Chapter 29 #2
Caulfield parks himself beside me, taking a sip of his coffee, his eyes burning into the top of Declan’s head.
He is shirtless and sweating, his breathing deep and ragged. I have never seen the guy look so dishevelled in my life. He was fine last night. Life of the party. He chatted and drank and never let Penny get too far. What the hell happened?
EJ exits the bathroom, a flush of the toilet following in his wake. “Mess is clean in there, how about out here?”
‘Eej,” Seth bites out in a warning.
EJ takes one look at Declan and winces. “Still a mess, I see.”
“We’re all here, man,” I tell Lowesy, eyes burning into his head. “Talk to us.”
“I can’t,” he whispers.
I go stiff, shooting a glance at his best man, whose brow furrows with pure and utter concern.
He can’t?
Oh, fuck no. This can’t happen. Not now.
My mind whirls to that girl a floor above us, probably having the best morning of her life, and my heart sinks.
“You can’t…what?” Wyatt asks carefully, and I truly think if Declan takes one step away from this wedding, Caulfield will pummel him to the ground.
Declan groans, leaning forward. He clutches his stomach like he’s in pain.
Could this be food poisoning? We all had dinner at the same place, and nobody else is sick. I haven’t heard anything from the girls, but I assume we’d know by now. It has to be. There is no way it can be anything but a physical illness.
Declan finally looks up at us. His eyes are rimmed red.
Shit. He isn’t sick at all. I wish he was.
He’s panicking.
Forker removes his hand from Dec’s body and slowly straightens in his seat, his jaw pulsing. I know the same thoughts are going through his head. If Lowesy runs, I’m not sure who will hurt him worse, Fork or Caulfield.
“Dec,” Seth whispers.
“I have never been nervous like this in my life,” he says, his voice shaking. Forker reaches across the island and grabs the water, twisting it open and handing it to him. Declan takes it with a trembling hand. “I couldn’t sleep. I can’t eat. I am so nauseous, I feel like I’m going to pass out.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “We can go for a walk. Get some fresh air.”
EJ nods in agreement.
“Declan,” Seth says carefully, grabbing a stool. He pulls it up next to him, pushes his glasses higher up his nose and sits, reaching up to place his hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “I’m only going to ask you this once and I need you to be honest with me.”
Declan returns his head to his hands, but he dips his chin.
“Are you…” Seth starts, and he pauses, swallowing, as if this question breaks his heart. “Are you getting cold feet?”
Declan’s head snaps up so fast that I flinch backward. He reaches over without thinking and smacks Seth across the back of the head. The second his hand makes contact, he retracts it and blanches, realizing what he’s done.
Seth blinks slowly, head still at an angle. “Okay, ow.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Declan whispers, eyes wide.
He reaches for Seth, petting his head like a dog.
A bit of colour comes back to his cheeks.
“That was just the dumbest question I’ve ever heard.
No. No. Never. I just want this day to go perfectly for her.
I want her to finally be able to enjoy it without being so stressed.
She was a wreck on the drive down here. I don’t want to fuck it up, and these vows—”
He groans in agony.
Forker hands him his water again, like he doesn’t know what else to do but hydrate him.
“I can’t memorize these fucking vows.”
I’m stunned to see tears burning in his eyes.
“You don’t have to memorize them,” Wyatt says calmly. “We got you that little book, remember? Copy them there. You’re allowed to hold it during the ceremony, D. The wedding planner isn’t going to take you out back and shoot you for reading them.”
Lowesy swallows, finally taking a sip of water. “I just want her to…believe me when I say them.”
The room goes quiet.
Seth smiles softly, like he finally understands.
EJ lets out a little laugh. “Aw, D.”
“I love her so fucking much,” he murmurs, his voice breaking. “And she’s put in so much work for this wedding and I’ve done next to nothing. This is the one thing I want to get right and I can’t.”
Seth nods, placing his hand on Lowesy’s arm. “She loves you. You can’t mess this up, even if it’s not perfect. Perfection isn’t what this day is about.”
“And we’ll go over those vows, front to back, all fucking morning if we have to,” EJ says, biting into a croissant. “If you want to memorize them, we’ll work on them, but we’ll copy them down anyway, just in case.”
Declan’s breathing evens out a bit.
“And she believes you, man,” Wyatt says, a crooked smile on his mouth. He leans across the island and pats Dec on the head, letting his touch linger for comfort. “She believes you every single day. You have to stop worrying that she doesn’t.”
