Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Raffe
Ibrush my fingers across her head, surprised she’s still asleep. Jenny is usually up long before me. She loves mornings. Me, not so much.
Her lids flutter but remain closed, and I wonder if she’s pretending. I trail my hand lower and lower, and she smiles.
“I knew you were faking,” I say, rolling my entire body onto hers and then disappearing under the blankets.
“Raffe,” she rasps, squeezing my head between her legs. She throws the covers back so she can watch me. “We’ve got to get ready for the wedding.”
“Not until I make you happy,” I say, pausing to kiss her thigh.
“I am happy.”
“Not as happy as you’re going to be,” I tease.
“Oh my god,” she moans, lifting her hips and grinding herself against my mouth.
I love it when she grinds on my face.
“Oh, fuck,” she whisper-yells, slamming her hand over her own mouth. She’s doing her best to be quiet because the warehouse is hopping today. It’s noisy as fuck outside our door. “Raffe,” she begs.
Someone knocks at the same time I send her over the fucking moon.
“Just a minute,” I tell them, laughing as I stumble from the bed.
Jenny is still panting as I pull on a pair of sweats. She tugs the blankets over her head before I answer the door.
“What are you two still doing in here?” her mother scolds. Her gaze goes to the lump in the bed. She wags a finger in my face, her cheeks turning pink. “Enough funny business. We’ve got a wedding to get ready for.”
Her attention goes back to the lump in the bed. “Jenny, Jesse could use your help in the kitchen … now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The old woman sounds stern, but I catch her smile as she turns to go downstairs.
Jenny throws the covers back as soon as she hears the door click closed. She pulls the pillow from behind her head and nails me with it. I knock it aside, running my tongue over my top lip.
“Mmm,” I moan. “I’m going to remember this all fucking day,” I tease.
“You’re terrible.”
“You wouldn’t want me any other way.”
She huffs, hurrying into her clothes. “I can’t believe I overslept, and then you …” She points a finger at me, and I smile. “You got me in trouble.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time and it definitely won’t be the last.”
She rushes past me but stops to give me a quick kiss. I squeeze her cute tushy, smacking it on her way out.
When I finally get downstairs myself, it’s abuzz. There are people everywhere. Not surprising. We are having three weddings here today. The men are all outside, setting up chairs.
Brody looks at me. “What do you think? Does the arch look good here?”
“Is this the one from your wedding?”
He nods. “It’s nice we’re getting some more use out of it.”
“I think it looks great.”
Tank stretches beside me, cracking his knuckles.
“Nervous?” I ask.
“Yes and no. I mean, I knew we'd eventually set a date. I just didn't know it would be so soon.”
"Soon? You've been engaged for over two years."
"I know. I know. Her mom has been hounding us. Dan not so much."
"Won't he be surprised," Jackson jokes.
"Fuck," he says, rubbing his head. "Dan might kill me for this."
“Do you want my advice?" I ask. "Go over there right now and give Dan a heads up that you've set a date. Don't say when. Just that you've set one. It will ease his shock."
“Now?”
“Better now than wait until he sees his daughter in her dress, don’t you think?”
He walks toward Dan, and the rest of us wait to see if we’re going to have to break up a fight.
“I’ll take the big guy if this gets ugly,” Brody says.
Jackson laughs. “Which one?”
We all laugh but fuck, it’s going to suck if we have to get between the two of them.
Tank gives us a thumbs up when Dan hugs him.
Brody pulls out his wallet and hands Jackson a ten-dollar bill.
“Told you,” Jackson chuckles. “Tank makes Dan’s little girl happy, and that’s all a dad wants for his daughter.”
“Okay,” Brody says, rolling his eyes. “We’ll see how you feel about that when some guy comes asking you for Aspen’s hand in marriage.”
“My baby is never getting married. She’s going to live with her mom and me forever.”
Everyone laughs but Jackson.
The rest of the day is a bustle of activity, but it goes quicker than I imagined. It’s time to head inside and get ready.
When Jenny steps out of the bathroom in her dress, my mouth falls open. It’s the first time I’ve seen her dressed up with her hair and makeup done.
She pauses by the door, running her eyes over me. “I guess this is the grown-up version of us,” she says, laughing nervously.
I step toward her, taking her hand. I whistle as I spin her in a circle. “You are beautiful.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she says, her cheeks turning pink at my compliment.
She slips her arm through mine as we head downstairs.
Kelsie is standing in the main part of the house. She stops us from going outside.
“Will you guys stay? Elizabeth just went to get my mom and dad, and I’m so nervous I think I might throw up. Maybe I should have told them sooner.”
Jenny gives her a hug. “It’s going to be just fine. They’re going to be happy. I promise.”