Chapter 10 Francesca
three
FRANCESCA
After a semi chaotic whirlwind of clothing being dragged on and off, no time to be shy in front of your besties, makeup done, hair sprayed and shoes being tossed around, we are ready to hit the town.
We drove through the town of Christmas, which is lit from top to bottom with white, red and green lights and ended up at a nice Italian restaurant where we indulged in appetizers, dinner, as well as dessert, family style.
We topped it off with a few bottles of wine and a lot of laughs.
We probably won’t be asked to come back, since we all entered the restaurant in a roar of girl power and left a tipsy shade of borderline pornography.
Plus, I was draped in a sash saying, “One penis for life”.
There were also penis straws and penis shaped confetti cutouts thrown onto the table.
I feel bad for the bus boy who had to clean up our mess.
Now we are onto our second stop of the night and hopefully last because I’m already quite tipsy, these girls go hard.
Anything Britt does, she does full stop.
She’s in charge of tonight, which means it’s a very good possibility the night could end with a stint in the local jail cell.
Thankfully my brother is a cop, maybe Tom can pull some strings if things get bad.
We just walked into a new nightclub that opened up a few months ago, Fashions.
It plays a mix of hip-hop and dance music and has a good size crowd already filling its space.
The DJ is working the crowd and everybody’s having a great time.
The place is dimly lit but the strobe lights are flashing all over the dance floor.
There are high top tables lining the walls and a bar with a long mirror that is lit up with tiny LED lights, on the opposite side.
There are booths along the back side of the wall which sit underneath the DJ.
You would think this would be a terrible spot, but the speakers are all mounted onto the side walls so the music bounces off, yet you can still hear yourself talk.
The girls have reserved a booth right under the DJ turntable and have decorated it with bachelorette gear also known as more plastic penises.
There is bottle service coming to the table and we are now well on our way from quite inebriated to getting shitty.
“Please tell me the guys did not take Jackson to a stripper bar. That’s the one thing he promised me he would not do.” I whine and pout just thinking about it.
“Don’t worry about that. The guys have him under control and will take good care of him.”
“But who’s got Billy under control?” I exclaim.
I always feel uneasy when Jackson is not with me in a public setting such as a bar or club.
I trust Jackson to the fullest, but I do not trust the outside world.
After being signed as a first-round draft pick for the Carolina Warriors, the press took full advantage of exploiting him.
Yes, he partied, yes, he caused a lot of damage to himself, but when you dangle booze and women, padded with a shit ton of money, what 19-year-old kid could resist that temptation?
Years later, while we were trying to get him back on the map, improve his image, the press was still after him.
His own manager, and my ex-boyfriend, teamed up to exploit Jackson for their benefit.
They even sent a woman in, to get pictures to try to slander his name once again.
This time we were ahead of it, plus he had me standing next to him to clear the name. The town of Christmas, and his high school football team also stood by him, and we became stronger than before.
Now here we are just a few short weeks shy of our wedding day, and instead of being home with my man, I am out with these animals.
But these animals are my ride or die bitches and I wouldn’t be able to get through life without them.
“Francesca, come on, you know the principal is with them and if they all get to a point where they are having too much fun, I’m sure he will throw a damper on them.
Besides, Bobby promised no strip clubs, babe.
Trust me, Jackson’s going to come home to fuck you tonight.
” Britt gives a smug grin. “Just as Bobby will come home to me.” She swings her gaze around to Farrah. “And Tom, to you.”
Farrah starts to interrupt but Britt keeps going. “And if you play your cards right, CJ, I bet Adam may even break for you tonight.”
Shaking my head at her, “I’m not concerned he’s going to do anything; I’m just concerned of where they are and what might end up in the paper tomorrow.
Principal or not,” I laugh at yet another name for my eldest brother - are you sensing the theme yet?
“There’s no stopping those guys, once they get going, especially when they’re together!
And you know the world has taken a fresh new hold of him now that he is getting married.
It’s like no one has ever seen a football coach tie the knot. ”
The press has always been obsessed with celebrity weddings, always trying to take what little privacy people have and make a buck.
I am trying to stay calm, not get overly mad or anxious about all the questions surrounding our day.
We’ve been engaged for over a year and people know our date is soon.
I know the town is excited, it’s big news in little Christmas and I’m more than happy to share it with them but it’s the world outside of Christmas that is making me reluctant to spill all the details.
It’s also why I pushed for a quick wedding.
I don’t want the lingering activities to disrupt our planning or put a shadow over what should be the best time of our lives.
I’m already casting a shadow as it is with my worry and anxiety.
So far, we’ve been lucky, and not one detail has been leaked.
All our vendors have willingly signed NDA’s and cleared their schedule to accommodate us.
No one, but our immediate family knows where we are getting married or where the reception is being held.
So, I felt it’s only fair we do this quickly in return as to avoid any possible conflicts or fallout for them.
There’s less time for mistakes; everything about this day has to be perfect.
“Shots!” Farrah yells.
We each take a glass and Britt stands. “May all your ups and down be between the sheets!”
