Текст книги "That Wedding"

Автор книги: Jillian Dodd

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Текущая страница: 24 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

We took a few more photos then enjoyed the last half of our cocktail hour. I didn't get much to eat, but I made sure I got a princess martini. After the cocktail hour, we all headed into the reception.

It looks even better than I'd dreamed.

The big ballroom overlooking the Plaza Lights, the huge crystal chandeliers, the icy tree centerpieces dripping with crystals, the pale purple uplighting, my four tiered chocolate cake, the sparkling place settings, and the beautiful silk linens.

Phillip holds my hand and says, "Did you notice I changed the centerpieces?"

I look around some more. I'm a bit overwhelmed because all I can think about is how much my mom would've loved this. Then I notice that the tables don't each have a tree centerpiece. Some have huge arrangements of the palest pink roses I've ever seen. "The roses?"

Phillip smiles. "Yeah, each one has four dozen roses. I'm pretty sure I win for biggest bouquet you've ever gotten."

"You already won that contest when we got engaged."

"I know, but I told Amy that story, and she said that four dozen roses would be the ultimate profession of love. I love you, like in case you didn't know that yet."

He kisses the tip of my nose.

I press my lips into his and say, "I think I have a pretty amazing husband."

About midway through dinner, I really have to pee.

Again.

And this is something you never see in a Disney princess movie. They never show the production it takes to pee in a ball gown.

I have a sudden epiphany while a troupe of my bridesmaids are stuffed into the bathroom stall with me.

"THIS is the real reason why Cinderella had mice and why Snow White had those pesky dwarfs. She needed them to hold up her dress while she peed!"

"Maybe you should stop drinking so much," Lori tells me.

"It's not my fault Phillip keeps handing me bottles of water. The bottles of water that I don't remember ordering, but must have, since they have my wedding monogram on them. He keeps telling me to stay hydrated, like it's my big game."

"Well, it kinda is," Lori says.

"That's true, but when he has to pee, it doesn't require a small army of groomsmen to unzip his fly."

And just when everyone is in place, my dress is held up, and I'm in position to pee, Lisa says, "Uh, hang on a sec." Then she drops her corner of the dress and runs into the neighboring stall.

Katie says to me, "You need to pick your dwarfs a little more carefully."

We all laugh and try not to get grossed out by the sound of her puking.

I find myself mentally calculating the cost of it. Appetizers, three princess martinis, a couple shots, filet dinner. Damn, that's about a three hundred dollar puke there. It is at that point, I decide to say screw the water and start hitting the alcohol a little harder.

Had Phillip been in charge of holding up my dress while I peed, he probably would've rigged up a way to hold the dress above my head with his belt, some duct tape, and a bungie cord.

After dinner, it's time for the toasts, cutting the cake, and the first dance. I can't remember exactly what all Danny and Lori said.

Lori said something like, We all know weddings are about those three little words. I. Love. You. But in the case of these two, it's more like, It's. About. Time.

Danny said some sweet stuff that made me cry, some funny stuff that made me laugh, and then he ended the toast with, To the nights you'll never remember with the people you'll never forget.

The curtains on one side of the dining area are opened up to reveal the swanky night club portion of the reception. It has a huge monogrammed dance floor, deep purple lighting, white leather furniture with purple furry pillows, and lots of candlelight. Beyond the dance floor is an outdoor terrace covered in white lights and snow.

Phillip and I cut the cake. Of course, I had to smoosh it in his face a bit. He was smart though and didn't try and get me back. He's already proving to be a good husband.

Then we dance our first dance as husband and wife.

I love dancing with Phillip. I know there are lots of guests watching us, but with the lights low, it almost felt like we were alone.

Just like the night we danced at the swings.

After our sorority and fraternity serenades, I sit on a chair in the middle of the dance floor while Phillip finds his way through the layers of my dress. He's making a big scene of taking my garter off. He runs his hand up the wrong leg and pretends he can't find it. Then he runs his hand slowly up my other leg, finds the Nebraska garter, and pulls it off with his teeth. The DJ starts playing stripper music.

