Hollis
TEN
“You look happy, brother,” Victor said, tipping his beer bottle towards Jonas, and the rest of us nodded.
The five of us were standing off to the side of the dance floor, watching the crowd dance and laugh. Bright blue eyes caught mine, and I winked, loving the blush my little flower still got when she caught me staring at her.
My sweet innocent little flower had bloomed right in front of my eyes.
“You’re next.” Lucas patted Victor’s shoulder, who snorted.
“No thanks. I’m not the hearts and flowers type.”
“You think they were?” Trager asked. I coughed away a laugh.
“Maybe you’re next, Tray?” I asked. He rolled his eyes before he looked away. I tried to catch his line of sight, but he glanced down at the floor before taking a healthy pull of his beer. Huh, I wonder what that’s about?
“Anyhow, I agree on Victor being the next one to lose his goddamn mind like you three did.”
“Why?” Victor asked, running his fingers through his thick brown hair.
“It would be good for you.”
“Good for me?” He chuckled and shook his head. “In what way is turning into a fucking possessive stalker like these motherfuckers good for me?” Trager rolled his eyes.
“Because you live like a mole person.”
“A mole person.” Lines formed over my brother’s brow.
“That’s what you live like!” Jonas snapped his fingers.
“I mean, he’s not wrong,” Lucas agreed. I pressed my lips together because that’s what happened when the five of us got together. The youngest always got picked on.
“I don’t live like a mole person,” he argued.
“You don’t go out.” I winced, unable to stop myself from pointing out.
“I go to your gym.” His argument was flimsy. I shrugged.
“In the middle of the fucking night, man, when other mole people are there,” I responded.
“That isn’t true,” Lucas said. Vic shook his head.
“I go out.”
“No, you don’t,” the four of us said at the same time, and we all started to laugh.
“I just mean, maybe you falling for someone would be good for you. Make you more… human and less like the computers you hack.”
“I’m not like my computers.”
“No, he’s more like a robot,” Jonas mumbled. I snorted.
“Whatever… I just think—“ Victor kept talking, giving the reasons why Tray finding love would be better, but I couldn’t focus.
Not when my girl dressed in a pretty rust-orange dress started to walk towards me.
“Shit, he’s not even listening to me.”
“Maryanne, can you please ask my brother to pay more attention,” Vic whined.
“Shut the fuck up, Vic,” I muttered, taking her hand in mine and lifting it up to my lips. “You look beautiful today.” She blushed again and leaned in closer. My head dipped down to hear whatever she wanted to ask.
“Dance with me?” Her sweet request made my cock harden beneath the black slacks of the tux I’d been forced to wear as one of my brother’s groomsmen.
I walked my girl out to the middle of the dance floor just as a slow song started to play, something sultry I recognized from the last shift she’d worked at the Velvet Leopard. Her last official shift now that she was enrolled full time at the local college.
“Would you want this?” I asked, looking around at the formal ballroom filled to the brim with Kitty’s favorite flowers.
“What do you mean?”
“When we get married. You want it like this?” I asked.
“This formal? Would you want that?” she asked. I grinned at her, leaning close enough so my lips brushed the shell of her ear.
“You don’t answer daddy with another question, little flower. Unless you want a good spanking later,” I warned and felt her shudder and watched as the skin of her bare shoulder flared to life with gooseflesh.
“I don’t think so. It’s beautiful and it works for them, but I think I would want something a little more… intimate.”
“Intimate, huh? How intimate?” I felt her smile against my face.
“Elope?” She pulled away, and I masked any expression that might give me away. “I wouldn’t want my mom to feel guilty about not being able to help pay for things, and honestly? With you and me… I like keeping things about us just… between us. Is that selfish?”
“God, no, baby girl. We could do that.” Shit, she could have told me she wanted a five-hundred-guest wedding on the moon and I would have figured out a way to make it happen.
“Elopement,” I said out loud and smiled.
I could see that, too.
“A courthouse or… on a mountain. Maybe stay at a cabin for a honeymoon for a couple of days,” she suggested, her eyes dreamy.
“That’s doable,” I promised.
“But I would want a pretty dress.”
“That’s easy. You could make a paper bag look pretty.”
“I’m serious.” She patted my chest with a huge smile on her face, and I took her left hand that had been on my shoulder and slipped something on her ring finger.
“I am, too.”
“Hollis,” she whispered, her eyes on the rock on her finger before glancing back up at me.
“You didn’t ask.”
“I wasn’t going to give you a chance to say no.”
“I wouldn’t have.”
“I know.” I winked and blinked away the emotion that stung at my own eyes. “I love you, Maryanne. I promise I will make you happy. I will help you make any dreams come to life. Anything you want, it’s yours.”
“Hollis.” Her lips wobbled. “I can’t believe you did this at your brother’s wedding.” She laughed and rested her cheek against my chest, and I rested my chin atop her head.
“I wasn’t going to. I have this whole thing planned out tomorrow, but…
holding you in my arms, watching you walk down the aisle today…
I couldn’t wait. I got a little impatient.
” This made her laugh, and when she pulled back to look up at me, I could see the tears as they rolled down her beautiful face.
“Daddy, impatient? Never,” she teased then sniffled. “Let’s not tell them yet, though. I don’t want to take any of the attention off Kitty and Jonas’ day.”
“This is just for us,” I promised, leaning in for a kiss.
Just like our wedding day would be.