by J. C. Allen
“Fine. Maybe I do. Is that so bad?”
I’m glad she got it when her smile turned sheepish.
“No, it’s not.”
And may it stay that way tomorrow.
Flowers.
There were flowers everywhere—cute pink ones, others slightly blue. It was like looking at the perfect bouquet.
My dress fell along the same vein, a creamy purple color that was also strapless. Even in this whipping cold, I wore the strapless dress; I wasn’t going to make a sudden change because of some mere weather. In any case, the sun had come out, warming us all. Plus, if need be, the backyard of the Kinsmen estate had some warm lights we could go stand near.
Ros, not surprisingly, looked amazing, as I knew she would when she picked out her dress. It was kind of old fashioned, tight at the body and long sleeved; her train went a few inches out, and her veil almost reaches the back of her thighs. It was beautiful, and I was utterly convinced Simon would cry when he saw it.
Maybe that hope was misplaced, but even a man like Simon was bound to shed a tear when he saw it happen.
And, sure enough, as she walked down the aisle, escorted by Michael, I saw Simon start to sniffle from the side. It wasn’t a blubbery mess, but in comparison to a man who was more open with his emotions, it might as well have been equivalent.
The two exchanged their handwritten vows, and now came the part that I had dreaded.
Both Matthew, the best man, and I, the maid of honor, had to hand off our rings. We have to come close to each other.
We have to see how we still interact…
I was safe here, on the other side of Ros, while he was on the other side of Simon. I didn’t think he had even looked at me this whole time, but I kept glancing and hoping that he would look my way. I’m still the seventeen-year-old girl who is star struck, it seems.
Maybe I shouldn’t be, but that’s just the truth.
Everyone in high school knew about him and his brothers—the bikers with tattoos and dangerous streaks that everyone wanted a peek at. The boys feared them, but the girls admired them. When that prom night came up and he made a short appearance, I was as shocked as anyone when he danced with me right in front of everyone in his leather jacket and dress shirt, a walking protest to organized events.
But I was even more surprised when we sneaked out to the field house, started making out, and—
“Can you believe it? I’m married!”
Ros brought me back to the present, wrapping me in a tight hug as I heard the photographer click off photos.
“I know. You look beautiful!”
I hugged her back, swelling with happiness. True love is possible. A second chance is possible, too.
She let me go to walk back down the aisle with Simon, everyone watching them go with happy eyes. They disappeared back into the house so they could, in theory, change into their reception outfits.
But I, along with anyone else who wasn’t their mother—and probably even her too—knew that they were rushing off to have a quickie. Kinsmen boys just do it differently and way the fuck more frequently.
A short while later, I met Simon’s mom by the huge carafe of lemonade. We had only spoken a few times, but she seemed really sweet and nice, and all her sons love her. Michael adored her, finally having a nice grandma. I didn’t know if she knew about Matthew and I, but… well, let’s just say today probably wasn’t the day to mention it.
Still, I felt that maybe if he saw me talking to her, it might increase the odds that he approached me. Maybe that was an act of desperation, but… well, what could I care..
“You did such a good job, Rosella absolutely loved it.”
She smiled at me with her kind eyes.
“I just wanted it to be special.”
“It was. It definitely was.”
We traded a few more lines, but being the mother of the groom, she had to go and interact with many other people. My head swiveled as soon as I could to see if Matthew happened to be paying attention to me, but he had seemed to vanish along with Jaxson and Zeke. Figured.
I turned back and took another sip of my delicious lemonade, but I was starting to shiver. Getting away from the cold, I walked inside to warm up by the fireplace.
And then my curiosity got the better of me. I knew I was taking a risk, but, well, I couldn’t help it. And I figured anyways that if someone caught me, they weren’t going to get angry on a wedding day.
I wandered around their house, so homey and welcoming. I could feel their happiness, even with their dad having passed. There were photos everywhere; no corner was bare.
Unlike me. Besides Rosella and Michael… I don’t really have anyone. I’m kind of bare myself.
“Are you snooping?”
I turned in shock at that deep, very familiar voice. It ran down to my toes just like it used to, even though I hadn’t heard it in quite some time.
My eyes roamed up his body from his dress shoes and pants, tightly fitting his strong thighs and—I stopped looking there before my thoughts went someplace they shouldn’t have. Instead, I continued up until I met his face. That lopsided grin was back; his lips looked as soft as I remembered, and his eyes gleamed along with his dirty blond hair.
“No I was just…um—I don’t really have an answer,” I confessed with a nervous laugh.
He stepped closer to me until I could inhale every inch of scent, cologne, and fresh air from riding on his bike, the pine of trees and of sunshine. Soon, I couldn’t breathe without inhaling him.
My body still reacted to him the same way; my chest ached as I struggled to catch my breath. I felt my lips parting as I stared up at his face.
“You didn’t say hi.”
He put his hands in his pockets but still trapped me between him and the staircase landing. The wall was all that held me up.
