by Ali Parker
“Leave it, Hera,” my dad said to her without glancing over at her. I’d have to thank him for that later. “What did you two think of the ceremony?”
I shrugged and opened my mouth to speak, but Sabian beat me to it.
“It was lovely, if not a little impersonal.”
“Impersonal?” My dad inquired, assuming a casual stance with a hand in one pocket. “How so?”
“For that long of a ceremony, I was hoping to at least hear some personally written vows. That’s the best part, wouldn’t you say? Hearing the commitments and testaments of love right from the mouths of the bride and groom. A shame they missed the opportunity.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” my mother gushed.
Sabian was clever. Too clever. He had the ins and outs of our family figured out already. The Coopers, though a tightknit group, loved to throw dirt at one another. Anything they could use to hold over one another’s heads, they would. Sometimes they’d hold on to it for years, just waiting for the right opportunity to throw it in someone’s face.
The vows were a nice touch.
“You would write your own vows for your wedding then?” my mom asked Sabian.
“Well of course,” he said. “There’s so much to say about your daughter. I will proclaim it to everyone willing to listen.”
“Stop it,” I blushed, nudging him with my shoulder.
“Never.” He grinned.
I owed him. I owed him big time.
“Come on, we’d better get to our seats,” I said. “People are starting to take theirs. The bride and groom must be close.”
“All right,” Sabian said, before offering my parents a courteous little bow. “We’ll catch up with one another later? We have plenty to discuss.”
“Yes,” my mother nodded, “we shall.”
Sabian offered me his arm again, and we went to find our seats. We ended up at a table with a few of my cousins and their girlfriends and wives. It could have been worse, but it also could have been better. My cousins were all male, save for the bride, Jessica, and one of her bridesmaids, Claire. Thank God she hadn’t asked me to be part of the wedding. I would have had to fake an illness or injury.
“That went well,” Sabian said as he tucked my chair in for me and sat down beside me.
“It did,” I said. “You could do this for a living.”
Sabian chuckled and shook his head before sipping the last of his champagne. “I think I have to have something personally invested in my date.”
“I see,” I said coyly. Then I turned my attention to the others at the table. My cousin, Ross, was two chairs down from me, and down from him were my other cousins, Dale and Elijah. Dale and Elijah were twin brothers and looked almost identical, with long noses, light blond hair, and weak chins. Ross shared their pale skin and hair but had a more prominent jaw and a beefier appearance. I suspected he was on steroids of some sort.
Each of them had a woman on their arm, and I did not really care what their names were. They were likely to be switched out for younger versions of themselves within the next year, maybe less.
“Sabian,” I began. “These are my cousins, Ross, Dale, and Elijah. Guys, this is my fiancé Sabian.”
“Pleasure,” Sabian said with a polite nod of his chin.
Ross reached for his beer on the table. “Where are you from, Sabian?”
I stiffened. This was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to avoid.
“New York City, born and raised,” Sabian said. If he was annoyed by how direct the question was, he didn’t show it. He smiled a friendly smile and draped his arm over the back of my chair. “What about you?”
“Well, New York of course,” Ross scoffed. “I should rephrase my question. Where are your parents from?”
“Ross,” I said sharply, narrowing my eyes on him.
“What?” he asked innocently. “Can’t a guy make friendly conversation? I’m just trying to get to know your fiancé, cuz.”
“Mexico,” Sabian said before I had a chance to retort to my asshole cousin.
“Ah, that explains things. You two gonna be the first to make some beige Cooper babies?”
“Shut up, Ross,” I spat. “Or so help me I will rip your tongue from your throat. This is Jessica’s wedding. Get your shit together.”
Sabian leaned over and pressed his lips to my ear. “By the looks of these cousins of yours, throwing a bit of color in the mix might help things. Can you say inbreeding?”
I snorted and covered my face with my hands as Sabian slouched lazily back into his chair.
“Something funny?” Dale piped up, his eyes fixed on Sabian.
“Not at all,” Sabian said. “I was just telling her how cute our little Mexican Coopers would be. Blond haired, dark skin cuties, I imagine.”
Nobody said much throughout the following proceedings. Jessica and Brandon arrived and took their seats. Speeches were made as dinner was served, and our table ate quietly. We all kept to ourselves, and Sabian teased me and forced me to eat off his fork a couple times.
“Do it for the people,” he said playfully as I took a bite of salmon from his fork.
“You’re bad,” I said.
“I know.”
When the music started and the dance floor opened up, Sabian offered me his hand. He guided me out onto the dance floor. The sun had set only minutes ago, and fairy lights above the dance floor came to life. Sabian led me through an intricate salsa routine to an upbeat song that had my heart racing with every dip, spin, and grind.
All eyes were on us, and for once, I liked the attention.
Chapter 11
Sabian
Angela was breathless and flushed when the dance ended. I pulled her into me, and she hooked her right leg around my hip. And suddenly, before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her. I was aware of the eyes on us. Hell, I was more than aware of it. Each stare bored into me like I was committing a first-degree crime.
