Shotgun Wedding (Sidelined #4)

by Ainslie Paton

  His expression said everything anyone needed to know about happiness, and from up close, quite a lot that wasn’t suitable for a gathering of more than two consenting adults. She felt her face heat from the way he surveyed her, the urgency with which he grabbed her hand.

  She should’ve looked for her parents, acknowledged people who’d accepted the hasty invitation, but she couldn’t look away from Dev, dressed more formally than she’d seen him since the Plus tenth anniversary. Her eyes went to his shiny black shoes, then back to his face. He looked heart-stoppingly glamorous in his dark gray suit, with a crisp white open-necked shirt. No kooky bow tie or colored sneakers like before.

  “Don’t worry, it’s me. I’m wearing funky socks.” He pulled at the leg of his trousers to reveal bright stripes without taking his eyes from her face, and there was a ripple of laughter. “Are we dreaming?”

  “We’re real.”

  “We’re going to have a great life together.”

  “Shall we do this then?” she teased.

  “If you let me get a word in,” said Ro, and there were suppressed chuckles around the room.

  “Wait,” said Reid, and there was a collective intake of breath.

  Sarina leaned around Dev and slapped Reid’s arm and that got nervous laughter.

  “One minute,” he said, holding up a hand for attention. “I want to make sure everyone knows how much these guys mean to each other. I don’t want anyone to be fooled by the speed with which this wedding came together or by the fact that this isn’t a church and Ro got her license for the day from a PokeStop.”

  “I did not,” Ro spluttered. “This is completely legal.”

  The laughter was genuine now.

  Reid waited for it to die off before he went on. “No two people I know have been as devoted to each other since the moment they met. This wedding isn’t days in the making, it’s the culmination of more than a decade of friendship, working together, and being in love. Even when they were both too stupid to realize it.”

  “Oh, he didn’t,” said Owen, covering his face with his hands.

  “Get your own wedding, Reid,” said Dev.

  Reid responded with a, “Huh,” that was all about the fact he’d tried that. “I’m nearly done. If you get to be half as happy as Dev and Sarina are, you’ve discovered the algorithm for a successful life and you can count your blessings. I count mine every day from having the two of them as my friends.”

  And that got applause, as Sarina leant around Dev again, reaching for Reid, and they shared a not at all awkward three-way hug, breaking apart when Ro said, “Clock is ticking, people,” and someone in the audience, who sounded suspiciously like Dad, said, “Get on with it.”

  She found Dev’s hand, and he clasped tight and Ro cleared her throat and began. “Welcome and thank you for joining us for Sarina and Dev’s wedding. As Reid said, it might’ve come about suddenly, but it’s been a long time coming. I’m Rosalie Gallo. I’m Sarina’s younger, more beautiful and infinitely more talented sister. Soon to be Dev’s absolutely top, favorite, down with it sister-in-law.”

  Ro gave a bow to cheerful applause and the loud whistle was definitely Dad. “And, yes, that is my embarrassing father,” she said, looking at Dev and laughing, “You get to have him now too.”

  “Bring it,” he said.

  “Sarina met Dev at Stanford. Dev tripped over her, isn’t that right, Dev?”

  “I absolutely literally fell for her,” he said.

  “But that’s not the whole truth of it,” said Ro.

  “What’s the whole truth of it?” said Dev with a confused laugh, gaze shifting from Ro to Sarina and back again, and she had a second to guess where Ro was going before she said it.

  “Sarina stuck her leg out.”

  “No,” Dev said, turning to her, his face bright with laughter that carried the rest of the room with it. “You didn’t?”

  She nodded. “I absolutely did.”

  To whistles and cheers, Dev laughed so hard he nearly doubled over. Reid had to prop him up. “Were you ever going to tell me?” he said, when he’d recovered.

  “I was working up to it.”

  “I knew it. I knew she wanted me,” he said to Reid.

