Fire and Love

by Erin Wright

  It would be okay – it would all be okay. Maybe she’d overdressed for the occasion, and maybe people would think she was a snob because of it, but thoughts couldn’t hurt her, right?

  Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

  She chanted the childhood rhyme to herself. It was a ridiculously childish rhyme, but it was also true. She just had to stay focused.

  Words will never hurt me. Hurt me…

  Still, she wished she knew where Levi was. Maybe one of his set-her-hair-on-fire looks would calm her nerves, or at least, give her something else to think about. But whatever Jaxson was having the groomsmen do, he was having them do it out of sight.

  And then even Georgia disappeared; paired as she was with Moose, she was a bridesmaid for Sugar. Tennessee felt stupidly alone, every friend and relative she would’ve hung out with having disappeared into the back. She was good at mingling and small talk; she was good at being poised and even-keeled under pressure.

  It didn’t mean she liked it, though.

  In what felt like years later, finally the organist was striking up a chord on the old pipe organ and Tennessee was craning her neck along with everyone else, watching as the wedding party began making its way down the aisle.

  First up were two little boys who Tennessee guessed were Jaxson’s children. They’d been tasked with throwing rose petals, and also holding onto the leash of the largest dog Tenny had ever laid eyes on. The older boy, his face serious and concentrated on his responsibility, had his hand firmly wrapped around the leash of the Great Dane, while his other hand was clamped firmly onto the shoulder of his younger brother.

  The younger one, meanwhile, was clearly delighting in the idea of being given something to throw, and throw he did. Titters ran through the audience as he threw handfuls of rose petals directly at the guests in the pews. Tennessee bit back her own laugh. Someone should’ve been a little more blunt in their instructions beforehand; telling a 5-year-old boy to “throw rose petals” was really asking for it.

  Halfway down the aisle, the Great Dane and older brother liberally covered in rose petals along with the back half of the audience, the little boy finally ran out of petals. His eyes got big and he tugged on the shirt sleeve of his older brother. “I don’t got no more flowers, Aiden,” he said in the world’s loudest whisper. The tittering of the audience grew to outright laughter at that announcement.

  Aiden’s eyes flicked up to the front where his father was standing, waiting for Sugar to come down the aisle. “Daddy?” he whispered, just as loud as his brother. They’d stalled out in the middle of the aisle, the Great Dane sitting down next to them patiently, the collar made of flowers sliding around his neck as he waited.

  “It’s all right, boys, just keep coming,” Jaxson whispered back, waving his sons forward. Aiden obediently tugged on his younger brother and on the dog, getting the group to move again down the aisle.

  Well, “move” was a generous term for it – it had obviously been drilled into his head to walk s-l-o-w because the group’s pace up the aisle resembled nothing so much as a herd of turtles doped up on sleeping pills.

  Meanwhile, the organist, having finished the Wedding March before the bride ever even made an appearance, paused for a moment and then started up at the top again, heaving a loud sigh as she did so.

  As the laughter grew and spread through the audience, Tennessee couldn’t help thinking that at this point, her faux pas of wearing an evening gown to a morning country wedding probably wouldn’t be the topic of gossip afterwards.

  Thank God for small children, large dogs, and impatient organists.

  The two little boys with the giant dog in tow, finally made it up to the front where the younger boy threw his arms around his father’s legs, clearly thrilled to be done with his part of the ceremony. “Can me and Hamlet go sit now?” he asked his dad anxiously.

  Jaxson’s dark eyes flicked over the group in front of him, obviously trying to decide what to do. Tennessee hadn’t attended any of the wedding rehearsals, if they’d even had any, but even she could tell that this was not part of the plan. “Uh, sure,” Jaxson finally said. “You guys can sit over there.” He pointed off to the side of the stage.

  “Yahooooo!!!!” the little boy whooped and took off, the Great Dane and Aiden following along behind him obediently.

