“Oooh…there’s a story there.” Athena cackles and rubs her hands together. “We’ll drag it out of her after the ceremony.”
“There’s no story,” Teal insists.
The door opens without a knock. My mother. “What if I’d been getting dressed, Mom?”
She shrugs, then stops and takes me in. “You look beautiful, honey.” Her gaze flicks to Karina and then away. My mother’s still in denial that I even have a half-sister. It’s made my life awkward, but having a sister is worth all the awkwardness in the world.
“Is Dad here?” I ask.
My mother rolls her eyes. “No. That lazy bastard—”
“All right. Enough already. Bolt’s been more of a father to me, anyway. I’d rather have him walk me down the aisle.”
She scowls. “He—”
“Don’t start, Mom.”
Karina sprays a final layer of hair spray over me and fixes a few loose strands of hair. Teal pushes a bouquet of peach and cream roses in my hand.
At the door, Athena pulls me aside and gives me a quick hug. “I’m really happy for you, Kady.” Once I figured out some of the reasons Athena didn’t like me had to do with being jealous over her best friend’s new sister, we’d cleared the air and become friends, too.
Bolt meets me at the end of the hall. He’s traded his regular jeans for black pants but kept his Savage Dragons cut. Something my mother complains about as soon as she sees him.
“Knock it off,” I mumble.
“Hey, honey.” Bolt takes my hands and gives me a peck on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”
Karina, Athena, and Teal scurry to the front of the room and take their places. I catch a glimpse of Blaise.
One of the guys walks my mother to her seat.
“She’s in a mood today,” Bolt says.
“She’s in a mood every day.”
He shakes with laughter. “True.”
“Nervous?” Thorn asks.
I think about the question before answering. No. No hesitation. No doubt in my mind. Kady is who I want by my side for the rest of my life.
“No. Are you?”
“What would I be nervous about?”
Teal rushes by, and I almost laugh as my brother’s gaze follows her.
“No, you’re totally cool, bro,” I say, slapping his arm.
“Knock it the fuck off.” Hammer smacks Thorn on the back of the head. “And stop staring at my baby sister like you’re gonna carry her off into the mountains after the wedding.”
I lean in closer to Thorn and loudly whisper, “I’ll cover you when you’re ready to grab her.”
Hammer moves to punch me, and I duck out of his way. “You can’t punch the groom.”
“Both of you can fuck right off,” Thorn growls.
I begged Kady not to make us do all the stupid formal, walking-down-the-aisle nonsense, and she agreed. Except for having my dad walk her down the aisle.
