Sighing, I lean my head against the headrest and turn to look at his handsome profile.
“Thanks.I should’ve been more adventurous with our flavors.But the audience seemed to like what we had, more than either wedding cake, and we gave out tons of business cards, so maybe our loss will still turn into a win.”
“Did me springing the wedding stuff on you screw you up?”Ollie turns to me with a sorrowful expression.“That last thing I want to do is add stress to an already stressful situation or make you unhappy.I got carried away.I’m sorry.”
“Can you pull in here?”I point to a mostly empty parking lot and a spot in the corner, facing the woods.“So we can talk.”
Ollie pulls his SUV into the spot I pointed to and turns off the engine.He turns to rest his back against his door and faces me.
“Why the sudden rush to get married, Ollie?”
He reaches out and takes my hand.“Because I love you, Phoebe, and I can’t wait for you to be mine.”
I pull my hand from his grasp.“Yours?Like a possession?A trophy?”
The shock on his face is like a splash of cold water to mine.
“Wha…what?Cupcake, no!Why would you think that?That’s not true!”
I start blinking rapidly to hold back the tears suddenly flooding my eyes.“Because you’re suddenly being jealous and possessive!After we got engaged, you were weird with Stone.You’re racing to the altar, and you’re so focused on it, you’re not even including me in the planning!”
He runs a big hand through his hair.In frustration?“Because I thought you didn’t care.I thought you only wanted to be with me.I was trying to make it simple for you.I’m not trying to possess you.Yeah, I’m jealous of Stone.You guys are obviously friends, and I don’t want you to like him more than me.I’m in a rush to get married because I’ve waited two years for you to notice me as a man and want me, and I’m scared to death you’ll change your mind and see me as the boring nerd I am and realize you can do so much better.And…and I just love you, Phoebe.We’re going to have an incredible life together, and I can’t wait to start it.”
“Oh, Ollie…” I whisper.How could he ever think I wouldn’t want to be with him?It’s all I want.
“I’ve never cared about wedding planning before because I never expected to get married.But…but when Biff asked me if I would have these cookies at my own wedding shower, I began to imagine what it would be like to plan things together, not necessarily have all the bells and whistles, but make decisions together and do this as a team.I feel like I’m on the bench.”
A tear slides down his cheek, and I reach up to gently brush it away.
“Phoebe, the last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt you or make you feel like you’re not included or your opinion doesn’t matter.I said something to your sister, Daphne overheard, and it snowballed from there.”
I chuckle because I know how the Daphne Morris snowball is once it gets rolling down the hill.
He hands me his phone.“Read the texts and see our plans.Anything you want to change gets changed or rescheduled.The only detail I care about is that at the end of all of this, we’re married.”
I read through the texts, my heart growing lighter as I see each thing fall into place and where Ollie has offered his opinions and vetoed suggestions.At every step of the way, he thought about what would make me happy and what he thought I’d like.
Handing back his phone, I lean across the center console and give him a lingering kiss that steams up the windows of his Suburban.
“Looks like we’re getting married next Saturday,” I say with a grin on my kiss-swollen lips.
33
OLLIE
This week has been a blur.Phoebe and I applied for our marriage license, the Birds won our two home games against the Spellbinders, before we traveled back up to Salem midweek for another win.Thank goodness for our family and friends helping with all the wedding preparations so I could focus on hockey and not leave Phoebe with the burden of planning our wedding in a week.My family flew into Boston on Wednesday so they could watch us win against the Spellbinders, and then they flew back to South Jersey on the team plane.We now lead the series three games to two, and tonight’s home game could clinch it for us.
I hope so.Our wedding is tomorrow, and if we win, the team has a break until the middle of next week before we face whoever is champion of the Western Conference—either the Area 51 Aliens from Las Vegas or the Colorado Cryptids from Colorado Springs.If we don’t win game six, I need to go back to Massachusetts for game seven less than twenty-four hours after saying, “I do,” then only have a day or two at home before traveling again.I love hockey—I’m excited to play and want to win, but I’m so ready to be married and start our life together too.
I’m hanging with Finn and our dad at Colby’s townhouse.Mom, Violet, Shelby, Andie, Daphne, and Logan are at our place and kicked us out.
“Why did Logan get to stay?”Dad asks.
“He’s a photographer,” I say, “so he gets a special dispensation as long as he has a camera in his hands.”
Finn accepts a bottle of water from Colby with thanks.
“So are you more worried for the game tonight or the wedding tomorrow?”Finn asks.
