You Kissed Me First

27. Wedding

CHAPTER 27

Wedding

KATIE

“Oh fuck.”

My eyes dart to my sister as soon as I hear the words. Then I see it. She’s puking into Grant’s lap.

He’s rubbing his hand down her back, letting it happen.

I glance back to Dominic. “To be continued?”

I offer him a tentative smile before I take off toward my sister. Everyone is looking at her with concern.

“Um, how about everyone takes a walk outside while we clean this up?” I hear Dominic call into the microphone.

“Nessa?” I ask her as I get closer.

“Oh, man. That’s so embarrassing,” she hisses.

“It’s okay. Let’s get you to the bathroom and cleaned up. Grant can get changed, and I’m sure Dominic would be willing to clean all of this up.” I look over at the man in question.

My heart is still racing from his words. I was about to jump into his arms and tell him yes. I would be happy to be with him, but then Nessa had to go and throw up.

Okay, it’s not her fault. I’m sure she couldn’t stop it, but still.

“I got this. You take care of her. Grant, I have some clothes in my car.”

As they move into action, I take hold of Nessa, leading her into the bathroom. After making sure it’s clear of everyone, I lock the door behind her.

She’s over the sink now, rinsing out her mouth.

“Are you okay? Was it something you ate? Or have you drank too much?”

She shakes her head. “I’m pregnant.”

My eyes widen. “What? Nessa, you have been drinking the entire trip. When did you find out?”

She winces. “So I need to come clean. I wasn’t actually drinking on the trip. It was all an act. I found out the week before we left, but I couldn’t cancel. Besides, they won’t let you do any excursions if you’re pregnant, so we kept it secret.”

“So that night we were taking tequila shots?” I ask.

“Water. The server got a good tip to keep making me drinks that looked like alcohol or in the same glasses so no one would know. I was going to tell you, but then you had so much going on, and Grant and I decided to wait until after the first trimester to tell everyone.”

I sigh. “Nessa, you didn’t have to hide it from me because my life’s a mess.”

“I know. Honestly, that’s not really why. I didn’t want you to treat me any differently. Had you known, I thought you might try to baby me like you did in Europe.” She looks sheepish.

“Babe, I wouldn’t have.” She gives me a look, so I conceded. “Okay. Maybe I would have. Still, I wish you had told me.”

“I know. No one else knows but Grant. We didn’t even tell Dominic, even though Grant wanted to. I told him that you had to be the first to know. I pulled the blow job card to get my way.”

I snort. “You gave him a blow job so I could be the first to know?”

“Oh fuck no. I told him I’d never give him one again if he spilled the beans to Dom.”

We both burst out laughing.

After a few minutes, we settle down. She comes over and hugs me.

“What are you going to do about Dominic? I’m sorry I ruined your grand gesture moment.” She looks sad.

I smile. “It’s not ruined. Only put on pause. After we get you settled and everything back on track, I’ll talk to him.”

“And? What’s your answer?” She looks nervous, but for him or me?

“I think he deserves to hear it before anyone else, but I’ll let you know as soon as I let him know.”

She smiles. “Fair enough. Can we go tell him now? Put the poor guy out of his misery?”

I shake my head. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”

After a few minutes, there’s a knock on the door. I open it only enough to see who it is.

Butterflies fill my stomach when I see Dominic. He holds up a toothbrush and toothpaste.

“It’s Grant’s. He’s a weirdo and brushes his teeth after every meal. He wanted Nessa to have it. He also said he’s getting her some water and crackers if she feels well enough to come back out. I cleaned up the mess.”

Has he always been this perfect? Is this what I’ve been missing out on all these years?

“Thank you. Can we talk once all this craziness is over?” I ask.

He nods. “I’ll be waiting on bated breath for that moment. Although, to be fair with you, it seems like life is always crazy.”

I roll my eyes. “Only since I’ve been with you, Casanova.”

Grabbing the toothbrush, I close the door, turning toward Nessa. She holds her hand out for it while smiling.

“What?” I ask her.

“You’re beaming. I think we need to hurry this along.”

“Shut up,” I hiss at her.

Still, I help her get herself put back together before heading back out into the main hall. Thankfully all the guests are back inside and enjoying the music.

The event coordinator comes over and whispers with Nessa for a few moments before heading off.

“I told them to forget your speech. We are going to cut the cake, then dance for a bit before I toss the bouquet. Is that okay?”

I chuckle. “I didn’t want to do a speech anyway. I love you, but you know I hate being in front of people. I might have puked myself.”

She shakes her head. “No talking about it. It’ll make me nauseous again.”

“Deal.”

As Nessa makes her way to the cake, I stay toward the back of the crowd. Dominic slides next to me, leaning against the wall.

