Page 117 of Rebellious

Neither am I.

Me: I’m tired of waiting to see you.

I can just imagine him flashing one of his guarded smiles.

Bennett: Open the window.

I whip around and hurry to the window. Sliding it up, I watch as an NFL quarterback crawls through my window. “This is what I’m talking about, BJ. Why didn’t you do this before Mom clasped these millions of buttons?”

Grabbing his arm, I attempt to help him stand when his eyes land on the white lace tightly cinched around my middle.

“I—” He shakes his head, blinking several times before he clears his throat. “You’re breathtaking,” he finally gets out.

I dust over his pressed white shirt, his brown vest enhancing his southern gentlemanly ways. “You’re pretty dapper yourself.”

He steps into my body, his gaze locked onto mine as he cradles my face with his hands.

“It’s bad luck to see me before the wedding.” I arch a brow like last night wasn’t my fault. “Again.”

“I don’t need luck,” he mumbles, tilting my head to the side. “Nothing will ever keep me from you, not even superstition.”

I stroke his cheeks, watching his throat work as his eyes drift lazily over my body as if we have all day. “Every memory,” he starts, lifting my chin. “My first step, you held my hand. My first word was your name.” I smile, a slight quivering in my lips as he continues. “My first day of school, you walked me inside, and then you got in trouble when you disappeared from recess to check on me.”

I laugh. I don’t remember that, and I doubt he does either, but it’s a story we’ve heard a million times.

“You’ve always been there for me, Asp. You loved me before I knew what love was.” He moves a strand of hair from my face. “Everything I am rests in your eyes.”

My makeup is going to be ruined from this speech, I just know it.

“You’ve seen me at my worst, loved me at my lowest—” He places a gentle kiss to my lips. “Nothing, not even luck, can compete with the love I have for you, Asp.”

A tear streaks down my cheek and Bennett kisses the path. “You believed in us when I couldn’t.”

“Bennett—”

He shushes me. “Every day, for the rest of my life, I will spend loving you as selflessly as you loved me. We, my love, have something better than luck, we have fate.”

His intense focus gives me chills. “I will never take for granted the sacrifices you made for us to get here.”

I trail my fingers across his face, smoothing the tense muscle in his jaw, just like I always have. “We’re getting married, BJ.” I chuckle, my voice watery. “There’re no exceptions to a marriage. You’ll be stuck with me, forever. Can you live with that?”

His jaw sets under my hand, his piercing stare grounding me to the floor. “It’ll be an honor to deal with you the rest of my life.”

Leaning down, Bennett tilts my head, his mouth inches above mine. My eyes drift closed as I melt into his body—

“Kiss her and I will kill you.”

I jump at my father’s voice and shove Bennett back.

“Why can’t either of you ever follow the fucking rules?” My father, dressed in gray slacks and a matching vest, points at Bennett. “Go, before the alcohol wears off and I make Drew an only child.”

Not scared of my father, Bennett steps up and takes my hand, placing one last kiss to the top. “I’ll be waiting.”

My father growls and Bennett takes a step back, walking backward toward the door before finally disappearing behind it.

“Are you sure you want to marry a Jameson?”

I close the space between us and wrap my arms around the man who gave me the courage to follow my dreams—the man who will always be my biggest fan. “I’m sure,” I tell him.

---