  The roar of laughter drowned out whatever the pastor was whispering to Jaxson, but Tennessee was pretty sure it was something along the lines of, “This is not appropriate behavior for a church.” He was well known in the area for being a stickler for propriety and rules. In fact, Tenny was a little shocked that he’d let a dog into his church. The…unhappy look on his face made her think that perhaps someone else had agreed to this plan on his behalf without telling him.

  The organist, who’d finished the Wedding March for a second time by this point and had clearly escalated to the Very Annoyed stage, started at the top again, louder than ever. Tenny was pretty sure that the organist was mentally pounding the wedding group into submission via the ivory keys, and was most likely wishing that she was wielding a whip rather than an organ.

  Emma Dyer, Sugar’s best friend in high school and the younger sister to the owner of the Muffin Man, was now hurrying up the aisle, Levi on her arm. Tennessee could tell that she was trying to pick up the speed to make up for Jaxson’s kids, but Levi, who’d obviously been told to walk slowly up the aisle, apparently hadn’t been let in on this plan and was now being dragged behind her as she speed-walked up to the front. Tennessee barely had a chance to feel even a flicker of jealousy at some other woman’s arm in Levi’s before they were splitting off at the front to stand on opposite sides of the stage.

  Next it was Moose and Georgia, looking better together than she and Moose had ever looked. The way that he was staring down at Georgia…Tennessee was pretty sure a proposal would be coming soon and thank God, it wouldn’t be coming to her. The way they looked at each other, like the other person was in charge of hanging the sun, the moon, and the stars – yeah, Moose wasn’t going to be proposing to Tennessee anytime soon.

  She thought back to her discussion with Levi when he’d called the two of them “puke inducing.” It was funny – she’d agreed with him wholeheartedly at the time, but now…

  Now, she was jealous. At least Moose claimed his girlfriend in public. Tenny was having a hard time getting even that far.

  She snuck a glance up at Levi standing in the front, hands clasped in front of him, looking as casual and at ease as ever. Anyone looking at him in that moment would believe that he wasn’t self-conscious; that he knew wherever he was at, that’s where he belonged.

  Which was all a lie, of course. He hadn’t wanted to be in the wedding party because he didn’t think he was the kind of person you’d ask to be in something fancy-schmancy like that. He also didn’t believe that Tennessee should be on his arm, because he didn’t believe he was worthy of her.

  In other words, he had just as many self-worth worries and insecurities as anyone else; he just didn’t show them to the world. At least, not to anyone but her.

  The thought made her feel more loved than any mere words could possibly express. To be vulnerable with someone – that was truly expressing love. Love was believing the other person would never hurt you, and acting accordingly.

  He looked up and caught her staring at him, and gave her a lascivious wink. His eyes were promising that later, he’d show her just how much he loved her.

  Intentionally, she bit her lower lip as she sent him a look back that said how much she was looking forward to that. Yeah, the church was going to burst into flames around them, and she didn’t even care.

  Just then, everyone stood and Tenny belatedly followed, realizing that she must’ve missed Troy walking down the aisle with whoever he’d been paired with because now they were on to the main event – Sugar.

  Here she came down the aisle, her simple white wedding dress put to shame by the sheer amount of
happiness pouring from her. Tenny was surprised to see her on the arm of not her father, but rather Emma’s father, Mr. Timothy Dyer. She’d heard that Sugar wasn’t speaking to her parents any longer, not after they basically forced her to marry her first husband, Richard, but still…It was rare to see this kind of schism made so public.

  Sugar and Mr. Dyer made it up to the front, and the pastor asked everyone to please sit down. After the rustling and noise died away, the pastor launched into a well-worn speech about the sanctimony of marriage and love. He didn’t appear to believe a word of it, and Tenny’s mind wandered, looking at the back of Mr. Dyer, Sugar’s arm tucked in his, patiently waiting to be asked who gave this bride away. Tennessee had known that Sugar had been inseparable from Emma during high school, but now she wondered if the Dyer family had pseudo-adopted her, much like the Garretts had with Levi.

