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)
“I didn’t get lost!” Gary replies. “I was locked in a room.”
I sigh and pull away, pacing back and forth. Derek, where are you?
Then an idea hits me, so simple, so easy, I wonder why we didn’t think of it before. “I’m going back to the chalet.”
“You think he walked over there in the snow, in his suit, without anyone noticing?” Hayden asks.
“Yeah,” I reply.
We all head to the door and outside, where our snow boots are.
“You need to stay here, baby,” Cody tells Hayden. “You can’t do this on your crutches.”
“I know. I’ll keep looking around here.”
“I’ll help,” Steph says, giving me a sad smile.
I replace my dress shoes with snow boots, as we all do, and we begin making our way to the chalet.
“You know we likely look like penguins, right?” Frankie says. “All of us out here in our black-and-white suits, hobbling along in the snow. I mean, it would be funny if Derek wasn’t missing and all.”
Gary smirks but shakes his head. “Frankie, if you keep talking, I’m going to stick a chunk of snow down the back of your shirt.”
I ignore them all, a man on a mission as I work my way through the snow in the stupid boots. The second I’m on the porch of the chalet, I’m jerking them off and running inside. I go straight for the stairs and up to our room, shove the door open, and there he is—curled up in our bed, the one I’d fucked him in just last night, wearing his suit…and is that ink all over it? He has a shirt of mine in his hands, and he’s holding it close to his face.
“You took this game of hide-the-twink-from-the-daddy a little too seriously,” I tease, making my way toward him.
“It smells like us…the bed…and the shirt smells like you,” Derek says softly.
I sit on the edge of the bed and dance my fingers across his smooth cheek. “What is it? Tell Daddy what’s wrong.”
My words ease him right up, as though he just needed his man here to soothe him, and damn, what that does to me. “It’s just…” he starts, “part of me knows I’m being stupid and freaking out, but there was the pants issue, and the videographer…and then Hayden must’ve pissed off the gay gods real bad because now he needs crutches…and they hardly match his suit. And I mean, look at me, Jackson! I look like I work in an ink factory! It’s all over everything, and I still don’t have my vows…and Randy can’t be here…”
It’s clear everything is a jumbled mess in his head right now.
“All I can think is…” he continues, “what if this is a sign? You had this great marriage to Steph, and I’m a mess. I can’t even get our vows right. Ugh!”
“Hey,” I tell him. “Hey, look at me.” I pull him until he’s sitting up, holding his chin so he can’t turn away from me. “There are no signs. Nothing is plotting against us. Shit happens, and we’re going to have a hell of a story to tell after this. I don’t care about all those things. They just make it special. All I care about is marrying you.”
“I just want to marry you too,” Derek replies.
“We don’t need pretty vows, and if you find me a pen, I’ll get ink all over my tux too, or hell, we change into our everyday clothes, and we’ll get married in those. Hayden will rock those crutches walking down the aisle, and then you’ll be mine, and that’s all that will matter.” I cup his cheek as he looks at me with those big, expressive blue eyes of his. “I’m so sorry about Randy. I hate that he can’t be here, and if that means this doesn’t feel right to you, then we throw a big party and wait to get married until we’re back in Atlanta. Hell, we can get married at Cypress Grove, if you want.”
“No!” Derek rushes out…then smiles. He crawls toward me and onto my lap, his legs around my waist, his arms around my shoulders. “You’re right. It was hard for me to see it until this moment. You know all the right things to say to set me at ease. But there’s nothing I want more than to marry you right this second. Every boy needs a daddy, and you’re mine, Jackson Gibbs.”
Grinning, I tease, “There are your vows right there.”
Derek laughs, and it’s the most beautiful sound in the world. I can’t wait to hear him do it for the rest of our lives.
“I’m a mess, Jackson.”
“My mess.”
“I have ink all over my clothes.”
“Yeah, but you have a great ass, so no one will be paying attention to anything else.”
He laughs again, and the sound vibrates through me. “Good point. That’s what everyone is here to see anyway.”