Guess I'm getting a taste of that Vegas wedding after all!

Just about the time Phillip almost has the garter off my leg, the music scratches, and the DJ yells, "Hold up, wait a minute, put a little love in it."

Then the song Fergalicious starts playing, only somehow they've changed the words to Jadalicious. Danny and all the groomsmen run onto the dance floor, toss off their jackets, and do a wild choreographed dance. It's hilarious watching a bunch of white boys dance. They do the stanky leg, the dougie, some random breakdancing, and the moonwalk. You name it, they included it.

I scream, clap, and laugh my ass off. It's classic Danny.

We're done with all the official stuff. Now it's time to party!

"Phillip, I wanna give you your wedding present now!" I drag him to a covered area by the doors that go out onto the rooftop deck. Right now, this area is hidden by curtains.

"So, unwrap your wedding present," I tell him.

He pulls me toward him."I thought you were my wedding present. How bout I unwrap you instead?"

"Phillip, be good, and open it!! I'm so excited!"

He kisses me then slides the curtains open. Sitting on a table are five crystal decanters of varying shapes and sizes filled with what is supposed to be the best kinds of scotch. I had to conspire with Mr. D on this surprise. Mr. D tells me I need to acquire a taste for scotch.

I don't know about you, but I have no desire to acquire a taste for something that smells like gasoline.

Next to the decanters is a tray full of cigars, and behind them, there's a gorgeous cigar humidor made of shiny burled wood.

"Scotch and cigars, I think I might keep you."

"The decanters and the humidor are my present to you. Won't they look cool on the bar in our new house?"

"Very cool. I love them." He kisses the side of my face. "I love you."

"I love you too. Open the humidor."

He opens it and reads the engraving on the gold plaque inside. "Phillip and Jadyn. Our love is worth celebrating. January the thirteenth."

"Your dad always said he was celebrating when he'd smoke a cigar."

"I know. Now when you smoke a cigar, you'll be celebrating our love. You won't even have to come up with a lame excuse like my dad always did, and with the date on there, you'll never be able to forget our anniversary."

"No way, I'll ever forget this day. I've never been happier. My face hurts from smiling so much." He pulls me in for another kiss. "Thank you, I love it."

"Okay, so now you can have some scotch and smoke a cigar with the guys while I run upstairs and change into my reception dress."

"Change? What!! Why??"

"Well I love this dress, but it's full, and I wanna dance. I was afraid people would step on it, so kinda last minute, I bought a dress for the reception. It's sparkly and sexy. You'll like it. I'm gonna change really quick. No one will even know I was gone."

I kiss him and start to walk away.

He grabs my waist with one long arm, like he just caught a fish and is reeling it in. "Uh, not so fast there, missy."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you."

"But, I was gonna let you smoke a cigar."

"I can smoke a cigar later."

"But, I planned it all out."

"Well, you're married now, so you have to think about what your husband wants."

My husband!

"Okay, what does my husband want? That sounds so weird. My husband."

"Your husband loves this dress. He thinks you look beautiful in it, but I'll tell you a dirty little secret. All he's been thinking about is how he can't wait to take it off you."

His eyes are dark and smoldering. I know what that means.

"No, Phillip. I seriously need to take this dress off, put the other one on quick, and then get back down here. I'm talking a max of like five minutes."

He grins at me and lowers his voice to that sexy volume. "Fine, but I'm gonna help you."

He has a stubborn look on his face. "You're not going to give in on this, are you?"

"Nope." He grins sexily at me.

"Fine. Come on." I grab his hand and rush him out the side door.

We get to the Honeymoon Suite, and Phillip says, "Do you have a key?"

Crap. The key.

"Well, yeah, I have a key, but um..."

"What?"

"Uh, well, it's not like I have a purse or pockets in this dress."

He pulls the top of my dress outward, stares down my cleavage, and looks for the key. "I don't see it."

