mouth lifts at my cowgirl boots. “Nice touch.”
It feels like I blink and Trinity’s standing in front of me.
“This is it. Are you ready?”
“This is a good spot, since you’re sacrificing your manhood and all,” Wrath says as he gestures at the stone altar we’re standing in front of while we wait.
“Please. Like you’re not dying to do the same thing.”
His answering grin is wide and full of mischief. So far he’s been doing a good job of keeping our guests away from me. I’m so wound up I’m liable to clock the first person who cracks a “last moments of freedom” joke.
Perceptive asshole that he is, Wrath cocks his head at me. “You nervous?”
“Yeah, worried as fuck she’s gonna realize what a mistake this is and run the fuck away.” I tried saying it as a joke, but it doesn’t come out that way at all. I just sound like a pansy-assed dipshit.
“Front gate’s locked,” he answers.
“Thanks.”
He shrugs. “I’ve done everything I can think of to chase her away, and she’s still here. She must love you.”
“Yeah, I owe you an ass-kicking or two for givin’ her grief.”
“Anytime, brother.” He laughs, not taking my threat seriously.
“Help me fix this fucking tie.”
“Like I know how. I can’t believe she got you into that thing.”
I glance down at the gray suit. Same one I’ve worn out with her before. “She didn’t ask.”
“Christ, you really are whipped.”
I shrug, because that’s probably true and I can’t seem to find a fuck to give about it. “She likes it on me.”
“You’re lucky I like her so much. I still can’t believe I let her kick me out of my own room last night.”
“Sorry.” My apology sounds completely insincere since I’m laughing as I say it.
“I get the whole ‘no sex before the wedding thing’ for you. But why’d I get punished with it?”
“I’m glad you understand it, because I don’t.”
“You’ll see,” he answers with a smug grin.
Before I can prod him for more information, the sound of UTVs reaches me.
“Girls must be here,” Wrath says. He smacks my arm. “Close your mouth, you look like you got kicked in the head by a mule.”
Damon chuckles as he walks up and shakes my hand. “How are you feeling, Rock?”
“Good. Ready to get it over with.”
He nods as if he’s heard that a hundred times. He probably has.
This. All of this is nothing like my first wedding. I hate myself a little for even making the comparison, but it’s true.
As if he read my mind, Wrath steps closer. “Never, ever thought you’d do this again.”
I wait for whatever obnoxious comment he’s dying to make. “And?”
“And nothing. I’m happy for yo
u. For both of you. Through sickness and health, incarceration and freedom.” He nudges me with his arm. “You should add that to your vows.”
I’d laugh, but I’m choked up. Yes, Hope stood by me.
Then I’m not thinking about anything. There’s no music, but a hush falls over the rowdy crowd and my eyes lock on Hope. She really did it. She found a green dress and it’s fucking perfect. She’s perfect.
I can’t stop staring at her face. Not really taking in any details, just the overall picture of how beautiful she is. I take a few steps and meet her, covering her hands with my own. “I’m glad you came.”
Her mouth tips into the pretty smile I love so much. “Me too,” she says a little shaky. She blows out a flustered breath and smiles wider. “I mean, I’m glad you’re here,”
“No place else I’d want to be.” I lean down and take her lips in a soft kiss, forgetting where we are.
Someone—Damon I think—clears his throat. Heidi giggles.
Hope pulls back and blinks up at me and the overwhelming sense of how lucky I am washes over me.
Lucky that we finally got to this point.
“Let’s get married,” she whispers.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The actual wedding part of our wedding day is a blur. I think I spoke the correct words when I was supposed to. Mostly I just stared at Rock, in awe of how much I love him and how happy I am.
His gaze roamed over me once, taking in the green dress with a slow smile. After that his eyes never wandered from my face. As many times as we’ve been teased about being sex-crazed maniacs, Rock made it clear by that simple action that he was more worried about my thoughts than my body. I think I fell in love with him even more right there at the altar.
After the brief ceremony, our wild biker crowd couldn’t contain themselves another second. Whoops, cheers and congratulations filled the woods. Along with about two-dozen monarch butterflies Trinity handed us to release from a decorative box.
There were a lot of guests to keep up with. Many I’d met before. Some I hadn’t. When I got overwhelmed, Rock ushered me to a quiet area and held me close.
“Come on, Baby Doll. You need to eat something,” Rock suggested, tugging me back to our table. With the fierce look on his face, no one dared approach us as we made our way up front. Trinity had gone above and beyond with decorating the tent. White twinkly lights glittered from above and all around us.