I still hadn’t decided if that was a bad position to be in.
“I… was busy.”
“Hm.”
I licked my lips and looked past him, over his broad shoulders… but my gaze, unsurprisingly, only fell back on him.
“You look nice. It’s been a while.”
How does he just have a way with words, even the simple ones…
“It has,” I whispered.
He got closer, too close. All I could see and breathe was him. It was like we had picked up where we left off, right out on the field…
“A while…” he said, letting his voice trail off momentarily. “Since prom night when you left me with blue balls and a three-day suspension for breaking into the field house.”
He smirked into a full smile. It made my knees ache to stand and not be wrapped around him, so I just maneuvered around him. I had to make a choice.
Not here. Not ready. Not on her wedding day.
I ran.
There was no good time to stand and face the almost one night stand you would have lost your virginity on. There was no good time to confess the fact that you spent years hoping your high school crush would come back. There was no good time to have the chance to admit all of that.
But to do it on this day would have been the worst.
3
Matthew
The last time I really looked at Grace, I was nineteen and hated everything that had to do with school or, really, anything that I didn’t want to do.
I only went to prom because all my buddies did and there was alcohol and girls involved. I certainly, however, hadn’t expected to have had the encounter with Grace that I did.
I had a vague memory of everything from back then. I remembered her being friends with Rosella, and Simon being with Rosella, but when they both came back to town, I hadn’t realized that Grace would even remember me. Granted, I didn’t think I would have remembered her at first either, but…
She hadn’t said anything when they came to the club, or anytime we were around. It’s why I had to confront her, even on my brother’s wedding day. I just had to know some answers.
I set my s
ights on Grace and followed her until she started snooping. I’m sure my mother would have hated it, but I thought it was oddly endearing. Maybe that was because, frankly, she was kind of a giant mystery to me.
I knew that she was absolutely gorgeous, arguably the prettiest woman I had ever seen with true, real natural beauty. Her long, wavy brown hair and green eyes were captivating, as was her curvy body, shaped like an old-fashioned coke bottle. But even this was based on only a few encounters; Grace was elusive, even when she lived in the same town as me.
But on that prom night…
Maybe she was too young or nervous—or maybe both. But, when we sneaked out to the field house, I was glad to be kissing her for what seemed like hours on end. It was way better than I could have ever anticipated.
But… that was all we did. Maybe there was some slight groping, but that was it. Eventually, I let her go when she made up some excuse, I couldn’t say now what it was.
But what I could say was how I felt around her, because when I cornered her in the hall, I felt the exact same way.
When I approached Grace, seeming to surprise her, I admired how her long hair flowed down her back. With the sun coming in through the side windows, it showed how much lighter it actually was, featuring darker honey to bright honey colored locks that swayed and pointed right down to her pert ass. It complimented her olive skin extremely well.
When she spun around to face me, I couldn’t fight my smug smirk that followed, noticing how she looked me over like she was seeing me for the first time. Sometimes, I would think I wanted what they had, wanted that undeniable type of love and relationship… but then I had moments like these where I was staring at Grace, a walking chastity belt, and all I could think about was fucking her up against this wall.
Up close, her eyes were bright green, a little blue somewhere in there—just like mine. Her full lips pressed into a line, her shoulders still rising and falling. My eyes followed her skin, smooth and speckled with little beauty marks over her shoulders. I reached back to her eyes, now blinking rapidly when I stared at her. I realized it was a bit too intense. But being this close to her… God, how much I want her… it’s insane.
I waited for Grace to respond to my smartass remark about blue balls by the field house, but she surprised me and just ran off, brushing against me as she escaped. I turned and stared after her in confusion as she flew down the stairs and disappeared in the other direction. And here I was, thinking that those were fuck me eyes. I guess they were “fuck me” eyes, in reference to herself.
“That girl is weird,” I murmured to myself.
I tried to make sense of whatever the fuck had just happened, but it was a lost cause. I eventually gave up trying to do so and instead headed back out for the reception area.
I grabbed myself a drink and stole some of the pigs in a blanket bites before anyone else saw. It was incredibly cold, even though I wore a tee shirt under my suit. There were some girls that frequented the club that came and had on dresses without coats or much fabric, and I couldn’t fucking believe they weren’t frozen solid and dead.
But, like Isabelle joked, they just wanted to get the last two single Kinsmen, and if that meant showing their assets at the expense of warmth, I guess they were going to do that. I didn’t quite understand the appeal, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like to take advantage of it.
“I knew you would get into those.”
Simon came around the corner of the kitchen, calling me out for the bites. Not exactly feeling guilty about it, though.
“Remember Grace? You were right.”
Simon looked stunned at what I had said, but before I could let him ask any questions—before I could let him get to that point—I pivoted back to the actual focus of the day: his wedding.
“You feel any different?” I asked.
