Chapter 7
COURTNEY
“Am I really doing this?” I whispered to my reflection in the mirror.
My makeup was perfect, done in soft tones that matched the silver and peach theme I’d finally chosen for the wedding. I looked like the perfect bride. Most of my hair was swept up into an intricate updo while some of it escaped to frame my face with soft russet curls. My eyes stood out in stark contrast to everything, because the panic in them was evident. How could I marry a different man than I planned this wedding with? My heartbeat tripped around in my chest, a chaotic beat that mirrored my conflicting emotions.
Part of me wanted to march down that aisle and proclaim my undying loyalty to Flynn simply to spite his cousin - my former fiancé. Another part of me wanted to rip the wedding dress from my body and burn it along with all the decorations. Fuck the Robeson family. I was angry and that frustration needed a release that I wasn’t sure I was capable of. The final part of me wanted to slink off in my dress and go have a cry all by my lonesome. I needed to cry for the future that we had planned for years and was now lost because Beckett wanted me to marry someone else. After I saw him at what should have been his bachelor party, it became clear that Flynn’s problem wasn’t the only reason my fiancé wanted me to agree to this farce of a marriage.
He wanted out.
Even if it was only temporarily, my fiancé wanted to go explore things with other women. I couldn’t even fathom wanting to be with someone other than Beckett. It had been the two of us against the world for our whole lives. At least, that was what I had always believed. My eyes were opened and with my new understanding came the dreaded hindsight. The rose-colored glasses had come off and I was able to see all the red flags in our relationship that I had explained away and failed to take heed of. My relationship had been doomed long before Beckett suggested that I help his cousin out by marrying Flynn temporarily.
My eyes drifted down my body in the mirror again. My dress fit perfectly with a gorgeous corset top that puffed out into a ballgown style dress from the waist down. It had been my dream dress for years. I’d saved babysitting money, waitressing tips, and eventually part of my salary every month to get the dress of my dreams. There was no question that I didn’t want to compromise on this, so I refused to allow anyone to help me pay for the dress.
I had been so careful with my plan too. I wasn’t normally a superstitious person, but I made sure that Beckett never knew what my dress would look like. He used to laugh and tell me that it was ridiculous. It wasn’t something I was willing to compromise on, though. I wanted the first time he saw me in the perfect wedding dress to be the minute I walked down that aisle to pledge my life and love to him. That would never happen.
This would all be for Flynn.
My heart tripped up on the next beat as I thought about the man who was at the center of this whole damn thing, even if he wasn’t to be blamed for the circumstances I found myself in. Flynn had been a good friend since middle school. If I had never known Beckett, if we hadn’t grown up together before Flynn came on the scene, I might have fallen for him instead. There was a time, when we were in high school, that I had been confused and almost left Beckett. The only thing that stopped me then was knowing how weird everything would be if I went from one cousin to the other. Our families were so closely interwoven that it felt like it would have been a betrayal to go there, and I never wanted to come between the bond Flynn had with Beckett.
I got over whatever made me angry enough with Beckett back then to set my sights on Flynn, and I never allowed my mind to drift back there. It was ironic that I stood there, staring at myself in my wedding gown, while the two men at the center of my world swapped places as the groom in my wedding.
A knock on the door pulled me out of my revere. I turned to see my dad as he peeked his head around the door. The stunned look on his face told me that I wasn’t wrong about the dress. “Courtney,” He whispered before he quickly made his way into the room and shut the door. “You look like a princess, sweetheart.” His usually stoic eyes misted over and my stomach dropped as my nose burned from holding back the tears I wanted to cry.
“Daddy,” I whispered and before I could even register the movement, I was in his strong embrace.
“We can leave right now. No man deserves to see you like this unless he is ready to pledge himself to you forever. All of your beauty - inside and out - shouldn’t be for a man who doesn’t deserve it.”
“Flynn isn’t the man who doesn’t deserve it, Dad.”
“What do you mean?”
I hadn’t told my parents about the latest developments in my relationship with Beckett. I sighed and let the tension drain away from my shoulders as I released my father from our hug. Then I explained what I’d found out during the bachelor party and how Flynn told me that he wouldn’t hold me to this arrangement.
“Maybe he is the only man who deserves to see you like this,” My dad stated. “Never thought I’d want to punch Beckett in the nuts more than the time I walked in on the two of you.”
A red-hot blush stained my cheeks as I remembered how disastrously my first time with Beckett had gone. We had been fifteen at the time and my parents came home early from an evening out, thanks to one of my mother’s many migraines. My dad came up to check on me and found Beckett mid thrust as my legs snaked around his hips. It was still, to date, the most embarrassing moment of my life.
My father cleared his throat, obviously just as embarrassed that he brought that moment in time up. “I will smuggle you out of here right now, if that’s what you want, and your mother and I will make sure that the cost of this wedding doesn’t fall on your shoulders.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. I’m not going to waste this dress, the wedding I worked so hard to plan, and Flynn doesn’t deserve to be disappointed.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” Dad reminded me.
“No, I don’t, but at this point, if the best thing that comes out of this whole mess is my ability to help a friend and his family, I am going to do that.”
Dad must have seen something in my eyes because he chuckled and pulled me into another hug. “Plus, it will be fun to rub it in Beckett’s face. When he sees what should have been his bride looking this stunning as she said ‘I do’ to another man, it is going to hit him hard.”
