Chapter 37 – Ethan
Thirty-Seven
Ethan
A manda walks down the aisle with her father dressed in the prettiest white dress I’ve ever seen and trust me, I’ve been to a lot of biker weddings. Her skin tone is a pretty, shiny shade of dark brown and the smile on her face… it’s about to get bigger when she gets my wedding gift but that won’t come until our reception this evening.
Her father seems like a pleasant dude. He pats me on the shoulder as he “gives away” Amanda, and the guy looks like an All-American football fan. The type of guy you could have a beer with.
Once I have Amanda close enough to me that I can smell her perfume, it becomes impossible for me to focus on the words I’m supposed to think and say.
All I care about is getting to “I do”. I say my part too soon, then I have to wait and say it again… I do.
I couldn’t mean it more. I want to be with this woman forever. I hate ceremonies and I hate waiting, but waiting for Amanda will be worth it. I can’t stop staring at her and envisioning our life together. Breakfast. Dinner. Carrying her off to bed. Rubbing her feet on the couch. I want the whole damn thing.
When we get to the part where I’m allowed to kiss Amanda, I don’t hold myself back. I grab her cheeks and kiss her like I mean it. I kiss her like we’re going to be together forever. It takes Owen and Wyatt pulling me away to stop kissing Amanda.
Mom cheers loudly for both of us, and I feel good that I can have her approval for a woman in my life. For once. She and Amanda were close from the start. Maybe mom always knew this is the woman I would end up with.
After kissing Amanda, I don’t care what happens. If I had things my way, I would skip the whole social affair and take her straight to the airport hotel for a night of pleasure before we fly out to Jackson Hole. Amanda refuses to deviate from the plan.
If my wife wants dancing – she gets dancing. Plus, my wedding gift should be waiting for us at the reception.
Our limo ride takes us to the venue for our reception, where my present awaits.
When we burst through the double doors together, Mallory doesn’t stick to the plan.
“I’m HERE!” she screams, bursting out of the white box early and sprinting across the dancefloor into Amanda’s arms. It wasn’t safe for her to come to the wedding with her Pittsburgh mob family potentially tracking our movements around Boston, but I worked with the Irish mobsters to sneak her into the reception via a gigantic white box – Aiden Murray’s idea.
I don’t know where he found a human-sized box but… not my place to ask questions.
Mallory and Amanda’s screaming nearly shatters the sound barrier but… I would let Amanda burn the whole city down if I thought it would make her happy. She’s my wife. My old lady… my everything.
She even agreed to a tattoo at our next club meeting. The least I could do is let her have her fun with Mallory.
The DJ starts the music, our family and friends arrive, and the dancing starts. I have to convince Mallory that I’m the one who should get the first dance with Amanda, but I have my physical size on my side, so I pull my wife away from a much-needed first dance with her body pressed against mine.
My one song request for the evening is Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton and as the perfect lovesong plays, I hold Amanda close to my chest and promise her…
“I love you, baby. I love you and that will never change.”
“I love you too, big bear,” she whispers.
I smile. I don’t think she knows that’s so similar to what my mom calls me. But it feels right coming from her lips. I kiss the top of her forehead, wondering what deal with the devil I made to deserve the kind of luck it would take to end up with a woman like this one.
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