  “There are no secrets today,” said Ro, when she could be heard over the wave of laughter. “And yes, Dad, I’m getting on with it. We’re gathered today to witness, formalize, legalize and celebrate the marriage of Sarina and Dev. Today they will officially commit to each other, affirming their love, trust, devotion and fidelity. So last chance guys, because I have a twenty-four-hour authority from the county clerk’s office, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  Sarina leaned into Dev. “Any second thoughts?”

  He turned his head so they bumped noses. “Ro has found a new calling.” He squeezed her hand. “First, second, third, all my thoughts belong to you.”

  There was a collective aw and Ro began speaking again. “Since lists are the fashion, I thought I’d start off with the seven reasons why modern marriages don’t work. Here they are: one, it’s all about the wedding instead of the marriage. Two, we look at marriage as a contract built on distrust and protecting self-interest and not a covenant about the best interests of both people. Three, we get high on the pheromones because passion is fun, but commitment, especially when things are not going so great, is hard work. Four, we think of a marriage as an equal partnership, a fifty-fifty deal, which means there’s trouble if someone’s not pulling their weight and we’re always measuring. Five, life is distracting. There are so many things we want to do in addition to being married. Six, sometimes marriage becomes all about the kids. Seven, divorce is easy.”

  “Not happening to us,” Dev whispered.

  She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand as Ro started up again, intrigued about where she was going with her list.

  “And now, here are the seven reasons why Sarina and Dev will rock at marriage. One, it is so not about the wedding.” Ah, that’s where she was going. Ro had to stop for a great gust of laughter to pass. “Two, as long-term business partners they know the difference between a contract and a covenant of love. Three, there’s already a lifetime of commitment between these two and from what I’ve been led to believe, not a lot of actual sexy time.” Another blast of laughter during which Dev put his hand to her face and she could see how wet his eyes were. “Four, both of them give one hundred percent to everything they do so that’s already a lock. Five, the fact that life is distracting is how we got to marry in haste.”

  “Hell, yeah,” someone heckled to the sound of approving cheers.

  Ro went on. “Six, the babies are going to be divine and so well loved, but they’ll have to learn to share with Mom and Dad. Seven, it’s taken these two such a very long time to come together that they’ve had a marriage in practice for years. There’s no better proof they’ve got the right stuff to make it gold.”

  There was a smattering of applause and Ro turned to her. “It’s time to exchange vows.” She stepped forward and hugged Sarina, then said, “Ladies first.”

  Sarina turned to face Dev and took his other hand. She took a breath and hoped her voice wouldn’t wobble like her knees did. Dev’s lashes were clumpy and he had to narrow his lips to keep it together. If he broke down, she’d be a puddle and she was determined not to cry at her own wedding.

  “When I first saw you across the lawn I thought cute boy, he’s clearly lost.” He laughed at that. “I thought I’d like to know him, so I stuck my foot out and you stumbled over it and then we talked for five hours.” She had to wait for the room to quiet to go on. “I was so devious. You were so delicious. We both missed class. It was dark when we separated. We had nothing obvious in common, except we laughed a lot and we thought it might be fun to start a business together. After one afternoon, I felt like I’d known you a long time already.”

  “I remember,” he murmured.

  “You were shy and I had the insane confidence of someone who did
n’t know she’d met the love of her life.” Dev took a labored breath and her throat got tight, her mouth dry, she had to lick her lips to continue. “We’ve had an extraordinary time together so far. You’ve been my strength and my cheer squad and my comfort, and also my cook.” He laughed and the room followed him.

  “But I didn’t believe we’d be standing here, and now that we are, I’m that girl again. I’m full of sunshine and happiness and I’m looking at a cute boy I’m determined to have and keep to myself, a wonderful man who is the father of my child. I’m sticking my foot out to trip you over. But this time I’m holding my arms out so the only place you can fall is into them, for all the good times, and the hard times, and the start of our family, and for the rest of my life. I love you Dev, I will support you and encourage you and annoy you and stand with you and never complain about anything you plate for me. I’m so proud to marry you and have our baby.”