  Of course, Rocky Garrett had had a secret reason for taking such a close interest in Levi, and Tenny was pretty sure that wasn’t the case with Sugar and the Dyer family. But still, it made her wonder how many teenagers out there were finding refuge in homes outside of their own. After all, Tennessee had done much the same thing with Aunt Shirley and Uncle Carl – when she’d needed someone there for her, she hadn’t gone to her parents. She’d known better. She went to Georgia’s parents.

  Before Tenny could figure out why it was that adults had children if they had no intention of liking them, she heard the pastor announce, “You may now kiss the bride!” Startled, Tennessee looked up and realized that her wandering thoughts had caused her to miss the entire wedding ceremony. After a tongue-dueling kiss worthy of a Hollywood movie, Sugar and Jaxson began making their way back down the aisle, so happy that they looked like they might simply float away at any moment.

  “What about the rings?” someone shouted from the audience and the organist, who’d been happily pounding out the piano version of Somebody Like You by Keith Urban, hit a discordant note and then collapsed into silence, staring over at the pastor for a hint as to what she should do.

  Sugar and Jaxson looked at each other and then back up at the pastor, and began laughing. “I can’t believe we forgot that,” Jaxson got out around his laughter. They turned around and headed back up the aisle, the roar of laughter from the audience drowning out whatever the pastor was saying to Jaxson. The look on the pastor’s face…he wasn’t finding this oversight nearly as funny as everyone else was.

  “Aiden, bring Hamlet over!” Jaxson called out, and the older son obediently headed for the altar, the small horse trotting alongside him.

  Okay, so Hamlet wasn’t actually a horse, but to Tenny, he resembled a horse more than he did any dog she’d been around.

  The younger boy, refusing to be left behind, streaked over and stood in the cluster up at the front, loudly asking Sugar if they were done yet. As the bride did her best to placate the five year old – Tenny heard her call him “Frankie” as they spoke – Jaxson was busy wrestling with Hamlet, trying to get at his collar. Hamlet, really having fun with this game, was bounding around, barking, tail wagging, knocking vases of flowers over with every powerful whack.

  Tennessee had never laughed so hard in her entire life, she was sure of it.

  Finally, Levi, Moose, and Troy waded into the fray, pinned Hamlet and his gigantic tail down, and pulled a box off the collar. Troy led the dog down the aisle and outside, in hopes of getting the overexcited dog some space and room to calm down. Meanwhile, Frankie and Aiden, now that they were up at the front with their father and stepmother, were clearly having none of it when Levi tried to scoot them off to the side and out of the way.

  In the end, Sugar and Jaxson exchanged rings with Aiden and Frankie holding their hands – a brand-new family and even sweeter because of it.

  This time, they walked back down the aisle together and the audience laughed and cheered and clapped as they went, Jaxson picking up and carrying Frankie while Aiden held Sugar’s hand. Tennessee had never attended such a raucous wedding in all her life and couldn’t help the laughter and huge grin that she had plastered on her face as she watched the Anderson family make their way through the crowd of well-wishers.

  Levi and Emma, who’d originally started to follow the newly married couple down the aisle arm in arm as had been planned out beforehand, quickly realized that all of their plans had been thrown in disarray and they instead split, Emma heading off to find someone while Levi headed straight for Tennessee.

  The look in his eyes…Tenny gulped.

  She’d wanted him to look at her like he wanted to tear her clothes off with his teeth. She just hadn’t expected it to affect her so strongly when he did.

  How was it that I stayed a virgin for 26 years again?

  Chapter 32

  Levi

  There was no way she knew what she was doing to him. That was the only explanation for it. If she knew what seeing her in that dress would do to him, she would’ve taken pity on him and not worn it.

  Right?

  Just as he reached her side, the crush of the guests pushing in from all directions, he heard a loud whistle and looked up to see Jaxson standing on one of the pews, waiting for everyone to quiet down and listen to him. Levi wanted to let out a bark of laughter – Jaxson standing on one of the pews inside of a church made this day complete – but he stifled it. He grabbed Tenny’s hand and tucked it up against his side as he waited for the announcement.

  Maybe he wasn’t worthy to hold her hand, but if she was saying yes…

  Well, who was he to say no?

