Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I dragged him forward and kissed him again to a chorus of laughter. But I didn’t care. The thought had sent butterflies floating through my stomach. Tomorrow, at this time, he’d be my husband.
The officiant announced us, and then we followed the wedding planner’s instructions to walk down the aisle and out of the room.
While she dealt with the rest of the bridal party, Gavin swept me off of my feet and swung me into a circle.
“I still can’t believe you did this.” He fingered the loose curl of my now-dark-brown hair. A color that I hadn’t had in my hair since childhood.
“You don’t like it?”
“I love it. I don’t care what color your hair is. Pink or rainbow. Blonde or brown. Hell, let’s get some red in there, so you match mine,” he said, ruffling his own red-shot brown hair.
I chuckled. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I wanted to make sure this was what you wanted.”
I touched the ends self-consciously. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure. I sat down at the salon yesterday, prepared to touch up the vibrancy of my rainbow, and I decided I needed a change. That if I was going to marry you, I wanted it to be my natural color.”
His eyes softened at those words. “Nothing to do with your parents, right? This is all you?”
“All me. Though my mom cried when she saw it, and my dad looked like he might cry.”
“That sounds right.” He drew me tight against him again. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider about tonight too?”
I arched an eyebrow and weaseled my way out of his arms. “One night apart won’t kill you, King. Think about what the wedding night will be like.”
His eyes went molten. “Oh, I’m imagining it all right.”
I pushed him playfully. “You’re a scoundrel.”
“I’m your scoundrel.” He pressed a kiss to my fingers as the rest of our friends made their way toward us.
“Break it up. Break it up,” English said. “We’re stealing her for the night, King.”
“By all means,” he said, relinquishing me to my best friend. “Try not to have her still drunk tomorrow.”
“No promises,” Lark said.
“We make no promises either,” Court said, slinging an arm over Gavin’s shoulders.
Camden sighed and shook his head. “We will take care of him.”
I laughed. “I bet you will.”
Sam pressed a kiss to Lark’s lips before helping the boys drag Gavin out of The Plaza. Gavin looked back at me once and winked.
What a ridiculous man I was marrying. And I was marrying him.
I hadn’t yet told him all that I’d confessed to Katherine, but tomorrow night, I had plans of my own for our wedding night. He was going to lose his mind, and I was ready for it.
“Honey,” my mom said before my friends could pull me out of the hotel as well.
“One minute,” I promised my friends and then headed over to my parents.
“This looks like it’s going to be magical,” Mom said.
Dad pulled me into his arms unexpectedly. “Thank you for doing this, sweetheart.”
“Of course, Dad.”
“I know I rushed you into this, but I still love that it’s happening. And seeing how much you and Gavin love each other … well, I can’t wait to walk you down the aisle.”
I beamed at my father. The guilt that crept through was just a twinge after everything we’d gone through to get here. I did love Gavin, and this was all actually going to work.
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too.” He released me with a laugh. “Well, don’t let us keep you from celebrating.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you here bright and early!”
“We’ll be here,” Mom said, waving as I headed back to my friends.
“Ready,” I said, joining my friends out on Fifth Avenue. “Where exactly are we going?”
A limo waited outside. Lark slung a bride-to-be sash over my head while Katherine affixed a tiara into my dark hair.
English looked devilish. “Oh, you’ll see.”
I did indeed see.
A strip club.
Full of male and female strippers in tiny little string pieces. Laden with glitter. Dollar bills flying. Shots all around.
The night was wild and hilarious. All of my friends acting as if this were an everyday occurrence in their lives even though I wasn’t sure that Lark or Katherine had ever been to a place like this. English and I used to go to strip clubs all the time in LA with our sorority friends. It brought back vivid college memories.
By the time we piled back into the limo, we were all wasted drunk and falling all over ourselves.
“Best bachelorette party ever,” Lark declared, laying her head into Katherine’s lap.
Katherine ran her fingers through Lark’s hair. “Camden’s going to kill me when I show up this drunk.”
“You mean, fuck you,” I quipped.
Katherine laughed. “Well, yeah, probably.”
“I told Gavin we were going to be separate tonight.”
“And now, you’re having second thoughts,” English slurred.
“Maybe I should text him.”