Chapter 24 - Taevin
Then
“Your hands are shaking, baby. Are you sure about this?” Jax asks, holding my hands in his as we wait outside the courtroom for our names to be called.
Turning to look at him, I give him a reassuring smile. “I’ve never been more sure of anything. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I had a nightmare last night that our dads came rushing through the doors of the courthouse to stop us.”
“Well considering we chose this day because it fell on a day my father would be out of town, I highly doubt it’ll be the two of them stopping us together. But didn’t you say your dad was doing a baptism this morning?”
I nod. “He is.”
“Then I don’t think your nightmare is coming true. Anything else I can put your mind at ease about?” He chuckles before placing a delicate kiss on my cheek.
“Well this is all feeling very Nathan and Haley-like, so does that mean we’re going to move into a little apartment together after our wedding?”
His brows screw together. “I’m so confused right now.”
“About what? Moving in?”
Jax shakes his head. “No. I mean, I have no clue who you’re talking about, so I’m not sure whether or not we’ll be like them.”
“Wait. Are you telling me you’ve never watched One Tree Hill before?”
“No,” he says hesitantly, likely knowing where this is going.
“You just signed yourself up for an OTH marathon on our honeymoon, Bear.”
“Sounds like a dream come true. Can’t wait,” he deadpans.
I clap my hands like the overly excited fool that I am. “Oh, just you wait. I’m going to love this way too much.”
Leaning in, Jax whispers, “If you think we’re spending our nonexistent honeymoon binge watching a show, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Me. Hopefully I’m the thing coming.” I hold my hand up to cover my laughter. “Oh my goodness, that was terrible, wasn’t it?”
“It was, but I still love you.” He laughs and rolls his eyes at my antics.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have you coming plenty, baby.
And to answer your question from earlier, we probably won’t get an apartment until sophomore year.
But if you want to live together before then, I could look into our options.
I think most freshmen are supposed to stay in student housing, but maybe because we’ll be married I could get an exception. ”
“I’m fine either way. Just knowing we’ll be in the same city is enough for me.”
“Married. We’ll be married and in the same city.”
Just then the courtroom doors open and our names are called.
Jax stands and buttons his suit jacket before holding his arm out for me.
Holy smokes, he’s beyond attractive in his tailored blue suit.
He’s attempted to tame his unruly hair in the most delicious way—somehow still tousled like he’s run his fingers through it.
I love the way his crisp, white dress shirt contrasts against his tanned complexion—that, in combination with the color of his blue suit, only makes his eyes more striking than they already are.
“Here’s your last chance to run,” he offers just as I stand and slip my arm through his.
“I’d never,” I promise.
“Whirlwind days deserve to be celebrated with ice cream,” I declare, holding up my waffle cone for Jax to cheers against.
His brows scrunch at first, but he smiles as he taps his cone against mine.
“I feel bad that all I’m able to get you to celebrate is ice cream.
On our two-year anniversary, I’m buying you an expensive bottle of champagne to celebrate,” Jax promises, scooting closer to me on the bench we’re sitting on at the park across the street from The Sprinkled Cone.
I pout at that. “I still won’t be twenty-one on our two-year anniversary.”
“Exactly why I’ll be the one buying it,” he says, adding a wink for good measure.
Taking a giant lick of my ice cream, I look up to find Jax watching me with hooded eyes.
“You’re a little temptress in that gorgeous white dress eating your monster cookie ice cream.
” I look down at my cotton, mid-length white dress with a square neckline that to me looked pretty plain when I picked it out, but with the way he’s looked at me since he picked me up, I can’t bite back the sultry smile that takes over my face.
Leaning into me, he places a kiss on my cheek before asking in a hushed tone, “Have I told you how stunning you look, baby? You took my breath away several times today—when I saw you walk out of your house earlier, when we recited our vows, and then when we walked back down the courthouse steps hand in hand, your hair was blowing in the wind and you looked so happy I knew right then and there I’m the luckiest man alive because I get to be yours for the rest of our lives. ”
Tears flood my vision as I absorb his words, wishing I could tattoo them on my soul.
I move closer, sitting on his lap to erase any remaining distance between us. Wrapping my arm around his neck, I lick my lips and gaze into his sea glass eyes glistening with adoration.
“Want to know what I was just thinking?” I ask him.
“Always,” he’s quick to reply as he takes one of the last bites of his ice cream cone.
