Page 56 of Unsteady in Love

“Don’t look at me like you want to devour me,” he said shaking his head with a chuckle. “You have to go.”

“I know.” I pouted. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”

He sat on the edge of the bed, slipping on his leg. “Luke’s having us all over to his bungalow to watch a soccer game. I’m sure there will be plenty of beer and yelling.”

“Sounds like fun.” It didn’t, and Holden knew it. I pretty much disliked watching any sport but football. It must have been from watching him play so much in high school. Most of the time, when the guys got together to watch sports, the girls and I drank and talked. It was a win-win for everyone.

I slipped on a light-yellow sheath dress along with a pair of flip-flops and pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I didn’t need to do much since I was meeting the girls for a spa day for mani-pedis, massages, and facials. All to get ready for our sunset vow renewal.

Grabbing my phone and keycard, I made my way to Holden, stepping between his spread legs. His hands ran up the back of my thighs, squeezing my ass along the way before he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to him.

“Have fun with the girls. I’ll see you later. I’ll be the guy under the arch thing,” he murmured against me.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t know what it was called either, but it was pretty and romantic, and I wanted it. “And I’ll be the girl in the white dress, holding the flowers.”

“The prettiest girl on the beach.”

Kissing the top of his head, I pulled back. “I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“Later. I love you too.”

Before he could say or do something to make me stay another second, I hightailed it to the door and slipped outside. When I got to the end of the wooden walkway that led to the beach, I found Alex, Gabi, and Taylor all sitting on a golf cart with drinks in their hands.

Gabi looked down at her phone and shook her head. “Only forty minutes late. Not bad,” she cackled.

“Don’t listen to her. We were all late and Gabi was the last to arrive.” Alex raised an eyebrow at Gabi.

“Don’t worry. We all know how it is,” Taylor said smiling up at me. “But I guess you’re already married so you should be out of the honeymoon stage.”

Gabi and Alex looked at each other and started laughing. Taylor complained a lot that she wasn’t getting it on the regular because her toddler still didn’t want to sleep through the night. I knew both Gabi and Alex were in the same boat as me, minus the hormones, and had sex with their men as much as possible. One look at their man, and they were all over him. We couldn’t help it that we were all married to extremely hot guys with bodies to rival any male model.

“I personally hope we never leave the honeymoon stage,” Alex quipped, a large smile on her face letting us know she was thinking about getting down with her husband later.

“You’re lucky he let me go at all. Holden even said he’d paint my nails so I didn’t have to leave.”

They all oohed and aahed at the sweetness as I jumped into the golf cart beside Gabi. Alex was at the wheel and only ran us off the trail once from laughing as she drove us up to the main part of the resort.

We were all lined up getting our nails done after our facials and massages. It had been a relaxing afternoon of being pampered along with a seafood lunch brought into a private lounge.

“I can’t believe we have to leave tomorrow. I have to say this has been the best vacation I’ve ever been on,” Taylor said from beside me.

“I have to agree,” Gabi watched as her toenails were painted a vibrant shade of pink.

“Me too.” Alex’s eyes grew wide. “I have an idea. Why don’t we make this a tradition? Every year for Christmas, we can either come here or go somewhere else, but we go somewhere tropical to get away from Missouri’s freezing temperatures.”

“Oh, I’m in.” Gabi smiled wide, her eyes filled with excitement. “I’m still not used to the cold. Luckily, I have Jax to keep me warm. He’s lucky I love him so much…”

“Like you’d leave Fairlane,” Alex laughed at her.

Gabi shook her head in annoyance, but she had a smile on her face. We all knew she would never leave.

* * *

Walkingdown the aisle of scattered pink rose petals on the beach, I caught sight of Holden. He was standing underneath the arch thing that was more a square, but no one cared. The legs and top were covered in ivy and white roses, calla lilies, and sweet peas. It was beautiful with the ocean as the backdrop. The flowers were no match for Holden who was tanned to golden perfection, wearing a linen shirt and pants. His hair was slicked back, keeping it out of his eyes. He’d let it grow out now that he could, and I loved running my fingers through it. His eyes were on me, never wavering as I walked toward the love of my life.

By the time I reached him, tears stung my eyes, but I held them back. I didn’t want to miss a second of our day. When we’d gotten married by the judge, I’d been on autopilot and didn’t remember a bit of it. So, this time I was committing everything to memory. The contrast to then and now was like day and night.

Taking my hand in his, Holden pulled me flush against him. His lips found mine in a searing kiss. The officiant cleared his throat as our friends laughed. “Although you’re already married, you’re supposed to wait until the end of the ceremony to kiss your bride.”

---