The grin on his face makes me laugh. Seriously, it's like he just saw boobs for the first time.

"Just turn around."

"Just where exactly is this key?" he asks with a raspy, breathless voice.

"Remember the day I took your car keys when you got mad at me for the shoes?"

"Oh, God. This is even better than I could've imagined. But don't worry your pretty little head, Phillip has this all under control."

He gets down on his knees, and I pray no one walks down the hall while his head is under my dress retrieving the key. Although honestly, he could probably almost hide under there.

He slowly runs his hand from my ankle to my knee. Then he kisses his way up my thigh. I let out a big breath because now he's running his hand across the edges of my something blue. I'm getting a little worried that he's going to forget about the key completely. "We need to hurry, Phillip."

He ignores me, as usual, when there's only one thing on his mind. Finally, thankfully, a few seconds later, he kisses my hip and says, "Got it!" I feel the key slide out from the side of my underwear.

He gets up fast, unlocks the door, sweeps me off my feet, and carries me across the threshold of our honeymoon suite.

His eyes look even darker.

He shuts the door and gets right down to business. And that business is not taking off my dress as planned.

He kisses my exposed shoulders, my neck, my lips. Then he looks at the back of my dress like it's a difficult golf putt. Like how they get down and look at it from all different angles. "There isn't a zipper."

"No, Phillip, you have to unbutton every single button."

"Damn." He looks some more.

"I can get Lori to come up and do it."

"Oh, no, you're not. I got this."

He stands behind me, concentrating on the buttons. And the funny part is, he starts with the bottom button and works his way up to the top.

"Phillip, you're like doing it backwards."

"No, I'm getting the right effect. Just you wait." He undoes all the buttons except for the very top one. Then he stands in front of me. He wraps his arms around me, unbuttons the final button, stands back a little, and lets it go.

My dress slowly slides down off of me, and I'm now wearing nothing but a something blue thong.

Phillip lets out a heavy breath and says, "God, you take my breath away."

In one quick motion, he puts his hand around my waist, lifts me up out of the frothy fabric pile, and pins me on the bed.

He kisses me deeply then pulls off his shirt and pants. He never breaks eye contact with me.

I seriously have no idea when he even took off his jacket.

Okay, I have to say this, and then I'm going to tell him, Uh, no.

My husband is so freaking sexy!!!

He's not the only one that can't breathe.

I read somewhere in the millions of wedding articles and websites that you should take time for a few private moments on your wedding day, and I guess this would be considered a private moment.

But still, we planned this.

"Phillip, we can't do this now. It's our wedding night. We discussed this. Remember? Come up after the reception, take a warm bubble bath, drink champagne, relax, and then, you know."

"You changed the plans when you changed the dress."

"Phillip, I don't wanna look back on our wedding night as nothing but a quickie!"

"No problem, Mrs. Mackenzie," he says as he pulls the last scrap of lace off me. "I see no reason why we have to compromise. I see no reason why we can't have both."

And then, well.

It's my wedding night! Well, kinda, almost my wedding night. I'm not gonna tell him no.

While everyone was drinking and dancing, the ceremony area was being totally transformed. Phillip knows we're having an after party and helped picked out the great food, but he thinks it's being held here.

At midnight, the DJ stops playing and announces that the after party area is now open and to head that way for food and fun.

I grabbed Phillip's hand to lead the way.

He stepped into the room and saw the Husker themed sports bar that Amy had suggested. We had pool tables, ping pong tables, dartboard machines, karaoke, and foosball brought in. Drink options are coffee or kegged beer out of red cups. There's white lounge seating with red and black pillows and portable white bleachers. There's even a replica Husker scoreboard that says Bride and Groom instead of Home and Visitor.

Phillip gives me wide half-drunken grin. "You're seriously The. Coolest. Wife. Ever."

We laughed and watched our friends' looks of surprise as they came into the after party. I also notice that Joey, who caught the garter, has his arm tightly wrapped around my sorority little sis and bridesmaid, Chelsea, who is still clutching the bouquet she caught.