That gets a cheer from those around us, including the DJ who begins the opening beats to Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’, which results in louder cheers and me being dragged onto the dancefloor.
We’re dancing and laughing, and the room is spinning but I haven’t had this much fun in forever.
Looking back on my life, when I left for college, I had big plans of staying in the city after graduation and making a name for myself.
I wanted to start over, own something for myself, have my work be something I achieved on my own and not because of my last name or who I knew.
But nothing says you have to do life alone, and it’s far more fun traveled with family and friends.
Being with Nick left me feeling more alone than ever and even being surrounded by people doesn’t necessarily mean they fulfill you. Being on my own, in a big city felt forced and being home feels right.
Moving back to Christmas was the best decision I ever made. Allowing my family to catch me when I fell led me straight to Jackson. It didn’t show defeat, it didn’t show I wasn’t good at something, as I first thought it did. I gained more by coming home and finding my family again.
Finding Jackson.
All six foot three of him, all his muscles and dirty mouth that I can’t get enough of. The way he wraps me in his arms and holds me, it’s the safety I grew up with and now it’s the safety I find in my husband.
Husband! I’m going to be a wife!
The song changes again to ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke and Pharell and we all go crazy. I laugh because this is exactly what Jackson and I did. We blurred our lines until we got one thick bold line that bound us together.
I am bumped from behind and before I can protest, I’m immediately wrapped in strong arms that pull me back up against a hard chest.
“I can’t believe you think it’s ok to wear this out in public.”
Jackson.
He leans down and takes hold of the barely-there strap of my tank with his teeth and licks my shoulder. I wrap my arms around his, letting my head fall back onto his chest. We sway for a moment, just enjoying being near each other.
Spinning in his arms, “You’re not supposed to be here, Coach Gage.”
His eyes flare at the use of his official name and he tilts his hips into mine. And my oh my, Jackson is drunk. I’m just about feeling no pain and even I can tell he is way over his limit.
“You’re my girl, where else am I supposed to be?”
“Celebrating with your boys,” I reply.
His body is loose and we’re dancing around the floor like we are the only two here. Jackson doesn’t usually get like this, he’s well in control of himself especially when he is out. He’s learned a hard lesson from the press throughout the years.
But tonight, he’s with his family and friends, and his future wife; he’s safe. Let the press write what they want. All the people who matter are right here surrounding him.
“We did celebrate. But I couldn’t be away from you any longer.
” He takes my mouth, biting my lip then soothes it with his tongue.
His eyes are on fire. “You know what you did by calling me Coach Gage in that text,” he growls out, “after that, I couldn’t think of anything else but getting to you as fast as I could.
And then getting you home to have my way with you.
” He’s pressed up against me, I can feel all of him and feel just how badly he needs to take me home.
“Hey Casanova, get back to the booth.” Billy interrupts us. “You too, Francesca.” He gives a smug grin, smacking Jackson on his ass and clearing the way for us to follow off the dancefloor.
We all fall into the booth and Britt pours out more shots as the boys toss the penis straws aside with looks of disgust.
“In another three weeks, you’re going to have one less Casanova, Billy.” Jackson pulls me onto his lap. “I can’t wait for you to have my name,” he says as he nuzzles my neck.
“She’ll always be a Casanova,” Adam spits out and looks pointedly at Jackson. “Fuck it up and there will be one less Gage.”
We all laugh, not expecting anything less from Adam and his controlling Alpha attitude.
We’ve all come to accept that Adam takes his role as the oldest big brother extremely serious, and I think we’ve all found some common ground between his need to be in control and our need to not let it bother us.
“Settle down Knight, you know better than to have to question me by now.” Jackson teases my brother with one of the nicknames we use when we want to call out Adam on his self-imposed reign but keep him in the dark about it.
Bobby Knight was a college basketball coach, and he was best known for his, shall we say, non-constructive criticism.
He was a take charge, take no shit guy. Just like Adam.
He’s aware of the names now, it wasn’t nice of us to do, but we had to have something to hold over him back then; our little rebellion against the system, if you will.
And hey, it’s what siblings do. Torture each other for life.
Adam grunts, stands and says he’s heading for the bar.
“We’ve got bar service here at the table, take a seat Adam.”
“Nah, I need to walk,” he glances at CJ, steps around our booth and down into the crowd again.
I reach out and take her hand. They are both in a weird dimension right now, figuring out where they each stand in each other’s life. “How was he tonight?” I ask the guys.
Bobby replies. “He was fine, no more take charge than usual,” he laughs. “He’s getting more and more used to the idea of you two, but he has to put on the big bad Adam show, you know that.”
I hope so. I worry about my brother. He’s adjusting to a lot lately and just when I thought it was getting easier, along came another bump in the road, setting him two steps back again.
He holds a lot in, trying to handle it all on his own.
I wish he could realize he doesn’t need to do that anymore.
We all hang out for another hour or so. Surprisingly, the crowd leaves us alone, and it has been a great night. Tomorrow will mark three weeks to the day that I walk down the aisle. Time to sober up and get shit done!