“I didn’t say there weren’t any perks for me.”
“Come on then. I’m sure Flynn is waiting anxiously to see if you’ll go through with this.”
“You don’t think Beckett will show up today, do you?” I asked as my father guided me out of the room I used to get ready in.
“Probably not, but if he does, I’m glad I’ll be there to witness his reaction.”
“I truly hope he doesn’t have one.”
“If he’s here, I promise you that he will, sweetheart.”
As I walked down the aisle, arm-in-arm with my dad, my eyes stayed trained on Flynn. His face was the reaction I always hoped to see from Beckett on this day. He was in awe of me as I walked toward him. There was no rationalizing how that made me feel. Everything inside me buzzed with excited energy while my body tingled in anticipation of what we were about to do. That look - the one I had always hoped to see on my wedding day - propelled me down to the altar without even a side glance at anyone who came to witness our union.
As soon as my father gave me away and placed my hand into Flynn’s, my eyes lifted from our joined hands to meet his. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, Courtney.”The sweetest smile spread across my face as his words took root somewhere deep in my soul. “I’m a lucky man.”
I didn’t think anyone heard him, but then my Mom’s gasp made its way to my ears and for the first time, I glanced over at the audience. She swiped a tear away and gave me an encouraging nod. It was not what I expected. She had thrown a fit when I first broke the news that it wouldn’t be Beckett getting married to me, but his cousin. She had lost her shit completely. My dad hadn’t had the time to tell her what he said, so I had to wonder why she suddenly had a change of heart. I half expected her to interrupt and say she objected.
Flynn reached over, ever so gently, and used his finger under my chin to guide my attention back to him. “Stay with me,” he whispered lower than before to ensure I was the only one who heard him that time.
“I am,” I whispered back.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Flynn Zachary Robeson and Courtney Elise Parker. If any here object to this union, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
Gasps rang out around the room and both Flynn and I turned to see why. Beckett stood up, and a woman in a barely-there red dress stood up a moment after him. “Sit down!” He hissed at her before he turned his attention back to Flynn and me. “Courtney, don’t do this. I was wrong.”
He had some freaking nerve.
“I’m the one who is supposed to be up there with you!”
I couldn’t help my response. I laughed at him. He seemed taken aback and about to argue his point until his date stood again and smacked him across the face. “You spent the night screwing me, and then brought me to this wedding only to ask the bride to marry you? What a fucking jerk! You leveled up, lady!” She called as she tried to push past the others in the pew to get out to the aisle. “Sorry,” She insisted as she went, ass or boobs in peoples faces as she did. “I’m so sorry,” She whimpered before finally breaking free into the aisle. It was clear she was embarrassed. I would have felt worse if she hadn’t come to someone’s wedding dressed like she was ready for a night out instead of an elegant wedding. Then again, I was certain that was Beckett’s fault too.
“Dad,” I hissed.
His head snapped around to me and he gave me a nod. “I’ll take care of it.” He immediately moved to grab Beckett and escort him out.
“You know it’s supposed to be me! Everyone here does!” Beckett shouted as my father grabbed his arm.
“You gave her up. This is your fault and now you have to live with it, but what you’re not going to do is ruin my daughter’s day anymore than you already have, you little asshole.”
There were a few more gasps at my father’s rather polite choice words for my former fiancé. As soon as Dad got him to the back of the church, a few other men stepped forward and took over to escort him out so that my father could come back to his seat.
“Sorry, folks. We can resume,” Dad called out to the minister.
“Well, yes, okay then…” The Minister stumbled over himself as he tried to get back into the swing of things. I turned and stared up into Flynn’s eyes and whispered, “Sorry.”
He shook his head in a subtle way and offered me a closed-lip smile before we both turned back to the minister and followed along with his blessings before we recited our vows to one another.
When we got to the part where Flynn had to kiss me, I held my breath, wondering if he would do it or settle for some weird cheek kiss. I didn’t have long to wait for the answer. He reached over and took my face between the palms of his hand and leaned in as he pulled me closer. “Gonna do this the right way, Court.” I gave a quick nod and then his lips were on mine. My eyes drifted closed as his lips explored mine. I was lost in the sweet kiss and the feel of his warmth transferring to me as he moved another step closer. Our lips both opened and just as our tongues met, raucous cheers lifted throughout the church and rang even louder than should be expected because of the echo effect in the sanctuary.
Slowly, reluctantly, we pulled apart, but our eyes met one another’s as we stood there and allowed ourselves to feel the full impact of the moment we became man and wife. The minister’s proclamation was lost on us - or at least on me - as we stared at one another, still locked in an embrace with my arms on his chest and his hands cradled around my face.
“Flynn,” I whispered his name as another round of cheers went up. We both turned our heads and smiled at everyone who chose to celebrate with us instead of being weird about the unexpected circumstances surrounding our wedding. After his sister Bea and her husband Ky got married in an unexpected groom swap, I guess this was no big deal to most of the guests.
“Come on, Mrs. Robeson, that’s our cue to get out of here.” Flynn’s hand traveled down to take hold of mine and we walked hand-in-hand down the aisle as everyone showered us in peach rose petals as we walked by. My heart felt so light, I couldn’t help my giggle as the petals tickled my face and shoulders. Flynn looked over and grinned at me. “So damn beautiful,” He said before his hand squeezed down on mine a little to let me know that those words were all for me and not the spectacle around us.