Taking a bite of my own cone, I try to buy myself some time as I second guess whether or not I want to share my crazy idea out loud. “What if after celebrating with ice cream we did something a little wild?”
That catches his attention. “And what do you have in mind?”
Taking a deep breath, I decide to just blurt it out. “Let’s get tattoos to memorialize this moment.”
His chin shoots back in surprise and his eyes search mine for truth. “You’re serious?”
“Yes. I’ve been dying to get one but I was hesitant about what I’d want to mark myself permanently with. I’ve always thought of getting a rose tattoo to memorialize my mom, but now it feels like that would be a good symbolism of our relationship too.”
“Would we get matching ones?” he asks, taking the last bite of his cone before licking a bit of ice cream from his fingers.
A shiver runs down my spine at the sight. “We could. Or you could get something different. Up to you,” I tell him, twisting my fingers through his hair.
A dazed smile turns his mouth up. “I’d like to get a rose to symbolize my wife.”
My cheeks heat as those pesky songbirds flock in my stomach from the way he calls me his wife—so possessive, so proud, so damn solidified in his decision.
“Maybe I’ll get your name tattooed on my forehead too so everyone knows who I belong to.” I scrunch up my nose at his teasing and he throws his head back in laughter.
“You’re something else,” I tell him, shaking my head at his antics.
“Where are you going to get your tattoo, my little Thorn?” he asks, tugging at my waist to pull me in tighter to his chest.
Pulling my hand from his hair, I pull my own hair back to show him where I’m thinking. “I was thinking right here behind my ear.”
“Won’t your dad see that?”
“I’ll just keep my hair down for the next month.
” I shrug. “Besides, I’ve gotten pretty good at covering the hickeys you’re always leaving on me.
And I’m already sad I have to forego wearing my beautiful wedding ring for the next month, so what’s one more thing to hide?
” Looking down at my left hand, I sigh in content as I stare at the black hexagon center stone with a halo of black diamonds set on a gold band.
“It’s so brilliant. You couldn’t have picked a more perfect ring for me, J. ”
I glance down where his left hand rests on my thigh and smile. “Yours is perfect too. I love the black tungsten with the gold inlay.”
“Thanks, I think I did a pretty good job aside from getting your ring size wrong. Who has fingers this small?” he asks, holding up my hand. “I told the lady at the ring store that you had really small fingers so she thought a size five would be best, but it’s practically falling off.”
“It is not,” I correct him. “She was close, I think I’m like a size four, maybe four and a quarter for my left ring finger.”
“Well, at least I have some time to get it resized over the next month while we’re keeping our marriage under wraps,” he points out.
“That’s a good way to look at it. I can’t wait for when I get to wear my ring everyday. Once I get it back, I’m never taking it off.”
“God, I love you,” he murmurs, bringing my hand to his lips and placing a kiss over my ring.
“I love you too.”
“So, were you serious about the tattoo thing? Because if you were, I think I might be able to ask my cousin if he can squeeze us in today.”
“Wait, you have a cousin who is a tattoo artist?”
“I do. He’s saving up to open his own parlor. For now, he’s a traveling tattoo artist. I mean, he’s licensed and everything, he just doesn’t have a storefront yet.”
“I was serious. If he could do it, would you want to?” I ask him.
“I’ll text him now,” Jax tells me, grabbing his phone out of my purse because he said his suit pants were a bit too tailored after his recent growth spurt to hold his phone in his pocket. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t busted them open yet.
With a dazzling smirk on his face, Jax looks up from his phone. “Let’s go get marked, baby.”
“Anything you want to tell me, Taev?” my dad asks me later that evening as he comes into the kitchen where I’ve got my back to him as I finish fixing dinner. My stomach sinks to the floor with unease and I squeeze my eyes shut, cursing my foolish heart.
Shoot. Why did I think he wouldn’t find out?
Trying to play it cool, I set the wooden spoon in my hand down. Turning to face him, I aim for denial. “No, should I?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” His blank face in combination with his cool tone doesn’t give anything away. I’m not sure what to make of it. If he knew I ran off, got hitched, and got a tattoo after, I think he’d be far more upset with me.
When I don’t respond with anything he sighs and finally says, “There wasn’t any parental supervision at the Fourth of July cabin, was there?”
Oh, thank the Lord. That was a close one.