Page 49 of Delayed Penalty

I smile, unable to help it, and I can feel the blush rising up my neck.

Holy shit, I’m actually getting married.

My palms immediately start sweating, my mouth dry.

I need water.

Grabbing my water bottle, I take a couple of gulps, then a couple of big breathes as I try to calm my nerves.

“Well, Miss Addy… I’m Kelly, Avery’s sister. You look very beautiful with your princess curls and I think it was worth being a few minutes late.”

“Thank you, Ms. Kelly, I love your pretty hair too,” she says, before looking to me. “You look beautiful! I brought this sucker for you. It’s blue and I think blue suckers are the best.”

“Thank you! It’s definitely taken some work to make it look like I haven’t been feeling like trash these last few weeks, but my sister did some magic,” grabbing the sucker I smile, this does sound delicious. “Thank you for the sucker. These have been helping my stomach feel better lately, and blue raspberry really is the best flavor.”

“It really is!” Addy says with the cutest damn smile I feel like I could cry.

Fucking hormones.

“And we have the dresses,” Ellie adds, holding up a couple of dresses. “Want to try them on and we can pick?”

I look at the three dresses she has and immediately know which one I want to wear. There’s one that looks like satin, another one that’s a cotton material, but it’s the lace dress with no sleeves that catches my eye.

“I want to try that one,” I say with a smile, actually excited because this dress is gorgeous. “The lace is absolutely perfect. I love that it isn’t white-white, especially considering this,” I say, gesturing to my stomach where my other hand is resting, which has become a more common occurrence lately.

“I think it’s the perfect choice, what do you think, Kelly?” Ellie smiles.

“I love it. Now, go get changed so we can get this show on the road. I need a damn glass of champagne and I’ll drink enough for the both of you.”

Ellie laughs and I head to go change. She’s such a girl’s girl and I love it. I’ve only just met this girl and yet she makes me feel like there’s nowhere else she’d rather be. It’s weird. It’s not something I’m used to.

Literally, it’s just been Kelly and I for so long because I’ve always struggled to make girlfriends. It seems like everything is changing since the night we ran into Harris at the bar. I feel like for the first time in years my eyes are finally open to what’s around me.

Once I have the dress on I grab a pair of heels I’ve always dreamed of wearing but never had the occasion. Today seems to be the perfect day to wear a pair of white heels with red bottoms. Stepping out of the room, I see the girls sitting around talking but Kelly turns with tears in her eyes when she sees me, and I feel beautiful.

It may not be the wedding I expected, it may not be a marriage in the traditional sense, either. But, at least, it’s the groom I always dreamed of. Let’s just pray he doesn’t break my heart again.

“You look beautiful,” Kelly says, both Ellie and Addy agreeing. “Ready to head up?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Kelly made sure to make this day as special as possible, loaning me her earrings for my something old because they were our grandma’s, she bought me light blue lingerie to wear for my something new, as well as something blue, and we counted the dress as my something borrowed.

Making our way up to the rooftop where they asked us to meet them, I’m nervous and I’m not sure why. This isn’t real. I keep reminding myself this as I walk outside where I see Harris and Trevor standing under this twinkly light altar they obviously set up, and my eyes well up at the sight.

He’s standing there in a gray suit, perfectly fitted to him, his dirty blonde hair off to the side and he looks so handsome. I walk toward him, every step I take fills me with more anticipation, my hands trembling as I hold onto Kelly until we are closer. As I get closer, his smile gets bigger as he holds his hand out to mine.

“Hi,” I whisper quietly, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks, suddenly feeling shy for the first time around him in years.

“You look beautiful,” he says, placing a kiss on my cheek before turning to look at Trevor and gives him a nod, his hand never letting go of mine as his thumb rubs back and forth over my hand, gently easing some of my nerves in a way only he can achieve.

The rest of the wedding goes in a blur. It’s quick, I know that much for sure, but I spend the entire time lost in this bubble with Harris. I can hear Trevor’s voice softly in the background, see Kelly standing there watching me, but all I can focus on is Harris as he watches me like I’m the best thing he’s seen in his life. I watch him and his eyes reflect back a pure adoration that looks so much like love I want to drown in it.

After we exchange vows, it’s time for us to exchange rings and that’s when the best part of the whole day happens. Kelly moves to hand me the ring we picked up for Harris while he steps over behind the alter and unhooks Luna who had been sitting there waiting. She has a pretty flower collar around her that makes her look just as much a part of this wedding as both of us and I love it. Unhooking a little red box from her collar, Harris pulls out a ring that’s the most stunning and perfect ring I’ve ever seen in my entire life, my right hand immediately snapping to my lips in shock as he slides the ring onto my finger.

Harris looks equally as shocked when I pull out a ring, like he hadn’t been expecting me to come prepared and I hate that. I hate that he planned this entire thing, that he’s done almost all of the leg work on this to make it special for me. Yet he didn’t think I would do the same for him. I’m not sure why but that bothers me, more than it should.

Sliding the ring onto his finger, I watch as his eyes track the ring the entire time, my fingers skating along his ever so gently, every touch feels charged.

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