  “Just to make sure everyone heard,” Jaxson shouted, the sound of his voice instantly quieting the last of the raucous crowd, “there will be a break until five this evening,” he continued in a normal speaking voice. “I hope at that point that you can make it down to the street dance – we’re holding it on Main Street, right in front of the Muffin Man. Desserts and snacks will be available inside of the bakery. Come ready to dance!”

  And with that, he jumped off the pew and was swallowed up by the crowd of well-wishers, all wanting to congratulate him and Sugar.

  Levi looked down at Tenny, his mind on repeat.

  We have until five tonight. We have until five tonight. We have until five tonight.

  He began tugging her towards the door, his hand clasped like a vise around hers. He would let her go right around the time he’d agree to chop off his left nut.

  She tucked in right behind him, letting him part the crowd in front of him like the parting of the Red Sea, something that he found surprisingly sexy. She trusted him to lead the way. She trusted that wherever he was going, she’d want to go, too.

  Who knew that trust was such an erotic thing?

  Finally, they made it out the front doors of the church and into the bright heat of the July sunshine. Without missing a beat, he headed for his truck, his hand still clasped in Tennessee’s while using his other hand to pull on his hated tie. Having never worn a tie before, he could now categorically state that they were just as awful as he’d thought they would be, and he never wanted to wear one again.

  Well, that was, unless Tennessee wanted him to for some big occasion. He’d do it for her if she really, really wanted him to.

  Oh Levi, you’ve got it bad.

  He helped her into the truck, managing to mostly keep his hands to himself, and then hurried around to the driver’s side.

  “Ready?” he asked rhetorically, already throwing his truck into reverse.

  “Anytime,” she said softly, running her fingernails up his thighs.

  He gulped.

  Hard.

  “You don’t have your nails done,” he said, his voice squeaking like a pre-teen who’s just seen a girl in a bikini for the first time.

  He didn’t give a damn about her nails, of course, other than they were straying dangerously close…

  They drifted across his dick for just one glorious moment and then she was back to having her hand on his thigh.

  He gulped again.
>
  Don’t pass out, don’t pass out…

  “Yeah,” she said ruefully, pulling her hand back and looking down at her nails with a glare. Levi wasn’t sure if he was thrilled that he could breathe again, or devastated that her hand wasn’t on him anymore. “It costs too much to get them done all the time, so…” She shrugged, trying to play it off as being no big deal, but he was starting to be able to read Tennessee Rowland a little better than she probably wanted him to be able to. “I started painting my nails instead.” She spread her fingers out on her lap, staring down at the pearl pink nails. “After years of wearing fake nails, it’ll take a long time for my real nails to come back.”

  As they pulled up in front of his house, he flicked his gaze over at her hands splayed out on her lap. He’d never tell her this, of course, but he never really understood why girls thought that fake fingernails were so amazing. But, whatever made her feel pretty was what he cared about, and if fake fingernails were it…

  And then they were hurrying up the sidewalk to his house and all thoughts about fingernails, fake or otherwise, fled from his mind. Thinking at all seemed like a real stretch at that point, considering all of the blood in his body seemed to have gone south, at least for the moment.

  They tumbled through the door, hands and lips and teeth already in the mix as they did their best to simultaneously undress each other while kissing, sucking, and licking every inch of skin within reach.

  Finally, Tenny pulled back and gasped, “Let’s go to the bedroom.” It took Levi a moment to not only hear the words but understand them, and she was already busy tugging him down the short hallway back to his bedroom before her words fully registered.

  “Whatever you want,” he groaned, his dick aching for some relief. If she told him in that moment that she wanted to have sex on the kitchen table while wearing a monkey suit, his only question would be where to get the monkey suit.

  With trembling hands, he helped her undo the clasp at the nape of her neck and then stood back as the dress slid down her body to pool at her feet. Standing there with her back to him, high heels, a strapless bra, and a thong the only pieces of clothing left on her, Levi was having a hard time processing everything. Was this beautiful woman really willing and excited to have sex with him? The teenage boy inside of him was letting out war whoops even as he reached with trembling hands towards her gorgeous body.