Everyone seemed pretty excited.

The pingpong tables were quickly converted to beer pong tables. The groom was bodily carried off to the keg to do a keg stand. Blake, Nick, and Danny did a hilarious karaoke rendition of I Kissed a Girl.

I laughed so hard.

By the time we left the after party, Nick was passed out on the white couch, and Katie was making out with Neil behind the bleachers. Some things never change.

Phillip unlocks the door to our honeymoon suite and carries me over the threshold again. The room looks amazing. There are candles lit, rose petals sprinkled across the bed, and two of the rose bouquets from the reception are sitting on the night stand.

Phillip does a silly little dance. "Let's get this wedding night started."

I think he's pretty tipsy.

I wonder if the wedding night is going to go as planned, but Phillip suddenly gets very serious.

We slowly undress each other, and then he leads me into the bathroom. In the bathroom are four more of the rose arrangements and more gently flickering candles. A bath has already been drawn and sitting next to the tub is a silver tray with our favorite dessert shots and tea light candles. Attached to it is a note that says, Congrats! Love, the dessert fairy.

You know your wedding was a success when......

You got married.

All the parents show up at your farewell brunch wearing the matching black plastic sunglasses from the hangover kits you handed out.

Most of your groomsmen are still wearing their tuxedos and are still drunk because they have yet to stop partying.

Your sweet sorority sister is doing what appears to be the walk of shame. Granted, Chelsea isn't still wearing last night's dress and clutching her heels and her underwear, but her and Joey both arrive fashionably late at the exact same time. They're grinning at each other in that naughty inside joke kind of way. And knowing Joey, he was very naughty.

The YouTube video of a certain young NFL quarterback doing the stanky leg at your reception already has over 87,000 hits.

I knew we were going somewhere warm, but I had no idea Phillip's parents would splurge like this on our honeymoon. Talk about a gift we'll never forget. We're at a gorgeous luxury resort in the Bahamas, where we have an amazing beach front suite.

I guess he wasn't lying when he said that me in nothing but a bikini all week sounded like his idea of heaven.

We just got back to our room from our quick tour of the resort.

Phillip says, "So, this isn't really a love letter, but it's my lame attempt to tell you all the things I love about you. Remember I told you about the pros and cons list I made? I wrote it the night before I told you I wanted to go out with you for real."

"So I finally get to read it?"

Phillip nods and hands me the paper. "Yeah, providing you promise not to laugh at me."

I read the list. "Phillip, are you serious? You like all the bad things about me. All my flaws. Like how I always think I'm right, how I'm stubborn, how I blurt out stupid things before I think."

He pulls me into his arms. "Yeah, those are the things I love the most. I love you, Jadyn James Mackenzie."

"Oh, wow. That sounds beautiful when you say it."

Phillip grabs the present Danny and Lori sent with us and sets it on the bed. "We were given strict orders to open this as soon as we got here."

I ignore the box and put my hand down Phillip's pants. I'm not feeling the need to be particularly subtle right now.

Phillip moans, "Our XXX honeymoon."

"Well, if you're a good boy."

"I'm a very good boy."

"Yes, I already know exactly how good you are, but you know, it's our honeymoon, you're maybe gonna have to step it up a notch."

"I think I can handle that. So open the box."

I take the lid off, and we both go, "Holy shit!"

Because inside is, um, I don't even know if I want to know all that's inside this box. There are all sorts of XXX type goodies.

"No wonder the guys in airport security were laughing at us!" I scream.

"I think we're gonna have fun on our honeymoon," Phillip says. He's wearing his own version of a Devil Danny grin.

"I think our honeymoon is gonna be like naughty dream week on steroids."

Phillip paws through the box. "Hey, what's here at the bottom?"

I look at the sweet sign he's pulled out of the box. "I think that is Lori's contribution. Don't you love how she cutified our XXX honeymoon?"

Phillip tickles my sides. "Cutified? I'm pretty sure that's not a word."