“What an eventful wedding, huh?” he muses.

“Very. Seems the best man had a lot to say,” I tease.

“He has a lot more if the maid of honor is willing to listen.” He’s smiling, which only makes me smile.

There are cheers from the crowd, but I don’t care about them right now. Nessa will forgive me for missing part of her wedding. This is more important.

“Care to take a walk with me?” I ask.

He holds his hand out, threading his fingers through mine once I grasp him.

Then he leads the way.

Stepping out of the venue, I smile. The sun is setting over the ocean. It’s beautiful.

“We can walk down to the beach if you want,” Dominic whispers, pulling me into his side.

“We can’t go too far. Nessa might need me. How about the table?”

I indicate the picnic table a little ways away from the door. He leads me over there, sitting down.

As soon as I settle next to him, his arm finds its way around my shoulder.

“I owe you an apology,” I start.

He shakes his head. “It’s in the past. Don’t even worry about it.”

I smile but insist, “No. I need to do this. It was immature of me to run off like that. I knew it in the moment, and I definitely knew it after the fact. I should have stayed and talked to you.”

“Apology accepted,” he says without hesitation.

“What you said in there? You meant it?” I peek up at him from under my eyelashes.

“Every single word.”

“Then I’d like to see what forever looks like with you.”

DOMINIC

Did she say what I think she said?

I’m frozen. I never expected her to actually say yes.

“Dominic, are you okay?”

Her voice breaks the spell.

“You’re saying yes? You’ll be my girl for real?”

She bites her bottom lip and nods, acting shy.

She never has to be shy with me. Moving my hands until they are cupping her face, I press my forehead against hers.

“You have made me the happiest man in the world,” I whisper.

“I think that’s supposed to be Grant. I mean, he did just marry the love of his life.”

“And the mother of his kid, from what I hear.”

She gasps at my admission. “He told you?”

I smile. “While you were in the bathroom. He figured she was telling you, so he told me.”

She shakes her head. “I guess he was right. Can you believe they kept that a secret?”

“Baby doll, I love them, and we can talk about them all you want later, but right now, I want to talk about us.”

She swallows hard. “Okay?”

Leaning in, I press my lips to hers. “I love you, Katie Ross. I think I’ve been half in love with you since we met. The way you would bust my balls without hesitation. I know you thought I was an asshole, but the only way I could get you to talk to me was if I made you mad, so I took what I could get.”

There are those tears again.

“You dumb man. Had you shown me who you really were, I wouldn’t have thought you were such an ass.”

“Wouldn’t you have though? You weren’t ready to see me in such a positive light.”

She nods. “Maybe. I saw you with that chick the first night. You were such an ass to her, brushing her off. Then I watched her slip you her number, and you put it in your pocket. I don’t know why, but it bothered me. I think I thought you were being an asshole to pick up chicks, and I hated that.”

“I’m sorry, Katie. I never called that girl. I rarely ever called any of them. I was an asshole to them because I thought it would keep them away, but I guess it didn’t work. Well, it did, but only with the one girl I never wanted to scare away.”

“I know it’s soon and sounds crazy, but I think I had a crush on you even then. I would get so riled up about seeing you with those chicks, and I always said it was because of the way you treated them, but maybe it had a little to do with the fact that I wished you were the type of man I could be with.”

“Now you see I am.” I kiss her nose.

She smiles. “I do. Dominic, I fell in love with you over the past two weeks. I’m sorry I didn’t communicate better with you. Maybe had we been upfront about our feelings, we could’ve saved ourselves a little heartache.”

“Baby doll, I don’t mind a little heartache. It reminds me of how precious you are. I’ll never take a single moment with you for granted.”

“Me either.”

She presses her lips to mine. I press back against her, pulling her into my body so she’s as close as she can be.

When she opens her mouth, I take the invitation, swiping my tongue against hers. Before things can get out of hand, I hear Grant calling for me.

“Lover boy. It’s the bouquet toss. My wife is demanding her sister be present.”

I shake my head, pressing one last kiss to Katie’s lips.

“Let’s get this over with. If you didn’t already guess, you’ll be in my room tonight.”

“I don’t mind that.”

I escort her back inside, where she is ushered to the dance floor. I smile as Nessa pretends to throw the bouquet a couple times. Then she throws it for real, and Katie catches it.

My dad calls out from the crowd, “I hope you meant what you said, Dom. Looks like she’s next to get hitched.”

Everyone chuckles.

I lock my eyes on Katie as I call back, “I cannot wait to make her Mrs. Price. Is tomorrow too soon?”

Everyone laughs off my joke, but I mean it.

I’m ready to start my forever with her.