Chapter 46
46
KOLBI
B efore we knew it, August rolled into September and it was one of the most important days of my best friend’s life. Hank, the other guys, and I were getting ready before the ceremony, tucked away in a small room inside the wedding venue. With the heat of summer still lingering, it was still plenty warm outside even as the sun went down. Thankfully for us, Hank and Bailey had decided that we didn’t need to wear full suits because the ceremony was going to be held out on the lawn at sunset. We were all wearing light gray dress pants, white formal shirts, and brown leather suspenders that had our names embossed on the backs of them. A gift from our friend as a thanks for standing next to him as he said ‘I do.’
The ceremony was about to begin and I couldn’t wait to see Bailey in her white dress walking down the aisle towards a guy who was more like my brother than my friend. Hank was a good man and I couldn’t be happier for him. Not once over the last few weeks did he hint at being nervous or scared about this next chapter in his life. Instead, whenever you asked him how he felt, he simply answered with ‘happy.’
Over the last few weeks, Magnolia has made herself at home with me, slowly unpacking her boxes and filling my custom built closet with lots of pink and too many bows to count. Her shoes took up the entire guest room closet and her dresses had started to creep into my side of the closet as well. It didn’t bother me though—the small glimpses of her around our home always made me smile.
Having her live with me was better than I thought it would be. We would wake up next to each other, get ready, eat breakfast, and head into the office. Her and Bailey were bringing in more business than we could take on and worked together better than Hank and I did sometimes. At the end of the day, she would strut down to my office, ask me if I was ready to go, and we would head home hand in hand. There were more than a few occasions we would stay late after everyone else went home and I would black out the windows to my office and take her on top of my desk. Or in front of the windows. Or in my chair. Things were good with us, even if I knew she was still struggling with her family.
She had tried to reach out to both her parents a few more times after she moved in with me but each time was met with voicemails or staff members who told her they weren’t available to speak with her. It crushed me to see them cutting her off like this but despite it all, she was thriving.
“Do you guys think it would be a terrible idea if I tried to sleep with the maid of honor?” Malcolm asked from his seat on the couch as he pulled back a shot. “I mean, I know it’s totally cliche, groomsmen and maid of honor and all but…”
Hank and I were standing in front of a mirror, fixing his bowtie, and both slowly turned over our shoulders to stare at him. Conrad choked on his own drink at the same time.
“The maid of honor?” Hank started, raising his brows at our friend. The look of absolute disbelief on his face would have been funny if it weren’t caused by the fact that Malcolm just asked for our blessing to sleep with the bride’s best friend.
“Malcolm, no.” I tried to shut him down.
“You wanna sleep with Ophelia?” Conrad scoffed, pinching his face up as if it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever heard. “Why?”
“Uhh, because she’s hot as fuck?” Malcolm retorted as he poured himself another shot.
“Dude, easy on the booze, you have to be able to stand next to me. On your own .” Hank reached towards him and pulled the bottle of liquor from his hand. “Look man, I like Ophelia but I don’t think you can handle a girl like her.”
“More like you don’t think she can handle a guy like me,” Malcolm said slyly with a slick grin on his face.
“Trust me dude, if what Bailey has shared with me about her is true, she could handle two of you at once and you’d be none the wiser. I think you should just steer clear of that.” Hank looked at our friend and then flicked concerned eyes at me.
“I’ve never slept with a maid of honor before…” Malcolm hummed to himself, contemplating the idea as he swirled the amber liquor in his glass between his fingers.
I shot Hank wide eyes and shook my head. Just then, the director for the venue came in to tell us it was time to line up. I faced Hank and pulled his vest down and straightened his tie.
“You ready for this?”
He clapped me on the shoulder with one hand. “More ready than I have been for anything else in my life.”
“Bailey’s a fine woman. You’re a lucky man.”
“I know I am. But you have a fine woman yourself. One day this might be you man.” I chuckled softly at his words.
“Yeah, maybe one day.” As I said it, the more I knew that there would come a day that I would want to be the one lining up at the front of the altar, watching my own beautiful bride walking towards me.
“Alright you sad saps, bring it in,” Malcolm barked, pulling all of us into a hug. The four of us huddled together in an embrace for a beat before Conrad pulled away.
“Alright, that’s enough of that,” he said shortly. “We need to go before Bailey comes in and yells at us to hurry up.”
“You really are afraid of her,” Hank laughed as we started down the hallway towards the lawn that had been set up for the ceremony.
“I’m less afraid of her and more afraid of what you’d do to me if I upset her,” Conrad admitted through tight lips. We all laughed at his admission, knowing good and well that Hank probably would snap our legs in two if we upset his girl.
The music started to play as we all filed down the aisle, one after the other. As the best man, I would be standing to Hank’s left and was the second to last one to start walking. As I did, I quickly spotted the bow tied in her hair and watched as she turned in her chair to watch me. She had a wide smile on her lips and I winked at her as I passed. Hank followed behind me and took his place next to me before the music changed and the guests stood to welcome the bride down the aisle.
Bailey wore a full length gown with hints of yellow in it. The sleeves of her dress were beaded and she had her hair pulled up behind her neck. The bouquet in her hands was almost as big as her head and full of deep blue hydrangeas. She glided down the pathway between the chairs towards her perfect match. I glanced at Hank just in time to watch him wipe a single tear from his eye as he watched her come.
While the officiant was talking, I looked back out into the crowd towards the girl with the raven black hair who’d crashed into my life—literally—not so long ago. She was holding a tissue and dabbing her eyes as our friends became husband and wife. When she noticed me looking at her, she blew me a small kiss and I smiled at her. My cheek burned as if it could feel her kiss landing on it.
As I stood at the front of the altar, a knowingness started to fill my chest. The sense that someday soon, I’d be standing in a similar spot my friend was and vowing to keep her safe for the rest of forever. My eyes went back to Magnolia’s again and I knew.
When the time was right, I would make her my wife.