Chapter 14
FISHER
I can’t take my eyes off Ebba. I used to be better at hiding the way I watch her, but frankly, I’m so fucking tired of doing that.
The sparkly bright pink dress she wears changes hue with every flash of the lights in the club.
She’s got some kind of glitter that shimmers on the tops of her warm brown shoulders.
Noah and Elias are out there with their girls, and I stayed at our VIP table, because I thought it would be better if I kept my hands to myself.
But watching Ebba out there, the way her body moves and her skin glows, it feels like it might be next to impossible to stay put, especially when some sleazy looking guy makes his way over to her.
I take a long, slow sip of my old fashioned.
Don’t do it, I tell myself. Don’t get up.
I narrow my eyes when he slides hands around her waist from behind and grinds into her.
Finishing off my drink, I smack the glass on the table.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, and stand, adjusting the sleeves on my black button down.
Making my way onto the dancefloor, I tap the guy on the shoulder, and he gives me a what the fuck look.
“Find someone else,” I growl.
He laughs. “You find someone else.”
I grit my teeth, my fists clenching at my sides. I’ve never been someone quick to anger, or the fighting type, and maybe it’s just because I’m slightly drunk but I’ve never wanted to punch anyone more.
In a slow, measured tone, I say, “I said find someone else.”
“Dude, whatever.” He raises his hand away from her body and turns away.
Ebba gives me a lazy smile, laughter shining in her eyes. She grabs my shirt and pulls me close. “You chased my dance partner away.”
“He wasn’t good enough for you.”
She gives me a lazy smile. Swaying her hips to the music, she takes my hands and places them on her curves. “And you are?”
“No one’s good enough for you. Not even me. But what I will say is, if you ever give me a second chance I’ll spend every single day of my life trying to prove myself worthy of you.”
A shiver runs down her spine and she spins, looping her arms around my neck. “That stuff you got me at the drugstore helped. Thanks for that.”
I graze my nose against hers. “Any time.”
I notice she still brought her cane, though, and I’m glad that even though her leg is feeling better she’s making sure she’s covered in case she needs it. It’s currently propped behind the bar courtesy of a bartender who offered to hold onto it for her while she danced.
The warmth of her hand presses against the back of my neck, her fingers playing with the strands there.
“You have no idea how badly I want to keep hating you.”
A smile tickles the edges of my mouth. “And how are you feeling about me now if it’s not hate?”
Her hands slide down my chest, her hips moving to the beat of the song. “Now, I feel like maybe I could tolerate you again.”
Laughter floods out of me and she giggles in return. “Maybe I’m pathetic but I’ll accept tolerate.”
“I need another drink.” She grabs my hand, tugging me from the dancefloor to the bar. “What about you?”
“Another drink sounds like a great idea.”
She smiles at me, her skin glistening with sweat from all the dancing she’s been doing. It’s good to see her happy for a change. For the past few months especially, she’s been less herself, and I’m sure it’s all thanks to her ex.
Leaning over the bar, she gives our order when the bartender comes near.
“Have you seen our friends?” she asks.
I look around, searching the packed club. “Nope.”
“They must be having fun. That’s good.”
The bartender returns with our drinks, and we make our way back to our booth.
“What time is it?” Ebba asks.
I check my phone. “Just after midnight.”
She leans back against the couch and sips her drink. Shooting a conspiratorial smile my way, she says, “Still plenty of time to get into trouble.”
I arch a brow. “What kind of trouble are you thinking?”
She shrugs her slender shoulders, her smile coy. “We’ll see.”
The three girls walk ahead of us, laughing and giggling and struggling to stay upright.
“What a time to be alive!” Noah slings his arms over Elias and me.
Elias laughs. “How drunk are you?”
Noah lets his arms drop. “Not that much.” He scratches his jaw. “I don’t think.”
“Are you sure about that?” I tease.
Up ahead, the girls stumble and I instinctively lurch forward for Ebba, but she quickly steadies herself and the three of them burst into hysterics.
“I saw you dancing with Ebba.” Noah elbows me in jest. “Do you like her?”
My eyes meet Elias’s, and he gives me a knowing smirk.
Does her brother know about us?
Elias didn’t know about us when we were together, but I wonder if she’s since filled him in on our relationship.
“I like her,” I reply. “She’s … nice.”
“Nice?” Noah laughs, tugging me against him with an arm thrown around my neck. “Surely you can do better than that.”
“And pretty?” I add, but it comes out as a question and Elias laughs but turns the sound into a cough.
Sabrina turns around with a raised brow and her hands on her hips, the other two girls coming to a stop beside her. “What are you guys laughing about back there? You’re not laughing at us, are you?” She looks down and checks her shoes.
“No, baby.” Noah quickly drops his arm from my shoulders and rushes forward, scooping her up into his arms. She laughs, tossing her arms around him as he spins her. “I would never laugh at you. I was laughing at Fisher.”
“Why?” She grabs onto his arms to steady herself when he sets her down.
“Because Fisher—”
I sprint forward and slam my hand against Noah’s mouth. “Noah’s had too much to drink. He’s talking nonsense.”
