“F-Fuck you,” Cheryl sputtered, swatting his chest. “I regret being honest.”
“Don’t,” Patrick said, kissing her hand again. “Christ, you’ve made me feel better.”
“Hmmph.”
“You still salty about that grandad thing?”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
Patrick kissed her a third time. “I’m sorry. You’re the love of my life, and I’m so glad you gave up your, uh,lifestyleto be with me.”
She tried to glare at him, but it was too hard. “God, this wedding shit is so complicated.”
“Yeah, it is. But this isn’t what actually being married’ll be like.” He gestured between their bodies. “This is.”
“The two of us swimming nude?”
“Exactly. No parents. No bachelor parties. No dance floor. Just you and me. Together forever.”
Relief flooded Cheryl’s body. “I can’t tell you how good it feels to hear you say that.”
“Then I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.” He scooped her up and kissed her forehead. “None of this matters, KitKat. I want you to have this big, amazing wedding, but if it’s gonna come between us, then it can all get fucked. We can run away and get married naked in Vegas for all I care.”
“I don’t think we can get a refund on my dress….”
“Fuck it, we can sue them or some shit. Sell it on Facebook Marketplace.”
Cheryl laughed. “I mean it, Patty-Bear. I don’t mind. I guess my insecurity is coming through. I’m scared of the day, but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to be there. Does that make sense?”
“What’s scaring you?”
“Oh, you know, just that I’ll make an idiot out of myself in front of the Sharks’ forward line and their wives, I guess.”
He shook his head. “You never make an idiot of yourself. Not even when you’re pissed; what’s the real thing keeping you up at night?”
“I just told you.”
“No, you didn’t.” Patrick looked her straight in the eyes. “For real, baby. What’s the issue?”
Cheryl drew a deep breath, all ready to say that six courses were too much food for anyone to digest in a two-hour period, but then she opened her mouth, and something else came out. “My mum.”
“Your mum?” Patrick repeated. “Like… how she’ll see all of this?”
Until she said it, Cheryl hadn’t realised she felt that way. But now that she had said it, the truth was as heavy as a boulder on her chest. “Yeah. She never got to be married. Never got to havethis huge romantic parade of a wedding, and I know she really wanted to. I feel so selfish like I’m taking it from her.”
“KitKat…”
But now she was talking, Cheryl found she couldn’t stop. “It’s not just that. She’s agreed to, like, walk me down the aisle in her wheelchair when she hates strangers and hardly ever leaves the nursing home. I know she doesn’t want everyone to see her face; it just feels like adding insult to injury, making her a part of this whole big thing when it’s really about me.”
“Baby,” Patrick said softly.
Tears sprung into Cheryl’s eyes, and she scrubbed them away, embarrassed and angry. “What?”
“Your mum loves you.”
“I know,” Cheryl gasped, scrubbing harder. “That’s what makes it shit.”
Patrick was silent, waiting until her breathing was under control before tilting her chin and making her look at him. “If you told your mum what I was planning for our wedding, how do you think she’d feel?”