  Oh God. She took a quick breath and it was ragged on the way in and shuddered on the way out. She couldn’t take her eyes off Dev, his face so dear to her, struggling to contain his emotions.

  “Dev,” said Ro, but she had to touch his arm to get him to respond.

  He shook her hands and came to life. “Sarina, you’ve knocked me over every day I’ve known you. I had notes, I had it all written down, even gave Reid a copy in case I lost them, because I knew I’d be here and see you and be gone. I’d forget what I wanted to say. And I am gone on you, but I don’t need the notes, I don’t need what I wrote from my head because you turned a key in my heart and opened it up, and I know exactly what I want to say to you.”

  If her throat got any tighter she was going to quit breathing and pass out.

  “The first thing is, thank you for picking me. Of all the thousands of students on the lawn that day, of all the people you could’ve chosen to hang out with, you picked me. And I wasn’t such a catch back then and you already knew Owen and he’s a looker and even Reid occasionally had it together enough to be more interesting than me.”

  She only realized she was shaking when she felt Owen put his hand to her shoulder.

  “I was lost that day we met. Struggling to come to terms with college, and with girls.” Dev eye-rolled and there was soft laughter. She took one of her hands back to press against her chest, to stop her heart flying out of her body. “And then there was you, the sexiest girl who’d ever spoken to me. I thought you felt sorry for me after I fell at your feet and you were being nice. It was one of the best things that happened to me that year. I used to have these fantasies where I thought you’d done it deliberately. Some days I was convinced you did. And now I know for sure.”

  “Now you know,” she said, breathlessly.

  He nodded, and had to wipe a hand across his eyes. “I was in awe of you that day. You were so cool. You still are. I thought I’d found the secret of life when you became my friend. I was in awe of you when we did start that business. I’m in awe of you now that you love me enough to want to have a child with me, make a life with me.”

  She covered her mouth to muffle her shorting breath coming in a painful hiccup.

  “So here’s what you get for tripping a guy up. You get me a thousand percent focused on you, on us, on being secure and happy together. You get me as your cook and your best friend, and your lover. I’ll be the one who is there to hold your hand or push you out the door to do the great things I know you’re capable of.”

  She hiccupped and Dev put his hand to her face. “You have my devotion, my undying loyalty, my admiration, respect and trust.” Another hiccup. “I promise to trip wherever you want me to, to care for you, and our family, grow old with you and love you a little more every day.”

  “Oh.” She hiccupped again, and Owen put a glass of water in her hand, which she drank and then hiccupped. This is what happened only days ago when she’d had to talk Dev out of quitting Plus and into the fact he was going to be a father. When she’d proposed and he’d said yes. Ro murmured her name and Owen took the empty glass. This was worse than crying because it hurt.

  Dev took her face in both his hands. “I’ve got this. I promise to always cure you of hiccups.” He stepped closer and angled his head and kissed her.

  She heard Ro say, “Okay, that works,” followed by the rumble of approval from their audience and then it was all about Dev’s lips and how good he smelled and how tight he held her and how full up of emotion she was, but utterly unafraid of toppling over.

  He cured her hiccups and they exchanged rings, which was a surprise. He’d bought her a thick multicolored diamond studded band, a matching plain one for himself. Ro declared them married; she must have, because there was cheering, and Dev wrapped his arms around her and they kissed and kissed, until Owen laughingly broke them apart and they were surrounded by friends and family, and hand in hand, lucky in having found this kind of love, they started their new life together.

  ELEVEN

  Owen

  It was like being drunk, but on feelings. Owen passed a hand over his face and stepped away from Sarina as Dev’s sisters swarmed the couple. He wasn’t entirely sure if his bride’s squire duties were over with, but other than keep an eye on Sarina in case she tried to asphyxiate herself with hiccups again, there was nothing for him to do.

  He could no longer see Cara, although he’d been able to watch her during the ceremony. In that sexy swishy little dress and stratospheric heels, the type she rarely wore, she was a visual feast, acres of toned bare leg he wanted to get his hands on. It’d been hard to look away, especially as what he could read on her lovely face under her cute hat was distress.

