Page 106 of The Fake Husband Play
Ball deodorant is a thing these days. I will still smell fresh as a fucking daisy by the time this drip fest is over, a thing I could calmly explain to Makena if she would speak to me.
Or look at me.
I narrow my eyes across the aisle, willing her to glance my way, to see that I’m still hot and kissable even when drenched in sweat, but she’s locked in on the happy couple.
I follow her gaze to see Grammercy beaming down at Elly like she hung the moon and discovered the cure for cancer, all while giving him the best blow job of his life. Beautiful, sure, but so over the fucking top it’s enough to make a chronically single man set things on fire.
And isn’t a vow renewal a little much, considering they’ve only been married eight months? But since their actual wedding was just them, a judge, and “Fate,” according to Grammercy, they wanted to celebrate with everyone. Hence, a hundred of their closest friends packed into this courtyard, sweating through formal wear, while Elly and Grammercy stare at each other like there’s no one else in the room.
“Eloise Thibodeaux Graves,” Grammercy says, his voice carrying easily through the hushed crowd. “How to tell you what you mean to me? I worked for hours on these vows, but couldn’t find the perfect thing to tell you know how grateful I am to have you as my best friend, my partner, and my girl. Not in English anyway, so I’ll just say,c’est toi, toujours toi, la vérité de ma vie, et la gardienne de mon cœur.”
Fuck. French.
He always has to whip out the French and make the rest of us seem like idiot cavemen with no game.
“He said she’s the truth of his life and?—”
“And the keeper of his heart,” I whisper, cutting Blue off. “Yeah, I know.” I sniff hard and clench my jaw before adding through clenched teeth, “He won’t be happy until we’re all crying like fucking babies.”
Elly’s crying already, tears slipping quietly down her cheeks as she squeezes his hands. “And your name is tattooed on mine. I think it always has been. Thank you for loving me the way I’ve always dreamed of beingloved. Thank you for being a man I’m so proud to call mine, a father who loves with his whole chest, and for making me smile every day.” A grin stutters across her gorgeous face, made even prettier by the love and tears shining in her eyes. “I can’t wait to love and laugh and raise our family together and grow old with you. I will relish every day I get to be yours, and I already know… No matter how long we have, baby… Even a hundred years wouldn’t be enough.”
Oh. My. God.
It’s like they’re trying to twist tiny knives of beauty deep into our hearts.
I have to look away, blinking fast, and that’s when it happens.
My gaze drifts past Makena to find her big blue eyes locked on me like she couldn’t look away if she tried.
The air punches out of my lungs. It’s been over seven months since that kiss at The Brass Monkey, seven months of her avoiding me like I’m a highly contagious disease, and now she’s looking at me like she feels the ache in my chest.
The longing. The need to reach out and touch someone—and God, I hope it’s me.
Before I can mouth “Can I have the first dance?” Grammercy speaks again, and she jerks her gaze back to the front.
Fuck, Grammercy!
I mean, yeah, it’s your wedding, but you’re technically already married and the happiest man I know. Would it kill you to throw the rest of us a bone once and a while?
“And this is for you, Meems.” He drops to one knee in front of Mimi, who’s standing besideElly in a puffy purple dress that makes her look like an adorable, lavender cupcake.
She’s always got the cute kid schtick on lock, but the way her eyes widen as Grammercy pulls a small box from his pocket is enough to send an “aww” through the crowd.
“Marian Mimi Meems Rebecca Becky Thibodeaux,” Grammercy says, the way he talks to this kid making it clear they’re already besties for life. “Can I tell you a secret?”
She nods, her eyes wide.
“The adoption papers came through a few days ago,” he says, his eyes glassy.
Mimi’s bow tie lips open in a silent “O.” She glances at her mama, asking, “Does this mean…”
Elly nods, clearly fighting tears again as she says, “Yep. It means you get to be a Graves now, too.”
“And Gee is my daddy?” Mimi asks. “For real?”
Grammercy nods. “For real and for keeps. And I got you a necklace to celebrate. So you’ll always remember how much you’re loved,bébé.”
The crowd makes another collective sound—part sigh, part sob, part prayer to make the beauty stop before we all expire from the purity of it all.
