Page 34 of A More Than Mayhem Christmas

I open the cabin door, only to be met with the silence of an empty living room. “Hello?” I call out.

“We’re in here!” Lucy responds from somewhere down the hall.

Still holding Jake’s hand, our fingers entwined, I check Cam and Lucy’s bedroom first. Empty. Then I check Katie’s. All eight of our friends are huddled in the tiny room, a white noise machine blasting from the corner. They all look up, eyes wide, expectant.

“What are you guys doing?” I ask.

Amanda answers, “We didn’t want to accidentally overhear anything, so…”

“She’s wearing the ring!” Logan announces, his grin from ear to ear. His excitement sparks the rest of them and also sparks something deep inside me.

I hold up my hand, show off the symbol of Jake’s eternal love for me. “Who’s in the mood for a wedding?”

Lucy squeals.

Everyone moves, ready to congratulate us. “Oh, my god,” Amanda sings, taking my ring-adorned hand in hers. “We have so much planning to do!”

“And you have about an hour to do it.”

Everyone freezes, all attention on me.

“What?” Heidi asks.

“We’re getting married. Right now.”

“Now?” Jake asks.

I look up at him, biting my lip, unsure. Truth is, the moment his earlier words fell from his lips and into my heart, and the ring was on my finger, everything felt so,soright. I didn’t want to wait a second longer, but maybe… “You said…”

His smile grows with every second of our stare until it forms completely. And then I’m in his arms—an embrace so strong it knocks the air out of me. “Let’s get married.”

The celebratory shouts last all of a second before Amanda yells, “Dylan!”

Silence.

“Lucy, you help me set up,” she orders. “We’ll do it out on the dock.”

“The dock is freezing,” Lucy mutters.

“We have coats!” Amanda yells, and I giggle into Jake’s arm as I hold it to my chest.

“Okay, Amanda the Demander,” Lucy replies, holding her hands up and side-eying our friend. “Jeez.”

“And besides, we need an aisle at least,” Amanda says, calming her tone and offering a weak, somewhat apologetic smile. “And it’ll take ten minutes. Anyone can do anything for ten minutes!”

Logan pipes up. “I’ll remember that next time you’re sucking my di—” He doesn’t have time to finish before Dylan has him in a chokehold from behind while covering his mouth.

“Shhh,” Dylan whispers in his ear as Logan pretends to go limp in his arms. Dylan drags him out of the room, saying, “That’s it. Relax and it’ll be over soon.” Dylan waits until he’s in the hallway to drop Logan like a bag of rocks, and Logan lands to the floor with a dull thud. He doesn’t move from there. Doesn’t even open his eyes.

“I’ll be right back,” Amanda rushes out. None of us speak; we merely wait, eying each other. She returns seconds later with one of Cameron’s suits and slams it against Jake’s chest. “You can’t get married smelling like fish.” She turns to Lucy. “I accidentally knocked over your box of sex toys. Sorry.” Then she points to Heidi, smiling. “You! Help her look like a bride!”

Heidi nods once. “On it, boss.”

“Cam, Dylan, you’re in charge of the cake!”

“What about me?” Logan asks, still playing dead in the hallway.

“You… get a speech ready. You’ll officiate the wedding!”

---