“What the f**k? Are you still drunk?” I ask as Joey comes rushing up to us with Juls on his heels. I notice quickly that all talking has stopped at the front of the church and can feel a million pairs of eyes on us.
“No I’m not drunk. I’m just hung-over. Ooohhh which one is Reese?” I grip her harder and she yelps.
“Oh for Christ’s sake. Way to keep it classy, Brooke,” Joey whispers harshly as the preacher walks over towards us. We all straighten up a few inches.
“Are we ready to begin, Miss. Wicks?” he asks and she smiles quickly and nods, glancing back at me with her panicky eyes.
“We’re ready,” I confirm, keeping my hand on Brooke’s arm as we all follow the preacher towards the front. I glare over at her and she cowers beside me as we walk up to the front. “Pull your shit together. And if you act like this tomorrow, I will personally make sure you don’t get laid. I will vagina block the shit out of you.” Her mouth drops open and I hear Joey laugh behind us.
“What? You better stay the hell away from my vagina,” she grunts and my grip tightens.
“Ha! I bet you’ve never uttered those words before, Brooke.” Joey laughs.
We stop as the preacher turns and faces everyone and I quickly glance up and over to my right, finding Reese’s eyes on me and quickly dropping my stare back down. I let go of Brooke and she sighs in relief, massaging her reddened arm.
“Okay everyone, we’re going to do a quick run through of the ceremony, just to make sure everyone knows their places. So, if I can have the groomsmen, best man, and the groom all standing to my left right here,” he motions down at the stairs below him. “And ladies, and gentleman, if you would line up at the front doors and we’ll get started.” Oh good. I’ll only have to walk with Reese at the end of the ceremony down the aisle. That’s not too bad. What is it? Twenty-five, thirty feet of contact? I can handle that. We quickly form a line at the back of the room as I stand in front of Juls, Joey in front of me, and Brooke hopefully leading the way. God help her if she can’t make it up to the altar.
“You ready for this?” Joey leans back and whispers.
“Yup. You?”
“Oh please, have you seen my baby up there? Gorgeous.” I giggle at his response and hear the preacher announce for Brooke to start walking, which she does after Joey gives her a right shove. “Asshole. She’s going to be such a pain tomorrow,” he says before he begins walking and I can’t help but smile. My assistant as a bridesmaid. Of course.
“I love you,” Juls says behind me and I feel my eyes water a bit.
“Love you,” I say as I begin making my walk up the aisle. I don’t want to, I really don’t want to but my eyes find his immediately and I finally get my first real look at him in eighty-four days. He’s wearing a black suit, perfectly tailored to that body with a green striped tie and white dress shirt. His hair looks like it’s been cut a bit but still has its perfectly tousled look to it and his eyes are piercing into mine, the green beaming out of them thanks to his tie color choice. I see them quickly drop and run down my dress before he flicks back up to meet mine, jaw set and tense. I take my spot on the same step as him and finally look away towards Juls who is with her father at the back of the church. She begins her walk up and I keep my eyes on her even though I can feel him looking at me. Studying me.
The preacher runs through the ceremony, going over the vows that Ian and Juls’ picked out for tomorrow. I smile and laugh as they recite them and keep turning around to make sure Brooke is still upright and awake. Joey gives me a reassuring wink with each turn and I know he’s got her covered. Thank God. After the mock exchanging of the rings and pronouncement of their marriage, the two of them begin filing down the aisle and I quickly clamp my eyes shut, knowing what’s coming next. Shit. He’s going to touch me. He’s going to touch me and I’m going to lose it.
“Ok, now Dylan and Reese, you may walk down together. Billy and Joey, you can follow when they are about halfway down the rows.” I open my eyes and step forward after the preacher finishes and see Reese already waiting for me, elbow out so that I can easily slip my hand through it. I swallow loudly and grip the inside of his elbow as we begin walking silently down the aisle. I can hear his breathing, slow and steady as if he’s unaffected by this entirely. Figures. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting here. The sight of me causing him to faint possibly? But no, not even uneven nervous breathing.
“You look beautiful,” he says, low and throaty and I gasp slightly but don’t respond. We reach the end of the aisle and I quickly drop my hand from his arm and move to stand next to Juls and as far away from him as possible. Shit. Don’t be affected by that, Dylan. After the rest of the wedding party comes down the aisle, we all say our momentary goodbyes as we file out towards our vehicles. I quickly walk to Sam and scramble in, wanting to avoid any alone time with Reese as I see him walking out with Ian and the other men. His eyes fall on my delivery van fleetingly before he hops in his Range Rover and pulls away from the church. I drop my head on the wheel. “Okay. Half of the night is over. Now, you just need to get through the dinner and you’ll only have to worry about tomorrow.” After my little pep talk, I start up Sam and make my way towards Casa Mia’s.
The rehearsal dinner is booked at a quaint Italian restaurant and a long rectangular table has been set aside for us in the very back. My place is next to Juls and three seats down from Reese who is sitting next to Ian. I’m immensely grateful that he isn’t seated on the opposite side because I’ve done enough looking for one evening. Joey plops down next to me and let’s out an exhaustive sigh.