"Well, it should be. It means she made it all cute."

"I think Lori just gave us the best marriage advice of all. Our marriage should be full of hugs and kisses with a lot of XXX thrown in to make it fun."

I put the hotel's do not disturb sign on the outside of our door because I don't want anyone to take Lori's, then I put the one she made on the inside. It's definitely coming home with us.

I walk back toward Phillip, shedding my clothes along the way.

"I think we better get this honeymoon started, Phillip."

"Mmmmm, Princess," he says as he grabs me and throws me on the bed. Our XXX honeymoon favors cascade onto the floor.

But I don't think I care about that right now.

Acknowledgements

To my readers, thank you. Thank you for all your kind words, great reviews for That Boy, tweets, and encouragement. If it weren't for you, this book would probably not exist. Know that I love talking to you. From chatting about who would play the movie version of Danny, to how adorable Phillip is. I'm very active on goodreads, twitter, and my blog. (Be sure to come hang out with us at Glitter, Bliss, and Perfect Chaos!) Also a big thank you to Jennifer Howell, from Late Bloomer Online. Thanks so much for pre-reading the book and letting me know I was on the right track!!

To my mom. Words cannot do justice all the help you've given me with this book. You've encouraged me, read countless versions, and always kept me true to the characters. I think you might know Jadyn better than I do. Thanks for making me change Jadyn's meltdown and Phillip's wedding gift. It is a much better story because of you.

To my daughter. Your taste in fashion mimics Jadyn's. Thanks for helping me pick out the perfect wedding dress. Thanks for rolling your eyes at me and saying, "She'd never wear that!" Also thanks for all the social media work you do for me. I'd be lost without you!

To my son. Who asks me every day how many books I've sold on the way to school and is always excited by my results. Even though I can't get you to put a big pink heart or a wedding cake on your go kart, I'm still your biggest fan.

To my husband. This book was dedicated to you because I love you. I could never write about love if I didn't feel it in my own heart. You and Phillip share so many wonderful characteristics. Thanks for pushing me to self-publish That Boy. I don't think I would have had the courage to do it on my own. You believed in me when I wasn't sure if I believed in myself.

To the WWBC. A special thanks to David N. Walker and Nigel Blackwell. Because of a few quick emails to them, Pastor John's role was expanded and made the story much better. Another big thanks to Tiffany A. White and Kristen Lamb for being my social media gurus. And to everyone else in the group, thanks for helping me grow as a writer.

And the BIGGEST THANK YOU of all, goes to Amy Borders. Amy is the owner of EventChic, a Dallas wedding and event planning company. (Did you notice the wedding planner in the book is named in her honor?) I met Amy just a few years ago, when she was crazy enough to help me decorate for the Dallas alumni's Chi Omega Christmas. Recently, I sent her a simple email. It was something like, Hey, wanna help me plan a wedding? You gotta love your sorority sisters, they are up for anything!! She jumped right in. My most favorite details for the wedding came from Amy. Like using the roses Jadyn saved from her parents' burial in the wedding. The hanging branch altar that inspired one of my favorite scenes in the book. (Phillip and Jadyn in the tree when they were in trouble.) Phillip's "ultimate profession of love" of four dozen flowers as some of the centerpieces. The wedding night bathroom scene from the dessert fairy – the desserts, flowers, and lots of candles. The wild Husker themed after party. I about laughed my ass off when she sent me a photo of the bleachers and lounge furniture with the caption that said, Can't you just picture someone passed out here? And who's that making out behind the bleachers? Naturally, I had to put that in the story. Much like Jadyn, when I went to her, I had some colors picked out, wanted romance, and had a dress in mind. She made the wedding personal, special, and real in my mind. If you need a wedding planner, you might wanna call her. (Sorry though, Amy. Although you did tell me no keg stands for the bride and groom, I knew Phillip's fraternity brothers would never allow that.) You can contact Amy on twitter @EventChicDallas or visit her website at www.eventchicdallas.com