“I love her,” he whispers to himself, hiding his face. He’s overwhelmed and in tears, and it’s something only she can fix, but he won’t be allowed to see her for hours.
I feel an ache of sympathy for him. I wonder what that kind of love feels like.
“She loves you, too,” Fork murmurs, rubbing his back now. “And the moment you see her in whatever stunning dress she’s picked out, all of these worries are going to go right out the window.”
“Exactly,” Seth agrees.
“You’re going to see the exact same feelings in her eyes when she’s walking toward you,” I tell him, and I believe that. His hazel, tear-filled gaze flickers up to me. “And you’ll know she believes you.”
“I forgot the collars, the rings, and my shoes.”
I force myself not to react, but my heart stills in my chest. He forgot the rings?
“Do you remember what they look like? Dalton and I will go right now and find something similar. I can send Saltzy—”
“No, we got them back,” he clarifies with a sniff, rolling out his shoulders. Thank god. “Fork picked them up, but the very minimal things that I’m in charge of, I keep fucking up.”
“Because you’re nervous,” I tell him, and he glowers up at me, full of guilt and self-loathing. “You’re allowed to be nervous, too, man. That’s not a bride-exclusive emotion.”
“Hello?”
A familiar voice enters the room and we all go still. Declan snaps up in his seat, eyes wide, ready to duck under the island if he has to so that he can avoid seeing her before the ceremony.
But she isn’t in the room. It’s EJ, holding up his phone with her on the other end, a cheeky smile on his mouth as he munches his pastry.
“Hey, P,” he says cheerily.
“Hi, Eej!” she says, just as happily. She sounds relaxed, surprisingly enough. The girls have been up and getting ready since seven. Things must be going much better up there.
“Your groom misses you and wants to say hello.”
He passes the phone to Declan, whose eyes are still glazed with tears.
“Hi, Lucky.” His voice is quiet and full of relief.
There’s a pause. “Hi, baby. You okay?”
“I missed you last night.”
She lets out a long breath. “I missed you, too. I can’t wait to see you.”
A little smile pulls on his lips and I glance at EJ. He did the right thing. He flashes me a wink, like he knows.
“We’re going to have the best day ever. Me and you,” he says.
Seth smiles gently, rubbing Dec’s shoulders.
“I’m so excited,” she answers, her happiness leaking through the phone. “The second I see you in a tailored suit, I’m going to run and thank your parents for making you.”
He laughs under his breath, and the rest of us do, too. Crisis averted, I think. With a few simple words from his Lucky Penny.
“I can’t wait to marry you, Lucky,” Declan says in the softest voice I’ve ever heard from him.
“Counting down the seconds, baby,” she says, and he shuts his eyes. “Now, tell your groomsmen to get a drink in you to shake off whatever nerves you're working through. EJ, vodka-water for him. Now. There are different flavoured water enhancers in the cupboard. His favourite is grape.”
EJ immediately whirls around toward the fridge. It’s a little early for a beverage, but I think this is an exceptional circumstance.
“No pop or beer until the reception. Two drinks each, max, before the ceremony. Guys, bring him to do the thing that we talked about. Seth and Forker, make sure the rings, his clothes, and his vows are ready to go.”
Seth and Forker both nod like she can see them.
“Boston, get his stuff from your room.” His eyes snap to me and I smile innocently. The Wy-Guy and I were in charge of one thing, which we’ve all kept secret. She knows as well as we do that there is one easy way to calm Declan down.
“On it, Pen,” I say.
“Good. Declan?” she says, her voice commanding.
“Yeah?” he says breathlessly as a drink is placed in front of him.
“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love you,” she tells him, and he closes his eyes. “We’ve got this. Alright?”
“We’ve got this,” he agrees, and he shakes out his shoulders, like he needed this pep talk from his favourite person in the world. “I love you, Lucky. See you in a bit.”
“I’ll be the one in white.”
She hangs up, and Declan stares at the phone for a few seconds before he sucks in a big breath and glances around the room. A new man, now. Colour back in his face, eyes free of tears, the ability to take a big gulp of his drink.
His gaze flickers between Wyatt and me. “Where are we going?”
I shrug, leaning my forearms on the island. “Fancy a game of puck on the same rink where your little crew became a family?”
His eyes light up, darting to Wyatt. “Really?”
Caulfield dips his chin. “Got the keys in my pocket and Boss has your gear in his room.”
“Avery has us on strict orders to be back by eleven on the dot, so let's get going,” Seth says, jumping to his feet.
A big, dimpled smile spreads across Declan’s face. “Best fucking day ever.”