Ebba lets out a giggle. “If it’s about me, I think I deserve to know.”
Noah shoves off my hand. “He thinks you’re pretty!”
Groaning, I cover my face with my hands.
“Is that true?” Ebba asks in a teasing voice. “Do you think I’m pretty, Fisher?”
I cock my head to the side. “You know the answer to that.”
“I do.” She takes a step toward me, using her cane to steady herself. She’s wearing heels that have to be at least three or four inches, but I know better than to think she’d forgo them unless absolutely necessary. “But are you going to do anything about it?”
She’s drunk, and so am I. It takes everything in me not to cup her face and kiss her.
“Do you want me to do something about it?” I ask, proud of myself for thinking of that in my inebriated state.
She opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, Sabrina starts jumping up and down and pointing. “Ooh! Guys! Look! A chapel! It’s so cute.” She grabs Noah’s hand, tugging him in the direction of the chapel across the street. “Come on, guys.”
“Sabrina,” he sighs. “We’re getting married in like...” He pauses, trying to count on his fingers. “Soon,” he settles on. “I think you can wait.”
“I just want to check it out,” she says with a pout.
Inside, the building smells musty with a hint of rose from the candle burning on the front desk.
“This place is so cute,” Sabrina croons, leaning on Noah for support. Batting her lashes up at him, she says, “Come on, let’s go ahead and get married! We can still have our real wedding, but this will just be for us!”
Noah shakes his head, but amusement curls his lips. “You’re crazy.”
She pouts up at him. “Please?”
“Maddie’s not here,” he reminds her softly and her face falls.
“You’re right. We can’t do this without Maddie. It wouldn’t be right.” She swings around and wiggles her finger at Whimsy and Elias and Ebba and me. “But you guys could.”
Whimsy shakes her head. “Don’t look at me like that.” To Elias, she says, “I love you so much, but I don’t want to get married yet.”
He squeezes her hand pulls her in for a kiss. “Agreed.”
“That leaves you two,” Sabrina giggles. “What do you say? We all know you guys totally have had a thing and you still look at each other like you want to fuck each other brains out.”
“Wait, we do?” Noah blurts. “And they want to do that?”
Ebba is strangely quiet.
Somehow, instead of feeling more sober from our walk, I feel even drunker—or maybe it’s just the proximity to Ebba that has my brain on the fritz, because why am I considering this?
“What do you say?” she asks. “Wanna be my groom?”
My mouth falls open in shock. “Y-Yes,” I blurt, without a second of thought. It’s not even a drunk thought. I’m so obsessed with this woman I’ll do whatever she asks of me. If she wants me to drop to my knees and crawl to her, I will. “Do you want to be my wife?”
She shrugs. “For some reason, yes.”
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, is a little voice telling me this is crazy and I should put a stop to this. But it’s so faint it’s easy to ignore.
The next thing I know, we’re paying for a wedding and signing papers and standing in front of some guy who says he’s a reverend.
Noah holds a basket of flower petals and tosses them when the guy tells me to kiss my bride. I push back the tiny veil they pinned to the top of Ebba’s head, and my mouth finds hers with ease.
“Hi, wife,” I whisper when we pull apart.
Her brown eyes glimmer and cool fingers graze my cheek. “Hey, husband. Let’s get out of here, yeah?”
In the back of my mind, I have to question if this is really happening, but I don’t want to dwell too much lest this bubble pop.
I scoop her into my arms, she laughs as I carry her outside. Her cane dangles from one hand and she swings her legs in the air.
“We just got married!” She yells out to people on the street.
My heart is racing at the insanity of all of this.
The girl of my dreams, who I’ve pined after for years who I thought would never forgive me, is my wife.
“We need rings,” I tell her.
“Yes, rings!”
After finding a jewelry store open inside one of the hotels, I drop way too much money on a large colorful diamond and matching band for her, but Ebba deserves it. I slide the rings onto her left ring finger outside the store and she does the same with mine.
“This is so romantic,” Sabrina says, dabbing at her eyes.
“Romantic, or crazy?” Elias asks. I think he might be the most sober of all of us.
“We need to go to another club to celebrate the newlyweds!” Sabrina jumps up and down.
“Ooh! Yes! Let’s celebrate!” Ebba grabs onto Sabrina’s hands and the two dance around.
Noah claps his hand on my shoulder. “Dude, you just got married.”
“And you were my flower girl,” I burst into laughter at the absurdity.
“Wait,” Elias says, shaking his head. “I just realized this means you’re my brother-in-law.”
“Whoa.” Noah laughs. “That’s crazy. Can you believe it? You and my former nemesis are in-laws.”
“Nemesis,” Elias scoffs.
“Well, we were!”
“Hey!” Sabrina calls and we turn to look, realizing the girls are already all the way to the doors. “Are you guys coming or not?”
We hurry to catch up with them and I scoop Ebba into my arms, loving the sound of her laugher.
Mine, the possessive thought consumes me. The girl of my dreams is finally mine again.