But Angela’s lips parted, and she kissed me back as her hands wandered up my back and into my hair.
When we parted, another song had started. Couples were milling around us on the dance floor, and I saw some of the yearning stares the women were giving us.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go somewhere less crowded for a minute.”
“Okay,” Angela said.
We made our way off the main patio and wandered around inside until we found another door that opened up onto a smaller patio for smokers. We half stumbled, half jogged to the railing where we both braced ourselves and proceeded to giggle breathlessly.
“I didn’t know you could dance,” Angela said. “Where did that come from?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes at me and peered down at the busy New York City streets below. The noise of traffic and car horns barely reached us up here. It was calm and peaceful, and a cool breeze blew across the patio. Angela’s shoulders drew inward.
“You cold?” I asked.
“Just a bit. I’ll be warm when we go back.”
I slipped my jacket off and draped it over her shoulders. I also loosened my tie. It was that point in the evening.
“Thank you,” she said, looking up at me with a look I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
The patio doors swung open, and three men came stumbling out. They were laughing obnoxiously and falling into one another as one of them passed around a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. They all lit up their smokes, and as they took their first draws, they spotted Angela and me.
It was the same three we had been sitting with during dinner. Angela’s cousins. The three stooges.
Ross, the most unsavory of the three, shook his head and scoffed. “Well, what do we have here, boys?”
“Leave us alone, Ross,” Angela said, crossing her arms and turning to face them. I noticed how she took a step forward to place herself between me and the three men.
“Don’t get your panties in a knot,” Ross slurred. He was p
iss drunk. The way the other two swayed with laughter suggested they were equally as intoxicated. “This is the perfect opportunity for us to get to know your boy better.”
“Too bad,” Angela said. “We’re heading back to the party.” She stepped forward, and I followed. When we were close to Ross, he cut her off, blocking her with his size.
He stared down his nose at her. She didn’t back up. Instead, she took another step. She was so close to him that their chests were almost touching. “Move,” she growled.
He leaned in close so that his nose was inches from hers. “Sorry, princess. But I don’t have to listen to you.”
“Why do you always have to be such an ass?” Angela hissed, shoving him in the chest. “If Axel was—”
“Yeah, yeah, if Axel was here, he’d kick our ass. I know. I’ve heard it before. But guess what? Axel ditched you ages ago. Maybe you should have thought of that before you brought this piece of trash to a family event.”
“He’s not—”
“Stop talking, Angela. No one likes listening to the sound of your voice.”
I’d heard enough. I cleared my throat, drawing the attention of the three stooges, and stood with my shoulders squared and my hands clasped in front of my waist. “I’m sorry that the three of you are threatened by someone like me being here, but that’s no reason to treat your cousin this way. I suggest you apologize to her. Now.”
Ross snorted with laughter, and Elijah and Dale joined in.
“Really?” I asked, more than a little surprised. Pretty boys like this didn’t come after me often, and when they did, they were walking into a world of hurt. They had no idea what I was capable of, and for the first time all night, we didn’t have an audience. That benefitted me more than they realized.
“Get out of the way, Angela,” Ross hissed. “So we can teach this fiancé of yours how it’s gonna be for him if he goes through with marrying you.”
Angela blew her lid. She went after him, fists flying, and landed a hit to his jaw with her knuckles. She yelped in pain, shook out her hand, and went after him again, cursing up a storm. I reached out to pull her back to me, but Ross caught her arm first and yanked her sideways, sending her off kilter.
She fell to the stone patio in a heap in her dress.
“Big mistake,” I growled.
“Oh yeah, tough guy?” Ross puffed out his chest as his two idiot cousins moved in around me. Angela started yelling at them as she tried to untangle herself from her dress and get to her feet. Ross closed in with a manic glint in his eye and a cruel edge to his smile. “What are you gonna do about—”
I decked him once, right in the middle of his face. His nose crunched beneath my knuckles, and the cartilage crumpled. He let out a pitiful wail as blood started spewing from his nose and into his mouth. He stumbled back, clutching his bloodied face, and screamed for Elijah and Dale to get me.
Elijah and Dale were a little unsure of themselves, so I made their decision for them.
I grabbed the front of Dale’s shirt and pulled him toward me. With the momentum I created, the punch I dealt to his gut had nearly double the force behind it. A great whoosh of breath left him as I released him, and he crumpled to the stone patio at my feet.
I stepped over him as Elijah retreated back a step.
“Come here, dipshit,” I growled. “You don’t get to get out of this scot-free.”
“I’m sorry, man,” Elijah sputtered. “I was just going along with them. I didn’t want to fight you, man, seriously. I tried to talk them out of it. I swear!”
“I’m not buying it, hot shot.”
Elijah turned to run. I got a hold of the back of his jacket and yanked him off his feet. He screamed. It was a pitiful sound to come out of a grown man, and I dragged him backward. He squirmed and struggled and started calling for Ross to come help him.
“Ross is a little worried about his pretty face,” I said as I spun Elijah around, wound back, and drove my fist into his jaw.
He went down like a bag of stones and lay perfectly still.
