Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
After the dinner, we continue our conversation in the lodge lobby until Gary, in a slightly drunker state than usual, says, “Hey, we have to get this Bottom Boy as far away from the groom as possible, because I’m pretty sure they have extramarital plans for tonight.”
I’m lounging on my side, my head resting on Jackson’s lap, when Gary kneels down, hooks an arm around me, and hoists me in the air and over his shoulder, pulling the laughter right from me.
“Is this a game of hide-the-twink-from-the-daddy?” Cody asks from the recliner he and Hayden share.
“No, this isn’t a game!” Gary calls out. “We got to hide this sly motherfucker to keep him from doing anything he’ll regret.”
“Ah, come on,” Travis says from a nearby love seat. “Let the poor kid do what he needs to do. Worst-case scenario, they’ll have a baby in nine months.”
Everyone cracks up, and as annoyed as I am with the way Gary’s spinning me around, along with the alcohol, it’s reminding me of how lucky I am to be in this lodge with my best buds in the world and the man of my dreams.
I enjoy the moment before deciding to have my own bit of fun.
“Superass, when did you get these big, strong man-muscles?” I run my hands down his back, and as much as I’m meaning to weird Gary out, damn, this guy doesn’t play at the gym these days.
“Oh my God,” he says, shivering, and puts me down quickly.
“Jesus, you reacted like you found a spider on you!” I say.
“Well, it was something itty-bitty and gross, that’s for sure,” he says with a wink.
“And here I was flattering my Gare-bear for this bod that’s getting me all flustered.”
His cheeks turn bright red, resembling the way his cheeks looked after a couple of hours in the snow.
“You little ass,” he says, grinning, as he shakes his head.
“Oh, what? You get to tease me, but I can’t tease you? That doesn’t sound very fair.”
“We’ll figure out what’s fair after we get some more shots in us.”
“Did someone say shots?” Rex calls from over at the bar.
Travis pops up from the love seat and wraps his arm around Gary. “How about I drink your shot for you? It seems like you might have had a little too much.”
“Just a little too much?” Gary slurs. “Well, that’s unfortunate. I was going for passing out.”
“Hell no,” Travis says. “How are you going to keep me warm if you’re passed out?”
“Keep you warm? Trav, are you planning on taking advantage of a poor, defenseless, drunk man this evening?”
“When you put it that way, guess not.” He starts to turn away, when Gary jumps like he’s going for a piggyback ride. Travis whirls around and puts his arm around him, throwing him over his shoulder the way Gary had done with me.
“There we go,” Travis says. “Yes. Now I’m going to take advantage of the poor, defenseless drunk man.”
Gary snickers until he snorts. “I’d tell you to put me down, but I like where this game is going.”
“On that note, I think I’ll be skipping any additional shots and carrying my husband off to our room.” Trav turns to Jackson and me. “That is, if the nearly newlyweds don’t mind if we leave.”
“We’ve had a great night,” I assure him. “But pretty sure I need to be getting my beauty sleep soon. Got to wake up early to put all my creams on.”
“No one needs to know what you make Jackson do to you for your beauty regime,” Frankie calls out, making like he’s about to cover his ears.
We all call it a night and make our way back to the chalet. Once Jackson and I are able to slip away, we head through the hall, to our room. As we near our door, I check the time on my phone. “That didn’t go as late as I figured it would.”
“Yeah, I was worried if we were out too late tonight, you might be too tired to marry me tomorrow.”
His arms find their way around me, and he pushes me back against the wall, stealing a kiss. It’s the sort of kiss that helps me release all those worries and fears I’ve been dragging around with me. As he pulls back, I say, “I could never be too tired to marry my daddy. But are you sure we shouldn’t find different rooms to keep ourselves from doing anything terribly debaucherous tonight? I don’t know if I’m ready to be a mommy.”
“Keep ourselves from doing anything terribly debaucherous? That certainly doesn’t sound like any kind of marriage I want to enter into,” Jackson says, pinning me against the wall again, taking another kiss.
I relax and enjoy it, but there’s a nagging thought in the back of my mind, and when I get a moment, I whisper, “Jackson, I still have to write my vows.”