  He’d put that look there when he’d tried to make things easier between them and ended up making them worse. She hadn’t said they should break up, but he was waiting for the words. It wouldn’t be because she didn’t love him, he knew she did. It was in the way she looked at him, how she turned her body into his at night, how she stole the TV remote and tuned the set to what he’d most want to watch. With every silly text message and every orgasm she gave up to him, she said she loved, wanted and needed him.

  But if loving him came at the cost of her own desires it wouldn’t be enough.

  He caught Reid’s eye and together they backed off from the happy couple and stood side by side on the edge of the dance floor as Sarina and Dev signed the official documents that would make them legally wed. He snagged a waiter and scored them both a beer.

  “That made me feel weepy,” he confessed, because Reid, chugging his beer, looked as wrecked as Owen felt. “Are you planning on getting drunk?” Reid wasn’t much of a drinker and one was Owen’s limit.

  “Nope, just being a dumb bastard and feeling sorry for myself for no good reason. I have everything I need in my life. It’s fucking awesome. Fucking weddings.”

  Hah, the feeling was mutual. “I feel you.” The beer wasn’t what he needed. “You met Zarley’s man.”

  “Dalton, yeah. He’s a good guy, for a dude I’d like to smother. He loves her still, but he’s not being a dick about it.”

  And luckily neither was Reid.

  “Don’t let her go, Owen.”

  “I don’t . . . what do you know?” He reacted to Reid’s prod as if it was a bolt of electricity on his skin, frying his senses. He’d never been insecure in his relationships. He didn’t like how it felt to be on shaky ground. “Has Zarley said something, has Cara?” He’d tried to talk to Cara upstairs when Sarina left them for a moment, but she’d shied away, fussing with buttonholes for Reid and Dev. She had to be exhausted and the timing was terrible so he’d let it go, but it was eating at him.

  “No one said anything. Those girls keep it close. I only know what I see from looking at the two of you. You’re a misery guts, dragging your chin on the ground, and Cara’s got this fragile thing going on. You don’t wear gloom well and she’s not made of glass. She’s a fighter. She’s worth fighting for.”

  He looked at his shoes because he couldn’t meet Reid’s accusation. �
��I know it.”

  “Then what the fuck are you doing?”

  He looked up. Sarina and Dev were kissing again, and Dev’s dad was lining family up for photographs. “If we don’t want the same things, if we’re not like Dev and Sarina, is it better for her to end it while we’re still friends?” He handed a waiter his unwanted beer and neither of them took another drink. “What am I talking to you about this for anyway?”

  “Are you saying you don’t see the sun rise in her anymore?”

  “I’m fatally in love with her.” But was that what she needed?

  Reid said nothing, but he cracked Owen hard enough on the back of the skull, he took a step forward, hand going to his head before he spun to face Reid who grinned at him like a fiend.

  “You feel that?” Reid said.

  He laughed, because yeah, he felt the shock of that. He was all the way gone on Cara, like Dev was about Sarina. There was no coming back from that, certainly no walking away until he was convinced it was wrong for her. “I feel it.”

  If it meant they didn’t have a family, well, he’d find other ways to satisfy that want. He could volunteer, he could Big Brother or coach a sporting team, maybe set up his own little kids’ tech league. That was a great idea, he should do that anyway, rope, Reid and Dev in.

  “Gonna find your girl and do something about it?”

  “If you were me, what exactly would you do about it?”

  “Ro has a license to wed for a few more hours and she’s not afraid to use it.”

  Owen smiled. Yeah, Reid would do that. And it was tempting. To think he could take Cara home as his wife, that he’d never need to worry she’d try to sideline him for his own good.

  “Alternatively, the couch in Zarley’s office is more than serviceable. And a tip, don’t try anything on Cara’s worktable if you haven’t already. Those trestle legs, someone could lose a foot.”