“—Knives, we have a lot to plan. Getting married right now is not a good idea. Her father is here.”
“Exactly, he is here, and he isn’t going anywhere without her. If in eleven days something happens to her, I want to know I did everything I wanted with her.”
“Nothing is going to happen to her, Knives. We will make sure of it.”
“I promise, Thomas,” Mason has the courage to pipe in.
Knives lose his patience, and his anger engulfs him instead. “You don’t fucking know that! You. Don’t. Know!” Spittle flies from his mouth as he yells. He points at Mason and sneers, “You have no right to promise me fucking anything. You’re nothing but a fucking liar. Her dad, he can wait a day. He’s waited nearly a year; he can wait one more day, can’t he?”
“Fuck yea! Let’s get ye fucking married, brother!” Skirt lifts his fist in the air and cheers.
“Let’s do it!”
“I’m in. Oh, hey, can I be the best man? You know I’m your favorite,” Slingshot says, taking a swig from his water bottle.
“Can Happy come?” Tongue drawls from the corner. “It would be his first wedding. He can be the flower boy.” There is so much excitement in his words that I know Knives will say yes. I’m not sure if they allow alligators wherever we are going, but I’m sure they will figure it out.
“Did someone say they’re getting married?” Sarah squeals from the kitchen. She rushes into the main room and pushes Reaper out of the way. “You’re getting married?” she asks me and stops right in front of me and takes my hands in hers. “Really?”
“I… think so? Yes? As long as it is okay with everyone.”
“Fuck everyone. If they don’t want to see me get married, they aren’t the family I thought they were,” Knives says, staring down at his boots.
I squeeze his hand, and he returns it, but I think they are more surprised than they are against us.
“Hey, you’re going to get married,” Reaper says, and once his affirmation is heard, the energy changes in the room, and the buzz that I wanted when we walked in is there. I can sense the buzz of anticipation. There is a round of applause, and Knives lets out such a big breath and curses. He doesn’t care about anyone else’s opinion; he just wants his Prez’s approval. “Well, that means all of our ugly asses need to go get cleaned up.”
“And we need to get you a dress. Oh my god! You’re getting married,” Sarah screeches again and starts to prance in place.
“Doll, no bouncing,” Reaper suggests, kindly.
If I didn’t know why he told her that, I would think he was controlling, but I know he’s worried.
“Let’s go shopping. There is a little boutique by Daphne’s bookstore that is so cute,” Sarah says, looping her arm through mine as she guides me to the couch.
“Can I go?” Tongue asks as he sits down next to me. In his arms, he is holding Happy, petting the top of his head, and even though Happy is still somewhat small, his teeth are big.
Big, sharp, pointy teeth.
That can tear into my flesh without a second thought.
“You want to?” Sarah asks him, sitting up straighter and hopeful.
“I’d like to.”
I know their relationship has been a bit rocky since they got into an argument and Tongue accidentally stabbed her, but they are slowly coming back together as best friends.
“I’d like that,” Sarah whispers, playing with a piece of her hair. “You have great advice. I remember when you helped with my prom dress. I couldn’t have done that without you.”
“I couldn’t have done a lot of things without you. Like live,” he says, stroking Happy down his spine while he wears his ‘emotional support animal’ vest.
Apparently, Happy is a docile, soothing alligator that Tongue can take into shops; who knew?
“Well, we don’t have much time,” Sarah sniffles, slapping her thighs as she gets up. “I’m going to go get changed, and we should go shopping. Pick a place to get married and we will meet you there, Knives!” Sarah wipes her cheek as she walks away. Reaper places his hand on her shoulder as they disappear down the hallway to get to the bedroom they are staying in.
“I say we get married in Maximo’s hotel. That’s the biggest ‘fuck you’ I can think of,” I say with bite, digging my nails into my forearms as I think about him partnering up with my father.
“Damn, you are a Hellraiser,” Patrick says, throwing a peanut in the air and catching it in his mouth.
Knives’ hand lands on the back of my neck, warm and calloused, sending arousal down my spine. It’s how I respond every time he touches me. “Damn straight she is.” He holds me tight and brings his lips down on mine.
“I’m going to marry the fuck out of you, Hellraiser.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, and you’re going to fucking like it.”
Like it? I’m going to love it.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Sarah chirps. She struts in much happier than she was before. Her neck is flushed, and her hair is in a messier bun now, resembling a nest of some sort. The front of her shirt is tucked in while the back isn’t, and she has a hickey on her neck. Reaper comes out next, and his shirt is on backward, but no one is going to say anything to him. “Are you ready?” Sarah asks me.
“Are you? You’re the one wearing two different shoes.” I point down to her feet, one boot, one slipper.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say she meant to put on the other boot.
“Oh. I’ll… let me… just…” She twirls around and heads toward her room again.
At this rate, I won’t be getting married until I’m dead.
Knives’ phone rings, and when he pulls it out of his pocket, he bangs it against his forehead. “It’s Seer.”
“No!” Everyone in the room yells at the same time, not wanting him to answer it.
“Yeah, fuck you all. The last time I didn’t answer, my bike exploded, and we nearly died in a freak tornado.” His finger swipes across the screen, and he brings the smartphone to his ear. “Hey, Seer.” He does not sound enthusiastic at all to talk to Seer. “What? Of course, I am happy to hear from you. I’m just a little nervous, is all.” He doesn’t say anything as he stops to listen. “Sure, yeah. Hold on.” Knives brings the phone down and presses a button. “Okay, you’re on speaker.”
Seer’s Cajun accent comes through the phone immediately. “I just wanted to call and say congratulations. You guys are taking me by surprise. You like to keep me on my toes.”
“Thank you, Seer,” I say. It’s hard to be nice to a man that knows I’m going to die, but it isn’t his fault he knows. I’m sure if he had it his way, he wouldn’t want to know half of the information in his head because of what he sees.
“And go with the dress that makes you think of the future, Mary.”
I almost ask why, but he hangs up the phone, leaving us wondering what that call was about.
“Okay, I’m sorry. Now, I’m ready,” announces Sarah.
“I want Bullseye to go with you,” Reaper says.