“Trust me,” Sheila said, voice low and sultry. “It will be unforgettable.”
They laughed, and I clearly didn’t get the joke. I was then shoved into a dressing room and told to put on the tuxedo. On the other side of the door, I heard my groomsmen being put through the same torture. I owed them. I at least got something out of this; what did they get?
I unzipped the bag my tuxedo was in, praying it wouldn’t be powder blue with ruffles or something equally outrageous. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was greeted with black pants and a black jacket. I undressed and began to piece together this overly complicated tuxedo, pants first. When I removed the jacket to get to the shirt and vest, I froze. The vest was hot pink. Not peach or coral or bubble gum pink. No, it was hot pink. She had to be kidding me, right? Jenna wouldn’t seriously make me wear this, would she?
Buttoning the white dress shirt, I eyed the vest, hoping there was something severely wrong with my vision and I was seeing the color wrong. Perhaps it was a trick of the light? Or maybe it was inside out? I pinched the vest between my fingers as if it were poisonous and flipped it inside out, which was also hot pink. Swallowing thickly, I let myself come to terms with the fact that this was the color Jenna had chosen.
As I slipped the vest onto my shoulders, my eyes landed on a matching hot pink bowtie. Okay. Take a deep breath, Joseph. Calm down. I’d deal with hot pink if that was the color Jenna wanted, but I’d put my foot down at bowties, especially hot pink bowties. I left that dangling on the hanger as I pulled on the black jacket. When I glanced in the mirror, I didn’t look half bad, if you closed one eye and crossed the other.
Sighing, I opened the door and stepped out. Jenna clasped her hands together and held them up so they covered her mouth. And then her eyes watered. I tried my best to put on a smile and act like this was the best looking tux I’d ever seen, let alone had worn.
“Well?” I asked, eyebrows raised. I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping she’d change her mind about the color choice.
Before Jenna had a chance to answer, the other groomsmen stepped out of their stalls. My brother and best friend glared at me, their eyes conveying exactly how much I owed them for this particular form of torture. Andrew, however, walked out calm and secure in his tuxedo. To be honest, he didn’t look half bad, though I think that was because he wasn’t scowling like the rest of us. Or attempting not to scowl, as it were.
“What do you think?” Jenna asked gleefully. She was grinning, but her eyes were still watering.
I was honestly afraid to answer—she already seemed emotional over seeing all of us like this, and the last thing I wanted was to upset her.
“It’s perfect, sweetie, except . . .” I trailed off, watching her smile melt.
“Except?” she prodded, looking more upset and distraught by the second.
I quickly reached inside the dressing room for the bowtie and held it out to her. “I need help putting this on,” I explained. “Then it’ll be perfect.” What could I say? There was no way I’d make Jenna cry over something as silly as the color of my bowtie. I’d suffer—but only for her.
“Whipped,” Jake muttered under his breath too low for Jenna to hear. He called it: I was whipped, no question about that.
A moment passed as I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t hurt Jenna’s feelings. Her grin returned as she snatched the bowtie and helped me tie it. She spun me around and looked me up and down.
“You’re all so handsome. I want to get a picture of everyone,” she demanded, backing up and gesturing for us to scoot together. She pulled out her cell phone and held it up. “Smile!”
Andrew was probably the only one who was convincing. The click of the fake shutter snapping a picture sounded on Jenna’s phone. She tapped on the device for a few seconds afterward before she put it away. She bit her lip, and her eyes watered again. Why was she so emotional? Had seeing us in tuxedos really made her go all weepy? I hadn’t pegged Jenna for the type, to be honest.
Andrew was the first to start laughing, and he gave a nod to Jenna as if acknowledging something unspoken. Eyebrows furrowed, I glanced back and forth between them, trying to figure out what was so funny. What was the joke? What had I missed? When Andrew didn’t stop laughing, Jenna burst into insane giggles, holding her stomach and wiping tears from her eyes.
What the hell? I was so confused.
Jenna reached behind the counter and retrieved a hanger with a hunter green vest on it. She held it out to me, laughing so hard she could barely talk.
“I can’t believe you fell for that!” Jenna choked out. “Truly.” She was red in the face now, still going at it. “Like I’d make you wear hot pink. Give me some credit, babe.”
It took a second for her words to sink in, but then I exhaled, relieved. “Thank God!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t know how to tell you that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I would be wearing that bowtie at our wedding. No way. That sucker would have gotten lost.”
“Or would have accidently fallen into my garbage disposal,” Connor offered.
“Or flushed down the toilet,” Jake added.
They weren’t as amused as the rest of us, but they were definitely pleased to know hot pink would not be part of their tuxedo color scheme.
My phone pinged, and I pulled it from my pocket. The message was from Gabby, and it said: “Sexy!” That was followed by the photo Jenna had taken of us in our pink vests.
Great. I’d never live this down. And no wonder Andrew got the joke before we had; Gabby was probably chuckling it up wherever she was.
“You’re lucky I want to tie the knot with you more than anything on this planet,” I said to Jenna.
“Tie the knot means he wants to marry her,” Andrew whisper-explained to Jake and Connor, proud of himself for understanding our lingo.
Jenna giggled at that, but the sound was abruptly cut off when I yanked her against my body and kissed her without any restraint. She wrapped her arms around me and didn’t hold back. Oh, yeah. There was no way I was letting this one go.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks always to my team of awesomeness: Lisa, Bri, and Cesya for edits, proofreading, and plot revisions with this little side project; Scott, for your marketing expertise; Jennifer, for all the hard work you put into Revolution Publishing; and, most importantly, THE FANS! Without my readers, I would be nowhere. I’m forever thankful for your loyalty and love.
I also want to thank my family, especially J.D. Ramsey and the Cameron family out in Hawaii for helping me finish this novella.
Gabriella’s journey continues in . . .
FALLEN LEGION
The full force of the Empyrean Guard leaves Gabriella trembling where she stands. She had it all wrong; they’re stronger than she ever imagined. Even with the Fallen at her back, she lacks the proper training and knowledge to win the inevitable Angelic War. In the Timeless Oblivion, Gabriella seeks the advice of the one person who’s never failed her and comes back with more than she bargained for. Now Gabriella must do the unthinkable: break the most important law the Celestial Gods decreed thousands of years ago to protect the angels. Now that she’s crossed the line, will she find a way to save the angels? Or has she doomed them all?
Fall 2012
REVOLUTION PUBLISHING, INC.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Kreitzer lives in the middle of nowhere in western Kentucky where she is constantly writing. She has a fiancé and two wrinkly dogs. Whenever she has the opportunity to travel, she does. Read extras, outtakes, interviews, and more at Laura’s website.
http://laurakreitzer.com
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