Page 94 of Roan

“Come on, ya pussy.” Tiller groans, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else today. “Get your shit together already.”

Camden shoves Tiller’s shoulder. “You’re not helping, Wild Cat.”

“I’m drinking fucking water while he’s downing Jäger bombs like they’re goddamn juice boxes.” He scowls down at Camden. “Clearly I’m the one who’s levelheaded here.”

“And still not helping,” I point out.

“I never said I’d help. I said I’d be here,” he snaps. “And here I am in all my raging fuckin’ glory. I didn’t sleep with the bride. That should at least count for something.”

“Yeah, Shade, she’s the only chick out of the bridal party he hasn’t fucked,” I add. “Now, are we doing this or not?”

Willa approaches Shade, her hands lovingly going to his face. “Come on, boy.” Swaying, he looks up at her. “Your bride is waiting for you.”

I know nothing about a traditional wedding, but isn’t the mom of the groom supposed to walk him down the aisle? That’s not going to happen so Willa agreed. Hell, she jumped at the chance.

Swallowing, Shade turns, stumbles and then I see that his face is pure white. Oh shit. I know where this is going.

In the next second, he vomits all over the floor. It’s blue.

There goes any hope of getting him down the aisle without anyone noticing him drunk. Or maybe he’ll sober up now.

Camden frowns at the puke. “This is a disaster.”

Shade surprises us all and pulls the ultimate puke and rally. Throws his arms up in the air and screams, “Let’s get me grounded for life!”

I think he means married, but let’s just roll with it.

Willa backs up, covering her mouth. “Okay, well, let’s go. I can’t smell this anymore.”

Shade wipes his mouth, chugs mouthwash someone hands him, spits that out in a cup and then wraps an arm around Willa. “Give me away, Mama.” Tears well up in Willa’s eyes and then he whispers, “Spoiler alert, I’m not a virgin.”

“Given your bride is pregnant, I’d assume so.”

His eyes widen, playfully. “She’s pregnant?”

I look at Tiller who rolls his eyes and reaches for his drink. I’m about to stop him but I don’t. You’ll see why in about five seconds. Back to Shade for the moment. I really hope he’s teasing but then he chuckles, hanging on Willa. “I’m kidding. By the way, I got her pregnant on the pool table in the den. Sunk the eight ball.”

“I didn’t need to know that.”

“Yes you did,” Shade argues, still smiling, his eyes glossy.

We laugh, but getting Shade out of the room proves to be difficult. Not only does Tiller accidently drink the mouthwash cup, but he spits it at Shade, so he’s covered in minty freshness. Now do you understand why I didn’t stop Tiller from reaching for the drink? Exactly. It was a glorious moment of fuck you, you deserve that one.

Moments before we leave the room, we’re forced to improvise. The second we step out of this room everyone is going to know Shade is shitfaced. It’s his bloodshot eyes that give it all away. “She can’t see him this way,” Willa notes, concerned that if Scarlet sees Shade drunk, she’s going to think he doesn’t want to do this.

“Here.” Camden hands us Shade’s sunglasses. “Put these on him. No one will know the difference since he never takes them off anyways.”

“Good point.” Willa takes the sunglasses from Camden. “The less she knows until they’re hitched, the better.”

With the help of Shade’s friend Auden, we get him outside the room and down the aisle. There’s a moment between him and Willa that tugs at my chest. He thanks her for choosing him to be her son. I’m not entirely sure what he means, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. She didn’t have to stick around all these years and put up with our bullshit, and Ricky’s, but she did because we became her family.

The wedding begins, Shade manages to remain standing upright and that’s when I lose interest in anything else. I do because that’s the moment Ophelia’s arm slips into mine. She’s beyond words beautiful, perfectly put together in her deep purple dress. Suddenly I feel like Shade, unable to put one foot in front of the other. I’m completely consumed by her and realize then, in a room filled with hundreds of candles, everything I went through to get her was worth it.

She squeezes my arm tucked in hers. “You’re beautiful.”

I lean in, my lips at her ear. “I can’t wait to take that dress off you.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from Roan in a black suit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a suit, let alone fully clothed. He’s always missing something—whether it be a shirt, shorts, shoes, boxers, something. But now he’s clean-cut, the darkness of his clothing making his blue eyes shine even brighter. His smile makes my bones ache.

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