He had changed from his stuffy three-piece tux to something more manageable. Who the fuck could blame him? Us bikers were not used to dressing nicely; “dressing up” was throwing on our cut and some pants.
“Not really.”
He chuckled as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. Good man. Still got it a little.
“Where is Rosella?” I asked.
“Still doing her makeup.”
I shot him an askance look, causing him to roll his eyes. Yeah, there were a lot of things I didn’t get when it came to girls.
But I liked to think I got enough to have what I wanted.
“Mom did a good job.”
“Yeah, she did. If I’m being honest, though, I feel bad, you know? With her family not being here and what not.”
“Yeah, but with good reason. They’re pretty much gone though, right?”
I mean, we killed her uncle ourselves, who killed her father and mother, so…
“Yeah,” Simon said wearily.
I never quite understood why Simon liked to go on these self-flagellating guilt trips. I think sometimes, he lived in a world so idyllic that you had to make up a new word beyond utopia. At least, though, it hadn’t come to bite him in the ass so far.
“Don’t worry yourself about it. Besides, she still married you.”
I smiled and chuckled. He didn’t quite have the reaction I wanted since he frowned at me, but it was short lived.
“Fair enough.”
“Could be for the money too, but who knows?” I said, and fortunately that got a laugh.
Simon was a moody character, that was for sure, but on his wedding day, I was willing to work harder than normal to make sure that he kept up his cheerful mood and stayed happy.
“So… Grace.”
Well, so much for me keeping up mine. Going back to that, huh?
Gotta keep the groom happy with his choice of conversation, I suppose.
“She ran away from me when I approached her, literally,” I said. “Her heels almost put a hole in the ground.”
The expression that was on Simon’s face… was not what I expected. He didn’t even seem shocked.
“Damn. Well, I’m not surprised.”
“Why?” I said, becoming suspicious. “Has she said something to Rosella?”
He smirked.
“I’m not going to gossip for you. Not on my wedding day at least.”
I rolled my eyes. Any other day, I would have put him in a headlock and demanded that he tell me more. Any other day, and I’d have him spilling everything he knew.
Lucky you’re still in something resembling your wedding outfit, bud.
“Fine. I’ll ask you tomorrow then.”
Our family spent hours celebrating Simon’s wedding before things winded down a few hours later. We waved off the couple—but not until after she threw the bouquet and Grace caught it. They had some sort of inside joke because they laughed until we had vanished someplace else, according to my mother. Then they drove off.
About the only part that wasn’t perfect was that Simon had to drive a car. He grumbled about how it wasn’t a Kinsmen wedding unless it was on a bike, but the idea of driving a bike all the way from Minnesota to Chicago was rather unappealing, even to the most hardcore Kinsmen. The rest of us stayed to help Mom clean up.
All in all, it seemed like a pretty solid day, minus my one encounter with Grace. I’d avoided stealing the attention from Simon too much, and my other two brothers had kept themselves in check too. I was pretty sure Simon would look back on this day fondly and at our behavior.
But that was the wedding.
Things got interesting in the moments after.
I came to the living room to clean up, only to find Grace stumbling… almost like she was drunk.
We were alone when I stopped her from knocking something over. I didn’t have it in my mind that I was going to do anything… but I had a feeling the opportunity might present itself if I wanted to take it.
“Did you party too hard?”
She stared at me, stunned, as if she hadn’t expected anyone to find her, much less me.
“Um…”
I put my hands in my pockets again before I walked up to her. I was about to accuse her of being drunk until my mom reappeared.
“Michael is ready.”
I close my eyes and exhale. I had forgotten this part of the arrangement—apparently, best man meant watching my nephew while his dad on a sexcapade honeymoon. No wonder Jaxson and Zeke weren’t it. They were smart enough to avoid this responsibility!
But what was I going to do, dump the kid off to someone else right in front of his face?
Besides, it might just help my game.
“Awesome, thanks mom.”
I grinned at Michael running down the stairs in his little man suit, deciding that since I was stuck with the kid, I might as well make the most of it.
But then I decided that I had something else to take care of first—and maybe someone.
“I actually need to drive Grace home first.”
She was now half laid out on the couch. Michael tried to say goodbye to her, but it turned into her weakly waving “hello” in her face as he shakes her arm.
“Good idea,” Mom said with what almost looked like a knowing smile before retiring to her room for the evening.
I wen over to Michael, who seemed to be getting bigger with every passing day.
“Okay bud, your Aunt Grace had a little too much fun so I’m going to take her home and then come back to get you.”
“Okay. I know she’s drunk, you can just say that.”
I laughed but was even happier to see that Grace laughed too—it meant she wasn’t too drunk or so bad I had to worry about her getting through the night without throwing up.
“You said it for me,” I said with a smile. “Just chill out with some TV and then I’ll be back.”
“You’re leaving me?” he said, but it was more of a deliberate guilt trip than an actual concern. “Why did you have to watch me and not one of the other uncles?”