I looked back up at the other two. Ross was still cupping his profusely bleeding nose, and Dale was down on one knee, hunched over and clutching his gut.
“Apologize to her,” I said, pointing my chin at Angela, who had finally gotten to her feet. She was smoothing out the skirt of her dress and glaring daggers at Ross.
Ross snarled an incoherent stream of curses.
“Really?” I asked, moving toward him. He backed up, his eyes darting up to meet mine. There was a frantic look to him now. None of this had been what he expected. “Last chance. Apologize. Or I swear to God I’ll paint this patio red.”
Ross groaned and looked at Angela. “Sorry,” he said.
Angela stepped over Elijah’s unconscious body, grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled me toward the doors to go back inside. “Fuck you, Ross,” she called over her shoulder.
I didn’t say anything as she dragged me through the doors and to the elevator. She stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for it to get to the top floor. “I can’t believe those assholes. How dare they pull something like this? Narrowminded, ignorant, waste of space, fuck boys.”
“We don’t have to go,” I offered. “If you’d like to stay, we can.”
“No, we’re going. I hate these people anyway. Well, most of them. And his parents can suffer the shame of having their son start a fight with you. Maybe I’ll use it to explain why we’re not getting married.”
“Sorry?”
She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. “Well at some point, I’ll have to call off our fake wedding, won’t I? I can’t run with the lie forever. I can say you didn’t want to marry into a family with people like Ross in it.”
“His ego is probably damaged enough.”
“Not nearly,” she said.
The elevator arrived and we got on. Neither of us said a word as we rode it down, or as we waited for the valet to pull my car around. When he parked it at the curb, we got in, and I wasted no time in pulling out of the hotel parking lot and hitting the streets.
When we had been driving for a few minutes I reached over and rested a hand on her knee. “Are you all right? You went down pretty hard there.”
“I’m fine,” Angela said. “Just a scraped knee. Thanks for beating them up. It was extremely satisfying.”
I chuckled. “Anytime.”
She glanced over at my hands on the steering wheel and for the first time noticed that I had two split knuckles. “We should do something about that,” she said, nodding at my hands.
“Nah, it’s all good. Believe me, I’ve had worse.”
“Sorry.”
“Sorry?”
Angela nodded. “I’m sorry I put you in that position. That isn’t at all how I saw the night going. I just wanted everyone off my back, and I was so sure that this was the solution. Instead, you had to fight three drunk idiots after you were so wonderful all night. I feel like a fool.”
I took a turn down a quiet residential street and stopped the car. “Ang, don’t be sorry. It’s fine. Really. I’m a big boy. I can handle myself. Besides, you didn’t make those buffoons into racist assholes. Their parents did. They were itching for a fight, and if it hadn’t been me, I’m sure it would have been someone else.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe,” I said, reaching out and cupping her cheek. “They would have found some other guy to wail on. It’s good that it was me for everyone’s sake.”
Angela bit her bottom lip. “Not for mine.”
Before I realized what I was doing, I traced her lip with my thumb. Her eyes widened, and she stared back at me.
The air around us buzzed. I knew what was about to happen, and I was powerless to stop it; I didn’t want to stop it.
She was so close and filling my car with the smell of her perfume. Her lips were full, and the lipstick she had painted on earlier had almost entirely worn off. She had never looked so da
mn beautiful to me.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned across the console. She sucked in a sharp breath as I closed the space between us and sealed my mouth over hers. She tasted like champagne and strawberries.
Axel would be furious.
For the first time, I didn’t care what Axel wanted for his sister. I cared what I wanted. And she was sitting right beside me with her tongue in my mouth.
Fuck the consequences.
Chapter 12
Angela
“Wait,” I whispered as Sabian’s kiss wandered from my lips and down my neck. “We shouldn’t. Should we?” I wanted to. Oh God, did I want to. His kiss had me vibrating on a frequency so high that my knees felt weak, and I wasn’t even standing up.
“I want to,” he breathed. His breath tickled my skin as he continued planting kisses down the side of my neck and along my collarbone.
“But Axel—”
“I don’t care. Let him be pissed.”
“You’re sure?” I whispered. His lips were dancing over the tops of my breasts now, which were being pushed up due to the bodice of my gown.
Sabian chuckled and looked up at me. His deep brown eyes drew me in as he gave me a devilish smile. “Are you really asking me if I’m sure? Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”
“Don’t be sexist,” I said, giving him a coy smile of my own. “I’m not the one who will have to suffer Axel’s fury when he finds out what we did.”
“I can handle it. Do you believe me?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said huskily. Then he was kissing me again.
I didn’t resist him this time. This time, I let his hands wander all over me. I let him find the zipper at the back of my dress. He tugged it down slowly, and I leaned forward so he could pull it open. I lifted my ass off the seat, and both of us pulled the dress off. He crammed it in the back seat and turned back to me.
His eyes looked me over. I was only wearing a strapless bra. No panties.
“Damn,” he breathed, reaching out and running his fingers lightly up my stomach. “You’re so fucking fine.”
